She Did It!

We officially have a Purdue grad in the family now. Ellen graduated on Saturday to the delight of Mom, Dad, Craig, Kelly, Grandma and Grandpa C and Grandma and Grandpa E, who were all present, and Abby, who wasn't there, but wanted to be. The Nursing Recognition Ceremony was in the morning. The two-hour affair involved recognizing all 100 nursing graduates individually. Tom and I went up on stage for the pinning and we all smiled for the cameras. Fortunately they did the nurses alphabetically so we didn't have to pay attention for too long. Half way through the names Kelly leaned over and whispered, "This is boring." I whispered back (with a smile), "I know!" We went out to lunch afterwards, then dropped Kelly and Craig at Ellen's apartment with the Wii before heading to Commencement. We couldn't get enough tickets for everyone and they were the ones most likely to complain. Purdue had over 5,700 students receiving diplomas so Commencement was split into 4 groups. There were 993 in Ellen's. The PhD and Master's Degree students were recognized by name. Thankfully they flashed names on the screen and hustled the bachelor's degree students across the stage. They had big screens on the wall projecting video of the kids recieving their diplomas or we wouldn't have been able to see much. Despite the length of the events it was quite exciting to see Ellen graduate. She was so happy! Now we just have to box her up and move her home!