Congratulations

I had an amazing weekend, and this one didn't even deal with walking tours, delictable restaurants, or stiff drinks. I returned to my roots on Thursday night back in California for my two sisters' graduations. One was graduating from San Diego State, the other being the last bird out of the nest was graduating from high school.

Lacking bedtime reading material on Thursday night, I found a stack of various pictures in the bedroom, including some of me and some of my siblings as youngsters. I had no idea that there are pictures of me with my cowboy boots and spurs on, sitting on top of a horse, Pico, getting ready to ride around with my sister, who was on another Bay Quarter-horse, Flasher. There were a bunch of other childhood pictures in the stack, and it made me a bit sad realizing that we are all grown up now and no longer full of youthful ambitions and Kodak moments. But, after dwelling on that for a few minutes as I tried to sleep, I came across a theme that I mentioned in a blog sometime in the past. Although we can never go back in time to capture those moments, the best thing we can do is capture them right now. In another twenty years, I'll look back at my pictures of me in my twenties and be able to appreciate the fact that I did my best to capture my history, both in words and in pictures. That really motivated me to take a plethora of shots throughout the weekend.

And what a weekend to enjoy. My mom and dad put a lot of hard work into preparing for the entourage of their kids returning home and their own brothers, sisters, and parents coming to town for the celebration. I returned to a house that had recently had significant interior remodeling done to the main bathroom and to some of the rooms. Fresh carpet everywhere, it was like returning to a new house practically. All the months of sacrifice that my parents put in this year paid off big time, the house was beautiful. The gardens were in full bloom, the sun was shining bright without a cloud to be seen except for the occassional marine layer from the ocean creeping over the crest of the mountains above the valley.

It was the perfect backdrop to a perfect weekend. As far as I was concerned, there was absolutely nothing that could have been better. It was great to be reunited as a family in celebration for the significant accomplishments of my precious sisters. It wasn't the usual run-around, trying to meet up with old friends for a few hours or anything like that. It was strictly family time, and that's what made it so great. Everyone got along and everyone had a great time. It was like going on vacation, it was very refreshing.

So here are the pictures.

Best of set of the grads:
Faryn Walking
Faryn Walking. Again
One More Action Shot
The Fam + a twin
Meet the Parents
Summer and Friends
Flowers for a Grad
The Family in our Back Yard
Pearls, pearls, pearls. Get that girl some pearls.

On second thought, just look at them all.

Missing everyone,
J. Riley