Duluth Graduation

Ladies and Gentleman, 

I present to you 

[drum roll please]

Dr. Eli Horn!

Seven years in the making,

Dr. Horn is now a Board Certified Family Physician,

recognized by the American Academy of Family Physicians,

and graduate of the Duluth Family Medicine Residency Program.

I am so proud!  And so relieved!  We're in the home stretch, with graduation actually behind us.  Even though Eli has six more weeks of residency (to make up for paternity leave), he is officially a graduate of his program and we are thrilled to be on the way out of here.  His final two rotations will be reasonable, so we can feel the end approaching.

Almost everyone else in Eli's class will be done on Monday.  (Every year, in every residency program across the country, last-year residents finish on June 30 and first-year residents begin on July 1.)  So it was a true celebration last weekend at our graduation here in Duluth.  Everyone is ready to move on and begin the next phase as a normal doctor with relatively normal working hours.  It means more time for family.  More time for hobbies.  More time for sleep.  More time for anything!  It will be sooooooo good!

For us, it will mean more time together as a family.  More playing, more reading, more hiking, more trips to the library, more trips to the park, more everything.  We have a busy year ahead of us as we begin preparing for Africa, but we'll be preparing together.  It will be a radical change for us and we are absolutely ready for this change!

And we know our boys are ready for the change too.  They miss Eli.  Caleb is definitely aware of his absence and sometimes asks for Daddy and starts looking around the house for him.  And although Kai isn't aware when Eli's gone, he couldn't be happier when his Daddy comes home and snuggles him.  We are beyond ready to have Eli around more!

So let the celebrating continue.  August 8 is just around the corner!