Graduation/Mother's Day weekend!

It's official...Ben walked across the stage and has graduated from UNC Law School! Yay! It was the moment we waited and worked for for the past seven years! The school chapter of our lives has finally come to a close! We started the graduation celebration on Saturday with dinner at the Weathervane. My Dad, brother and both sisters were able to be there and Ben's parents and two of his younger brothers came up. This is us before he opened his presents...cuff links with the UNC seal engraved upon them from his parents and a watch with the UNC seal on it from me.

Messing with the watch. He has talked about getting a ring with the UNC seal on it and having both of his degrees engraved on either side, but I decided on the watch because it seems a little more practical. He can get the ring later if he wants.

This is me with my older brother, David, and little sister, Laurin. We are the "three little ones" in the family.

This is us with Ben's family. His little brother, Will, is in front of me, and Taylor is in front of Ben. We're missing two brothers, a sister, a nephew, and two nieces for a complete family picture.

And then with my family: David, Laurin, Ben, me, my Daddy, and Erin. We're missing three brothers, three sisters-in-law, 5 nephews and 4 nieces. We shoud all be together for July 4th and Annabelle's blessing.

After dinner, the girls all went to see Wicked at the DPAC. Having never seen the Wizard of Oz, I don't think I got everything in the play, but I was still blown away by the talent. Those people can sing!!!! The set was really cool too! I would see it again, but I would watch the Wizard of Oz first. I've heard that helps.

On Sunday, we all got together for breakfast before church and then went to church together. Sadly, Laurin had to leave because she had to work that day. Originally, another lady was scheduled to work, but she is a single mom and asked Laurin to cover for her since it was Mother's Day. So, here is everyone who was there for Sunday.

The Connells like to do "funny" pictures.

Ben with his Mom.

Ha, Will decided he wanted to do pull ups in the tree while I was taking pictures and he told my Dad, "I'll do 10 for every 1 you do" and then did 20 pull ups. I guess he only thought my Dad could do two. So, my Dad (who is 67 yrs old) jumps up in the tree and does 3 pull ups. Will thought it was great and happily did 10 more. I love my Daddy!

And of course Ben couldn't see his brother and my Dad do pull ups without joining in on the fun.

Me and my husBen! :)

After we ate lunch, we headed to the Dean Dome for the Law School ceremony. Here are all of the graduates for the 2010 class. There were about 225 of them.

Walking across the stage!!! He received a piece of paper that had a picture of the law school and "Congratulations Class of 2010" on it. Really??? Is that the best thing they could come up with? Pretty lame in my opinion! Oh well, his real diploma will come in the mail sometime in the next couple of months!

He did it!!!

With his family after the ceremony. My family left as soon as he walked across the stage. They had a four hour drive, so they wanted to get on the road as soon as possible since the ceremony started at 5pm. They got home pretty late, but they said it was worth it!

My boss saw this picture and said that Ben and I look the same size in width...rude!!!!!! Yes, I know, I am a large lady these days. Luckily, I really like my boss so I didn't smack him across the face immediately!

Walking with his Dad to the car. They are super excited to work together. It's something they have talked about since Ben was in high school. It's like a dream come true for both of them!My graduate!!! I'm so proud of him! I got a little emotional after the ceremony was over and we were clapping for all of the graduates! He's worked so hard and this is seriously something we have been working towards for the past 7 years! It's been a long time coming and I can't believe it is over. Too bad the serious studying has just begun. Next up...the Bar Exam!