Catching Up - Go West Youngish Man!

The next step in our busy lives after graduation and my commissioning was to load whatever the movers didn't pack, my wife, son, mother, father, and plenty of Coke Zero into our new van and set off across the country. We left on June 3 and had to be at our new house on June 7. Needless to say, there wasn't much time for anything but driving. We took the time to stop by Carthage and Nauvoo, although we'll have to make more time on a future trip. We had a great time on our trip and are extremely grateful for Mom and Dad's assistance and willingness to sit with a cranky 2-year old and even crankier 34-year old for over 2,200 miles!

The packed-to-the-brim van immediately before leaving the Bronx. If you look carefully, you can see actually see Andy's arm in the middle of the picture.

Despite being packed like a little sardine, Andy mostly enjoyed the trip. He especially liked the fact that our snake and turtles were riding right next to him.

Mom and Dad at one of our rest stops. This was early in the trip. Later, they looked a little more travel worn!

A teetor-totter somewhere in Illinois. Andy insisted.

Papa going down a slide at the same park in Illinois. Once again, Andy insisted. The things you'll do for your grandkids!

Safely at the bottom! Thankfully, my CPR skills weren't required.

The room in Carthage, Illinois where Joseph Smith was killed. A humbling experience.

The door that the mob shot through to get to Joseph.

Outside of Carthage Jail. I was very glad we were able to stop by. It was good to connect with early Church history.

Mom and Dad at Carthage. Looking a little well-traveled!

We were only able to stop in Nauvoo for an hour or so. It was great to see the temple, however. It's an amazingly beautiful building.

Mom and Dad at the Nauvoo temple. Next time we'll actually have time to go inside.

The best way to deal with a never-ending drive? Just sleep!

It's funny, but once we hit Wyoming I felt like I was back home. I guess I'll always be Western at heart!

At a rest stop in Utah. There was a small army of prarie dogs running around everywhere, which fascinated Andy to no end.

Grammie, Papa, me, and Andy at the rest stop before we dropped the folks off at the airport so they could take the shuttle back to Idaho. I was so glad they drove with us. It made everything much easier and helped me realize that my folks can actually be fun to hang out with!

The van during our stop at Grandpa and Grandma Nelson's in Utah. As you can see, we were in survival mode!

The last part of our trip was from Utah to San Diego. I didn't get any really good pictures of that part of the journey. They would have been the same, though, so you're not missing much. We arrived safely and I started my Surgical Intern year the next day. As the saying goes, "No rest for the wicked"!

Catching Up - Commissioning

The next big event in June for me was my commissioning as a Lieutenant in the United States Navy. I had already been an Ensign in the Navy Reserve for four years during medical school, so a bit of the newness of becoming an officer had already worn off. It still felt pretty good though. Before you know it, I'll be Captain Scarborough and people can talk to me with a salty pirate accent!

Swearing in as a newly minted Lieutenant, United States Navy. This is actually the sixth time I've sworn into the military. I guess I'll never learn!

Julie and Dad putting my Lieutenant shoulder boards on my uniform. I must say that they look pretty dang good on me.

Me and my beautiful wife. As you can see, Andy continued his habit of getting in on every picture possible.

Captain Scarborough, United States Army and Lieutenant Scarborough, United States Navy. Just think, Dad...in approximately five years I'll be a Lieutenant Commander and will outrank you!

Catching Up - Graduation

Well, I finally have some time this Sunday morning, and thought that I should begin catching up on what's been happening to us these past two months. It's amazing how everything can change in such a short time, and, while change is good, I think I'm currently undergoing a serious case of good-friend withdrawal. Danger, DBest, DSpence, and Rorykins: Why couldn't you join the Navy and come to San Diego too!? Who am I supposed to play Call of Duty with now (especially when Modern Warfare 3 comes out on November 8)? Anyway, I digress.

