Here comes the graduate... the saga ends!

Today (Saturday, December 19) was the Commencement Ceremony that culminates the road to Mike's graduation! We debated whether to take Arianna with us or not since these things can take awhile so we opted for my sister to help us in the babysitting. So, the first picture is when Mike and I got to the gym where they were waiting to take their "formal" picture and get in lines, etc...I, after taking some pictures, went to the basketball court to save some seats for the ceremony.



Mike is all smiles waiting for his turn to get his diploma. Although he got his diploma a few weeks ago, he got another one with a sheet that says congratulations and by the way, we have a graduate program for you! So it is symbolic, but it was a very nice feeling.


We could not get closed to take a picture when they were on the stage, but I managed to take this picture from the tv monitor. Cool, right?


It was a really cold and gloomy day, but it was a very joyous occasion. We were all warm and toasty inside, but we were freezing.


Family pictures! So, after the ceremony they had a reception, but it was so crowded that we decided to go to the Fine Arts hallway and take pictures. Then, we went to a restaurant on Burbank called Chuck's. Ron you would have loved this place. Plenty of meat to go around, lots of BBQ. Very good food. We were stuffed.



Love this candy shot!


Great Job! as Arianna would say :)



I saw this wall and liked the arrangement. I took this picture mostly because I know Mike used to walk this hallway quite often and he could remember it later and partly because I loved it.


Paths, paths... Where will life take you next?


Getting ready to go to the restaurant. Last time on the parking lot. He used to park in Level 2 since it was cheaper, well you have to walk one more floor, but it was half the price. Good bye Cornflower level!


We are so proud of you!

Mike's Honors Graduation!

This is the last blog for today. I was so behind in news and events, but I think this pretty much puts me on track again!
Last week was Mike;s graduation (Honor). The Big Ceremony is this Saturday! But, here are some pictures of the event. We are so proud of you! :)

We had just arrived and realized that it was going to be a mini banquet - ok, more like cheeses, vegetables, fruits, crackers, some small fried goodness...

Looks cute, right? It was not bad and we actually got full after some chicken satay, meatballs, and lots of cheese!

Love the sunflowers in this arrangement I wanted to take it home, but I figure I would have a hard time keeping Misty away from it !


Some tables got small bouquets, other got the 3 candles. I actually thought it was nice and classy.

Here are some of our plates.. I think I grabbed one more after this one.


Mike's name got called so he can go for his medallion for been in the top of his class. Summa Cum Laude is the top honors that you can get - GPA of 3.9 and above :) So he will wear this medallion to the ceremony on Saturday.


How smiley!

Nice work honey. I love this picture.


A girl sitting on our table helped us with this picture. How cute :0 We don't have that many pictures of us lately. We love you and we are very proud of your accomplishments!

Proud Papa, Teeth, Party and Pumpkin patch.

I was waiting for Mike to come and show us the culmination of a long road... what is in the white envelope?


His Bachelor's Degree! It is finally here, so it is official. Congratulations to my daddy!


Also, while trying to doddle with Arianna, I came with this drawing that simplifies how I was feeling due to pain in two teeth. Apparently they worked to close to the nerve, and even though the nerves were fine they needed to go since they would not heal after they worked around them. Too much sensitivity equal to too much pain, so no choice but to have root canals. Well, after our pockets hurt more than anything I can say that I feel a lot better, but I still have some more stuff to go through in this area :( oh well...


Into nicer things, we went to Ann's house on Saturday to celebrate Grandma and Grandpa's birthdays. Ann made some really good pizzas and a Caprese (spelling?) salad. All homemade and that was her gift to her parents. Everyone ate a lot. After eating Arianna was playing with Grandpa and the drums. She loved them so I guess we can say a lot of noise is in our cards for our future.

Ann and Mom are getting ready to have some cake. The cake was their gift from Dave and Tiffany. It was all chocolate, with a layer of strawberry marmalade, and white frosting with sprinkles.


You go Grandma!


Happy Birthday Grandpa!


Arianna rocked to different tunes and she even sang most of the happy birthday song!

On Sunday (today) we went to a pumpkin patch at Palos Hills - The Farm. It was a great day and there were a lot of people taking advantage of that, but we still had a lot of fun. The good thing about this place is that they charged 4.50 per person (for the farm house - animals) and it was free for kids under 2 or you can go straight to the hay ride that takes you to the pumpkin field and not pay anything except for a pumpkin if you buy so it is nice. We paid for the farm and they had a lot of animals, and many of them you can pet: ducks, chicks, hens, bunnies (oh,rabbits- sorry Ari), horses, cows, goats, pigs, sheep... I may be forgetting one or two things. Arianna loved all of them.




After the farm, we went to the line for the hay ride. I was waiting on line while Mike and Arianna were playing nearby. Check the following pictures so you can see how much fun Ari was having!



I loved the colors of this tree!


Pumpkin patch, Arianna picked the pumpkin. After we walked for awhile, she settle for this one!

This was our ride back to the entrance were you paid your pumpkin and you can also buy some food and eat in their nearby tables or you can go home :)


Waiting for Mike. He went for the car so we would not have to walk all the way in the back. How nice of him :)


Nice picture of their bridge to cross Southwest Highway.


I captured this cool picture of geese flying by.


Arianna was playing with her big pumpkin and two little ones + a small gourd that Grandma and Grandpa bought for her. Thank you!


Here is our nice pumpkin. It was a long line to pay for it, but Arianna is having a blast with them and she is going to do some art on it later.