Oden Adventures

Father's Day did not get entirely lost in the shuffle this year; it just got sorely neglected in the realm of photos.  We were a bit worn out on the actual day from two days of graduation festivities, but we still had gifts for Patrick in the morning, then enjoyed church and lunch out at Legend's...

I was thrilled to find this card for Patrick...those who know Old School Amy song lyrics will know why :-).

We also had a lovely meal out at Barney's with Patrick's family the next weekend to celebrate, but alas - still no pictures.  And we never got around to pictures with just Vianne & Patrick...but fortunately we had an abundance of cute ones from graduation!

Saturday morning was Fuller's Graduation Ceremony, which I attended with Patrick's family while my mom watched Vianne at home.  With the three schools combined and 500 names to be read, it's a festive occasion, a bit too lengthy for a one-year-old.  Despite the length, it was a beautiful ceremony and a privilege to be there at Dr. Mouw's last graduation before retirement, as well as be present not only for Patrick, but for many friends and acquaintances who we've come to know & love over our time at Fuller!

Mom O. & I waiting for the festivities to begin

Patrick is one of these people...:-)

 After receiving his presidential handshake & diploma

Patrick's Uncle Neal & Aunt Reva kindly attended the ceremony as well

Dr. & Mrs.: Relief, Awe, Thankfulness

With great thankfulness to God, family, and friends, we celebrated Patrick's graduation from his PhD program at Fuller this past weekend.  The first event was the Hooding Ceremony on Friday night, (where the new PhDs get their "hood" - the part of the regalia you see in blue below, which drapes down the back), which is a smaller, limited, invitation-only event held in the chapel of the United Congregational Church near Fuller's campus.  Each graduate receives their hood from their mentoring professor, then is presented by him or her (generally a speech highlighting their specific achievements) and then gets to offer a short speech of thanks.

Patrick, Vianne & I got to campus a little early because I wanted to take some pictures before the regalia got ruffled ;-).  I think the ones of Patrick turned out especially nice, if I do say so my-amateur-photographer-self.

 My favorite is a toss-up between this one...

 ...and this one!

This is one P(retty)h(andsome)D(ude)...(I crack myself up!)

 "Way to go, Daddy!"

So proud of her Daddy!

 We wore blue to coordinate with Patrick's hood :-D

 I can't choose between the following two...so, posting both!  Love this girl who radiates life & joy!

The ceremony began with a reception at 5pm.  We walked in to find Patrick's family and my mom all there waiting for us - which doesn't sound amazing - but was something of a miracle.  My mom was supposed to arrive at 11am, but PDX flights were all grounded that morning since the fuel pumps were not working so the planes couldn't fuel up (yes, we imagine heads were rolling at PDX that day...).  This tempted to add no small amount of stress to our day but we determined to keep the faith and believe that God was working all things together, even as the whole morning/early afternoon, Mom was stuck in the airport, and we were texting and calling, hoping for a whole bunch of different flight/stand-by options.  She finally got on a 2:20 to Burbank (was originally supposed to fly into Ontario)...and - thank the good Lord, who was indeed watching out for us, even if testing us a little ;-) - made it to the Hooding!

Vianne was so surprised to see Grandma G. here - out of context!  It took her a few minutes to process, but then it was just utter delight.

 See what I mean?

Patrick the PhD, seated with his friends/colleagues. Kyle Bennett, to his left, started his degree at the same time - it's very cool that they were able to finish together!

Patrick receives his hood from Dr. Kärkkäinen, his mentor

Dr. Kärkkäinen presents Patrick & his accomplishments

The Speeches

He's been hooded!

The closing benediction

And a few post-ceremony shots...

Dr. Kärkkäinen & Patrick

Also, with Dr. Dyrness (the second reader on Patrick's dissertation)