I thought that I would start with the event of events...my graduation! Nine years in the making, surrounded by friends and family, excited beyond description, on June 1, 2011, I walked across the stage at the Lincoln Center in Manhattan and became Dr. Scarborough. If I had to choose one word to describe the experience, that word would be...awesome! Surreal would also be a good choice. Thankfully, Julie snapped more pictures than we can shake a stick at, so we'll remember this moment forever. Enjoy!

Debbie and Wayne flew over from California to watch me graduate (and, I think, to make sure that I was bringing their daughter back to California; four years is a long time to be 3,000 miles away)! Thanks for coming. We loved having you with us!

Mom, Dad, and Phil were also able to make it out for the ceremonies. As you can clearly see, Dad was beside himself with joy! I was very glad they were there; I owe more to these three people than I can ever repay. Thanks!

Andy was there, too. As you will see later, he was pretty convinced that this was his day.

Immediately after walking in. Everyone was standing, clapping, and cheering for us. It made me feel like a celebrity. Feel free to ask for an autograph!

Walking across the stage to get my degree and be hooded. Andy was very excited to be able to come onstage with me. He did great, though, and even thanked the Dean when we shook hands.

After the ceremonies. As you can see, Andy was pretty convinced that the degree was his! From here on out, Andy was in every picture with me.

My amazing Julie. Five years of marriage, all of it spent to get to this point. Neverending love and support. I love you!

The Christie clan. Four years apart, soon to be reunited in California (although San Diego is still a bit of a drive away)!

The Scarborough clan. Dad is finally smiling! Mom is realizing that she promised to drive 2,200 miles with us in a minivan across the country. Too late to back out now, Mom!

My brother, Phil. A lawyer and a doctor. Dude, we rock!

Dr. Sandberg and Dr. Scarborough, the future surgeons. And we thought we didn't have any free time as med students!

The graduating Mormons (we're actually missing David Badger, but he had a dinner reservation to catch)! Although you can't see Andy in this picture, he's right there at my feet.

The graduates and their wives (and Andy). Thanks ladies! We're doctors (and still sane) because of you!

One last picture of Andy. All I can say about him is, "Dude, you rock"!

Finally Back!

Well, it's been quite awhile since we last posted on our blog. So much has happened that it's hard to know where to begin. Rest assured that we will slowly post some of our numerous pictures and stories from the last two months, as well as our new adventures. However, I thought that it would be good to get at least one post during the month of June and provide an update on what's going on.

As many of our loyal readers already know, I graduated from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and officially became a doctor on June 1 (granted, I'm an intern now, but I still get to answer the phone as "Dr. Scarborough")! We then threw what remained of our earthly possessions into our van, loaded Julie, me, Andy, and my wonderful parents into the strategically empty seats and left the Bronx on June 3. We had a great time crossing this fantastic country, and will post more of that trip shortly. I'd like to thank my parents for coming along and entertaining Andy for 2200 miles before we dropped them off in Salt Lake City. I don't think we could have done it without you guys!

After arriving in San Diego on June 7, I started Intern Orientation the next day. Two weeks later, on June 23, I began my first duties as a physician in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). Talk about an overwhelming and humbling experience! Fortunately, my resident is a great teacher, is very patient, and is willing to let me be frustrated for a bit before coming to the rescue. Overall it's been an exhausting few days, but I must say that I'm having more fun than I ever did as a med student. Well, that's all the time I have for now. I plan on adding pictures from the last two months in future blogs, so keep an eye out.

To The Mothers In My Life

On this Mother's Day, I wanted to take the opportunity to thank the three mothers in my life. Your courage, commitment, charity, and love both inspire and humble me on a daily basis. I don't know how you do all that you do, but I'm eternally grateful. Andy and I would be lost without you. Happy Mother's Day!

Love,

Patrick

Niagara Falls and Easter

As many of you know, I am currently finishing my fourth and final year of medical school. I made the mistake when I was determining my schedule last year of saving my sub-internship (traditionally the hardest part of the fourth year) for the last two months before graduation. I am now pretty busy every day and most weekends, but Julie, Andy, and I were able to take advantage of a three-day weekend during Easter and take a trip to Niagara Falls. We've been wanting to see it since we came to New York, and we finally decided that if we didn't go now, we wouldn't go at all. It was also the perfect chance to test our driving plan for the trip to California. So, with much excitement and anticipation, we loaded the minivan with clothes, Easter candy, and an excited 2-year old and took off. Here are the results of our fun filled weekend!

