Congrats Grads!

“When you ask yourself, ‘what do I owe my parents, my school, myself? What do I owe God?’ I believe it means that you answer ‘Love with faith.’ That you step into the world not knowing, but believing.” ~Randall Wallace LU Commencement 2011

Connor has made his first trip to Liberty University! We know it will not be his last, but this trip was in honor of his Daddy and his Uncle Casey, which made it even more special. To see how far this University has come in just a few short years is astounding. I can only imagine what it will be like in 18 years when Connor is ready to pick his college. We may be a little biased in where we think he should go...

It was a fiasco getting there, thanks to U.S. [nightm]Air. After waiting for 2 hours at our gate in Charlotte, they got us on our plane at 12:40am only to turn us around from Lynchburg after being in the air for 2 hours canceling our flight due to weather though we were delayed due to maintenance. They "graciously" reserved us a hotel room, of which we didn't get to until 4am, and offered to book us on the next available flight. (I must say Connor was amazing during this debacle. He stayed mellow and was great on the plane rides.)This was Thursday evening, and lucky us, the next available flight was........Saturday night. Our only option to get Tim to LU in time to graduate was to book a rental car, but conveniently enough there was not a single car available from any company. Every car was booked, and the all of the flights were booked. Our godsend came in the form of a sweet gentleman that was in our same predicament who approached me and offered to drive us to Lynchburg the next morning. He is a business man who flies this route often and happens to be an elite Gold Card member of Hertz. That Gold Card was the golden ticket, and because of that status he rented two cars accommodating 8 stranded passengers. He was even kind enough to rent a baby seat for Connor. This kind man was Daniel Reber, of Reber-Thomas Dining Hall, and of Reber-Thomas Blvd on Liberty's Campus. We spent 3+ hours in the car with this kind man, hearing great stories of Dr. Falwell and the University. He shared so much of himself, and was such a wonderful example of loving kindness and generosity.

Once there, we of course hit every one of our favorite restaurants. It's sad, but even with where we live, I miss the cuisine offered in Lynchburg. We actually plan our day around where we are going to eat each meal. This includes late night runs to Sonic. Who needs 5 stars when you've got the option of Osaka's? Hibachi Fast Food is a win for us, and add the yum yum sauce and life is complete!

Commencement morning started very early for us. We wanted to get just the right seats, hopefully under cover, and easily accessible for Great Grandma Harriet. While the fog was still present in the stadium we found the perfect row and waited crossing our fingers that it wouldn't rain. As the graduates trickled in we looked for our special guys and made contact! It was the best game of "Where's Waldo?" ever. Our row of fans included Aunt Merilee and Uncle Buzz, Great Grandma Harriet, Grandma Glenda, Aunt Kaitlyn, Me, Connor, Uncle Scott, and Grandpa Gary. My hands were very full juggling all of the cameras and the baby. Thankfully Uncle Scott saved the day having the special touch with Connor. They bonded for sure. I have to say, rain and all, it was a special memorable day filled with love and pride.

What is your priority? For us, it's our family. Daddy was very motivated, and worked very hard to earn his MBA while maintaining a Cum Laude status and working full time. Uncle Casey also worked very hard to earn his BS and maintain his Suma Cum Laude status, double majoring, and doing it all in 3 years. Aunt Kaitlyn is about to "graduate" from elementary school and she has done so well in her honors classes, getting Honor Roll, all while battling her dyslexia. What a big graduation year it is! Connor has great examples in his life, and I could not ask for more.