::graduation::

Kris graduated on Friday. Yay!!
But first the movers came and packed our stuff onto a big van.
Well, not big enough evidently since they had to spend hours strategizing how to squeeze things in. I guess the guy that came and gave us our estimate underestimated. That's great for the wallet, not so great for making sure there was enough space in the truck.

They were supposed to be done by about 2PM so we could get ready for the graduation at 5:30. At 2 they were nowhere near done. Nor at 3. I kept telling them I had to leave at 4 and they said it was going to be NO problem at all. At 4 they're still working on it. At FIVE? Yep, still working on it. Finally we just had to make sure they had the rest of the stuff out on the lawn and we locked the door and we left.
I was planning on having some time to get ready, but had to settle for 10 minutes. Remind me never to load a moving truck the same day as graduation again--whether I have to do the loading or not! I was exhausted by 5.

But oh well, because we were so glad it was finally Kris's graduation day!
It's been a long time coming. We've been to two other St. Joe's graduations, so we knew pretty well what to expect. There are only four residents, so the program is nice and personal. A few important people get up and say some things, then the program director speaks and he usually speaks specifically about each resident, gives them a bit of a hard time and praises them for what they did well over the two years. It's really fun.
And this year didn't disappoint, I really enjoyed it.

BUT I didn't get to sit by Kris which was annoying. I did sit right behind him though. The above is a view of the program director talking over the heads of the residents.

Thank goodness for games on the phone. Most of the speeches didn't captivate Max, to say the least.


Kris with his fellow residents and program director in the middle. Kris will miss getting to work with these guys, and we'll miss getting to hang out with them.

Graduation was held at the Biltmore, a nice hotel downtown. We were right up at top and the views were spectacular.



Kris's parents came out for graduation, and it was so nice that they were there to support him and hear all the nice things that people had to say.


I'm SO proud of Kris and glad we made it to (and through) this day! Now off to the next adventure, deep into the unknown. We can do it, we've done it before.
Love you Kris!!!!!

.::Kris Graduated::.

I know youguys probably thought he didn't actually graduate because it's taken me so long to post about it, but the man did wear the gown and walk across the stage. And we were SO proud!
In fact, I really wish I had the cable to download video from my camera here in UT, because then I could show you how loudly Max was screaming for his daddy when his name was called. It was really cute.

Here he is just before graduation, in the room where they were all mingling and waiting. The light was obviously not so good, but oh well.

Does he look ready to graduate or what?

Here's Kris and one of his best friends from school, Jeff.

We had great seats during the ceremony and could see Kris right where he was sitting. They didn't start out with their extra robes on, they had to carry them up to the stage where one of the professors placed them over their heads. It was interesting. At mine we just wore ours. I guess these dentists think they're a little different or something... :)

Coming down the steps...a graduated man. Please note his shiny sneakers. We had to go buy new ones just before the ceremony because we had accidentally packed all his shoes except a pair of very casual sandals. At least he got some cool new shoes out of it!
At the end of the ceremony the audience was all supposed to wait for the graduates to leave the hall (oh, I mean the gym. We're pretending it's some sort of hall.) But Kris motioned to me that he wanted Max to come with him. So I sent him running over there. He was thrilled to parade out with his daddy. How special!
I don't know if you can see much of that in this picture, but at least now you know what it's supposed to be.

It was great. Actually graduating actually made the last four years almost worth it!! Just kidding, now that it's over I can say it was totally worth it. I'm just so proud of Kris for finishing it all, it was quite the big job and VERY stressful. Yay for being finished. It's an excellent feeling.

::Events that are getting kind of old now...::

Can you tell I finally have some reliable internet access? It's nice.
It's been a while now, but remember how Kris and I graduated? And we moved? I have pictures from a whole bunch of those events that I'd like to post for all to enjoy. So here we go!
Here's Kelly helping to entertain Max while we packed. It was nice of him because Max isn't always the funnest guy to play with...he kind of makes up his own rules from time to time. Oh, and he quits in the middle of games pretty consistently too.



We're sure going to miss Kelly!

