Allen Hershel Tanner II M.D. !!!

Al graduated!!! As our friend Pete nicely put it on facebook: after a quarter of a million dollars and 4 years of blood, sweat and tears Al finally earned those two letters after his name. And then somebody else responded that it is actually a half a million dollars that it cost us, after interest, but it's worth it...right ;)

Al's parents flew in the day before graduation. This was a huge trip because they were meeting James for the first time and also there for Al's giant day!

We had a lazy morning getting ready. I could tell Al was starting to get distracted with the big day though when he accidentally brushed Avery's teeth with adult toothpaste. Poor little thing told him her mouth was hot and he brushed it off. I could hear the conversation from the other room and went into the bathroom and sure enough she had a mouthful of teeth-whitening Colgate foaming out of her mouth.

James and Avery were fabulous at graduation. About as good as they could be. James slept through the full 2 hours and Avery was uncharacteristically quiet...thanks in large part to Grandma Louona who was feeding her M&Ms and pulling toys out of her bag.

Avery was really excited to see Al graduate. When the band started playing Pomp and Circumstance and the graduates paraded in, Avery exclaimed, "There are too many graduates!" She repeated this a few times, until she was able to spot Al, then she grinned.

The school did a really nice job with the program. A couple of the speeches were a little lengthy, but overall really good. As each graduate's name was announced they walked across the stage to get 'hooded' with their green hood (green represents medicine, and FYI the velvet stripes on the sleeves are medieval symbols of being a doctor) the Dr. doing the announcing also stated what field they were going in to and where they would be going for residency. It was interesting to hear about everybody else.

It is kind of crazy to think that Al is officially 'Dr. Tanner' now. We've already had a few inquiries about Al being able to write out prescriptions. Hold your horses people ;) He has to wait until he gets his medical license in Texas.

I am SO proud of Al (and myself!) for getting through these 4 years. I know the next 5 will be very challenging as well...my OB has given me a few pep-talks and as my uncle Lee (who is a surgeon) said, "The easy part is over. Now comes the hard part. Work, work, work. But you will LOVE it."