The Little Brother Graduates

Full album/bigger pictures here

This past Tuesday was my little brother's graduation from Western Nevada College with an Associate of Arts degree. I took Ayla and went up to my parents' place Monday morning to be there for the ceremony and spend some time with the family. Later Monday evening my Nana and Ted (grandparents on my mother's side) arrived too. We had a nice dinner of grilled vegetable, tofu, and shrimp (for the omnivores) kebabs, with my favorite quinoa salad on the side.

The following day Mom, Nana, and I headed into Carson to do a little shopping. And look who I got to see!!!!

Apologies for the crappy iPhone picture

Katie and Eric! Katie's parents live not too far from my parents, and they just happened to be visiting and in Carson for lunch. They came over to the store we were in to say hi, take a picture, and give me a chance to embarrass Eric by hanging out in the women's lingerie section. I'm so happy we got to see each other, even if it was for only a few minutes. I'm even happier that we'll be getting together soon with the other two members of the Four Musketeers. I love you guys! And by the way, nice catch Katie!

Tuesday evening we attended Clay's graduation. We got there an hour early and were lucky we did, because not everyone who showed up got into the auditorium. The ceremonies were about to begin when we suddenly hear a huge shout from the back. I thought it was some crazy dude, but then the bagpipes began. The shout had come from the major(?) of the Scottish band, and he along with the pipes and drums led the processional into the hall. An improvement on the usual Pomp and Circumstance, if a loud one. Anyway, I didn't get many good pictures during the ceremony since the lighting in the hall wasn't great and when Clay walked across the stage to receive his diploma I was yelling for him, which made my camera shaky.


After the graduation we went to dinner at El Charro Avita where we had yummy food and large margaritas. By this time it was late so we went back to my parents' place where Clay opened a few presents and then we sat around chatting.

The next morning we had a leisurely breakfast and then I headed home. Ayla managed to make everyone fall in love with her of course (Ted was referring to her as his dog after about ten minutes - she adored him!), but I know she was happy to head home where she could really rest. Its just so exciting up at my folks' house, with so many people to watch and play with, and so many cats to sniff. The drive home was uneventful, and Mac was more excited to see Ayla than he was to see me when we finally walked in the door.

Overall it was a great trip: I got to see both sets of grandparents, see my little brother graduate, and spend time with my family. Thanks everyone!