Graduation and Goodbyes

With everything we have had going on in the past few weeks, the fact that David graduated dental school and is now a full-fledged dentist has kind of taken the backseat and I feel terrible about that. What a great accomplishment for him! I am so proud of how far he has come...school has never come easy for him-he has had to work soooo hard to get to where he is right now. I only have this one picture at the moment because I don't have access to my computer where all the other pictures are, and this one was just in my email. Anyway, here is David with a few of his friends...

After Graduation, came lots of packing up and preparing for the big move. Moving from Buffalo was the hardest move yet. I have grown to love the place, despite the 6+ months of winter, over the last four years. And don't even get me started on how hard it was to leave all of the great friends we made there! No other time of our life will be like our student years in Buffalo. I was thinking about all the things I will miss about Buffalo...here are just a few...strawberry picking in the summer and apple/pear picking in the fall. The pumpkin farms. The green of the east. The water. The beaches. Niagara Falls. Being so close to Palmyra. Our sweet, sweet landlord. Watching fireflies in the summer nights. The awesome shopping. Wegmans. (Sidenote here for all you Buffaloians...have you ever had the Wegman's Teriyaki marinade? It is super yummy. So yummy in fact that before we left, I went and bought 10 bottles of it to take with me:). Garage/Estate sales (the BEST ever out there!!). The curbside treasures. I could go on and on!! But most of all, I will miss all of the amazing friends we made there. They became our family and made the whole experience one that I will cherish forever. I've been thinking about the past four years and how much I have learned and grown since being in Buffalo. We moved there with just one 8 month old baby (Maia) and are leaving there with 3 crazy kids!! I feel like I am a totally different person than when I came because of all the experiences we have had and because of the talents I have developed (or tried to develop).
I was so emotional about this move. I cried for days. We finally got to Utah and I was so depressed (and exhausted I'm sure) all I wanted to do was sleep and sleep. And I certainly did my fair share of sleeping!! But now I'm starting to get out of the funk and starting to get into somewhat of a routine, although I'm not ready to leave my mom's care yet (she's my nanny!! I'll never go anywhere by myself with three kids!!)
On a more positive note, David got his license and started working yesterday!! It is so crazy that he is actually a dentist. I was on the phone yesterday to a representative about our Renter's Insurance and the guy asked me what my husband did for a living. I paused for a minute then said, "He's a dentist." and it sounded so crazy coming out of my mouth. Then the guy asked, "And how long as he been a dentist?" And I replied, "One day!" And that didn't sound as good as my first response:)
Anyway, now I'm just rambling, so I'm going to stop. I have lots more to post once I can get my pictures....