Here are some awesome views of packing the truck:
a couple of Kris's cycling friends from the ward rode their bikes over to help us out. Were they kind of rubbing it in that he was ditching them? Who knows. We were glad they came even if they were wearing their dorky cycling shoes.

We had a lot of help and support from the ward which was nice.

It's weird to see all your stuff out on the lawn, that's for sure.

hard at work!
Kris's Grandpa helped to organize the packing in the truck. He used to work for a moving company back in the day, so he was very helpful.

Here's Ricky with his big muscles carrying some really heavy stuff.

We started packing the truck at about 9:30 and were done by noon. I had a sweet friend from the ward come and help me clean the house. She scrubbed my kitchen like crazy. It was so nice to have that help. It was a relief to have everything packed up so we could move on to more exciting events later in the day....
such as our graduation party! This party was planned to be quite the exciting event, with a lot of people invited. It was happening at our neighborhood park so kids would have someplace to play and was happening in between packing the truck in the morning, and Kris's graduation in the afternoon.
Unfortunately it turned out to be a cold, rainy, overcast day. And it rained. Right during our party!
We still had it though, and some seriously great friends did show up.

one of our delicious party cakes. Yay costco!

max trying to resist sticking all of his fingers in the cake.
Here are a whole bunch of our sweet friends that showed up. I don't have pictures of everybody because it was pretty wet out there so I didn't keep the camera out for long. Somehow Kelly, Lechelle, Kari, Ken and Kathy all eluded my camera. They were there though which was nice!











We have such great friends in Kansas City. We're really going to miss them. A ton!

The kids still played out at the park and seemed to have a great time even though it was wet and cold.





All in all the party turned out well. It was a crazy day with all the packing and partying and graduating. I have kris graduation pictures I'm working on too. I'll post them as soon as I can!

.::YAY!::.

Yay I actually graduated tonight. It was great. I'm so tired now I can hardly keep my eyes open.
My graduation was just with the graduate students and undergrads from the business school. We actually walked about halfway across campus to get from our building to where the commencement was happening. It was a fun little parade. For some reason we had a bagpipe player leading the host. Kris took some great pictures for me.
Here we come!

Here's Max watching the parade as we came up to the building where graduation was happening.

Here I am trying to get Max's attention, can you see me?

He sees me!

It was a good length for a graduation. It was about an hour long.
I'm lucky that Kris's parents and grandparents and Kris's sister Kari and Kelly and Lechelle were all there. So I had cheers when I walked across the stage and that made me happy!
Max did great during the whole thing I guess, good thing Kris has an entertaining phone.
I'm so happy to be done and proud that I could stick it out and make it happen.
Thanks to my cute little family for always being my support!



Kris graduates tomorrow! WOO HOO!

.:.:Might Actually Happen:.:.

Kris and I went yesterday and paid $100 bucks for the privilege of graduating from UMKC.
Well I guess the money was actually for the privilege of being able to wear goofy outfits and walk across some stage somewhere.
I now am a proud owner of a graduation outfit, color: drab. Couldn't they come up with a better color for us business people? I think it's rude.
Kris only gets to rent his "regalia".
So it was brought home to me after we walked out of the school's bookstore, cap and gown in hand, that we might actually for real graduate. It might actually happen. And I'm sorry, but that's blowing my mind a little bit.
It's totally insane.
Now I just have to try to concentrate for long enough on my school work to get it done, so I actually can graduate!!

Yesterday was a really beautiful day out here, and today's shaping up to possibly be nicer. It's so nice to have a break from the winter weather. Just the idea of spring brings so much optimism with it, at least to me. There's light in the house and everything smells better.
And although I'm not a fan of having to wake up an hour earlier, and I'm still trying to adjust to it, having more light has been so nice! I feel like I'm actually alive during the daytime for the first time in months.
So yesterday I walked by a little flower shop that had tulips for sale, and couldn't resist. I went in and got myself a bunch. I have to share them with you because they're so incredibly pretty.

They make me happy. Happy wednesday to everybody. Happy March. We're all going to make it.
Oh, and my youngest brother Murphy is going to be opening his mission call tonight, I'm so excited to see where he's going to be headed! I'll keep you posted.