My Washington Trip

In June I went to Washington to attend my brother Andrew's high school graduation, and my Dad's retirement ceremony from the military. It was a bittersweet trip, as I knew this would be the last time that I was in my parent's Washington home.

The first event on the menu was graduation. Driving there was crazy! And we just barely made it there in time (good thing we left 50 minutes to get there). It was fun to see Andrew graduate and be there for him. Graduation was also a time for my family to say good-bye to Curtis High School. Defying all military odds, all five of us kids graduated from the same high school; and Andrew defied them all by attending only ONE school district his entire public education career. When you usually move every 2 to 3 years, it really puts into perspective how amazing this is. Anyhow, it was a fitting end, and good to see Andrew finish his high school career. We had both sets of grandparents there, and 3 of the 4 siblings, and of course, my parents.

Lining up with the choir to sing the National Anthem. Andrew is on the top right, basically standing by himself.

Walking across the stage. Andrew is the one who just shook hands with the person in the middle.
The proud graduate. :)
Andrew and I
Andrew and the 3 siblings who could make it. Natalie, me, Andrew and Ryan

The day after was a little low key, as my mom, and her parents had spent most of the night at the ER. My grandpa had some pain in his knee and was prohibiting him from walking. They didn't completely figure out the problem, but his whole ordeal goes to show how amazing the human body is. Whatever was wrong, it is fixing itself, and he hasn't had any other problems. We all kind of rested, and I was able to visit with my in-laws.

Sunday was a little sad as we realized it would be the last time we attended Sunset Ward (our church congregation) as a family. By this point, Jeff, my brother, had flown in, and we were able to enjoy the time together as our original family of 7. Somehow, it didn't work out for any of our spouses or children to come. We missed Jeff (my husband), Lydia, Claire, Kimia, Anita, Rondy, and Ben and wished that they could have been there too! That evening we took a walk so that we could all enjoy the beauty of Puget Sound one more time together. This picture is from an overlook above the new golf course there.

The final day of my trip was spent getting ready for Dad's retirement ceremony. It was a busy morning! We got everything ready and headed out to Fort Lewis for the ceremony. It was a nice ceremony with many nice words being said about my dad and his dedication to his patients, his co-workers and the army. He will be missed at Madigan but is looking forward to practicing medicine in the civilian world. Afterwards we had a nice reception where we were able to meet some of his patients and coworkers. I was glad that we could be there for my Dad, and my mom, who has been a big support in getting to this point. They did honor her in the ceremony too, which was nice. Here are some pictures.

Here they are thanking Dad for 26 years of military service.
Thanking Mom for her support of my Dad.

At the end Dad gave a small tribute to my mom for her support.

The next two are from the reception.

Our original family of seven
This is all the family that flew in for the ceremony. Back: Grandpa Hale, Grandma Hale, me, Dad, Mom, Natalie, Grandma McClellan, Grandpa McClellan. Front: Ryan, Andrew, Jeff

I wanted to take some pictures of our home before we left, and got some great ones. It was a good place.

The stoop is a special place to me and Jeff as we spent many a night talking there so my siblings would leave us alone. This is also the place where we talked for the first time about getting married (we did look for other places, but they all seemed too public, so we came back here).

I didn't quite remember it being a tradition to take a family picture before we left each house, but my mom did. We were all there to take one last picture of our original family in front of our house.


We left bright and early the next morning. It was a long day, but good to come home. I was ready to see my husband and children and got a nice welcome at the airport from them.

Overall, it was a good trip. It was good to spend time with my siblings, and to remember all of the good times that we had in the house, and in Washington. I thought I would cry when we left for the airport, but suprisingly I didn't. I guess at that point I realized it was just a house, and the memories are what make it special, or it was just too early to think about what was really happening. (I did cry when my parents sent me a picture text showing the house all empty. I think it was starting to sink in then.) Washington was a good place for my family. We made wonderful friends and had wonderful experiences. I am a little luckier than my siblings in that I know that I'll go back to Washington in the near future. My in-laws still live there, so I will get the benefit of going back, although I am sure the first trip back will be a little weird as we adjust to getting used to visiting just one family and not having to divide up our time. I know that everyone in my family treasures the time that we had in Washington and the memories we made.