Casey Coats, Th.M.

Casey finished his degree at Dallas Theological Seminary in December, 2010. However, DTS only holds their graduation in the Spring, so on May 7th Casey officially graduated! :) It was a fun weekend! We started it off by going to the graduation BBQ at DTS on Friday night with Casey's parents! We had some yummy Sonny Bryan's Barbeque and then headed over to the little petting zoo - there were goats, bunnies, pot belly pigs, ducks, & chickens! Have you ever heard of ducks and chickens in a petting zoo?! We thought it was odd. There were also pony rides! Part of me wished that Sawyer was old enough to do those things, but then I realized that I want her to stay small a bit longer! :)

Poppy & Sawyer checking out all of the animals 

Proud Grandparents

The next day, we (Casey, Sawyer, &  I) made it to Prestonwood Baptist Church (that's where DTS holds their graduation ceremonies) at 8:30am. Graduation didn't start until 10, but Casey had to take a class picture and get directions, etc. I saved seats for his family and played with Sawyer until everyone arrived. Casey's fan base consisted of me, Sawyer, his mom, dad, and sister!

Can you pick Casey out of the crowd?

These are the graduates taking their class picture.

Now can you find him? :) It's like a game of Where's Waldo!

How about now?

I'll give you a hint - he's wearing blue!

What Sawyer did during the graduation :)

I took this picture of the big screen when Casey was walking down the aisle!

The speaker, Dennis Rainey

more sleeping :)

Casey getting his diploma! (Not really - his was mailed to him back in December!:)

Jeremiah getting his diploma!

To brag on him a bit…he graduated with honors!
Way to go, babe!

Coats family of 3 :)

The original Coats family!

the whole gang!

most importantly…the financial contributors ;)

proud wifey!

Aunt Stephanie with Sawyer - she was 3 weeks old here

Casey & Jeremiah - they went to UT together and then DTS together!

…and one with the wives!

That evening we had Casey's graduation party at our houset!! It was a lot of fun! For food we had hamburgers, hot dogs, Mitch's delicious french fries, chips & dip, and cake! For fun we had corn hole - a  game you play with bean bags (actually the bags are filled with corn and that's how it got it's name…which I just learned for the first time!)! There were about 50 people at our house, so luckily we have a big backyard! :)

Lauren & Sawyer - she sat there holding her for a long time!

Alycia's first time to meet Sawyer :)

Laura K & Aubrey K

At one point most all of the women and children were inside and all the men outside!

It was kind of funny that we separated ourselves like that!

Playing corn hole!

Mitch at the "fry station"

Casey's gifts!

The party boy giving me a "I don't want my picture made" look!

Some of my pretty friends:)

Laura, Ginni, & Jennifer

and then we added another pretty girl, Melina!

just hanging out

changing Sawyer's diaper, haha!

Ginni with Sawyer, Lauren, Alycia, & Kane!

Barbara & Bob Wood and Craig Kilgore came, too!

Funny story - Joshua McDill (4 years old) came out of the house looking for his mom because he couldn't get his pants back up from being in the restroom - he ran around the yard after he figured out that we all thought he was hilarious! It was really cute :)

Aubrey was so cute with Sawyer! When she came in she asked where Sawyer was and then later that night we let her hold her. She kept calling her "baby" over and over. One time my mom came over and touched Sawyer's head and Aubrey said very seriously, "Don't touch the baby!" It was so funny!

SUCH a cute picture :)

She also put her pacifier back in when it fell out - so sweet :)

Mimi & Sawyer!

The Laurens :)

Congratulations, babe! You are loved!

Ps. Isn't the cake so funny? I knew he'd like being called "Master Casey" :)