graduation...

I know I am super late in posting this but you would not believe the whirlwind of a week we have had. We traveled to Las Cruces, NM for Tony's graduation ceremony, but we flew into Albuquerque because of the H1N1 just to be safe. It was nice to see my family on Thursday night, we had the opportunity to catch up over some ah-mazing New Mexican food from Monroe's! My mom had ordered a little graduation cake for Tony and when my dad Dave went to go pick it up he questioned whether it was the right cake because it was smaller than the top layer of a wedding cake. It might have been tinkerbell tiny but it was very tasty! My mom decorated it with footballs and a bobble head graduate so it looked adorable. She even found these graduation hats so of course we took pictures with those on! {they were taken on mom's camera so I hope to get them soon}

On Friday, Tony and Dave got up at o'dark thirty and drove to Las Cruces, NM {3 hour drive} so Tony could speak to my sister's high school class. When the whole voting for the superbowl ad was going on, Carleigh's class took the voting to a whole new level so to show his appreciation Tony went to meet and greet the kids. I drove down to Las Cruces with my mom and my dad Mike and the girls around noon and for the most part we had a peaceful ride. We stopped in Truth or Consequences {city in NM} for some ice cream and I must say, Addie did a great job of staying clean while enjoying her vanilla cone from McDonalds.

After we finished our sweet treats, we got back on the road and luckily we were only about an hour or so away from my sister's house at this point. The girls had been so good during the trip - Addie watched movies, Avery took naps... until the last 20 minutes! I think in those last 20 minutes both of the girls were thinking "GET ME OUT OF THIS STINKIN' CARSEAT ASAP!" Once we did arrive in Las Cruces, my girls were so incredibly happy! We all went out to eat at Outback {long wait, but we made it work} where Tony and I ran into old friends from college. After we finished dinner, we went to the hotel to hang out with Tony's side of the family {they arrived right as we were finishing up dinner} and boy oh boy did Addie enjoy spending time with her cousin Drew. They are one year apart and when they are together they have two speeds - full blast and in the carseat! They were jumping on the bed, giggling and laughing... and that was all in like 30 minutes! It was then time to turn in and get some shut-eye for the big day! Tony and I woke up early, got dressed {the girls stayed at my sisters house with my parents} and then my dad Mike took us to the Pan American Center which was the graduation site. Once Tony got checked in, we moseyed {it's Cruces, Agriculture capital so everyone moseys} on over the the name table so they would pronounce his name correctly. It was nice to see a friendly face - football color announcer Jack Nixon as the man who would be announcing the graduates. We have known Jack since our first year of college and he has been very good to us over the years. After our usual meet and greets, Jack handed Tony the Las Cruces Bulletin from that week and inside Jack had written a special, heart-warming article about Tony. I wish I would have had the foresight to take Tony's picture with Jack but I was so caught up in the moment, I spaced it. After reading the article, Tony was truly touched and thankful for Jack's kind words. 

Soon it was time for Tony to get in line and then for the rest of us to go get seats for the family. I must tell you, the anticipation of watching him walk through to see where he was sitting, when he was going to be called, etc. was so much fun. It was like "where's waldo" only in graduation garb. What do you know, he was THE LAST ONE!!! I am not just talking about the last one from his college {NMSU has like 6 colleges which together makes a university} I mean the last one to walk through the entire graduation ceremony. Talk about getting a round of applause - try a standing ovation! 

I knew taking a photo with my mini-Canon wasn't going to turn out so great, so I shot a video of it instead. If you look closely, you can see Jack Nixon giving Tony a special handshake right before he announces his name. 

Then of course, the regular round of must-have family graduation family photos. 

Here we are with Tony's side...

With my dad Mike...

With my dad Dave, my sister and my mom

After we took pictures and got through traffic {yeah, I know Cruces traffic is like 10 minutes but still called traffic!} we all went back to my sister's house so we could veg-out until our super big celebratory dinner at Double Eagle. My sister out did herself with all the treats she had provided and she made Tony his very favorite german chocolate cake! Yummy yummy!!! 

Cute pic with Aunt Keli {Tony's sister} and Avery Lynn

We went to this special place for dinner - Double Eagle and the rumor is that this old house which is now a restaurant is haunted. Happy to report we didn't experience any of the paranormal at dinner, but we were entertained by what the two toddlers were doing. They turned Tony's shirt into a sticker canvas...

Played peek-a-boo...

Played with their John Deer tractors...

Addie planted one on Drew... I love the expression on his face!

My mom and Avery

Deb and Avery

After dinner, we went out into the Old Mesilla courtyard where something important happened in history {Billy the kid, maybe???} but for the life of me I couldn't tell you without googling it. Here are some cute photos of them playing in the gazebo. 

It was a wonderful day...