The Lamoreaux Family: College Graduation!

Sunday, December 19, 2010

College Graduation!

The day has finally come! Bob graduated this weekend from BYU-Idaho. What a journey this has been for our family. A little over three years ago, Bob was in between building projects. He didn't expect to be going back to school, but that was what he felt he should do.

He tells a little about this story in the speech he gave on Friday evening at his convocation. You can watch his excellent talk here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=loKGKpzYCfc
(Please excuse the wiggly camera job from a true beginning film maker. He's learning)

The counsel of President Hinckley was one reason Bob considered going back to school:
"You have a mandate from the Lord to educate your minds and your hearts and your hands...The Lord wants you to train your minds and hands to become an influence for good as you go forward with your lives. And as you do so and as you perform honorably and with excellence, you will bring honor to the Church, for you will be regarded as a man...of integrity and ability and conscientious workmanship. In addition, your education will strengthen your service in the Church. The Lord wants you to educate your minds and hands, whatever your chosen field. ...Seek for the best schooling available. Become a workman of integrity in the world that lies ahead of you." --Gordon B. Hinckley

Friday night was the convocation, with President Kim Clark and Elder Marlin K. Jensen in attendance. We got to meet them, and they and their wives are very nice. I think it was really great of the Clarks and the Jensens to make sure they wore matching clothes so they could coordinate with our family picture.

~~Gumby~~ er...Professor Lamoreaux and Kristi came. Afterwards lots of people told Gumby that he did a good job on his speech. I don't realize that he looks that much like Bob, but I guess he must because people mix them up all the time.

Mallykins

Aliysa got a hold of the camera

Abby giving Dad a hug

Saturday morning was commencement, in the new BYU-Idaho amphitheater. It is a beautiful building that looks really similar to the conference center in SLC. We're grateful that they finished this building right before Bob's graduation, otherwise we only would have been allowed to get 2 tickets to commencement. As it was, they only allowed graduates 8 tickets, and the nice lady at the ticket office had to really pull some strings to get us more than 8 tickets all in the same section.

Bob graduated Magna Cum Laude with a 3.94 cumulative GPA. I am so proud of him. He keeps saying that it really doesn't seem like it has been very hard, but he sure put a lot of effort into it.

We are looking forward to the next phase of life without homework for Bob. We're thankful that Bob has had the chance to attend school at BYU-Idaho. He learned so many valuable things, and it has been a great experience for our whole family.

Abby was so tired and ready to go. We were waiting for Bob afterward, and she took off by herself. The guy in the picture even passed her and tried to get her to turn around and head back to us, but she just scowled and kept walking. Jace had to follow her and bring her back to us.

8 comments:

Brittany H said...: CONGRATULATIONS BOB!!!!!! That is an awesome accomplishment! (And congratulations family for supporting him and helping him get through!); December 20, 2010 at 7:43 AM
Nuttall said...: Congratulations!! I thought school was hard when I did it, but I can't imagine doing it while trying to take care of a big family. You are amazing!

~Kimberly; December 20, 2010 at 8:41 AM
Jamon Clark said...: CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!!!! you are so awesome!!!!!; December 20, 2010 at 5:15 PM
Elder & Sister Lamoreaux said...: Way to go Son, We knew you were an A student all along. Love Ya, Mom & Dad; December 22, 2010 at 8:45 AM
Unknown said...: congratulations! i enjoyed the talk despite being a little motion sick (jsut kidding)!; December 23, 2010 at 9:21 AM
Gaylene and Emil said...: Bob and Tasha,

You are both so awesome! Congratulations to your whole family! We love you all and feel privileged to have you in our family. Can't wait to see what you accomplish next.

love,
Mom and Dad Hahn; January 6, 2011 at 9:25 PM
Tara said...: Way to go. It was so fun seeing you guys. I just wish we lived closer. Than we could have gone to the convocation instead of getting sick watching it.; January 9, 2011 at 8:14 PM
Ahren said...: Congratulations Bob! Way to go.
I'm glad you figured out how to add the pictures Tasha. You all look so nice in your coordinating outfits. What a good looking family.; January 14, 2011 at 12:27 PM

Fill the spiritual needs

“some parents become so expert at filling every physical desire for their children that they begin to suppose that all is well in this life and that their eternal stewardship is progressing right on schedule. … I believe that we must pause and take a careful inventory to determine how well our families are doing spiritually. We could ask how well are we feeding, nurturing, training, and exercising the spirits of our children; or how well have we taught, trained, loved, and inspired our children to build their spiritual muscles and strength? … Remember, eternity is now, not a vague, distant future. We prepare each day, right now, for eternal life. If we are not preparing for eternal life, we are preparing for something else, perhaps something far less.”

–M. Russell Ballard

Pray with your little ones

"Behold your little ones. Pray with them. Pray for them and bless them. The world into which they are moving is a complex and difficult world. They will run into heavy seas of adversity. They will need all the strength and all the faith you can give them while they are yet near you. And they also will need a greater strength which comes of a higher power. They must do more than go along with what they find.

