Graduation Weekend

As is the norm anymore, graduation weekend was a few weekends ago.  Seriously, I just can't seem to get things done fast enough anymore!  But I suppose what's important is that they're still getting done, right? :)

Nick graduated from BYU on April 19th and 20th.  He graduated Summa Cum Laude from the History Department, which was pretty cool.  Most of our family was able to be there throughout the weekend to support Nick and celebrate his accomplishments.  The only ones missing were Jeff and Jami and their family, as they had about 7 conflicting schedules. :)  We sure did miss them!  But Heather, Baron, Roman, and little Lila were able to come out from Ohio, and it was great to see them.  We haven't seen Heather and the boys since Rachel's funeral, and with the exceptions of my Mom, none of us had met Lila yet.  It was great to see them again!  Khushboo, Nick's girlfriend, was also able to come from Alabama, and it was really fun to have her around as well.

Danny had to work on Thursday and Friday, and I'm too pregnant to schlep our 3 kids to Provo and back for an 8 am convocation, so we didn't attend any of the ceremonies.  But, we were excited to meet everyone back at Grandma Candy's for fun and festivities once everyone was back from Provo and rested.  We grilled some burgers and enjoyed dinner together.  The kids were so excited to all be together again, and they played and played and played!  We did manage to get them to sit and refuel for a few minutes...

Grandma Candy and I had fun in the kitchen, getting the more adult fare like guacamole ready for dinner, while everyone just hung out and visited.  It was a pretty casual and low-key gathering, which was both unusual and wonderful!

Then it was time for Uncle Nick to open his presents!  He got some pretty cool stuff.  From our Mom, he got his giant family picture, for which he was very grateful.  We all love that picture.  He also got a car kit for his long trip to the east coast, just in case the car broke down. :)  Then Heather, Jenny, Jessie and I all pitched in to upgrade his iPhone for him.  He was really stoked about that!  Heather went above and beyond with a cash-filled card, and Khushboo bought him a very nice leather satchel so he will look cool as a teacher.  I think he made out like a bandit!

After presents, the real fun began!  Grandma Candy found this awesome place called the Trampoline Park that she thought would be fun for kids of all ages.  And she was right!  From Johnny right up to Danny, everyone had the time of their lives!  Here's the photo evidence:

You can see Roman and Baron throwing gang signs. :)  Not really, but they were going to be celebrating their 7th birthday while they were here with us, so I had them throw up a seven for the crowd.  The kids had so much fun!  They had these giant foam pits that Johnny and Eli wouldn't stay away from.  They'd stand at the edge and get ready for a big jump...and then just walk in. :)  Cute boys!

After an hour, everyone was exhausted and ready to call it a night.  We all headed to our respective beds, and met up the next afternoon back at Grandma Candy's.  There was something on an open house scheduled in the afternoon for Nick's friends and the ward family to come and say congrats and goodbye to Nick.  At the end of this celebratory weekend, he was heading off to New Jersey to begin his teaching post with Teaching Across America.  We enjoyed too many sweet things, and quite a few sweet friends, and then  Danny and I brought our kids home.  We had early morning church after all, and the kids definitely needed baths!  

We were back at Grandma Candy's on Sunday for dinner, birthday cake, and more fun.  As I mentioned, Roman and Baron were going to be turning 7 a few days after they left for home, so we took the opportunity to celebrate their birthday with them.  We get to see them so rarely, it was a real treat!  As their gift from us, Danny and the kids and I picked them out a really cool "Avengers" cake, complete with super hero rings! :)  I think the boys enjoyed it.  I know my boy enjoyed eating it!

The rest of the evening was spent just enjoying each other's company.  The kids had a blast playing outside with the wiggle cars.  Well, the boys enjoyed the wiggle cars.  Claire, Sophie, and Isabelle were the princesses.  Baron and Roman were so fast on those wiggle cars, we didn't get a single decent picture of those two!

It was a great weekend, and it was so fun to be together as family.  It's especially fun to have the kids together with their cousins that they don't see very often.  Nick and Khushboo took off early Monday morning for their adventures back east, and Heather and her kids headed back to Ohio early Tuesday.  We hope it's not so long before we're all together again.