Grandparents, Great Kids, a Graduate, and a Good Day

Brad's parents visited us the first week of May. Now that we're all vaccinated, it seemed so normal. But it was their first visit here in well over a year. (And since we haven't lived here that long, it was only their second visit here ever.) Their visit coincided with their 65th wedding anniversary, so we had cake and Brad's brother came down from Phoenix for dinner, which I think qualifies as a dinner party—definitely nothing anything like the life we've been living for the past year. In other words, a big treat and we hope a sign of things to come. 

For Mother's Day the kids surprised me with a Zoom call. Brad and I were supposed to have a Zoom call with just Peter for our book club, and when I turned on the computer there they all were! It was a total surprise and such a treat!

Last Friday Mary graduated with a Master's Degree in Education from the University of Pennsylvania. We couldn't be prouder. It surely wasn't easy to get her entire degree remotely for the past year. Tikka (pictured here looking up to her mom) was also proud.

Brad and I attended the Zoom graduation ceremony for her department (Reading, Writing, and Literacy). Mary opted not to go to the larger graduation ceremonies for the Graduate School of Education or for the entire university which, given that it was on Zoom, was a wise choice. The department graduation was small and personal and about as good as a Zoom graduation could be. Like Tikka, we were also proud. Mary got two awards, including for the top Master's Thesis. That's our girl!

Finally, over the weekend Brad and I met up with Kelle and Bob to pick up some stuff from my mom's house. We each drove half a day and met in the middle for lunch. It was a long day for all of us, but we had a really fun time together.