White Coat Ceremony

First, I have to apologize for the horrible pictures in this post. They are some of the worst I've ever taken, thank goodness. The room was dark, the lens too small, the subjects too far away, and the heads-in-my-way too many. Despite the horrible pictures, it was a fantastic day. 
Ryan had just finished his first day of dental school. He was excited, the kids were excited, and I was quite proud of my hunny. For those of you that have never been to a white coat ceremony, it is like a graduation, except it is at the beginning of school rather than at the end. It still comes with all the excitement, tears, speeches, and "fluff" that comes with a graduation. 
When all the students came in, they were divided between the two opposite aisles of the auditorium. We were so lucky to have Ryan come down the aisle right next to us. I was looking for him but did not see him until someone else called out that they saw him. 

 Here is Ryan waving to the kids as he walked by.

 Ryan is patting one of the boys on the head.

After the students found their seats, all the formalities started: people on stage introduced, speeches, pep talks, etc., all the fun stuff that goes with ceremonies of this type. 
Finally, the students were ready to go on stage, have their name read, get a white coat in the wrong size, shake hands, hug, find their seat on stage, and wait. 
If they were lucky, they had cute 3 year olds pointing and exclaiming, "There's Dad! That's my Dad!" Cutest thing ever. She was so proud of her daddy. 

If they were even luckier, they had two cute kids (Jayke then Aimee) yell out, "I love you, Dad" when their name was read. And everyone in the audience around those cute kids say, "Awe" at those two adorable children.

Ryan trying to fit in the too-small-coat.

The handshake.

The hug.

The proud parents and grandparents.

The picture with Mom and Dad after the ceremony, showing off his new white coat and name badge.

The picture with proud wife and kids after the ceremony.  Finally getting a decent picture after 4 tries to make the 3 year old not grumpy. I might be wrong, but I think the smile had something to do with a bribe.

I don't remember much else of anything that happened that day. I was just so excited and proud of Ryan for finally making it to this point in his life. I'm sure I was bawling for joy most of the day, mostly because I was so happy and partly because the pregnancy hormones would not let me control the flow of water from my eyes. This day could possibly have been one of the best days of our lives.