Molly McMBA

Thankfully the Mother's Day snow soon melted and Spring temps returned in time for a gorgeous graduation day for Tante.  She graduated today with her MBA from the University of Colorado.  This is an amazing accomplishment for anyone but to do it while working full-time at a professional job was all the more impressive.  Her good friend Sara and I helped with the location and decor while her parents treated all to some yummy food and signature cocktails.  Of the many parties I've hosted or helped plan this Spring, this was the most fun and thanks to Sara's incredible graphic design skills, turned out the best looking decor.

Lots of friends and family turned out for the celebration after the ceremony on the lawn of the Tivoli in Denver.  Molly reported that she had a great time and felt very loved and is off to St. Kitts to relax and celebrate her accomplishment.

The graduate and her proud parents

 

 

 Grandpa Ed and Grandma Betty

3.5 Masters degrees

 

 Molly's friend Marie started the program with her but left for a job in Austin.  She'll be able to complete her MBA online in the next year or two.  She made the trip to celebrate with her 

classmates :)

 

 Ben would say, "Um...I think that's everybody."

Time to party.........

Nice to have an engineer for a brother-in-law.

the girls.....

the boys.....

.....and Grandma. ;)

being Fierce!!!

LoDo's executed the party perfectly and were gracious hosts! We will go back.

Prior to the day, Molly commented repeatedly that this was her "wedding" as she'd never be getting married.  Ryan obliged with her spring fling "wedding cake."

 More decor.....

Sara, Molly and I celebrating success on many fronts. :)

Big thanks to my mom and Marty for hosting the delicious food and drinks!

This day wouldn't have happened at all without Sara's dedication and meticulous planning-THANK YOU!!

 *Ben's cousin Ian had his birthday party today and Nana and Papa happily took him.  We had arranged a sitter anyway as long graduation ceremonies and active 3 yr olds are sure recipes for disaster.  It was a perfect day for all of us and it was especially nice to celebrate without distraction.

Why did the chicken go to field day?

Ok, ok, so, technically the chickens didn't go to field day but they did make their arrival just in time for viewing on Field Day.  Of many eggs only two hatched and will go home to live with Ms. Bailey and hopefully lay eggs for her.

Ben's teachers asked if I could come help out for field day and I happily obliged.  What they really meant was, "would you please come help wrangle your kid from darting towards the purple playground he'll have direct access to on field day?"
Ben's first field day was quick and fun but quite warm and full of waiting as all field days are.  Several kiddos struggled with the waiting in line and by the third event of four, many were just DONE.
Ben enjoyed the parachute game to no one's surprise.  I was surprised at his total unwillingness to participate in the race games.  He gallops, hops and runs circles around me every day but had little interest in any of these on field day.  He does struggle a bit when I'm at the school as I think I'm a trigger for him that it's time to go home.  I hope several end of year classroom visits will make my visiting easier next year.  I've also gotta work on the competitive streak with this monkey.  He clearly has no interest in winning at all costs and with me as a mama, that won't last long. ;)

Rob and Carolyn get hitched

Just as things started heating up in Wichita for the season, we dropped Ben with Nana and Papa and headed east to the heat for Rob and Carolyn's wedding.  As the Denver weather had been warm with late-Spring patterns of snow and cold, I was looking very forward to the Wichita heat and humidity-whaaaa??

We made it into town with perfect timing to greet friends Angela and Brian and grab a hug before we headed to the rehearsal dinner and they headed to a baseball game. The rehearsal dinner was at Flint Hills National Golf club where Rob had been a member when he lived in Wichita.  It's definitely a hidden gem in the town and we joked that Rob had had a bubble placed over the club for the evening as the weather was perfectly warm, calm and dry.  The BBQ dinner was simple and delicious and had just the right amount of Flint Hills Fancy.  It was a very relaxing evening and lacked the traditional toasts and slide-shows often included in rehearsal festivities.  It was great to see some friends of Rob's we'd known before and to meet his new wife and her family.

The next morning allowed a breakfast date at an old favorite restaurant, a drive by our old house and a couple different visits with friends.  There wasn't enough time for any of it but it was great to visit and squeeze growing kiddos and babies and see that our friends are doing well.
We hurried back to the hotel to prep for the 2pm wedding and grab the shuttle to the Cathedral.  Extensive renovations had recently been completed and I was thankful the wedding was there as I'd never visited this beautiful church when we lived in Wichita. The traditional Catholic mass and ceremony was typically lengthy but beautiful.  A long gap before the reception meant lots of time for drinking with friends Brian and Angela and other wedding guests at the hotel. Lots of Rob's friends had had a little too much fun the night before and were slow to join our party.  I was just overwhelmingly thankful that for once it wasn't me.

The reception was fun and seeing Rob so blissfully happy was delightful.  The toasts were beautiful and tear-inducing (the true test,) and dinner was delicious.
The second-shift bartenders were extremely generous and made drinks too strong to take down.  That blessing in disguise meant we were back to our room at 11pm and bidding a sad adieu to Brian and Angela.

The bride and groom hosted an amazingly delicious breakfast in the hotel the next morning before they headed to their mini-honeymoon at a spa in Kansas City.  They will take a longer honeymoon to Europe in the fall.  They have a beautiful home in Omaha, Nebraska and Rob has surprisingly taken to cutting his grass and being a proud suburban home-owner.

We made one last stop on the way out of town to meet brand-new baby Charlotte.  She is the first baby of some of our first friends in Wichita, Ken and Tracy.
As we drove through Hays, KS on the way home, the temperature reached 95 degrees.  Sadly we knew we were driving home to a VERY late Spring snowstorm with temps barely reaching 30 degrees.
We got home to Nana and Papa's and enjoyed a Mother's Day dinner and got reports of the fun weekend they had had. 

Flint Hills National

Seriously the MOST gorgeous evening

More excitement in Wichita that morning than we'd ever witnessed

The wedding party used the trolley for pics and to get back to the hotel.

Brian and Angela, aka, "AB"

the one and only Patron

Hydrangeas and tulips and statice, oh my!

A lovely pic of AB

Our deck Monday morning-SO painful!

SKCEE Scamper

Today Tante joined me at Ben's school to volunteer for the first ever SKCEE Scamper.  Each class raised funds for technology and para teacher hours and then ran laps around the school track.  Ben's school is comprised of 3 yr olds through kindergarten and the difference in their running abilities was drastic and amusing.   There was a DJ with fantastic music to entertain the parents and encourage the kids and several local businesses donated gift cards for a raffle.  In the end, the school raised $10k of their $12k goal and the kids had a blast.  I look forward to helping again next year.

Although he runs for hours everyday, the only Scampering Ben did was S_L_O_W.