Uncle Jay's Graduation

A couple weeks ago, my Uncle Jay graduated from UVU with his second Bachelor's degree- this one in Visual Arts. This degree was a long time coming, and a lot of work went into it from him and his family. During his schooling, it was not uncommon for him to be working 2 jobs and have multiple church callings. On top of that, he has six wonderful children to whom he is a great father. They had to move their family twice during his schooling, and he was the main work force in maintaining and upgrading his house and rental unit. Somehow in between all of that, he still found time to create amazing works of art. The guy is awesome. There was no way I could pass up the chance to celebrate this accomplishment with him.

I had Ross take me to my mom's house early before work so that my mom could drive me around for the day. The girls were pretty good for the convocation, which was a nice surprise.

This was a nice surprise as well. Jay got some great advice from Satan at his graduation. :) I knew who Michael Ballam was when I read his name on the program, but was a bit unprepared for the chill I would feel at hearing his voice in a different setting. Don't know what I am talking about? Don't worry about it. His speech really was good and I found him very inspiring.

Yay for diploma holders!

The Jay Wallace family- thanks for looking at my camera, Garrett!

I love that Grandpa is taking a picture of me taking a picture of the group. What a goof!

This is my friend Julie. She graduated that day as well with her Bachelors in Theater Arts. Her family was taking pictures in the same spot, but then they all left before they got a picture of her by herself, so I offered to take one and send it to her.

After Convocation, my mom took us back to her house where we hung out until Jay's family got back from Commencement. We were afraid the girls would not last through another long ceremony. When they got back, we went over to celebrate with him, and found that Lara had made a huge ice cream sundae bar. It was a nice little surprise.

We sat and chatted with everyone and congratulated Jay. They are now getting ready to move to South Dakota where Jay will be attending Graduate School and working as an intern teacher. They leave at the beginning of June, and while I am super excited for this opportunity for them, I will miss them dearly.

Congratulations, Jay! Your work ethic is almost as inspiring as your talent. I can't wait to see what the future holds for you.