Jonathan finished his Bachelor of Science Degree in Criminal Justice & Criminology through Portland State University on September 2, 2011. However, while his classes and final projects didn't wrap up until the beginning of September, the commencement ceremony was in August. I think it's a pretty big deal that he graduated from college, so I definitely encouraged him to walk in the ceremony. Lucky for us, Paul, Jennie, James, and Sarah live in Beaverton, Oregon which just so happens to be a hop, skip, and a jump from Portland State University. We took Jonathan's super exciting accomplishment as an excuse to visit them in their cute new home.
When we got to the airport in Long Beach, Michael was beyond excited about hearing and seeing all the airplanes.
He stared out the window by our gate with Jonathan for a while and then ran around the small terminal to every other window to search for more planes. And when he was done doing that he found entertainment in jumping off chairs and running up and down one particular ramp...I'm sure the employees absolutely loved us. I know many other passengers were entertained by his enthusiasm. :)When it was finally time to board the plane I was too chicken to ask if Michael could get a picture with the pilot...but of course Michael could have cared less. ;) He just wanted to get on the plane!
Michael did great on the flight.
On the drive from the airport to their house, Michael was very observant... "Trees! Trees! Trees!" He must have noticed there are quite a few more trees in Oregon than there are in Southern California.
The time we spent in Oregon was really nice. It definitely made Jonathan and I want to move there even more than we did before. Unfortunately, Jonathan had lots of homework to get done while we were there, so much of our time was spent doing that...but at the same time it was nice to just relax and play at the house. I'm completely bummed that I didn't really take any pictures of the house itself. These two pictures were taken in their awesome playroom. (Not pictured is one of the walls that is entirely a chalkboard. So cool!)
One of the days we were there, we went to Paul's office to have a nice picnic lunch. Afterward, Jennie, James, Sarah, Jonathan, Michael, and I walked around temple grounds. There were a couple brides being pictured, so we didn't stay long. We were also creeping into nap time which probably sped things up a bit too. ;)
Silly cousins.
The Commencement ceremony was on Saturday. Everything was set up outside, and even though we got there pretty early, all the seats were either taken or being saved. We were able to find a spot off the the side next to a set of bleachers with a fairly good view of where Jonathan would be receiving his diploma (or at least the cover...). Michael got a kick out of playing under the bleachers. I kept having these nightmarish flashes of the bleachers collapsing on him...but alas that did not happen.
Instead, he nailed his head pretty hard on one of the metal beams...
I am amazed we haven't had to make a trip to the ER because of one of his head bumps...thankfully him bumping his head on things is happening less and less, but STILL!The speeches were short and sweet, but there were lots of names read. I managed to squeeze through the crowd and get a couple shots of Jonathan though :)
It took him a few minutes to get to us after the ceremony finished, so as his adoring fans, we took those moments to prepare to shower him with leis! (A HUGE thanks to mom for making all but one of the fabulous leis! It took me just as long to make one double lei as it did for her to make two double leis plus a single lei! And then she made all of the candy leis too!)
I remember going to Paul and Jennie's graduation at BYU and seeing someone with a toddler in a cap and gown with their parents. I thought to myself..."If I have a child by the time Jonathan or I graduate, I am TOTALLY going to be one of those ridiculous moms that does that!" And I was...
The trip went by way too fast...at least for me! Paul, Jennie, James, and Sarah were very hospitable :) and hopefully we'll be able to go out again sometime soon!
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