Proud of our grad!

On Friday a very important event happened for our family: my younger brother officially graduated from BYU-Idaho!! In case you can’t tell, I’m super excited and proud of him.

The grad!

Here he is with his beautiful wife who has supported him through school.

My brother decided that he wanted to not only attend convocation (graduation ceremony for his college) but also commencement. It made for a somewhat long evening, but it was exciting to be able to support him. One thing I couldn’t get over is the BYU-Idaho Center. It’s huge! In comparison to the Hart Building where we used to meet, it’s almost unbelievable that the student population could ever fit in there. Crazy! Isn’t it beautiful?

Here’s three of the four Ricks College/BYU-Idaho grads in our family. It’s changed quite a bit from the time my sister was there, almost 20 years ago. In fact, it’s changed significantly in the 7 years since I graduated. As I mentioned in a previous post, I still feel it’s a wonderful school with great programs.

Both our parents and my brother’s in-laws were able to come. It was great for him to have support from both sides of his family.

Now that graduation is over, he’s officially an alumni. Here is his wife putting on his alumni pin . . .

Way to go, little bro! I know you’re only going to move onward and upward from here! So proud to be your older sister!

So proud I can hardly stand it!!

Oh man! I am surely the slacker child of the world where my blog is concerned this month! Shame on me! The bad thing is I have several entries I'd like to put in here but then they pile up, and it seems I don't get the chance to write them. Uh-oh! I will do my best to catch myself up right now.

So this last weekend I had the opportunity to do something very special: I went to Boise to see my older sister graduate from college. This doesn't sound like the most extraordinary thing in the world except it's been a long road for her strewn with various challenges. After 7 long years attending school, working full-time (she's been the breadwinner in her house for over a year because her husband has been too sick to work) and still mothering two boys, she finally graduated!! Wa-hoo!!!

Here is a picture of the two of us with me being excited about her diploma, or rather the diploma case anyway. :)

When we walked into the Taco Bell Arena on the Boise State University campus last Saturday, "Pomp and Circumstance" was playing since the graduates were marching in. Yes, we were late, but this is my family we're talking about so you should expect us to be late. :) I felt like such a baby because I seriously almost started bawling my eyes out because I was so proud of my sister! I managed to keep it under control though and had the fun task of keeping her two sons entertained throughout the ceremony. Yup, that was really fun. After she got her diploma (case), I gave up and took them outside, as you can see here. Here's the kids in front of the Taco Bell Arena and then having a little fun in front of the Boise State Bronco. Go BSU!! (That's for my younger brother who happens to love BSU.)

I was just reflecting on all the sacrifices she's made to get to the point where she's at, and it touches me to see her achieve this important milestone. It also put me in mind of my own college graduation four years ago. It's hard to believe that it's been that long already, but time passes quickly when you're a working woman who tries to keep a social life on the side and may have delved into the world of freelancing. . . . :) Here's a picture of my parents with our graduate. You go girl!! There might also be one of us having a little fun in front of the BSU Bronco. I just wish it was closer so you could see the expressions on our faces, but oh well.