The morning started out a bit cloudy and windy, but the views were still pretty spectacular!

This is on the Observation Tower. It's the only picture we have of all three of us, and I just happened to be talking to the very nice woman who took our picture right as she hit the button, and Andy was annoyed because it was so windy. Oh, well, at least Julie looks happy!

This is the view of Rainbow Bridge from the American side (Julie doesn't have a valid passport, so we had to stay in the USA). All I have to say is, if Canada is so great, why is everyone coming to the US?

Pretty amazing. 'Nuff said.

Andy's interest in the falls lasted for about ten seconds, before he became fascinated with the much more fun and accessible puddles on the ground.

He also delighted in chasing the seagulls around. I delighted in chasing him.

By Horseshoe Falls. Still too early in the season to go all the way down, but still impressive.

We weren't able to go to Cave of the Winds or ride Maid of the Mist; once again, too early in the season. However, we were able to go down to the base of American and Bridal Veil Falls. Here's a view of the Canadian side, or, as I told Julie, the Motherland. Maybe someday Julie will get a passport and we can actually visit!

The base of American and Bridal Veil Falls. Andy was pretty much done at this point.

Once he could try to throw rocks at the seagulls, he was happier.

Andy refused to walk on the sidewalk once he noticed other kids walking on the rocks. Monkey see, monkey do!

There's just nothing quite like a vanilla shake with Dad at the Hard Rock Cafe after a long morning of chasing seagulls!

For Easter morning, the "Easter Bunny" left a trail of chocolate eggs so that Andy could find...

...our Easter baskets! Andy's is the truck, mine is the frog, and Julie's is the flowers.

One of the best toys in the baskets were three Nerf dart guns. Andy immediately began shooting his parents.

With help, of course. He still hasn't quite learned how to get the guns to work, so I helped out a bit.

Our last picture before we went home and waited for two hours on the George Washington Bridge (expletive deleted)! We had a great time and highly recommend the Falls to everyone, although you may want to visit a bit later in the year when everything will be open!

Andyisms and Other Things

Anyone who has had the pleasure of raising small children knows that kids say the darndest things. Our little Andy is no exception to this rule. We constantly encounter multiple sayings and phrases each day that make Julie and me scratch our heads and smile. We decided that we would be remiss if we didn't put just a few of these on our blog, both to lighten our collective mood and to record them for posterity. Enjoy!

Top 5 Andyisms
1. Andy (after noticing I wasn't wearing the watch that Julie gave me, and while shaking his finger at me): "Daddy, Mommy give watch! Put watch on now!"

2. Andy: "Daddy have hair on face!"
    Pat: "Yes, I do have hair on my face."
    Andy (disgustedly): "Take it off!"
    He now refuses to kiss me on my hairy cheeks.

3. Pat: "Andy, it's time to sleep."
    Andy: "Daddy, go to work. Mommy come."

4. Proof that Andy is from his father's family: While sitting in his stroller in line to checkout at TJ Maxx, Andy scowled at the fellow customers and said, "Go away, people!"

And our absolute favorite...

5. Julie: "Andy, get your finger out of your nose."
    Andy (angrily): "I eating!"

In other news, in order to facilitate our upcoming cross country trip, we have purchased a 2008 Nissan Quest. We're all very excited to have it, particularly Andy, who now has unlimited means of traveling entertainment at his fingertips!

Who said minivans don't look cool? I think it looks a bit like a spaceship!

A nice, roomy seat for our little VIP to travel in style.

Andy's dream come true...an integrated DVD player. Andy has been watching "The Sound of Music" and has never been quieter during a car ride in his entire life (the DVD player is also Pat's dream come true because it has video jacks that should enable it to be used with an XBox 360...ahhh, the wonders of modern technology)!