Graduation

walking out to the pomp and circumstance song.

walking to the tunnel to go around back and get to the stage...

i just walked across the stage!

we were supposed to turn around to the family who came to say thanks...

this is my good friend heather. we took a lot of classes together and became pretty close. she had just gotten back from her honeymoon that morning.

my advisor and some friends from the department.

cris and betsy made it in time for pictures and dinner. we got a few pictures but none of them turned out too well

we did a celebratory dinner at outback steakhouse where steve's parents, brothers, sister-in-law and niece joined us.

this is our niece, kadence. i think once the pre-dinner salad was served she never left our end of the table cuz she was playing with cris and LOVING IT!! here's an attempt at trying to capture that!

kimball's

obviously we had to take a trip to kimball's.

and the tractor just made it that much better for stevis. :)

minuteman trail

friday was spent helping mom get ready for dinner/ reception. so i sent steve off with his parents to go tour a bit. they did the minutman trail, which i don't think i've ever done my whole life living 15 minutes from it...

fishies along the way...

steve's parents doing the trail.

monument at north bridge.

monument

old cannon

colonial uniform

british uniform

part of the trail

tavern on the green.

these are re-enacters in training. they are learning the call signals/positions.

the british made an appearance

musket

boston

we had a reception in boston and it was the lyman's first time EVER. as such i took them to some of my favorite parts of the city. once again, not so good with the documenting but here are a few...

we HAD to go candlepin bowling because let's face it, it's better than normal bowling. i can actually hold the ball. i still stink at it though.

for nicole

i believe we found this at the gateway museum.

jack jack

i know we have all seen pictures of jack jack.

but i have some i needed to post and finally have the internet to do it!

i was the first one to meet jack jack on the lapierre side (except for grandma) and this is the proof!!

falling asleep sitting up. cutie patootie!

he's super happy that i visited him!

apparently jim has never had a baby suck on his finger before. i think he almost cried from the excitement!

i didn't take too many pictures but enough to have proof i was there first! :)

why i LOVE Make-A-Wish

friday was not a typical day for me at work.

i was out of the office all day working on a wish.

one of our kids' wish was to have an army jeep he could play on.

friday was the day of granting his wish. and it was AMAZING!

he had no clue it was happening that day, and was sent out with his family while volunteers set up his backyard as an army base complete with a restored WWII jeep.

i don't actually have any pictures but here are links for you to read about the story...

http://prayformarky.blogspot.com/

http://sltrib.com/sltrib/home/50025983-76/mark-army-guard-disease.html.csp?page=2

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/700052403/Jeep-fulfills-ailing-childs-fondest-wish.html

my personal favorite part of the wish was after he was sworn in by the army captain. this captain had been to afghanistan and had received a medal that symbolized his being in battle. this captain took the medal off of his uniform and pinned it on our wish kid, saying that he had been through many battles and would have more to face and this would symbolize that.

AND THEN this same captain had another award for our wish kids and said that this award was a symbol of bravery and courage. he then proceeded to pull out a bronze star he had been awarded and GAVE IT TO THIS KID!

it was totally amazing to see the outpouring of support from family and friends that all showed up to be a part of the surprise.

and that is why i LOVE Make-A-Wish!

p.s. i have finally been assigned a partner and get to start working on granting my own wish this week!! i'm really excited!