Grandparents in the House

 A few shots of our out of town visitors. So great to have them here with us for a few days. 

Grandmothers in their college gear

four handed cribbage

Drake presenting his thesis on Monday 

more cards - enjoying the weather  

Party People

It was wonderful to have a variety of different people here to celebrate Drake's graduation from Miami University. Our family. Our friends. Drake's college friends. Drake's high school friends. And just beautiful weather for the celebration. Thanks to Claudia and my Mom, we got some good pictures of the attendees (but somehow missed Claudia in all these pics.... ). 

shots of Malort (Chicago liqueur)

Go Miami! 

shots of Malort 

Grad Party Decor!

A few pics from the decorations for Drake's graduation party! Thankful to friends for having decor I could borrow and being able to decorate with red and white for once! 

Leaving the Village

Monday brought our final day in Oxford where we said goodbye to Drake's final living spot, the Village. Drake had done a good job of organizing his things prior to his arrival so it really was a matter of moving things out, packing things up appropriately and taking the extras to the donation trucks that were set up. I felt much better about leaving some of Drake's things knowing they were being put to a good use (international students, the food bank, homeless shelters, etc.). 

We helped empty out the kitchen and did what we could to clean up...... Goodbye Oxford, you have been great. 

The yard at "the Village"

Village on Saturday night 

Goodbye to the papers

Brick Shoes 

MA from MU

On Sunday, May 17th, we wrapped up Drake's incredible four years at Miami University (MU). The day started with a small ceremony for the Econ Master's cohort. The ceremony was held at the Farmer School of Business. There was a short speech by the head of the economics department, a student speaker and then each student was hooded. Apparently, this was the first year they had held this ceremony and I'm really glad they did. It was short and sweet (and they had food too which was great to get us through the next ceremony). This was yet another community that shaped Drake's experience at MU. 

After the event, we walked around campus to take a few more pictures with Drake in his Masters cap and gown this time. The sunny, warm day was quite the contrast from when we snapped a few shots of Drake during the December graduation weekend. 

The final ceremony of the weekend was the graduation ceremony for the Farmer School of Business where they graduated over 1000 individuals. The Master's students were seated in the front so Drake was called quite early in the ceremony, but stayed until the end. 

The rest of the day was quite casual with checking into our third hotel of the trip, Drake trying to get some sleep, packing up the minivan with the first load to be taken for donation and a casual dinner at an Indian restaurant in Oxford. Drake was to have a full night ahead of him - one last trip to Brick, staying up all night and heading to Cook field to watch the sunrise with other Miami students. What a way to wrap up his collegiate career. 

Masters cohort

the hood! 

Bell Tower 

freshman dorm 

looking over the quad - love this one 

Upham Arch

there he is! 

With his Freshman roommate

good friends (both from CO) 

he did it!