LAURA'S GRADUATION CELEBRATION

May 29th, 2008

My sister Laura had been attending Massage Therapy School for the last several months, and Thursday, May 29th, her graduation day, had finally arrived!!! We were all very excited for her, because she had worked so hard for this! Lindsey had come down from Idaho for the occasion, and Ben and Emily and their kids were there, as well as me and Brian and Vaughn. We waited through the speakers, and finally the line formed and the students' names were called out. Just like in any graduation ceremony, they walked forward and were handed their diploma. Laura was so dang excited to graduate, that she got her diploma and just kept walking! We had to call out to her and ask her to go back for a photo!

What stunk was that my camera didn't focus...but at least we have a picture of Laura getting her diploma! What a nut!

Once every student had received a diploma, and the ceremony was over, it was time to go and congratulate Laura. Prairie was the first kid to give her a hug. And naturally Laura was all smiles. Who wouldn't be?

Laura couldn't contain her feelings about how cute Prairie was, as you can see in this picture.
I felt the same way she did. How dare Ben and Emily produce such an adorable kid!

Next came me and Vaughn. We tried really hard to get Vaughn's attention to focus ahead, but I think he was distracted by some cute blond! Doesn't he look handsome?!

Here he is trying to smile again for the photo. Laura and I were just laughing at him.

We got the kids together for a picture as well. Autumn seemed to be fine with it, but it looked as if Vaughn and Prairie had better things to do. I think they were exchanging looks here, wondering why they had to do this!

Maybe they were tired? But they were still very cute!

After the ceremony, Bubby was going to take Laura out for dinner to celebrate her accomplishment. He also offered to pay for Lindsey. I was going to go and get something very small just because it was a more expensive restaurant. But when we got there, Bubby announced that he was paying for me too, and that we could have whatever we wanted. I was a little embarrassed, and very touched. Here we are with Bubby, really enjoying ourselves at dinner!

The evening quickly progressed into a very fun event. I think this is just after Laura or Lindsey had told a somewhat shady joke, and as usual, I was the one who was shocked! Lindsey looked so pleased! We had THE BEST time cracking jokes, bantering and just being kids again. It was one of the best nights I can remember in the last 7 years.

Here's Bubby and Laura enjoying their food. Bubby was holding these fried cheese ball type things that were DELICIOUS! I could have eaten just those for my meal!

Here's Laura in true character, in the middle of eating her chicken wing. Laura is the only person I know who can enjoy food this much.

Can't you just feel the excitement?! Her taste buds must really be having a party!

This is probably my favorite picture EVER of Laura. This is EXACTLY how Laura reacts when there is chocolate to be eaten. She prepared herself for dessert by positioning her napkin in such a way that she could totally focus on eating and enjoying herself. I LOVE YOU LAURA!!!

I thought this picture of Bubby was so cute! Here he is ready to pay the bill, and smiling from ear to ear. He must not have been thinking about the bill, but about the wonderful food and fun time we had that evening.

After we had all eaten ourselves silly, we tried to walk out to the car. On the way, Bubby complained about eating too much and stuck out his belly. I told him, "Nice try, but no cigar." So of course, we had to take a picture to see who won out. I'll let you be the judge. (Just remember I'm pregnant!)

Isn't Bubby adorable?!?! I just have to thank him and Emily for making that evening possible. It truly was one of the happiest times I have ever spent with my siblings!


I'll end with a picture of some chives I cut from my garden that morning.

Love, Lisa