Congratulations Mom!

After almost 33 years... my mom graduated from BYU! I am so proud of her! We enjoyed spending the week reflecting on her accomplishments and honoring her for all of her hard work! It has not been easy, but she has done a great job showing all of us how to endure to the end and have a lot of fun along the way!!

Here are some pictures we took over the past few days.

Mom & Dad

Andrew was a little scared of Grandma once she donned her cap & gown.

We had seats nice and high up in the Marriott Center for Commencement on Thursday. The Commencement speakers were President Dieter F. Uchtdorf and Elder Russell M. Nelson. Their addresses were definitely inspiring.

Scott, Cat, and Jessie

Andrew couldn't handle all the excitement in the Marriott Center arena during commencement, so we had fun running around outside and hanging out watching the speeches in the hallway. He is such a busy little kid... fortunately I had a chocolate shake & fries for lunch and I had a lot of calories to burn... so running around after him was no problem.



Afterwards we had fun taking pictures! I looked like a scrub, but my mom sure looked great!


On Friday afternoon we went to Convocation for the School of Family Life and my mom got her diploma. We had one of the loudest cheering sections!


We were really glad my dad made it to graduation in time to see mom graduate! He hurt his back on Thursday night and spent a good portion of Friday going to see the doctor. He had an MRI and had to get a cortisone shot right before my mom's graduation and arrived just in time to see mom get her diploma.


My mom's twin sister (my Aunt Laurel) and her family also drove down from Boise for the big day!

Here's the original Smith clan

and the Smith clan + spouses (Andrew had a fun afternoon hanging out with Grandma Shari!)

Christensens, Jensens, and Johnsons also came to cheer for mom!

We had to get the ideal BYU graduate photo before we headed home for the PARTY!


My little sis Jessie coordinated an awesome Graduation Party for my mom. We all had fun helping. Scott & Cat did an awesome job decorating the house.

Elise, Jessie, and I had fun making (and ordering :)) the food.

It was so nice to have so many friends and family members come join us for the celebration!

The Short Hills ladies

Mom, Aunt Heidi, Aunt Wendy, and Shari

Jessie, Aunt Laurel, and Elise

Andrew had a great day partying with my cousin Janelle's son Brody. He liked to try and copy him and follow him around.


Overall we had so much fun celebrating with my mom! Congratulations Mom!!!