the gondas were here too

I didn't get any pics of the Gonda's at graduation. I am so bummed! So we grabbed a few Sunday afternoon at church and home

Dave's mom is a tressel lover. She had to say her good bye's since tressel will die before we see them again. He is such a sweet puppy!

Lexey loved hanging out with and on top of grandpa dan!

graduation

I have been waiting 7 years for this graduation event. The first year we went was in 2007 just before dave was going to start his intern year. Henry Aryan was graduating and he had a beautiful family (espeically his wife). Then and there I vowed to myself I would #1 not be pregnant or post pregnant so that I could look amazing (although if I had been babies are totally worth it) #2 that I would buy a new dress and make sure it was a showstopper.  I didn't buy a new dress or shoes for any of the other years I attended graduation after 2007. So, this year it was my turn for both.  I also got my hair done and had a friend help me with makeup since I am still not really sure what I'm doing in that department.

Dave owns his tux which he wears every year. The girls got dresses from costco (clare also wore it for Scott/abbey wedding) and jo had to get new shoes. Calvin needed a new suit. At church he basically wears shirt and shorts and tennis shoes. He wore the suit for about 5 minutes and then started stripping down layer by layer. If he had stayed out with us more than 15 minutes he would have been naked. 

Anyway, when we first arrived we went outside for cocktails and appetizers. Of course everyone wanted to talk to dave but the kids were already taking off shoes and laying in the sand so I pulled him away for a few pictures. They turned out so great. Glad we have great pics to remember this special night. 

 Joe drove down and brought Emiley to keep him company so it was a treat to have her there to hang with Clare for the evening.

 The kids (chiazo's nephew) running around Dave's legs

 pouty jo

Chiazo's family. She is the shortest of her siblings! These people are all over 6' tall!

OR staff

 jr residents -reid hoshite and vincent chung

 dr. mike levy - awesome dr. peds neurosurgery at radys

 min park - was the chief resident to dave and chiazo

 nothing like standing inbetween dave and chiazo to make you feel very short!

 dr. gerras, kiaser doc

 the dahlquist side of the family, so glad to have them there!

 dr ciacci

 dr. marshall

 jayson sack - michigan man

 my hair. thanks to kelly boles for the updo.

Graduation evening was really great. Lots of kind words said about dave and chiazo. They both worked really hard and did well.
Dr. Carter introduced Dave and then I spoke. I'll see if I can easily get my powerpoint or talk up here.
Dave spoke briefly. His talk was mostly thank yous. He had already given a very good and long talk in the morning so there wasn't much left to say. He thanked staff, residents, chiazo, min, faculty, my family, his parents and most of all me. It was very sweet. I asked him to write out his talk and give it to me for my b-day!
I loved what Dave said about his parents. His dad, who taught him that it's okay to work hard and be away from the family sometimes yet still have them as your #1. His mom, so creative and smart, when he has a problem he can think of his mom and know that she wouldn't give up so he keeps looking for a way to solve the problem.

It was a great evening. One of the best days of my life!

daddy daughter dates

Dear Clare,

You are cordially invited on a daddy daughter date Friday, June 20, 2014.  We will leave at 8:45am and have a wonderful day geocaching and seeing some of the great San Diego sights!  Wear tennis shoes and comfortable clothes.

(Hurry and get your work done so we can go!)

Love you!

Dad

Dear Alexey,

You are invited on a daddy daughter date to see Spiderman 2 Saturday, June 21^st.  We will have so much fun seeing this movie together.

Love you!

Dad

graduation festivities - friday morning

Friday morning, graduation day, Dave was speaking at Grand Rounds so Clare and I and Dave's parents went to hear him speak. He did a great job highlighting his time as a resident showing how many cases he did total (over 1000) and broke down how many he did with each dr., sharing a memorable case from each attending physician. It was a wonderful talk.

Clare was happy to tag along. We had to leave the house at 6:30. She was freezing the entire time but was a trooper and perfectly behaved.  My sweet friend Elise came over at 6:30 to stay with the other kids. She cleaned the house and did their hair and fed them breakfast. She is a dear.

  Dr. U

Introducing chiazo

Dave speaking

Dr. Carter telling everyone what a great job they did and then invited us all to give them a standing ovation.  I might have shed a few tears. It was so special.

 Faculty and residents being serious and then striking the Clark Chen pose.

Chiazo is so tall and somehow looks taller than dave even though he's got a couple of inches on her, even with giant heels!

I am so glad I could be there and that Dave's parents could come too.

 with ryan kim

After the event was over we went home and got the others and went out for a big breakfast with everyone at the Original Pancake house! It was great!

more visitors

The next visitors to come into town were the Gondas. They flew in just as scott and abbey left but luckily Grandma Joyce was staying a little longer!  It was fun seeing the two grandmas together. They are about the same age (joyce 86, joanne 84). One night at dinner we noticed they were wearing the EXACT same outfit except different colors!

So great to spend fathers day with this awesome grandpa! Lexey was hanging all over him like a monkey all weekend!

Linda loves Tressel and wanted her picture with him before she left.

 love my grandma joyce!

 Didn't get pics of the Gonda's at graduation so we took these after church!