Sarah Graduates!

I cannot begin to tell you how proud I am of my little sister, Sarah! This past weekend (4/30/2011) she graduated from Kettering College of Medical Arts with a Bachelors of Science in Human Biology. She has been looking forward to her graduation for quite some time now and believe me it was long overdue!

The Graduate!

The festivities began at L'Auberge, a French restaurant in Kettering. The regular crew (aka Teta, Gido, The Langley's and the McGowans) were present of course as were 2 of Sarah's friends, Leah Moon and Sarah Skrobot. Additionally, Tunt Sue, my moms sister flew in for the celebration. It was nice to see her as we hadn't seen her since Christmas. The food was delicious and the company wasn't so bad either.

Gido and his little buddy Jonah!

Mommy's little man!

The entire crew-part 1

The crew- part 2

Sarah & Sophie

Leah and her 2 biggest fans

Sisters!

Uncle Mikey's foolishness = happy Jonah!

After dinner, we headed to the Dayton Convention Center for Sarah's graduation. There were only 282 graduates so the ceremony wasn't too terribly long. The kids did great because they were occupied and armed with books and video games. Leah even came prepared and brought each of the girls a fruit snack. They loved it and devoured it in a matter of seconds! It's not hard to see or figure out why the girls just adore Leah.

Sissy and  2 munchkins!

I decided to take some photos while we were waiting for the graduation to begin!

Skrobot, Leah & Stella

Uncle Toddy and Sophie

No celebration is complete without these 2 little trouble makers!

The ceremony begins and we have the best seats in the house. Since we had Jonah's stroller with us and we couldn't sit up in the stands we had floor seats and were seated just a few yards from the stage and from where Sarah was sitting.

YAY, Sarah receives her degree!

There it is in print (see below) Sarah Shenouda McGowan receives her Bachelor of Science in Human Biology and she even graduates Cum Laude (an incredibly awesome and honorary distinction)!

Funny story: Stella didn't know what cum laude, sumaa cum laude or magna cum laude meant and about half way through the ceremony Stella asks Todd "Daddy, why does everyone have the same last name?" It was so funny! Later when Todd explained to her what each of the distinctions meant she assured her that she would graduate too one day with one of those distinctions.

a page from the ceremony program

Teta and 2 of her munchkins!

Jonah and his Godparents!

Teta and Gido with the Graduate!

Gigi & Breanna attended too!

Sophie is so proud of her mommy!

Cool caricature card that Gigi had made for Sarah.

Whole fam!

Notice that Jonah is in his pj's below. He did so well for his first Graduation ceremony and slept thru about half (as did the rest of us). :)

Jonah and Daddy!

Teta and her baby!

And just like that we are celebrating yet another family milestone. Sarah is beyond excited to receive her degree and to begin the next chapter of her life. She's worked really hard to get where she's at and to do so with honors while managing a household, working, a wife and a fantastic mother is no easy feat! I cannot begin to express how excited and proud I am of her. Anything my sister puts her mind to she not only accomplishes but conquers! Cheer Sarah, we love you! xoxoxo