Geoffrey's BYU Graduation and Other Utah Happenings

April 23rd marked our 30th wedding anniversary.  Since we knew that Geoffrey would be graduating around this time, we had gone on our little anniversary getaway last month.  But Steve was still insistent that we should be together on our anniversary.  So, he planned to come out for the graduation and arrive that night so that we could at least see each other on that day.  Well, what can I say?   We gave it a try.  :)  I actually went with my parents and Jeri that morning to the IF temple.  It was nice to be in the very building where our wedding took place 30 years ago.  

Steve's plane was due in around 11 pm so I left Idaho Falls in plenty of time to pick him up at the airport in SLC.  Unfortunately, his plane was delayed and due to some cell phone issues we actually didn't see each other until about 1:30 AM.  We had made plans to stay in Salt Lake so we thankfully were able to crash pretty soon after that.  The next day we had to spend in Salt Lake since our kids in Provo were busy until later in the day.  We also wanted to pop into a wedding reception that evening for Shawn Calchera.  The Cachera family are good friends of ours who used to live in New Jersey.  We started our day by going to the Draper Temple.  We had never been there before and wanted to attend a session.  Unfortunately we did not know that they don't rent clothes there.  But not to worry.  They took good care of us and let us borrow clothing they have set aside for members who arrive from far away and don't have temple clothes.  It is such a beautiful temple.

Steve outside the Draper Temple.....

...and the two of us (just one day after our 30th anniversary)

We also spent some time on Temple Square

The flowers were gorgeous as you can see

E

And the Salt Lake temple is always a stunning sight!!!

We also toured Welfare Square which was very cool and has great samples at the end of the tour of some of the things produced there...cheese, bread, chocolate milk, jams, etc.  Way yummy!!!

After seeing the Calchera's for a few minutes at the wedding reception, we headed to Provo.

We were so pleased to be able to attend Geoffrey's graduation.  He graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering with a minor in Business.  We were able to spend some great time with him and some with Emily and Jim, too.  There was the main Graduation ceremony for all graduates on Thursday and then the Engineering Convocation on Friday.  Elder L. Tom Perry spoke at the big ceremony.  Emily was even able to come to that one since it was at 4pm and she was done with her student teaching for the day.  Here are some of our photos.  April is a very pretty time in Provo, I think.

Geoffrey with the flowering trees on campus

One with the "Y" in the background

In front of the bell tower

A big "thumbs up"

Lining up to come into the Marriott Center

So....here was another little surprise for me.  This good man in the picture's name is Brother Collard.  Way back , just after my sophomore year of college, I served as the stake camp director in my home stake in Idaho.  Brother Collard was our faithful priesthood leader for the camp.  He had been for years, but we became especially great friends that year that I was the leader.  I have not seen him for many years but happened to turn around and see him after the graduation.  After all those years, he not only remembered me, but remembered how anxious I was to get back home after camp because a certain young man was coming up to visit from Provo.  Yes, it was Steve.   It was so fun to be able to visit with him again after all these years.  He lost his wife a few years back, but he still looked great.  Such a good man....and it was just so fun to see him.

Jill, Geoffrey, and Em

Geoffrey and Dad

Giving the cap a toss

This one turned out pretty well, too

Emily, Geoffrey, and Steve 

Emily and I insisted that we get one by the tulips.....see, Geoffrey, it turned out so pretty  :)

Appropriate, I think

Standing by the official BYU sign

..and then up ON the planter

Priceless!!

As with any indoor, far away camera shot, it is pretty tough to get a good one.  Here are our best attempts during the Engineering Graduation Ceremony.

That's Geoffrey walking out to line up to come in when his name is read.

Returning to his seat after receiving his diploma

This is Jen, Scott's cousin, and her husband, Taylor.  He and Geoffrey both graduated in Chemical Engineering.

And one more shot of the happy graduate.  (Funny story....We had decided that for the graduation on Friday morning at 11, we would just meet Geoffrey afterward.  He had to be there at 10 so he just decided to walk there as it was just a few blocks from his house, and we would just drive there from Emily's house where we were staying.  When we got in the car that morning, there were Geoffrey's robes in the back seat.  I was frantic and was sure he was wondering where they were since it was already after 10.  We quickly called his phone and...yes, you guessed it, woke him up.  Needless to say we picked him up and dropped him off .  I think he looks pretty good for no shower, don't you?)

Later that day, we decided to hike the "Y".Steve and I had talked about doing it while we were out in Utah.  I really didn't think we would.  These two guys were VERY patient with me as I kept stopping all along the way, but we did it and it was really fun.  Steve's shirt pretty much tells the story.  :)

With the "Y" in the background

Can't believe I made it....haven't climbed it since freshman year in college

This is my favorite picture.  I love that you can see both Steve and Geoffrey and can also see the shape of the "Y" and the town below.  Very FUN!!

There he is....THE GRADUATE!!

On the way down

They light up the "Y" on the mountain for certain occasions.  Graduation is one of those occasions.  We shot this photo as we were coming out of the restaurant where we ate dinner that night.

We so enjoyed spending time with our kids, helping Emily get a few things ready around the house for her new little guy, and even got to have lunch with my brother, Bruce, his wife Jennifer, and his daughter, Lauren one day.  We also got to meet up with Noe' and Ellen Casalino for lunch as we headed out of town Monday morning.  He was the best man at our wedding.  So fun to see old friends.

So long, Provo....(for a month or so, anyway)