Graduation Night

I think it goes without saying that we had been looking forward to the evening of June 18th for quite some time. :) After five years of crazy rotations and grueling hours, my amazing, intelligent, hardworking husband finally completed his orthopaedic surgery residency! We were so excited to celebrate Brett and his coworkers and all that they had accomplished in their time at UPMC. 

I wouldn't describe graduation as a kid-friendly event, and unfortunately Miss Megan works late on Tuesdays, so Kacia and Andy came to the rescue and agreed to take all of the Braly Babes for the night. Kaiser, Porter, and Malone couldn't wait to eat dinner, play, take baths, and get tucked into bed at their house. I took the trio over to the Hosmers' right after naptime (though Kaiser was the only one of the bunch who'd managed to get any solid rest). Mommy got to stick around and visit with Miss Kacia for a bit while we waited for Daddy to arrive from work.

Precious pair.

Doting on Harlow's baby doll.

Unfortunately, Brett got caught in traffic coming home from the hospital; as soon as he walked in the door, he rushed to get changed into his suit and tie as quickly as possible. We kissed our minis goodbye, thanked our friends, and hit the road. Jefe and Nana had flown into town that afternoon, so we needed to pick them up at their hotel on the North Shore before heading to the Duquesne Club downtown for dinner. There was a cocktail hour beginning at 6:00, for which we weren't too terribly late. It was a nice time to catch up with some friends and for Brett to introduce his dad to some of the attendings who have played such a huge role in his training these past five years. After 30-45 minutes of drinks and chatting, we made our way upstairs into the dining room. There we had some more time to mill around and visit before dinner was served. We scored a table with two of Brett's classmates and their families, and had a lovely time sitting with them.

The Drs. Braly and their wives.

Dave, Jess (+ Baby Lunardini, due in September), and Dave's parents.

Barrett and Shailen (+ Barrett Jr., due in July).

My hubby's best buddy.

As we wrapped up our delicious dinner, the graduation ceremony got started. First up was recognizing the fellows in each orthopaedic specialty. Then it was time to introduce each of the residents, share a few "interesting" (in other words, completely random) facts about them, and talk about their contributions to the program. When it was Brett's turn, the department chair explained that he was from Oklahoma, yet had never actually seen Oklahoma! the musical. Dr. Fu then proceeded to ask him to sing a song from the show, as well as ask him a trivia question about which Oklahoma! actor was from Pittsburgh. (Brett was clueless, and ironically enough, the answer Dr. Fu announced wasn't even correct. Awkward!)

Sometimes all you can do is laugh. :)

On to more serious matters...

After Dr. Fu spoke, Dr. Deeney, the residency director, said a few words about Brett, as well. Brett was one of two residents in the role of administrative chief, so he worked pretty closely with Dr. D putting out fires handling some administrative issues this past year. 

After each of the nine residents had been spotlighted, it was time for the presentation of the Golden Apple, a coveted award given to an outstanding attending physician selected by the graduating class. This year the Golden Apple was awarded to Dr. Lee, an amazing spine surgeon who has had a huge influence upon Brett these past few years. Brett had the honor of presenting the award to Dr. Lee on behalf of his class. 

You could tell he was surprised and touched. 

Best picture I got of their class.

As always, the program ended with the graduating residents presenting Dr. Fu with a gift. This year, they each chose one of many random iPhone photos that their director had emailed out to the department during his world travels (long, humorous story behind this); then, they had the pictures made into wine labels and gave him nine bottles of wine. In addition, they had the labels and a group photo framed and matted to be hung in the ortho "Hall of Fame" with gifts from previous years' classes.

The finished product. 

And, just like that, graduation was over! Several people stood around chatting, posing for pictures, and saying goodbyes for a while afterward. 

So glad Brett's dad and Cindy could be there with us!

Steve & Kim (& Jackson) are headed to fellowship at Emory, too. 

Excited to do life in the South with this fun family!

The Real (Ortho) Housewives of Atlanta.

Spine Studs.

They're not as cool as they think they are. ;)

Absolutely could not be more proud of my man.

He astonishes me each and every day.

Blessed to be on this journey with him! 

Eventually all of us stragglers made our way out the door of the Duquesne Club. Brett and I dropped Jefe and Nana off at their hotel, then swung by the Hosmers' to pick up our little people. Much to our surprise, Kaiser and Porter were still awake, despite it being past 10:30. Pretty sure our firstborn was 100% to blame for this. (Thanks again for putting up with their shenanigans, K & A!) 

Mommy took the babies home and got them tucked into bed for good, while Daddy headed back out for one last drink with his buddies. Part of me thought he was absolutely crazy to be going out so late, but as someone who got fairly emotional about some of her goodbyes, I understood. I stayed up to do some last-minute packing/prepping for the following morning, and shortly after Brett got home and went to bed, I laid down, too. We both needed to make sure we got at least a few hours of sleep before the full day that lay ahead of us...