Ashley's brothers came to San Jose to join the Celebration

Ashley wore her Delta Zeta sash to Commencement, along with pearls from Grandma CeCe. We sat in the chairs behind the platform and had great seats to be able to see Ashley during the ceremony. President Kassing honored 8 students who had passed away during this academic year which was very sobering. The commencement speaker was great - spoke from his heart about what he had learned over the years since he graduated. I enjoyed hearing the Alma Mater sung by the man who has been leading the Alma Mater at SJSU for the last 60 years - he's retiring this year. And it was meaningful to have President Kassing conferring the degrees as we have a personal relationship with him.

 

After Commencement in the Stadium

 After Commencement there was time for hugs and congratulations and a few more tears. We are all so proud of Ashley.

Ashley and Jeff

Jason, Ashley and Shannon

David and Ashley

And it wouldn't have been a celebration without Ashley's favorite cake from Dick's Bakery.  We had a BBQ with the family before Jason and Shannon took Dave and Jeff to the Airport.  Then Ashley's friends began arriving for a BBQ and some fun times.  What a great day.

Ashley's Big Day - Graduation from SJSU

 The College of Humanities and the Arts held their department graduation in Morris Dailey Auditorium on Thursday, May 26, at 3 p.m.  Aunt Kathy and Adam came with us - and several of Ashley's friends also came to the ceremony including Matt and Sarah.

There were some very emotional moments as the reality sunk in -- Ashley is graduating from college.

All of the dreams of the last 17years, all of the worries and fears and feelings of being overwhelmed, all of the obstacles that stood in the way, all of the challenges -- all conquered. She felt deeply grateful for all of the people who helped her along the way. After she received her certificate she went to the podium and thanked us for helping her earn her degree, and spontaneously she lifted both her arms and said, "I did it."  It was a great moment.

Ashely and Adam

Matt, Ashley and Sarah

Photo Shoot - Ashley's Graduation

 Ashley will be graduating from SJSU with a Bachelor's of Arts degree in Liberal Studies. She wanted to include a photo in your graduation announcements - we went out back and took a few (200) shots.

Kevin was a big help - holding the diffuser screens and the white balance card for me.

Easter Sunday hike

 We decided to have a simple Easter Sunday since it was just going to be Ashley, Kevin and I. We wanted to grab sandwiches and head up to Castle Rock - but since the weather was unpredictable, we decided to hike in Quick Silver park. The views from the top are beautiful and the wildflowers were out.

My friends at FROST celebrated with me.

Mary Kay made a fantastic chocolate cake with fresh raspberries and we celebrated.  My birthday was filled with love.  Pretty amazing.

Hiking to Pfeiffer Falls and Valley View

Kevin was so great about letting me stop along the way and take pictures. The trees are huge -- easily 1,000-to 1500 years old.  What a great time...even if some tourists wanted to stay with us, rest with us, hike with us -- and talk non-stop along the way.  We stopped and shopped a little in Carmel before heading home. We decided to try a new restaurant for dinner and scored big time -- Rangoli's Indian Restaurant in San Jose was delicious.  On Sunday, Ashley, Kevin and I tried Mint Leaf in Saratoga for lunch -- another delicious meal.  I told Kevin I didn't want to make my birthday all about eating -- hmmm.

Saturday of my Birthday Weekend

I loved taking pictures of the wild flowers --surprise, surprise. The iris's are in bloom.

I found this wild iris along the Big Sur coast.

This wild iris was along the trail to Pfeiffer Falls

Birthday Weekend

My birthday celebration began early -- Kevin bought me a new MP3 player to use in the pool. Pretty cool. I had been hoping to go to Monterey for my birthday, but the weather report was nothing but rain. But when Friday came, it was beautiful -- so Kevin and I headed for the coast.

We spent Friday afternoon walking from Monterey Aquarium down to Passion Fish restaurant and back. We have a leisurely dinner. Beer battered kalamata olives, butternut squash soup, Mahi Mahi...very delicious. We walked back and poked around on Cannery Row. Listened to a musician at the Plaza for a while. A wonderful evening. 

Saturday we got up and walked around the Hyatt's Golf Course (Del Monte) for several hours. We had breakfast at the Plaza -- a fabulous egg white omelet. There were ten otters hanging around out the window. Then we headed down to Big Sur.

Happy BDay Gramma LuLu.wmv

A special birthday greeting...touched me deeply this morning.

Speaking at The Return in Bakersfield

300 women got together at NEWIM's Bakersfield conference, The Return. I spoke on having a Heart that is Faithful to Love -- and Jesus' story of the Good Samaritan.