hail the conquering hero...

Drue has officially added another 2 letters after his name on his letterhead: M.M.

This was a big accomplishment for us and here are a few pictures I can share with you. Drue's mom and dad came out from CA for this, Jesse came up from Provo and we all had a great time together! So, here we all are after the Degree covers have been conferred.

This man is John Brackett- one of the most brilliant men I have ever had the opportunity of working with. He was my personal Theory instructor. He was also on Drue's advisory board. He is ALSO one of the toughest teachers I've ever had and Drue will second that. But a sincere and caring person- outside of class:) He said that Drue's defense was one of the best he had ever heard.

I'm happy we were able to get a picture with him.

This man is Miguel Chuaqui (choo-AH-key). He was Drue's composition teacher for the year he wrote his thesis. Drue has a lot of respect for this teacher, and admiration. He was very helpful to Drue in developing the ideas and musical techniques used in his composition. Plus, he's such a great example to us of how to make academia work for us- he's a "family man" and its nice to see that you really CAN follow the commandment to multiply and replenish the earth AND be an effective educator.

This is Morris Rosensweig. Don't you love his hair?! When not encapsulated under a tam, it is what every stereotyped professor has: grey, longish, frizzy, EVERYWHERE! Its awesome. Morris was another personal professor of Drue's and he really respects this man's knowledge and depth of understanding in the musical world. He conducted many of Drue's works and has given Drue some good performances.

This is Drue and his 9 months pregnant wife- Ashley. I instructed the photog to only get me from the waist up in an effort to disguise my burgeoning belly. Yet, some things cannot be hidden totally. See the lei Drue is wearing? Its from his boss, Luella Flores who is Hawaiian. She came to his graduation as well (so nice of her!) and presented him with this lei- its full of gold 1$ coins. So, Drue made $25 from his lei. Jesse and I were teasing him about getting him a flower lei- but this kind is FAR more practical!:)

The graduation ceremony was LONG- there were over 300 Baccalaureates to get through before we could even touch the Masters. And since it was for the College of Fine Arts, the list of graduating departments included Dance (and its variations), Film (and its variations), Art (and its variations), Theatre (and its variations) and Music (and its variations). Its a good thing we didn't bring James to this- he would have been SO antsy! And it was hard enough sitting in close confines in fold down theatre seats with a full bladder. But it was nice when it was all over- then the reality of it settles in. So, now Drue has a BS in Music from BYU-Idaho and a MM from U of U. Next on the agenda: DMA from UNL. Its nice to be done with this and we are looking forward to the next adventure!