Celebrating the Mast-ah

Y'ALL! HE DID IT!

My rockstar of a husband finished and graduated with his Masters degree(WITH all A's this semester I might add)! (Hallelujah chorus)

Whew! Words can't even begin to express how proud I am of him. He stuck with it, even working full time and adjusting to a new job and a new place. He is utterly and completely amazing. I can't stop gushing about him. ;)

To celebrate his achievement, we had all our immediate family up to Fort Smith for dinner and dessert. I think we had about 21 people total--including six kids (8 and under) and 2 puppies (my parents brought JoJo, their new lab puppy to play with Sophie). It was absolutely crazy but such a fun time! Daniel's middle brother, Sean, and his wife Kimberly live in Tyler, TX and they drove up and brought their two girls, Carley (3 1/2) and Audrey (18 mo.), to stay the weekend with us. It was so great to be able to spend time with them--and the girls absolutely fell in love with Sophie! On Saturday, Ben and Rebekah (Daniel's oldest brother and his wife) came and brought their 4 kids, Will (who turned 8 that day), Hayes (6), Olivia (5), and Caroline (3 1/2). My parents came and brought JoJo, and both my grandparents and my cousin Caroline came, who was a big help with the puppies. Finally, Daniel's parents and his grandmother Ruth drove up to finish out the crew.

We ate dinner at Taliano's Italian Restaurant in Downtown Fort Smith. Can I just say, WOW. This restaurant is in a house that was built in 1898, and they have totally remodeled and decorated it like it would have been in the 19th century. They also make all of their pastas homemade, as well as their sauces and dressings. If you are ever in the Fort Smith area, be sure and eat there! It was absolutely incredible. Once we were absolutely stuffed, we came back to our house, where Daniel opened gifts and then we ate even more by partaking in desserts--brownies a la mode and white chocolate chip torte. I think we were all miserable by the end of the night!

All in all, it was so great to have everyone together and celebrate Daniel and just spend quality time with family. Memories were definitely made!

Sophie spent some quality bonding time with Dad

 

One of our nieces, Audrey

Dessert table!

                        Me and my graduate                        

                                      My mom and my grandmothers are such inspirations to me!