Graduation

I have to acknowledge that a year ago today was what Sara called "the best weekend of her life".  (truth be told, I think she had several of those)  President's Day weekend of 2011 was the last time that our immediate family spent all together, celebrating Sara's college graduation from Corban University.  Some dear friends, the Guillens, lent us their beautiful home for the weekend, and several people generously gave gifts so that all of our kids and their spouses could fly in to Reno.  It was truly a precious, precious time.  Mike Bates and Reno Hoff flew in from Corban University on Saturday to hold a special graduation ceremony just for Sara. I don't even have words to express how amazed we were that the college would do that, and how much the whole weekend meant to all of us. 

Sara and I spent many hilarious hours the month before, preparing a special Swenson trivia game.  This was also a highlight of our weekend.  Sam, Heidi, and Kari were all instructed to spend time preparing Kimberly, Brady, and Brett to answer questions in the Swenson categories of; Life at Home, Family Vacations, Four P.K.'s, School Days, and "I know, right?".  On Sunday afternoon everyone assembled in the living room so that Sara could host the show.  There was even a cash prize at stake. . . with the stipulation that the winning couple had to buy dinner for the whole family.  Sara had the final say as to which answers were correct.  After much laughter, and some minor arguments, Heidi and Brady claimed the prize. . . and dinner was delicious. 

I do love that the last time we were all together was so incredibly wonderful. . . more precious memories.
Joy and laughter. . . . sorrow and tears. . . . all wrapped up together.