Graduation Weekend

Dr. Brandon Alleman!

Brandon GRADUATED last Friday with his Doctor of Medicine and Doctor of Philosophy degrees.  He has been working towards this moment for the past seven years, and it was an occasion to CELEBRATE Brandon and his accomplishments!

We started the day with a luncheon honoring Brandon and the other MSTP (joint MD/PhD degree) students graduating this year.  Brandon was thrilled to learn that they were going to bring each student up front and talk about his research topic and all the wonderful things he accomplished while at Iowa :)  But I really enjoyed hearing about Brandon's work and all the wonderful things his adviser had to say about working with Brandon., as well as the other six students (all male!) who also graduated with the joint degree.

After the luncheon, we headed home for naps and waited for our guests to arrive! In addition to the crew from Michigan (Bibi, Babu, Grandma Kathy, Aunt Sandy, Uncle Aaron, Aunt Erin, and Uncle Caleb), we were joined by Grandma and Grandpa Strutt.  The graduation ceremony didn't start until 6:30pm, so we dropped the kids off with some friends before heading over.  We enjoyed a nice ceremony. The joint degree students were 'hooded' last (Brandon got a taste of what it's like to live at the end of the alphabet ;)  When it was Brandon's turn to cross the stage, he was 'hooded' twice - once for each degree! Green for medicine, blue for the graduate college.

Pictures with the graduate!

On Saturday, we drove to Davenport and enjoyed breakfast together at The Machine Shed before most of the Michigan crew had to hit the road and get home.  Uncle Aaron, Aunt Erin and Uncle Caleb were able to hang around a bit longer, so we stopped at the Putnam Museum down the road. It was a blast! We were a little worried there wouldn't be much for Jonah to enjoy (and we were pushing perilously close to nap time) - but it was a big hit! There was tons of stuff for Jonah to touch, push, pull, explore, throw and just look at. And there was a huge variety of exhibits - everything from science (electricity, physics, engineering, sound and magnetic waves, etc.) to nature (mammals, aquatics, river habitat) to history (ranging from all the way back to ancient Asia and Egypt, to a neat exhibit on Iowa's history from Native Americans through present day). We had to race to make it through the last couple exhibits (before Jonah collapsed from exhaustion and our guests had to get back on the road), but I think we saw everything.  Much to Brandon's delight.

Both kids passed out the second we got on the road to head home. I'd say the museum was a success!  With all the driving we did this weekend, we have discovered that Cora has automobile-induced narcolepsy. She falls asleep almost anytime we drive anywhere. This bodes well for all the traveling we have coming up in the next few weeks :)

On Saturday evening, we attended a graduation/going-away party for our friend Lucas, who graduated on Saturday with his Bachelor's. He and his family will be moving to Albuquerque in July for his Master's program.  It was nice to see them and some other friends one last time, and it was a beautiful day to be at the park.  Lucas and Missy have a son, Everette, who is just 9 days younger than Cora.

A busy weekend! But so fun to celebrate Brandon and the end of our time here in Iowa. Thanks to everyone who made the effort to drive here to be with us. I know Brandon appreciates your support.  We head to Michigan at the end of the week. I think there are just a few people who are anxious to (finally!) meet Cora :)