7 May 2017 - Juan's Graduation

Monday, Kathleen taught seminary where she received the order her plant order. Much of the rest of the day was cleaning the house in preparation for Brian and Ruth to come over for dinner to celebrate Stephen's birthday. Stephen taught 2ND grade Spanish immersion classes. He was pretty exhausted at the end of his work day. For a birthday dinner, there was round steak (cooked with low temperature Sous Vide), mashed potatoes and fresh green beans with banana cream pie for dessert. Brian and Ruth brought a gift of a storage crate filled with two waterproof ammo cases, one inside of the other.
Tuesday was the seminary lesson of James 2 and working at the hospital with a little time to prepare for the lesson the Wednesday which was James 3. Stephen mowed the lawn and made it to a Doctor appointment where the drew blood before he went to meetings Tuesday night.

Wednesday after seminary, packing began and the plants were put in the ground. Food was put in a lunch bag and we ran the last of the errands which included a trip to Beka's place of work to drop off keys and money, gassing up and the bank. Finally on the road at 12: 30, there were only three slow downs...two semi truck accidents and one long construction area in Oregon. The end of the day's trip was at the Brighton House after a quick stop at Home Depot in Ontario to purchase some material to help with the roof replacement that Stephen planned for the duplex. At the Brighton home, they were busily preparing for a "May the Fourth be with you" party with lots of fun ideas to celebrate STARS WARS on May 4th.

Juan standing by the MesoAmerican window
frame. 

The next morning, after the kids went to school and Susan and Cory headed out, Stephen and Kathleen started on their way to Provo. We made it to Jessica and Juan's place after a stop into Sarah's apartment. Juan seemed pretty excited about his upcoming graduation and with good reason! Another celebration was to begin. First Stephen had to check out the roof on the duplex and purchase the shingles and material needed for a replacement. It was to be delivered on Friday afternoon.
Thursday was commencement at the UVU. Juan and Kathleen went early to take pictures around the campus. It is a fairly new campus and growing quickly. It was so fun to see the many different buildings that had a unique cement/pipe look. There was also a large fountain in the center of many of the buildings and they had just added the large UVU sign in the front of the university. The stain glass window display in the library was fabulous. It portrayed the history of the world beginning with the tree of life and ending with the tree of knowledge/wisdom. It was very impressive.

Look at the Ancient Chinese soldiers at
the bottom of the window.

Another look at Meso-America, Eqyptian pyramids
and the tower of Babel...

The great city of Babylon in the Persian empire.

Jesus  Christ in the Sermon on the Mount.

Today's technology on display.

The Tree of wisdom.

Had to get a lamp flag...

This was a very cool water fountain with two walls perpendicular from each other. It cooled the air down and
allowed students to study in relative comfort in the middle of a hot spring day. This fountain is in the middle of
the campus.

Looking good Juan.

The computer science building was made to look
like a computer circuit board on the floor. Very cool.

This building had a floor design that looked like the
circuit board of a computer. Everything was laid out
to enhance that idea...the computer department. 

A look from the third floor.

Studly, Juan at home on campus.

Looking good.

While taking pictures, a school photographer
asked Juan to pose for the FB page of the UVU
graduates.

 

Convocation included two special speakers. The university president, Matthew Holland and President Henry B. Eyring of the Twelve Apostles. Both speakers did an excellent job.

The whole family celebrates this special day...Congratulations, Juan. You did good!

Posing under the flag of Mexico.
A heritage of pride.

This has a swinging pendulum and animal heads on the walls.
Very interesting room.

The special speaker for commencement was Henry B. Eyring. He did a wonderful job. Because of his presence and other dignitaries, they had a special security area that every purse/bag was checked and every body was wanded. tight security. The orchestra played prelude until a bagpipe group started to play and lead the graduates into the arena. It was pretty awesome.

President Eyring standing for the graduates.

A very large group!

Thursday night we were able to go out to eat at Red Robin in order to celebrate Juan's graduation. He met a fellow student there who wasn't able to graduate yet but would during the summer. He lives in SLC. It was fun to have a special waiter that knows the person that is being celebrated.
Friday was convocation. It was early...again. We were in the same arena that they held Commencement so we knew where we wanted to sit but it was packed by the time we got there. We ended up seating behind the speakers right side...it was perfect. We had a great view of Juan and got some nice pictures. Of course after Juan stood up and made his way over to get his diploma and picture taken he decided to not stick around for the remaining graduates. Everyone was relieved. We all escaped over to the library where more pictures were taken with Juan's family. Then there was a celebration for Juan at his place. Jessica really did a great job of preparing food and fixing up the place with decor. Juan's mom brought a very nice chicken dish and tostados to eat with it. Everything was so yummy.
Saturday was a work on the Duplex roof day. Wind and rain could not stop the work. Stephen got chilled and it went to his chest. It was a hard day of work.