The Hargrave Clan: Graduation Time!

May 8th--I am sitting in the Darnal Hospital Laboratory testing room, waiting for my number to be called to find out if I have gestational diabetes…again. And so since I have about four hours to kill, I decided to bring along the laptop and get something productive done.

(May 13th--SIDE NOTE: This was a crazy week. I was indeed again diagnosed with diabetes (hooray), and subsequently got to spend the next three mornings at various doctor and nutritionist appointments. As Matt mentioned in the previous blog post, work was insane for him and we hardly ever saw each other before falling into bed every night. Bennett was shuffled from friend to friend as all of this was going on, and in the middle of it all, I never got this post up. However, I really did write this Tuesday morning, as I was sitting in the hospital laboratory. We just never posted till now. Anyway...)

This last Thursday (May 3rd) Matt was able to take a few days off and we traveled as a family to Oklahoma for Griffin and Ashland’s graduations. Griffin graduated from Law school, and Ashland from her nursing program. My mom and dad were there as well, and it was so fun to see them for such an amazing event.

One morning we took Bennett and Zoey to the park. Bennett was in awe of this “big ball” and spent a long time climbing it and being trapped inside of it with Grandma.

Zoey playing happily in the sand…

…Zoey after Bennett threw a handful of sand in her unsuspecting face. Later, Zoey got back at Bennett by hitting him on the head with several wooden blocks. Good cousins.

Friday (May 4th) was Ashland’s graduation from her nursing program. Before the ceremony, we were able to give her a cardiac stethoscope to celebrate all the hard work she accomplished. We know she'll be awesome at using it.

Bennett and Zoey at Ashland's graduation. We had excellent seats...

Ashland’s graduation. Do you see her? She’s three-ish rows from the front, second-ish one in from the left. We were lucky she was so near the front, since Bennett and Zoey were both very much done with clapping by the time her name was called.

There she is! (the blurry one.)

Matt and I took Bennett and Zoey home to bed, but my mom and dad and Griffin stayed the whole time. Griffin was very emotional about the whole thing. (Just kidding. He had TERRIBLE allergies the entire week. But if there ever was a time to be emotional, I guess this would be it.)

The boys got to go golfing a few of the mornings and always came home with lots of stories to tell. Here’s the two most important men in my life, my dad and my Matt.

Griffin and Matt looking very golfy.

Griffin’s graduation was the next day on May 5^th, and we were able to give him the same print they hang in Congress for his future office. It’s called, “The Signing of the Declaration” and it was the best idea of what to give a lawyer we could come up with at the time. Hopefully it will inspire him for years to come.

Griffin’s graduation was MUCH smaller than Ashland’s, plus there was a jumbo-tron taking video the entire time. So it was just a little easier to pick him out of the crowd. Here he is walking out and looking very professional.

Griffin’s entire graduating class. Impressively small.

Getting his official master’s cape. Very cool.

Keeping Bennett and Zoey quietly entertained during both graduations was a fun challenge. They both really did do very well though.

I’ve forgotten to mention the Ashland’s parents, Jeff and Charlotte, her sister Savannah, and her grandma were all also there at both graduations. Jeff and Charlotte live near Griffin and Ashland and I know they have been a HUGE help in getting these two across the stage. And Matt and I sure like them too, since every time we visit they inevitably feed us delicious food and send us home with fresh, homegrown beef. What good people.

Proud parents. My mom was crying most of the time, so she is not going to be happy I put this picture on here, but I had to anyway.

This is my favorite picture from the entire event! What a cute family. (By the way, Zoey is “smiling”, not growling.)

Here are some more pictures from the days we were together, in no particular order.

Bennett and my dad, making silly faces at Ashland's parent's home. We had a DELICIOUS celebratory dinner there before Ashland's graduation. Oh peach pie...

Bennett and Zoey taking a bath with the big bubbles. Any time one of them fell down into the water we had to hurry and grab them before they got lost in the bubbles and drowned. It was very exciting for everybody.

Uncle Griffin and Bennett playing with the air mattress blower-upper (I'm sure it has a real name.)

Matt forcing eye drops into Griffin's eyes for his allergies. This was a big deal, since apparently Griffin doesn't let people do this to him (Ashland said he is a baby. I guess Matt just has that gentle touch...or he was just really, really desperate for relief.)