Graduation

Today was Steven's graduation for his program. The actual Columbia graduation is tomorrow, but Teacher's College had their ceremony today. Unfortunately it was a bit cold and rainy - this really only effected the wives who were wearing their summer May outfits! Who would have thought. Imagine carrying a 25 pound child in one arm and toting an umbrella in the other. Then imagine sitting through a 2 hour ceremony with a one year old boy who just gifted me with a messy diaper.....right. I'm actually not sure which felt longer, the year of graduate work or the graduation ceremony.

We stared the day with a luncheon with all of Steven's classmates (40 of them with their families). We mostly ended up hanging out with our friends - as you can see the kids migrated towards one another.







Then we headed to Riverside Church (which happens to be the second tallest church in the US!) for the ceremony. Since I've already mentioned this, I'll just tell you that we had to start in a fellowship hall with a TV screen because there wasn't enough space, but they worked us in after about 20 minutes. We got a few pictures and a video of them calling Steven's name...get excited.











And that's that - we're almost done packing and I'll be flying back to NC on Thursday. It has been a crazy fast time and an amazing blessing. There are so many things that we will miss - walking, the city, the markets, our friends, the parks, and all the amazing things we were able to experience. But we are very much looking forward to a yard where our children can play and where my husband can have his much needed garden. We can't wait to come back to our family and friends in North Carolina and we are excited about having a house of our own. All in all, this has been an amazing year that we would not trade for anything....but it is time to head back. Look out North Carolina!