Graduation

Graduation was the best.  There were so many good things about it that this blog post can only scratch the surface.  

First, Nancy did a great job throwing a graduation party for us.  So many people came.  This is a picture of some of our friends from our LOST TV show group.  We also had a lot of friends from Church come.  I think we had twenty-something people show up.  Nancy made a great taco salad for everyone and it was all ready by the time everyone came, so it was a stress-free perfect party.

Also, before graduation, we took a family vacation to Busch Gardens.  Hazel came with us for the first part of the day, and we hit the Sesame Street portion of the park.  This was a 4D movie.  For those of you who have been following the blog since last July 4th, you'll know that Hazel doesn't like to be sprayed in the face.  It's still the same.  During part of the movie, a "thunderstorm" broke out in the movie, and Hazel bawled again.  Later in the day, Hazel's babysitter took her home and Nancy and I stayed and rode the roller coasters.  They have some serious rides there!

There was a multifaith baccalaureate service on Saturday morning in the school's basketball arena.  We enjoyed seeing a community of faith including Hindu, Judaic, Islamic, and Christian participation.  Hazel seemed to enjoy climbing the stairs the most.

Here's a group photo of everyone before the Baccalaureate service.  Longtime friends of the family Jim and Susan also came up on Sunday, which made us so happy, but they aren't in this picture.

Here's Hazel sporting her "Go Tribe" onesie that we got when she was born from the Legal Skills program.  You'll  notice in the background that we started loading our moving truck before the family arrived for Graduation weekend, so we were "camping" throughout the house over the weekend.

Here's a celebratory message that Nancy's parents made for me.

This picture is probably just Hazel being cute, but this position has also become quite characteristic.  She really likes to pray, and whenever she wants us to pray (like at meal time), she'll fold her arms until we pray, then release them when we say amen.  And then repeat it over and over.  We get our prayers in now.

Here is my new favorite picture of Nancy and Hazel, taken on the lawn where our commencement ceremony was held.

Hazel didn't waste any time telling me that I was done with law school.  She lifted off my cap after the commencement ceremony finished.  See ya later finals!  Bye bye law review editing duties!  All play, all summer!

Finally, here we are looking hopefully into the future.  We were greatly blessed just before graduation.  I had been struggling to lock down a job after graduation.  The Monday after my last final, I got a written offer from my law firm.  That Wednesday, I interviewed in Miami and Ft. Lauderdale with two federal judges, and both offered me positions.  That was such a miracle because it was our desired career path but God had closed those doors for us so many times over the past 18 months that I just didn't think it would happen any more.  We decided to accept the Ft. Lauderdale position, and can't wait to explore our new town.