They must lift the world, and the only levers they will have are the example of their own lives and the powers of persuasion that will come of their testimonies and their knowledge of the things of God. They will need the help of the Lord. While they are young, pray with them that they may come to know that source of strength which shall then always be available in every hour of need."

-Gordon B. Hinckley

Be Wise In Our Diet

“…let us consider our relationship with ourselves. We must each take proper care to see that the little things regarding our personal life are in order. We must learn to care for our health and our mental well-being. Do we maintain proper exercise to give us the energy and alertness of mind necessary to keep our spirit strong & our attitude positive? Are we wise in our diet? Do we avoid the unnourishing snack that might keep our stomach full but our health quite empty?

–Joseph B. Wirthlin, Finding Peace in Our Lives, p. 59

Turn it off, walk out...

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland:

“Tragically, the same computer and Internet service that allows me to do my family history and prepare those names for temple work could, without filters and controls, allow my children or grandchildren access to a global cesspool of perceptions that could blast a crater in their brains forever. . .

“Along with filters on computers and a lock on affections, remember that the only real control in life is self-control. Exercise more control over even the marginal moments that confront you. If a TV show is indecent, turn it off. If a movie is crude, walk out. If an improper relationship is developing, sever it. Many of these influences, at least initially, may not technically be evil, but they can blunt our judgment, dull our spirituality, and lead to something that could be evil. An old proverb says that a journey of a thousand miles begins with one step, so watch your step.” (Place No More For the Enemy of My Soul, April 2010)

Only a teacher

"If any parent needs added inspiration to commence his God-given teaching task, let him remember that the most powerful combination of emotions in the world is not called out by any grand cosmic events nor found in novels or history books—but merely by a parent gazing down upon a sleeping child. That glorious biblical passage, 'created in the image of God,' will acquire new and vibrant meaning as a parent repeats this experience. Home will become a haven called heaven, and loving parents will teach their children 'to pray, and to walk uprightly before the Lord.' (D&C 68:28.)"
--Thomas S. Monson

Quote

“Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on: you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently he starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of—throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were going to be made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. …”
--C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

Raise up patriots

The importance of teaching & training

"In 1904, President Joseph F. Smith said to parents: “Do not let your children out to specialists … , but teach them by your own precept and example, by your own fireside. Be a specialist yourself in the truth.

… Not one child in a hundred would go astray, if the home environment, example and training, were in harmony with the truth in the gospel of Christ, as revealed and taught to the Latter-day Saints.”

The ideal way to transform your home into a house of learning is to hold family home evening faithfully. The Church has reserved Monday evening for that purpose. In 1915, the First Presidency instructed local leaders and parents to inaugurate a home evening, a time when parents should teach their families the principles of the gospel.

The Presidency wrote: “If the Saints obey this counsel, we promise that great blessings will result. Love at home and obedience to parents will increase. Faith will be developed in the hearts of the youth of Israel, and they will gain power to combat the evil influence and temptations which beset them.”

President David O. McKay gave the same promise in 1965 and added that the youth will gain power “to choose righteousness and peace, and be assured an eternal place in the family circle of our Father.”

In 1976, the Presidency reaffirmed that “regular participation in family home evening will develop increased personal worth, family unity, love for our fellowmen, and trust in our Father in heaven.

Considering these glorious promises, we would expect every faithful member to be exceedingly diligent in following this prophetic counsel. But, of course, we are all human, and our best plans don’t always materialize. Why not? Let it not be for lack of commitment."

--Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin, Spiritually Strong Homes and Families

Our Health Duty

“I am grateful to understand that my physical body is an eternal component of my eternal soul, and that I have a duty to honor and respect and care for it, and to refrain from knowingly imposing upon it any treatment or substances deleterious to it. While I could not choose nor govern the condition of the body into which I came, I have the responsibility to give it the best care I can, and if I do not I am acting in derogation of a great gift of God.”
--Marion D. Hanks, “For Man is Spirit”

Come to the Temple

"The season of the world before us will be like no other in the history of mankind. Just as this is the dispensation of the fullness of times, so it is also the dispensation of the fullness of evil. There is no safety in the world: wealth cannot provide it, enforcement agencies cannot assure it, membership in this church alone cannot bring it. We must come to the temple for light and safety. There are hosts of unseen sentinels watching over and guarding our temples. There will come a period of time when even the elect will lose hope if they do not come to the temples. They will long to bring their children here for safety's sake. The covenants and ordinances will fill us with faith as a living fire. In a day of desolating sickness, scorched earth, barren wastes, sickening plagues, disease, destruction, and death: we as a people will rest in the shade of trees, we will drink from the cooling fountain. We will abide in places of refuge from the storm, we will mount up as on eagle's wings."
--Vaughn J. Featherstone