We Interrupt this Blog for an Important Announcement

Short attention span readers: read every word of this post.

Last Sunday was 25th Joel's birthday. A quarter of a century! Now, mind you - Julie and I aren't old enough to have a 25 yr old. Nope. But, somehow it happened. We are pleased that Joel lives in Oregon and loves it up there... but not being able to be there with him and celebrate together definitely bums us out just a bit.

So, we were excited because Jon and Rachel had invited themselves over to our house earlier in the week to make us lunch on Sunday. How sweet, we thought. They definitely are very generous people and love to cook.. so we thought nothing of it. The Little Co-conspirators.

First off let me just say those two can cook! It was a very delightful feast - as far as I can remember. So, we're just minding our own business - pounding down some grub when they get up from the table and say 'hey, wait a second - there's something in the car that was delivered to our house that was for you two. why don't we go get it out of the car'. Hmmm.. still just stuffing my face with delightful tastes and not thinking too much of it.

When they returned they were carrying two gift bags. One for Julie and one for me. Hmmm.. what's up? Oh, and did I mention co-conspirator Jon is now running a camera and filming us opening the gifts. Yeah, okay - I do defense work - so I was all over that. Something was definitely up.

Well, Julie opens her bag and it is a framed picture that has a little picture in it that reads "Coming soon... to be filled May 8, 2010". At the bottom of the frame it reads "grandma and me". And for me? A t-shirt printed with "New Grandpas University - Freshman Class - 2010".

Hyperventilation. Shock. Hyperventilation. Confusion. Did I mention hyperventilation? Oh yeah. Cool.

Now.. it's pretty clear at this point that someone's got a bit of a bun in the oven. That's right... Berkeley might be rated just above Michigan as the best public university in the nation.. but I'm still relatively bright.. so I figured that one out - pronto! So - now of course we have Jon and Rachel making us lunch and then delivering these presents.... and we happen to have a married son who's made waves about starting a fam. So - EXACTLY what is up?

Julie's sitting next to me asking Rachel... "you?" "you?" "who?".. and the reality of the situation sets in. Joel and Carissa have set us up!

Joel and Carissa are expecting their first baby next May!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It was so cool of them too.. because as soon as we heard.. of course we IMMEDIATELY called Joel. I had just talked with him like half an hour earlier at his home and I knew that Carissa was at work. So - I just expected to speak with him. However, they had set this whole lunch up and as soon as Joel finished talking with me he high-tailed it over to the hospital so that he could be with Carissa when the inevitable call came in. How great is that? So, we got to enjoy congratulating them and just sharing our joy, shock, amazement and every other imaginable emotion with them.

However... Joel and Carissa then put us into the dreaded 'cone of silence'. They hadn't yet told all the friends and family that they wanted too.. and they were simply having too much from notifying people in 'creative' ways... so we couldn't share this amazing news with you.

Every day I call Joel - 'is the cone of silence lifted"'. 'is the cone of silence lifted'. Well, it just was.. and now you all know the blessed news.

Congratulations to Team Henderson II (now three strong!!). We love you and are extremely excited for you. Of course we want to strangle you as well for shocking and confusing us last Sunday.. but we're letting that go :)

So.. now you know. I hope you'll take a moment to congratulate these two little kids of ours... that are about to have their own precious baby. Where did the time go?????
































** Interesting followup. When Joel calls to lift the cone of silence tonight.. he immediately follows up with.. 'and hey, where's the blog entry for my birthday???'. Well Joel - that's what you get when you tell me I'm a grandpa and then don't let me tell the world. So there :)