Joella's Hooding Ceremony

We traveled to Lawrence this weekend for Joella's med school graduation hooding ceremony. Dan drove to Wichita from Tulsa in the morning, met up with us and Joella, and we all carpooled to Lawrence together. We arrived at about 2:30 and met our Phillips grandparents, our Uncle Don who flew in from Pittsburg, and Nathan and Ashley at an old family friend's house.

Joella and Don

Grandmother Phillips

Grandfather Phillips

Ashley and Nathan

Dan

We hung out there for a couple of hours, then adjourned to an early dinner at Marisco's, where we met up with Uncle Mike and Aunt Robyn, and Grandma Frye.

The hooding ceremony at the Lied Center started at 7:00. We arrived a little early, giving us more time for family photos. An ice cream truck was trolling the parking lot for customers, and someone dared Nathan to chase it down. He gladly obliged. The truck driver didn't seem very amused when he found out that Nathan was just running after him for a photo op, and not for a tasty treat. LOL

Everyone minus the photographer

The Phillips side of the family

Aren't we cool?

Just for you, Stacie

Sisters (I'm glad I'm not the only pale person on the planet)

Nathan in an unusual moment of exuberance (and the Frye side of the fam)

Joella gets ready to go in

Nathan goes for ice cream

The ceremony itself was a little long, but it was cool to see Joella get her hood and her two awards. She was awarded the Janet M. Glasgow-Rubin Achievement Citation for being a woman in the top 10% of her class, as well as the Willard J. Smith, M.D. Award for Academic Achievement for her superior academic performance. She was also recognized for her participation in two honor societies: the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society and the Gold Humanism Honor Society. She'll be going on to a couple of residency training programs: a Transitional year to be spent at Methodist Hospital in Houston, and then four years of Radiation Oncology Residency at University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, Texas. She's very excited about both (they were her top choices for residency programs).

Joella is hooded

Dr. Joella E. Wilson, M.D.!

We drove back home to Wichita with Dan after the ceremony. Jeff and Dan napped while Michelle avoided several suicidal deer on the turnpike. It was NOT fun. Luckily, we and the deer survived our harrowing journey home.

Go us!

I believe that today is our one year anniversary of joining the Y. I'm pleased to say we are still members, and that we've gotten into a routine of going at least four times a week and sometimes five. We're both definitely healthier now. I've lost over 25 pounds since joining, plus another 10 or so that I worked off at home in the few months prior to joining, so about 35 in all. Jeff's lost a few pounds too, and is definitely more toned than he's ever been. He still complains about going, but not too much. :) Fang and Errol have maintained their diets this year, too. We're just quite the healthy household of late. I'm proud of both of us for keeping it up and I hope we'll be able to continue the healthy exercise habits the rest of our lives!

Visit from Sara and John

We had the pleasure of a visit from two of Jeff's college friends, Sara and John, the other night. They brought their new daughter, Julia, along with them. She's a little over six months old, and she's a cutie, but no, we still don't want one. :P

Errol was a bit of a monster during the visit. I don't know what's wrong with him, but he just can't deal with children. He barks and them, and jumps at them, and tries to get in their carriers with them. Of course, this freaks the kids out, too, so things just escalate. Errol got to spend some alone time in his crate for a while during the visit, but when John let him out a little later, he seemed better. Julia didn't care at all what Errol was doing, because she has two dogs at home. Errol settled down when Julia was put down on the floor and they became friends.

Julia and Errol

Julia liked playing with the rug - she used it to pull herself when rolling over

Errol gives Julia a sniff - yep, smells like baby

Sara and Julia

Jeff accepts temporary custody of Julia


Jeff absentmindedly scritchy scratches Julia's head

Fang investigates the newcomer

Errol gets some much needed attention from John

Nathan's Senior Recital

We took a quick trip up to Hays with Joella last Friday night to hear Nathan play at his senior recital. Yes, he's really graduating! He has, after many, many years of schooling, earned his Bachelor of Music degree in Performance. The good part of taking many years to work up to your senior recital is that he has turned himself into an outstanding musician. Jaws were dropping and eyes were welling up throughout the entire performance. We're so glad we decided to go hear him.

He played:

"Abblasen" by Gottfried Reiche
"Vaga Cintia" by Alessandro Scarlatti
"Concerto in Eb" (Allegro con Spirito, Andante, Rondo) by Johann Nepomuk Hummel
"Okna" (Modre Okno, Zelene Okno, Cervene Okno, Zlate Okno) by Petr Eben
"Slavische Fantasie" by Carl Hohne

Here are some pictures from the evening...





Here's a link to the rest of the pictures: Nathan's Senior Recital