Oklahoma: Post One

Forgive the length. This is mostly a photo journal of Graduation Day; more of the rest of the trip to come!

The Night Before

Erik & I left LAX the day before the graduation. Thank heavens for on-time flights and good weather!! Erik got home from work in the morning and we finished getting ready before leaving. No sleep for the poor boy. I drove, but he had caught his second wind and was unable to sleep. We parked and caught an easy shuttle to the airport in plenty of time; security was faster and easier than I can remember since before all the new measures were put in place! LAX is under construction, but we found our gate fairly easily and settled in to wait . . . Erik still didn't nap. Our flights were on time, and we were so impressed by the friendliness, efficiency and overall service from Frontier Airlines! Best flight experience in years--both going and returning. We arrived in OKC less than an hour before Noelle & Andy, and were whisked off to Guthrie by April and (brother) Ben. Erik, now going on about 36 hours with no sleep, seemed glad to reach a bed.

Graduation Day

We woke to a whirlwind of activity! I think this picture captures the lives of A&B Coffin pretty well. On the morning before hosting a large graduation party, not to mention the day of the actual ceremony, you can see Ben here making a cake for a friend's birthday "real quick"; the blur in the background is the graduate.
Perfect, as usual!
And now on to the graduation cake!
Meanwhile, April (with a little help from her friends) was steaming clothes rumpled by travel.
If my hair seems frizzy in pictures, it's because she steamed me a little too!
Dad in the kitchen making bags of chile powder--he and Jackie stopped at in Hatch, NM and brought chiles and chile powder to share! We've been using our green chile powder in eggs--YUM!!
Adding the fruit between layers.
Attack of the clothing steamer!
They still managed to clean up pretty well in time for the graduation ceremony. ;-)
Uncle John
One of the few pictures I got of Dad, here with Don. I think he was too busy with his own camera!
Noelle, Mom, Shirley
Kirsten & Erik
Andy
Pei & Ben
Me & My Handsome Hubby
Jackie & Ben
John & April
Let's line up for more pictures, Ben!
Sibs & Spouses
Coffins & Meachams
Ben & April with Ben's parents, Don & Shirley

We met April's good friend from school, Debbie.

Then came The Problem of the Hat.
"How do I make this stay??"
A helpful friend from the kitchen offered trussing pins and strings.
April preferred the bobby pins another friend was able to scrounge up.
April & Debbie, all ready to graduate!!
There was a nice departmental reception before the ceremony, complete with yummy food prepared and served by Ben's co-workers in the kitchen!

April & NoelleApril & Mom
Cut from the same cloth?
Graduation!
These are a bit fuzzy . . . I discovered the switch on the lens was set to manual the following day. :-/ Here are April and Debbie making their way to their seats, while April scans the crowd to find us.
Amazingly, she eventually did spot us!
Heading up to the stage
Waiting to have her name called
The shots from across the stage were just too fuzzy to share, even with apologies.

We met at the back afterwards for a quick(ish) get-away. But not before balloon and flowers!
College Graduate
"Ok, we're done with pictures now."
"I'm getting out of this hot robe!"Congratulatory call from friends unable to make the party
I didn't take any pictures at the party. I was too busy eating yummy food, meeting people, talking to folks I hadn't seen for ages . . . needless to say it was quite a spread and a good time was had by all. I'll post more pictures from our trip in coming days.

Congratulations, April!!!!!!!