Uniformed Services University Graduation

This is a picture of the stage before the ceremony began. This was such a unique and special graduation ceremony because USU is a military medical school, so there was a military aspect to the event as well. The Marine Corp band played for this ceremony.

Here comes the graduates!

I have to talk about this girl here for a moment. She is in almost every picture that I took of Joseph while he is sitting there during graduation and in almost every pose, she is doing this! Waving at her family, smiling at her family and making gestures to her family. And this is what my husband did...stoically stare straight ahead. Joseph told me later on that this girl had to repeat a year, so she was probably just excited to be graduating!

Here is my love taking the Hippocratic Oath.

And he is being hooded as a doctor in this picture. One would think that at this point I would be ready to snap this picture, but this came so fast I almost missed it! Sorry it's a little fuzzy.

And above is Lovey being promoted to Captain. This has been 7 long years in coming. He would have been a captain 3 years ago if he had not gone to medical school.

This is the 3 star Surgeon General of the Air Force, promoting the new Doctors to Captain.

Joseph, his Dad and Grandpa

Captain Maddry

Some of our best friends, the Ziggy's, came all the way from St. Louis for graduation and then spent the next week with us on vacation. Any is 7 months pregnant with their 3rd child and this is the first time that Amy and I have not been pregnant together!

This is Joseph's best friend, from the Air Force Academy, Jeremy and his wife Dana. We were thrilled that they came from Delaware for the big event!! They are adopting their first child from Guatemala and will be picking her up any day now. They named her Ella!

My sister, mom, and stepdad were all so excited for Joseph and so proud of him!

And it was such a blessing to have my stepmom come and help me with the kids. She adores them and is so great with them and they love her. Things would have been so much harder without her being there and so graciously loving and caring for all of us!

Somehow I never got a picture (with my camera) of Joseph with his entire family. His mom, dad, 3 adopted sisters and grandparents came for graduation and when I looked around to get a picture of the whole crew his dad and grandpa had left to go get the car. Hopefully someone else got that picture and if they did I will post it.