The Hooding Ceremony

Hmmm. There's a lot of photos here. I guess I didn't learn the "less is more concept." Oh well, feel free to skim.

The Hooding Ceremony was at the Gesu Church on Marquette campus downtown, and for me, it seemed appropriate that it was held in a religious setting. For the effort, resources, and sacrifice that have gone into getting a little bit of fabric to hang around John's neck and a little piece of paper, it really felt that at least part of graduation needed to be a celebration spiritual in nature.

It really was a beautiful church.





Also, I am quite sure that our wedding has less pomp, circumstance, and ceremony than graduation weekend. Wow. We went non-stop from ceremony to ceremony for for about sixteen hours. Hours and hours of sitting and clapping. I'm glad the hooding ceremony was first. It really was a neat experience to see John's Dad all dressed up hooding John.











We were pretty out of our heads at the time we made the decision to take our kids to EVERYTHING, although I'm glad we did. I know that Hailey will remember much of the weekend, and the girls have been such a part of this dental school experience, and have made sacrifices too, that it just seemed right for them to be a part of it all. And they were wonderful and well behaved, and did a great job. They have been making up for that good behavior this following week though. . .













Well, they were good almost the whole time.


This is Hailey "condeucting" the organ music.

And lastly, may I just say, how stinkin' proud I am of John? I know "stinkin'" isn't the best adjective to describe it, but I needed to choose one where where you could imagine me squinting my eyes, stomping my foot, and unintentionally spitting just a bit while I said (or wrote) it, because I am that proud.











This has been a long four years, and I've watched John work so hard. We've both grown so much from this experience, and grown closer because of it. It was almost weird to share the celebration of a goal that has been so close and personal to our daily lives with so many people. And although our dental education years are not quite over yet, I think I can speak for John when I say it's so nice to be graduated and move on to the next step.

And a big whoohoo to being done!

But of course I have more pictures, because this was in fact, a two day event. . .

FHE

We are not the only family in our ward who is getting ready to move away from our home in Wisconsin. Five other families, in fact, are leaving this summer (or have already left), so a special family home evening was held in our ward to bid us goodbye in a sweet way. Ice cream, visiting, running around, and a great lesson taught by Kate.





She gave a lesson about all the families in the scriptures who had to move away from their homes. She talked about how they had trials along their way, and it was hard to move, but that God was with them and helped them wherever they went. That was especially touching to me, and I have thought about that ever since that night. Thank you Kate, if you ever read this. It meant a lot to me. And thank you Leslie and Laura too for putting that all together. We will miss you more than you know.

One more. . .

Trip to the children's museum.

"I Survived Glen Courts"

Next time we have a reunion, I will make T-shirts that say that. A few weeks ago all the Glen Courts members and alumni got together for a girls trip down to Chicago for a temple session, dinner, talking, staying up to late, silly stories, and a huge amount of shopping. I was so impressed you all CAME BACK to Milwaukee from Tennessee, Utah, Iowa, and Washington to be here for this. In a few weeks we will represent Minnesota, Massachusetts, Germany, and Ohio as well. Although we will be more spread out than ever, nothing can break the bond of living together in a place where you have to install your own carpet, have group trash pick-up FHE's, let your neighbors use your bathroom because theirs is broken, and seat dinner guests on the kitchen floor because there's just no room around the dining table. So thank you girls for everything. I would have never made it through the last four years without you.

Something Extraordinary

Posting this because this was a week of my life. I was asked to create a narrated slide show for our Stake Women's Conference. My poor little family endured me staying up until four in the morning, being parked in front of the computer, and little tiny printed out thumbnail photos and typed narration lines everywhere.

Do you remember Professor Nash's office in A Beautiful Mind? John thought our living room looked like that.



None of the genius. All of the mess.





Here's the completed project. The disclaimer, should you wish to view it, is that it is sixteen minutes long.

Something Extraordinary: Women's Conference 2009 from Jenni G on Vimeo.

Dr. Gilbreth. . .

Lots to catch up on, but here's a little teaser of our weekend:

Graduation Mayhem from Jenni G on Vimeo.

Congratulations, John! We're so proud of you!!

Happy Mother's Day from Hailey & Nora

Happy Mother's Day from Hailey & Nora from Jenni G on Vimeo.

A message to both Grandmas, delivered in their own special way.