Father & Son's Campout

Daddy took Benjamin to his second annual Father & Son's campout!

Apparently Benjamin wouldn't hold still for a picture, so Jed had to go to extreme measures... Hence the hilarious photo to the right, with Jed's foot pinning him down for a picture.

(Above) Jed had a headlamp for Ben to use, and he loved it!

From the picture of Benjamin in bed, it doesn't look like he's going to be falling asleep anytime soon! Cool Lightning McQueen sleeping bag, huh? Provided by his awesome Mommy. :)

And the following morning, up bright and early to make bottle rockets.

Jed and Benjamin had a good time. I'm glad Jed takes him to the Father and Sons campout every year. Ben was very excited to go!

A few more pictures from Graduation weekend

While we were in Missouri for Jed's graduation, we had lots of down time to play in the pool at the hotel.

Benjamin loved it.

And, despite appearances, Eliza loved it too. :)

Jed, always coming up with something new, decided to let Ben swim around with the rescue tube and get a ride with by hanging on to the long pool rod. Benjamin was loving it!

Just as we were pulling into town, a tornado was pulling out. We had been listening to weather reports during the last leg of our journey, friends who were ahead of us were calling us with updates, and we were experiencing tremendous downpour. We arrived safely at our hotel, but it poured a lot on Thursday and Friday. Luckily Saturday (the day of commencement) was beautiful. On Thursday we drove around a bit in the rain and almost washed away in a river that was crossing the main highway where the road dipped a little. Jed wasn't as concerned as I was, but I honestly thought water would start pouring in the doors and we would lose our footing and float away while trying to cross through the water! When the storm was over, we checked out the damage from the tornado. These were some homes that we passed. It's incredible how much damage occurred. I'm thankful a tornado didn't come while we were living here...

Home again, home again, jiggity jig.

SAA Senior Banquet

The night before Jed's graduation commencement ceremony, we attended the Student Advocate Association (SAA) Senior Banquet. The SAA is an organization that was very involved in for the two years that we lived in Missouri. I was the 2nd Vice President our 2nd year of Medical School. Anyway, we had this beautiful banquet in our honor, and it was so much fun to see and visit with all our friends again.

Above: Katherine, Christie, me, Brenda, and Josie

During the banquet, there was an awards presentation. Members of the SAA nominated each other to receive the four awards. I was awarded the Moritsugu Award for being an overall supportive companion to my medical school spouse and his profession. :) I was very honored that my friends and peers nominated me. :) The picture above is of the award recipients and the award presenters.
After the banquet, we released real live monarch butterflies into the sky. Ashley, me, Jill, Aubrey, and Brenda are holding our little cardboard containers with the butterflies inside, prior to releasing them.
Erin, Jill, Katherine, Melody, Aubrey, Tara, Valerie, and Christie. Oh, it was just wonderful to be able to hang out with these girls again. I certainly have missed them the past two years. And now we are going our separate ways again. The whole graduation weekend was like a reunion. It was so fun!

Katherine and me. And to the right, Brenda and me. They are such great friends! I took pictures with other good friends, but my camera wasn't working well, and they haven't sent me their pictures (yet). :)

I know a handsome and brilliant doctor. He's all mine, though, and not accepting new patients. Sorry.

Congratulations to Jed who graduated from Medical School after four long grueling years! Yippee! I am so proud of him! Somehow through it all, he continued to be a fun, considerate and positive husband, and a hilarious and enthusiastic daddy. He is truly remarkable, and I'm so excited that he has accomplished and recieved a doctorate degree. Wow! That's my husband!

Congratulations Jed! I love you!

You worked hard to get this far and I appreciate all you've done for our family!

When we were driving home from the graduation ceremony, Jed started teasing Benjamin and told him that from now on he needed to call him 'Doctor Dad.' Benjamin took him seriously and got a concerned look on his face and told him he did not want to. Jed kept telling him to call him 'Doctor Dad' until Benny said, "No, that's not a good name." It was so funny that Ben thought he was being serious!

After the graduation ceremony, we were driving home and Ben put on Jed's cap and excitedly said, "Look! I'm graduating!" It was pretty cute.
Thanks to A. T. Still University for the first two pictures. My camera wasn't working well, as you can see, and they kindly sent me the professional pictures that a photographer took of us.