A Super Weekend!

After the graduation and graduation dinner, we all (except for Jeff who had to work on Saturday) piled in the cars and headed for Orlando.  Kent was so kind to reserve a condo for everyone to enjoy.  Craig, Cassie, and Riley joined them the first part of the week, and George and I, along with Amy's kids, joined them the last part of the week.  

Daytime view of the pool below us--we were on the 15th floor!

Nighttime view

Of course, the kids loved the pool.  This pool had a huge pirate ship on one end where the kids could climb to the top and go down a big water tube.  They loved it and went again and again.

Ethan and Grandpa played a game with the football.  George would throw it and Ethan would catch it in mid-air over the pool.  They must have done this 50 or more times.  It kept them both entertained!

On the way to Orlando, we had stopped at a rest stop that had this stuffed gator. 

But, we saw the real thing in Orlando when we went to Gaylord Palms at their atrium which is made to look like a Florida swamp.  It is complete with the sounds, the plant life, and even the swamp creatures--snakes, turtles, and gators!  What a great way to see the swamp--in air conditioned comfort. 

Ella was a little afraid of the gators at first.  Whenever she calls, she asks me if there are any gators at my door.

Every day one of the groundskeepers makes up a beautiful arrangement and chooses to give it to someone.  She chose to give it to Ella.

Ella felt like a princess and carried those flowers everywhere!

On Saturday, since it was my birthday (no telling the age!), Kent and Natalie took me out to dinner, and then we went back to the condo for cake and ice cream.  The kids had a great time putting all the candles in.  I finally made them stop because there just was no more room in the cake unless they put two in one hole!  Hah! 

We all said good-bye to Kent and Natalie Saturday night.  George took them to the airport at 4:15 a.m. on Sunday morning in Orlando.  It was so great being with their family and letting the cousins have so much fun together.  

George had about a 45 minute rest, then he took me out to the Orlando airport at 6:30 a.m., and I was on my way to Dallas to be there for Cameron and Anne's new baby arrival!  There is always something exciting going on in the Copeland household!   

We Now Have Two Dentists in the Family!

Does it get any better than this?  To now have all seven children done with their college is just the greatest feeling--but, also, it marks the end of an era.  We have had kids in college for so many years that  we will hardly know what to think.  But May 21st was such a special day for Craig, Cassie, and Baby Riley.  School is done, and they are now ready to go out and face the world.

We all waited excitedly for the grand procession.

When Craig marched in, George and I were just beaming.  There were 81 dental students in his class who were graduating.  They honored seven students with the Clinical Excellence Award, and Craig was one of the seven.  We are so proud of him!

Craig is the tall one right below the arrow of the Dentistry sign.

Then when he got to have his brother, Kent, help put his robe on, I saw George with tears rolling down his cheek.  Only a dentist can robe another dentist, so this was very special.  

Dr. Copeland and Dr. Copeland

Kent's chair in the V.I.P. Section

Changing the tassels--now they are officially graduated.

The procession out.

We took lots of pictures afterwards so we could remember this day forever!

We had to wake Baby Riley up for pictures.

He wasn't too happpy about that.

Cassie has been such a wonderful support to Craig throughout these past four years of dental school.  I know he would say that he couldn't have done it without all of her support. 

All the little people at the graduation.

We had a wonderful graduation lunch where George gave a little talk about how proud he was of Craig and all of our children.  He said the next graduation he will attend will be Jeff's.  We are certainly looking forward to that day!

And where was Baby Riley during all this?  He was snoozing, probably wondering what all the excitement was about.

The only drawback about this whole occasion is that in June, Craig, Cassie, and Baby Riley will be moving to Dallas for him to start his career.  We will miss them sooooo much--but luckily, they will have Cameron and Anne and their family to spend time together.  Congratulations, Craig.  You are great!

Happy Birthday, Craig!

I can't believe our youngest son turned 29 years old today!  It seems like only yesterday that I was in the hospital for both his birthday and mine.  He was such a good one to end on because he just blended in with the other kids, and they all just loved him to pieces. They all still do!

Now, here he is all grown up with a beautiful wife and darling son of his own.  

We can hardly stand the fact that he is all done with dental school and will be moving to Dallas about the middle of June.  It just doesn't seem fair--we always enjoyed being with them so much, and little Riley is just starting to get so fun.  But we are thrilled for them and their new plans.

These were the "guests" at the party.  George had board meeting, Jeff had school, so they were unable to come and felt so left out!

With all the boxing up and moving they needed to do, we did work in a birthday party at our favorite mid-way point--Sonny's in Starke--surprise, surprise!

This time, we not only had Amy and her kids, but also Kent and Natalie and their children because they had flown out for Craig's graduation.  What a great time we all had together!

Riley looked very happy to be at his daddy's party--too bad he couldn't have cake, too!