jason's grad party

this past weekend, jason graduated from uc berkeley as a mechanical engineer. jason is chanté's husband and it seems like these two have been through it all together. he's been on this education journey for a long time now (haven't we all), but he finally made it!

chanté and jason have struggled to provide the best possible schooling and experiences to their three kids, while satisfying their own needs for advanced education. throughout this journey, they've both taken turns working, but have always both attended school.

now jason is done and chanté's on her way to a second bachelors at mills college, then i imagine grad school will be next for her. these two are absolutely hooked on education!

they've been an inspiration to us all and we're so lucky to have them in our lives. here are some pics from the party...

this picture turned out interesting, very "album cover." (quinlan, suzi, troy)

chanté and jason's youngest, joaquin - isn't he stunning!

family portrait - shaye, chanté, jason, joaquin and shiloh. the second pic is of suzi and quinlan chattin' it up by the bar - of course! ;)

chanté and jason - to quote troy, "the couple of the decade." the second pic is of chanté and branimir, another old friend.

this is annie, who has been an amazing friend to chanté and jason. she's also hilarious. she has that wild british humor and keeps us all laughing. ;)

chanté and her dad in the first pic, the second pic is of branimir with his wife melissa, and quinlan.

troy w/quinlan and joaquin. doesn't he look so cute with the piece of the gold curtain as a headband. jajajaja!!

chanté and laura with the gold curtain, and a picture of shaye w/the balloons.

the next morning we all went to brunch. shaye w/uncle troy's sunglasses, joaquin refusing to put on mine. ;)

back at jason and chanté's to say our goodbyes... shaye and uncle troy chillin' on the lawn...

it was an amazing weekend with a group of friends that is more like family... i was feeling pretty emotional on sunday, after quinlan dropped me off back home, thinking about what an incredible group this is and how these times are going to become less frequent after quinlan and troy move. q's leaving for san diego in july, troy's leaving for spain in august...

we're all spreading out, but i have no doubts that these ties will remain strong and that now we'll just have more cool places to visit. ;)

san diego - thanksgiving '07!
madrid, spain - spring break '08!

you can also view videos of the grad party here.

Easter Traditions and Coming Home

This Easter I went home. I grew up in Galt, where I found a group of amazing people. Strong bonds were forged during high school that have lasted over a decade.

For many years, this group has had an Easter tradition, introduced to us by our friend and his mom. It's an Assyrian tradition, which is too magical to describe here.

Actually, it's not the tradition itself that's magical, but instead it's the people that make it what it is. The tradition just helps to give the rest of us a glimpse of an ancient culture and a feeling of belonging. For the last few years, I haven't been to one Easter in Galt. This year I realized I've been missing it and finally went back. What an amazing homecoming! I feel so lucky to have such amazing people and experiences in my life, and I just wanted to share that with you. ;)

Pictures are posted here, under Easter.