Bruin Spectacular

As I sit down to create this blog, it's with the acknowledgment that I'm very tired! I'm very glad I could have Sunday as a day to rest. I spent the morning taking care of Emily who is suffering with a virus, then left her with Kevin while I attended the Studio City ward sacrament meeting. I was very impressed with the spirit of the meeting. The bishop took the opportunity to thank ward members throughout the meeting--activities committee, seminary teacher, an elder who would be leaving, a sister who had just returned from her mission. I was grateful to be among them.
When I returned home, Kevin had made Emily her lunch. After I ate, I found I couldn't keep my eyes open! I have been needing naps frequently since I've been here, which is frustrating since I like to stay on my toes all day.
Our time here in LA is interesting. Emily misses her friends. I miss home, the dogs and Peter especially. Luckily, we stayed in Granite Bay last week through Tuesday. Emily was able to attend school and we were able to go to Peter's baseball game and team party.
We left early Wednesday so Emily could attend two auditions. I'm fortunate to have Kevin coach me or come along when we are in unfamiliar areas. Emily is a trooper; we arrived barely in time for the first audition and they asked her to improv as if she were reporting at a fashion show event. At the second audition, the casting director put her at ease having her blow bubbles and she really enjoyed it. Likewise, the next day she enjoyed working with her acting coach. Later in the day we went in to KSR to go through the process of "signing her" to the agency and she went in to say hi and show her agents her progess on the monologue she's working on. The family arrived to join us Thursday evening.
Friday was the big graduation celebration. I got up early to finish shopping for supplies, then in a fete of extreme teamwork Marv, Diana and I prepared the meat and all the fixings for three different types of small burgers, called sliders: pizza, teriyaki and mesquite. We also made a strawberry spinach salad. We met Bryan's roomates Mark and Bobby and their families at the UCLA Sunset Rec center where we had a great picnic area reserved. We were joined by Grandpa, Aunt Patricia, Uncle David and Aunt Peggy. Bryan's other's guests included family friend Jennifer Du and Jackie's dear former roomate Lindsey, who is pictured with Emily. Great athleticism was exhibited in the frisbee tossing. As Bryan himself said, the graduation ceremony itself was a bit like a political rally, but Brad Delsum from the rock group Linkin Park was impossible not to like as the keynote speaker. To view his address, here are the links:
Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=esQ7WSzJUxk
Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSlTGW3GDgs
Speaking of graduations, we missed Jackie's due to our rental car breaking down, but we think we got the right gift. We presented her with a tape measure that acknowledged she is "pratically perfect in every way"! Attached to it were two tickets to an upcoming theater event; Mary Poppins will be in LA later this year.