Independence Day!

Okay, well, at least the first of a lot of Independence Days to come! Josh finally graduated from BYU after taking a break and finishing his last 2 religion classes! YEAH! lol There was a ton of drama because BYU wasn't going to accept his institute classes after telling him they would. They finally told us on Monday that Josh would be graduating on Thursday. Ummm...not much time to plan! Josh did not want to do the whole graduation thing and his opinion was that it was overrated and he really only feels that it will be a big deal when he graduates med school. Phooey (is that a word?) to that is what I say. It is a big deal and he has worked many years to achieve this goal. So, with a little arm twisting and some guilt trips, he surrendered and decided he would walk the walk!

Thursday, I dropped Josh off at the Marriott Center and went to park. They were selling these fun leis outside for the graduates so I picked up one for Josh. I was able to get seated with a friend's family and then I called Josh and was able to intercept him before he got in the Marriott to give him his lei! It was a wonderful ceremony. Elder Bednar spoke about learning to love to learn and how this graduation was just the beginning of the learning that would and should take place the rest of our lives. It was so wonderful to hear the wonderful talks about taking what the graduates have learned at BYU to serve the community and in the Church. I thought they were so inspirational and wonderful. Josh and I attended that alone, and I had told him that no one from my family could come and also that none of his family from Idaho would be able to make the trip either because of the short notice!

Thursday night at about midnight, Josh and I had fallen asleep on the Lovesac watching TV when there was a knock at our door. We woke up and I acted confused and said, "Who on earth is knocking at our door at 12 o'clock at night?" He got up to check and I stayed back a bit. He looked through the peep hole and looked at me and said, "It's my dad." I think at this point he was still asleep. He turned to me and so I said, sort of mocking, "Are you sure?" So he, taking me seriously, went to look again through the peep hole. I just started to laugh. It was midnight and freezing outside. I finally just said, "Honey, it's your dad....just open the door!!!" It was a great surprise for Josh!

Then later at about 4 am, all was well in the Mercer home when there cam another knock at the door. It was Josh's mom and Aunt Vicki. Another surprise for Josh! We thought they wouldn't be there until morning, but had come to stay the night as well! With a little game of musical beds, we were able to figure our sleeping situation out! Holden of course woke up with all of the commotion and Mom Mercer decided she wanted to play with him. So, needless to say we played until about 5:30am then decided it was probably time to quiet down.

Josh and I spent an eventful night on the Lovesac and woke up a little tired! lol Well, just when it was about time to leave, my parents came to the door and surprised Josh that they were also coming to the graduation. It was a great morning.

We headed off to the graduation and decided to take Holden with us to spend time with Josh's parents since they don't see him that often. He was actually better than I thought he would be. Every time a name was called and families would clap for the graduate being called, Holden would also join in. It made me laugh. There was also a couple in front of us and the guy was rubbing the girl's back. Holden was watching as this went on. Well, the guy stopped and Holden squirmed to get off of my lap and went right over to the girl and started scratching her back. It was hilarious. They were playing with Holden the whole time and making faces to him etc...so rather than an awkward thing, it was actually sweet and funny! I just wish that I could train him to do that for me!

We were watching the graduation and I happened to look down and I saw the Hales family that had come from California for my cousins' graduations. How crazy! Afterwards we were able to catch up with them a bit.

After the graduation we went to the Pizza Factory with everyone including our friend Cameron (who was also graduating) and his family. Let's just say it took forever to seat us then even longer for food to come. Josh's mom and Aunt had to get back so we bid them farewell. Then I had called Josh's boss to make him come back to work for a couple of hours so that we could get the surprise party for Josh put together.

We went to my Aunt and Uncle's house to decorate and put the food out. It was fun to have my mom and dad, Josh's dad, my sister Kim and her hubby John and kids, my other sister Jennifer and her hubby Michael and their kids to celebrate with us. They were so amazing! Everyone worked so hard and they were so generous to bring the food to the party! Another Loveridge event- successful! We had croissant sandwiches, veggies, fruit, drinks, chips, cream puffs, cheesecake, and cake brownies! Man, I couldn't believe how nice everyone was to do this on such late notice and to take time out of their lives to be with us! Thanks again to all- it was definitely a night to remember. Josh walked in and had no idea-well, besides the sign out in front-lol. He was so overwhelmed- he is not a man of many words in a situation like this. He just kept telling me afterwards how he couldn't believe how nice everyone was to do this for him. We have an amazing family and we are so grateful for the support that we have gotten from all of you! We love you guys!