Josh and Becca Thrap and Family

We celebrated Josh’s graduation yesterday. He is now the official holder of a Master’s degree in Business Administration, and we are so proud of him! The ceremony was graciously brief (an hour and a half) and well-attended on Josh’s behalf. I took all four kids and was joined by the four Wheelers, Josh’s parents and grandmother, his uncle and two cousins, and his brother Jason’s family. We know that many of you who could not be with us physically were with us in spirit and have supported us throughout this long and tedious process. (And of course, I have pictures to share! I haven’t had a chance to crop them all yet, but here you go!) Waiting to begin:Back of the newly hooded grad: Congrats! Yes, I even let myself get photographed and I’m sharing it here, not that I want to or anything–I couldn’t find my make-up bag and after styling my hair I got so hot that I stuck it all up, but I love Josh and my family, so here we all are: The future graduate: Working on their GQ poses: After the ceremony we all went to Ryan’s Steakhouse for a quick celebratory meal before rushing back to the house to prepare for the REST of the day’s activities! A good meal was had by all. After lunch, Josh and Chris finished working on the bbq while Kate and I ran to get ice for our trough-o-pops! At four pm began our annual backyard bbq party. We had no idea how many to expect (we prepared for about 60!) and I think the final count at the end of the night was 47! And THANKFULLY, the weather held very nicely until after everyone left! The meat was some of the best ever! And the water balloons were a huge hit! Josh gave it a little more structure this year by pitting the girls against the boys. And there was much refueling. And of course when the balloons started to become scarce, Josh pulled out the hose! Then he made a game (once again pitting girls against boys) to see which team could pick up the most pieces of balloon from all over the yard! I don’t know which team got the most, but I figure we “won” because there was no left over mess! We let the kids play “the water game” outside while some of the adults came in to play Singstar on the Playstation 2. After all the guests had gone (except for Wheelers who were spending the night) and the mess was mostly cleaned up we sat and relaxed and watched the lightning storm from the livingroom window. And I just have to throw this in too, because it’s funny–when Kate and I were getting ice yesterday, the store was giving away Hannah Montana 3-D glasses (I assume she’s selling a movie or something?) and this morning I found all the kids downstairs watching Spy Kids 3-D in their Hannah Montana glasses!