Graduation Weekend

Graduation!!! Finally!!! I am so proud of Scott. It has been a long four years. He has worked so hard to get here. I can't believe it's finally come (and gone, as it was May 24th). To Scott's credit, I have never felt like a widow. He has ALWAYS made time for us and did a great job of balancing school, family, and church responsibilities. There were maybe only a handful of times that he didn't make it home for dinner. It was so good for our kids and such a relief to me to have him home every night, even if it was only for an hour before he went back to school. He worked and worked and worked and still thought I deserved something for his graduation, so he got me some beautiful flowers and a one hour pregnancy massage. I loved every minute of that! It was perfect, even if I didn't deserve it. Thanks, honey!

Our handsome graduate--way to go!

Having a moment while Alisa eats the beads and Jake makes faces. I love our family!

Our families--my parents with Jake, Kelsi, Jenni (Scott's sisters), Scott's dad and mom.

With my parents

With Scott's parents--can you tell our kids were getting a little tired? They did great--all four hours that evening!

Scott with friend Scott Krause

Scott and his friend, Mark Brown, were asked to do a musical number for graduation. What an honor! He sang "You Raise Me Up" while Mark played a beautiful piano part and there was a memories slideshow playing. It was really nice.

Scott waving to us from his seat.

After graduation, we had ice cream cake from Baskin Robbins. I forgot to take a picture before we ate it, but isn't it cute that they drew a tooth on the front? That's what that brown shape is.

On Saturday before graduation, Scott's parents took my parents, Jenni (Scott's sister), Scott, and me out to dinner at the Mission Inn. Thank you so much! It was such a nice place. We got to eat in the gorgeous courtyard. The weather was perfect and we opted for a babysitter, so it was a relatively stress-free night for all but my parents. They drove a 16' moving truck over from Flagstaff. It kept overheating so they crossed the desert sans AC and going a whopping 45 mph. 9 hours later, they pulled into Riverside, changed clothes in the back of the truck, and met us for dinner. Whew! Thank you for the sacrifice! We were happy to have both families there to support Scott! On Monday, after graduation, we loaded up 90% of our belongings and sent them to Flagstaff with Curtis and Colleen. Thank you so much for all your help loading the truck and driving it back to Flagstaff arriving late in the middle of the night. We owe you big time. We sent the little white truck back with the Seaman's--thank you for hauling it back to Flag. Goodbye 'whitey' we will miss you!

Scott and I in the courtyard at the Mission Inn. 

Spoiled by Grandma and Grandpa! Jake and Alisa were thrilled with the new towels they got from the Seaman's. Alisa is a butterfly and Jake is, obviously, Batman. Awesome.

Scott had a busy and award-filled week. Here it is for posterity's sake. Tuesday night his class had a class party and gave out funny awards. Scott (and his friend, Mark Brown) got the LDSDA award--the "Mormon vegetarian" (no, he's not really vegetarian) or the Seventh-day Adventist who doesn't drink coffee. In other words, the Mormon/SDA who most embrace the other??? 

He had an awards chapel at school Wednesday where he got an award from the Academy of Operative Dentistry, the American Academy of Implant Dentistry, and the Gold Award for Academic Excellence on National Boards Part I and II. He had an awards banquet at the Mission Inn Thursday. There he got chosen for Excellence on Clinic by his main faculty and got a $500 award. Nice! Way to go, Scotty! I am so proud of him. It has been a long, hard road. 

Scott with Eric, Dr. Suh (his main faculty) and Scott Krause. We're going to miss all the wonderful friends we've made here! Many have already left. It has been hard to say goodbye. 

Jake being silly. Hey! We still had furniture in this picture! 

Our blue-eyed princess. Who can resist that smile? Or that wispy hair? Hey, at least she's growing some hair!