Graduation and Goodbyes

Ok, there is a LOT to catch up on! I'm trying to backtrack to before we left and catch up with all of that first, then I'll eventually post the move pictures!

So, as excited as we are for this next step, we were sad to say goodbye to all our friends in Lacey!

We thought the best way to celebrate was a delicious Claimjumper dinner! Hard to go wrong there!

Us, the Wickhams, and the Clarks all enjoying the best Claimjumper appetizer--the soft pretzels!

We flew down to Utah a few weeks before the move to check out places to live and were able to see some friends and family which was great. Bob has a special connection with Easton, as you can see! Easton is Karl and Christi's son (Karl is one of Bob's friends from growing up in Coeur d'Alene who now lives out here) and we had a great time hanging out with them, but every time Easton would reach for Bob!

We went on a short hike in Provo canyon with Jared and it was a beautiful sunny day!

There was a nice waterfall but unfortunately Jared's friend only took a picture of us with the rocks :)

Here's the actual waterfall for ya

When we got back from Utah there was a BBQ with my whole class to say goodbye to everyone since we were all leaving--here we are, plus Patrick and Zoe who wanted in this picture!

Now here we all are with families too. I love how Cheree has John's pic since he's in DC at the time of this shot!

On June 4 the big day was upon us--graduation! Because some of the residents in the hospital were pregnant and we're in transition from the green Class B to the new Army Service Uniform (which is basically the blues without the jacket), somehow there is no maternity uniform for the blues, hence none for the ASU yet, and since the B's are being phased out and they didn't want to make people buy a $300 uniform that will be useless after one wearing, the command decided to go with the ACU's (Army Combat Uniform) for everyone for graduation. This is also in keeping with the whole trend toward ACU's for everything now in solidarity with soldiers in theater. Here is my class looking good in our ACU's! The real benefit of wearing these for graduation is that we wear it every day, so we all know HOW to wear it, so no one had patches in the wrong places!

Ryan's big. Enough said.

Sitting in our seats ready to start!

Mom and John came out for the weekend!

Getting my fake diploma!

Bob's parents came out too, so here we all are!

Us and Bob's parents

My parents and us

I probably should have made this one bigger--interns, seniors, and a few staff

The girls having fun

Interns and seniors again--somehow Pete was working and missed all the fun

My class again

We went to lunch afterwards--here's the girls

We headed home after lunch and Dorothy had made me a cake! Very creative. I don't know if you can see all the Army doctor-ness here, but there's a transformer tank, camo frosting, graduates around the edges, and Band-aids all over to let you know all about my career path! :)

To top off the big graduation weekend, we took the parents to a Mariner's game! It was sad to think it would be our last one, at least for a few years, but even though they lost we had fun. It was a beautiful sunny day at least and we enjoyed the ballpark food as always!

It was also free hat day, so we all got matching hats (although Ron is still wearing his own hat and not the new one)

Sunday night there was a farewell dinner for all the seniors and we all got a Madigan Peds coin (it's hard to see, but it has CPT Sampert engraved on it)

One more shot of our class before we all separate! Ryan didn't get the memo about black I guess... :)

The farewell dinner was great--the other residents made a hilarious roast video of us which we all enjoyed--they definitely got me in so many ways... my fast talking, my endless stories, fascination with all things GI, frequent injuries of late, etc. We did a short powerpoint roasting the staff and junior residents for the new interns to get to know them a bit since we ran out of time, but we had fun with it.

I loved my time at Madigan sooooo much and was so lucky to have 5 of the greatest pediatricians and people in general in my class. I can't imagine the last 3 years spent with anyone else and I already miss them all! I know we'll stay in touch, but we'll never be here again, so it's sad to think about. I'm also sad to leave all the other residents and staff in our program. After 3 years it really feels like home--I know everyone, I know where things are, how to do things, how it all works, and it's a little scary to have a fresh start with everything here in Salt Lake, and as much as I know we'll make new friends and I'll bond with my new coworkers, I also know it won't be the same as residency! Thanks to everyone who helped us get through the last 3 years and we'll miss everyone we're leaving behind! Come visit us in Salt Lake!