SMU Graduation.

Finally. After four hard, long years, the day of graduation had come. It was a day we longed for. Especially during the fourth year. The anticipation of no longer living on student loans, no more managing apartments and for Papa J being able to work on patients and no longer be classified as "student."

Graduation was held at the Paramount Theater downtown. It's beautiful inside.

The ceremony was held along with the PA graduates. Luckily the class sizes were not too large so it wasn't so bad for us adults. But for the kids, it was another story. I left three times during the ceremony just for bathroom breaks alone. I'm surprised I even got pictures of J being hooded because afterwards Cici was done. She would cry every time I neared the entrance to go back in. So we waited outside for the graduates to exit.

Papa J's grandpa is a Doctor of Psychiatry and was surprisingly in the area for graduation (he lives in NY). J was excited that his grandfather could have the opportunity to hood him at graduation. It was a rare and exciting moment.

Once the graduates exited the building, it was a little bit of a madhouse to say the least. Family and friends were trying to find their graduate and graduates were trying to get their diplomas. But we were able to capture a lot of pictures with friends and family members that came for the celebration. Papa J had his parents, grandparents, and brother and sister join in on the celebration. My parents even drove the distance to be with us. It was so nice to have family in town and the kids were loving all of the attention. Thank you for being a part of our day!
Papa J also had one of his best friends attend graduation. Diego has always been there for J and we've had some fun snowboarding and wakeboarding trips together. We sincerely appreciate Diego's friendship and were so excited he came for the big day.
After capturing all of our family pictures, we searched for our friends. Again here is Derek and J. Some say they look like brothers. I guess when you are with someone for a long time you start to look like one another.

Then it was time to get pictures of all the boys together. So many good times shared with each other and so many stories we'll have, but most importantly they succeeded and they will all be successful in their futures. And of course the wives that supported the husbands through these last four years. They wouldn't be the men they are without us!

We also got in a family photo real quick. Not that the kids like to cooperate when having their picture taken, but at least it documents our journey over the last four years. We are still together and that's an accomplishment in and of itself.

It was a busy day and filled with joy. We are relieved at being done with school, but are gearing ourselves up as the journey is not yet over. Three more years of residency and then we are off to find a job. It's not all over yet, just moving on to the next chapter of our lives.