Cat's out of the Bag

Yesterday we surprised the heck out of Papa and Oatsie by showing up at their house unannounced on our househunting trip. Chris got a terrific job offer here, and we are moving to this area. It's a very bittersweet thing, but he's an excellent provider and I'm sure proud if him. Here's the email his boss sent to his team the other day:

"Dear Colleagues,

There is nothing 'bittersweet" about this announcement... I'm upset, but must let you know that Chris Barragan has accepted a wonderful offer to become the Principal Gift Officer for the St. Joseph's Hospital Foundation in Phoenix, Arizona. Chris' last day at Weber State will be Friday, July 17th. After that, he and his family will be relocating to Phoenix where his parents now live and will for the foreseeable future be able to spend a great deal more time with their grandchildren -- Lucy, Olive, George and Penelope.

During Chris' two years at Weber State, he led the Dumke College of Health Professions from $5.41M secured toward it's Dream 125 Campaign Goal to $8.82M secured toward it's campaign goal. These figures are through the end of Q3 of FY15 and do not include a principal gift commitment that it is believed will be formalized by the end of July. Chris has also been a leader in development officer activity, averaging 24 contacts, 2.3 planned giving discussions and 3.7 solicitations per month through the end of Q3. Equally important, Chris has provided comic relief to his colleagues both within the development office and the Dumke College over the past two years.

Please join me in wishing Chris the best of luck in his new adventure. Dean of the Dumke College, Yas Simonian, will be hosting a going away dessert party on Monday, July 13th from 1:30 - 2:30 in Marriott Building 401 if you would like to throw some ice cream in Chris' face with me.

-Matt"

And we've had several people tell us what a special place we've made our neighborhood, and what an impact we've had on Ogden. I won't lie, I'm aching a lot about leaving. But, excited for a new adventure and to be close to some of Chris' family.

Anyway here are a couple pictures we took yesterday...