Glorious Graduation Day

I can't believe this day finally came. Nick graduated last Friday with his BS in Technology Management, emphasis in Electrical Automation and Robotics.  I'm so very proud of him. He has carried a heavy load for the past 4 1/2 years with both working and attending school full-time.  Not to mention taking care of our little family.  It has definitely been a test of endurance and patience for both us. I was reading in my journal the other day about the early days of his schooling and how taxing it was on both of us.  Back then, Nick was gone from 7 am till 10 pm every day and I was struggling to learn the ropes of motherhood with a very demanding baby boy.  But 2011 was probably our refiners fire: Nick was taking 15+ credits per semester, he started working Sundays and graveyards, we welcomed baby #2 and I was grieving the passing of my sister.  Looking back, as strange as it may sound, I'm so very grateful for it all.  It taught me compassion, selflessness, patience, and made us both recognize the tender mercies of the Lord as well as savor the fleeting sweet moments in life amidst the hard times. I love how Elder Maxwell puts it: "The sharp, side-by-side contrast of the sweet and the bitter is essential until the very end of this brief, mortal experience. Meanwhile, even routine, daily life provides sufficient sandpaper to smooth our crustiness and polish our rough edges, if we are meek" (And believe me, I definitely have plenty more 'crustiness' available for smoothing).  :)

But just like that, our evenings have totally changed.  Now instead of doing homework on the laptop for 3+ hours, he gets to sit next to me on the couch.  And instead of me telling him about the book I am reading, he is currently reading it with me and we get to talk about our favorite parts/weird parts/funny parts... it's absolutely wonderful.

I took a couple pics of the graduation with my phone (so they are definitely not the best quality).

  

You did it Nick!  Woo-hoo!!!!