California, Here We Come (Part 6)

I promise, this is the last of the California posts! I need to finish them up so I can move on to more current happenings in KatieLand. :-) For other California reports, see here.

Saturday, May 31 was a HUGE day. It was my brother's graduation day! It was Katie's 1st birthday! And we also spent a lovely evening in La Jolla to celebrate our last evening in California. I'm going to tackle these photos in that order.

Seminary Graduation

First of all, my brother Stephen graduated with an M.Div. from Westminster Seminary. While I would have loved to have heard R.C. Sproul deliver the commencement address, I couldn't hear much while chasing a crawling Katie around the lobby. We came back into the ceremony in time to watch Stephen receive his diploma -- and quickly wished we hadn't.

Stephen decided to goof off during his moment in the spotlight. In the first photo below, you can see him clapping as the gentleman in front of him receives his diploma. In the second photo below, John tried to capture Stephen's big moment -- and as you can hopefully see, all eyes are on the floor, where Stephen landed after "tripping" and sprawling. Afterwards he "limped" to get his diploma, as the audience expressed pity and worry that my brother might be hurt. The seminary president reassured them with, "You all obviously don't know Stephen Roberts."



Here are photos of the graduate with (1) John and Katie, and (2) his new fiancee Lindsey.

We were also surprised and happy to run into two of John's college buddies and Christian brothers -- on the other side of the country from his alma mater!

Katie's Birthday

While we were saving most of Katie's birthday festivities till we got home, we managed to sneak a few things in. First, the waiters sang "Happy Birthday" to her at lunch:

Secondly, and most impressively, my sister-in-law Sharon spent her ENTIRE last California afternoon driving around the area looking for any store that would personalize a birthday cake on the spot. It literally took her hours! I was so touched when she surprised us with a cake that afternoon:

Here's a video of Katie enjoying the cake:

Here are a few more cute photos of Katie on her birthday:

and an adorable video of her waking up in the car, cuddling her favorite stuffed animal Eeyore, and eventually trying to eat him:

La Jolla

After resting for a few hours, most of our family headed to La Jolla for one last glimpse of the Pacific Ocean. My brother Jason had never seen the Pacific before, so he decided he would brave the water even though it was freezing:

Lindsey's mom, who had flown in for Stephen's graduation, gave hugs to her daughter and my daughter:

I gave hugs to my husband and my brother Stephen:

Katie cuddled up with my mom and with me:

Lindsey cuddled up with Stephen, and then with Katie later that evening after giving her a birthday gift of animal-themed tights!

The next day we all flew home except for Stephen, who had to drive cross-country to get his car and belongings home. What a wonderful and exhausting trip!