The Cochrans: Graduation Day!

As I mentioned in the last post, Drew graduated from UAB School of Medicine on May 20, 2012, and it was such an exciting day! These past few years, I have seen the Lord work more than ever before....I have always trusted Him and His plan, but this is a time in our lives that I know I will always go back to as a reminder that His plan always prevails and He ALWAYS knows best. He has carried both of us through this and guided us every single step of the way. While I am not at all surprised, I know that we must continuously give Him every bit of the glory. That being said, I do have an amazing husband who has given everything he has these past four years and who has allowed the Lord to be in control through it all. I will never forget the night (about 6 years ago), when Drew and I were laying in bed, and he said "I really think I want to do this". I was so proud of him....that he was willing to take this big step. He immediately started studying for the MCAT....he would go study during his lunch break everyday at work, while keeping quiet about it all so that he didn't lose his job before he had to quit. Then, I will never forget the day that he took the MCAT, and the day that he got his scores back and we were so excited at how well he did! I will never forget telling our families about this plan and how incredibly supportive they were as they always are in everything. And then, I will never forget the day that he got his acceptance letter from UAB...we were soooo excited! I will not forget the day that he had to tell his boss he was leaving...it was a hard thing for him to do, but again, God prevailed, and they were so nice and understanding. I will not forget his first day of medical school when he locked his keys in his car :) (I felt so bad for him, but it is fun to laugh about!) I will never forget the day that he took his first set of boards (the Saturday before Chase was born on Monday). He just knew that he did awful on them and we went and shot basketballs at the church (our last activity as just Drew and Katie). I will never forget the day that he found out that he actually did really well on his boards. I will not forget all of the interviews for residency and talking through each one after he finished (which is when our sweet Hank entered the world). I will not forget the day he interviewed at UAB for residency, and Match Day....when God once again gave us exactly what we asked for. I remember Drew saying "I wonder if I will get into med school?"..."I wonder what field of medicine I will go into?", "I wonder if we will get to stay here for residency?"....God gave us what we wanted each time. It has been a long ride and I could not be more proud of him! People often talk about how hard medical school is and how I should be congratulated too for helping him through it, but honestly, Drew has made these last four years so easy on me. He has treated it just like a job, and he has been so happy...loving what he is doing! I could not feel more blessed and I know that my husband is going to be an incredible doctor...and I KNOW that God has so many more exciting things in store for us.

Our family, waiting for graduation to start....

Chase with his Peg-P....

Hank with his Mama Zo and then his Pops...

Hank with Drew's Nana and Granny....Drew was so blessed to have both of his grandmothers at his graduation...

Chase with Uncle Wes..watching for his Daddy to walk in....

Drew walking in with the rest of his class...

Hank passed out pretty quickly and slept about the whole time...

Chase did not :)

After consuming about 10 packs of fruit chews (or as Chase calls them, "gumbies"), some crackers, and some chips, Chase spent most of his time with Uncle Wes walking around.....but he did stop to see his Daddy graduate!