Graduation Weekend

Today, I'm sharing some of the memories from Curtis' graduation weekend. We had a great time visiting with his parents and giving them a mini-tour to parts of Tucson. One big bonus to being with them is having great pictures to tell the story, thanks to my mother-in-law Julie who is a very skilled photographer!

Good friends, who we will miss terribly!

We attended the College of Science Commencement on Thursday afternoon. Curtis was the 3rd to walk across the stage with the Astronomy class, and after that we sat for another hour and a half watching the other science majors stroll across the stage. We stayed until after the Physics class (Curtis' other major) had their turn, then hurried out before they began the multitudes of Psychology majors. ;) We ran a couple errands, then went to Curtis' favorite restaurant, Cody's Beef and Beans. We met Mitchell and Julianna for a celebratory dinner. :)

Mr. and Mrs. Jorgensen and Mr. and Mrs. Jorgensen. :)

The last Cody's dinner - the end of an era.

On Friday morning, we decided to drive up Mt. Lemmon. Rain was predicted and it was overcast, but as far as we could tell from the foothills, the top of the mountain was not covered in clouds so we went ahead with our plans! However, as we drove up, the temperature kept dropping - which we expected to happen - except it continued dropping, and once it reached 38 degrees we realized we had were not prepared with jackets or anything to keep warm!

Since Curtis' parents enjoy letterboxing, we took them to Kellogg Mountain Trail to find a great series of boxes. We braved the cold and were able to find all the boxes!

Okay, so I gave in and used Charlotte's car blanket. It was really cold! Charlotte's harness looks funny in the above picture because we tied her leash to a tree, and she tried her best to get out of it. :)

After finding the boxes, we drove to Summerhaven and grabbed "lunch" at the cookie cabin. Our "lunch" consisted of 6 cookes, "6 scoops" of ice cream, chocolate syrup, and whipped cream. We ate every last bite, and it was delicious. ;) 

I think the only thing about this that makes us crazy is that we had just been freezing outside, and we decided we needed ice cream.

Then, we began our drive down the mountain. We stopped at Windy Point - it happens to be one of the best lookout points on the Catalina Highway, however Curtis and I had never stopped here together before. Curtis' reasoning for that is because it "stinks" - literally! There are restrooms here, and it is truly a windy point. ;)

I am glad we waited until today to explore here though. It's worth having great photographs of us overlooking our beautiful city. I can't believe we have just over a week left here - we're really going to miss it here!

Overlooking a stretch of the Catalina Highway

Ray & Julie - my in-laws!

Our last stop on the way back was at the Gordon Hirabayashi recreation area. We stopped to read the boards about the history that took place here, get a letterbox, and let Charlotte wander around. She likes to learn about the history through her nose.

My baby!

Remains of the prison camp that was once here at Gordon Hirabayashi

We had some extra time once we were off the Catalina Highway, so we letterboxed our way back to our apartment. We stopped at Case Park, Fort Lowell Park, and the San Pedro Chapel. Curtis and I had been to these places when we first moved here, and it was fun to revisit and remember those days.

We came home and pizza for dinner with Curtis' cousin Gen, who lives here in Tucson as well. We had a great time visiting, and Charlotte soaked up all the attention she could possibly get.

Life's rough when you're the pup. ;)

Other memories from the weekend include:

 ~A potluck at church on Sunday, and fellowshipping with the church family that warmly welcomed us less than 2 years ago and has been such a blessing to us

~going to Tempe on Sunday evening for Curtis' sister Lydia's baby shower, and spending some more time with Lydia, Jeff, Curtis' parents, and our friend Anna

~One last lunch at one of our favorite restaurants (Samarai - hole-in-the-wall, but best sushi in Tucson!) with one of our favorite couples, Austin and Seneca. I can't believe we're already having to say goodbye to our dear friends down here. In the short time here, we've formed such great friendships with some awesome couples, and it's so hard to say goodbye to everyone! (But like we always say, remember you're not losing friends - now you just have places to stay when you want to go on vacation!) ;)