Graduation

Let me give you (by "you" I mean all two of the people that read this blog, which includes Andrew) a quick rundown of our even quicker trip Thursday morning we ran errands, return library books, and made sure everything was packed. At 11:30AM we went to Paul and Amanda's house and received a ride to the airport. After one layover in Dallas, we had an unplanned layover in Albuquerque. This stop started out as a staff change, but turned into a two hour delay. My mom picked us up at the Portland Airport. We ate dinner at Sweet Tomatoes, which has almost become tradition, then drove down to Salem. Too much detail for a quick rundown? Unfortunately, I can't tell a story any other way :)

I love Oregon. The air seems easier to breath, maybe because it's less humid than Oklahoma... maybe I'm imagining it, who knows... While in Salem we were able to go to Silver Falls State Park, Mento Brown Park, and take walks around my parents neighborhood and Woodmansee Park. That was the extent of our exercise. We got time to visit with my parents and grandpa while we were there, but I wish that we had more time. Coming home is always calming. I feel happy and relaxed when we visit my family.

My Aunt Terri and her 6 year old daughter Alissa were staying with my parents, which was great. I'd never met Alissa before. She is full of energy! If we were sitting down she wanted to play a game, if we were talking she wanted to go outside or get in the hot tub. It was really nice to reconnect with Aunt Terri. I hardly ever see her. On Saturday we had a family party for my Grandpa's 90th birthday. He was tickled by the amount of children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren that attended. Andrew, Mom and I made 90 cupcakes for his 90th, but decided to have him blow out only one candle. Getting together with extended family made me miss Oregon even more.

Monday Dad had to work so Andrew, Mom and I went to the Coast. We ate at Local Ocean Seafood in Newport - my favorite restaurant of all time. I have dreams about that place the food is so good. The seafood is caught locally that same day and tastes amazing! We stopped off at Devil's Punchbowl, but never actually set foot on the beach. I think that is a first. Tuesday was Grandpa's actual birthday so we spent the morning with him and set off on our car ride to Utah by late afternoon. After a stop to sleep in Nampa Idaho, we got to Andrew's parents house by late afternoon on Wednesday. Their house is so fun. I miss being able to go up there on the week-ends. Andrew's dad showed us some of his recent paintings. I think we see improvement in his skills each time we visit.

Thursday was commencement. My mom brought her cap and gown from graduation last year. We were able to walk together just like we always talked about. My Mother in-law, Father in-law, Sister in-law April, Dad, Aunt Patsy and Brother Andrew were able to come down to see us walk. Afterwards we went to Sam Hawk, a small Korean restaurant that Andrew and I went to a lot when we lived in Provo. We said goodbye to family and left to visit our old neighborLloydel. She cried the whole time we were there.

We saw our best friends Lant and Kendra on Thursday before and after graduation. Andrew got to play Call of Duty 4 in the Man Room at Lant's parents house. He set a record for most deaths in a family game. We stayed up until 2:30 in the morning playing games and talking with them that night.

Dad, Me, Mom

My convocation was at 8:00Am the next day. This was the ceremony where my name was read and I walked across a stage. Afterward we stopped by both sets of Grandparents on Andrew's side while driving through bountiful. We also saw Andrew's (young) uncle Chris and his new girlfriend briefly before they headed up to Mount Hood Oregon. The rest of the day was spent with Andrew's immediate family. We had a water fight outside with his dad, sisters, nieces and nephew and just enjoyed being with family. There is no way I could have gotten better in-laws. I love Andrew's family so much.
The trip was so wonderful, but short. It was hard to say good bye to everyone. We didn't get enough time in each place.