Meet Ryan Daniel Henderson!!

We got the call that Ryan Daniel Henderson has emerged into this big, wonderful world!  Don't have the stats yet... but know he was born at 7:10 am!  Baby, mother and dad are doing great!

2:15 PM:   Okay... more info just received!  As Bill points out :),  Ryan tipped the scales at a robust 7 lbs even and is 21.5 inches long.  And.. he has red hair!  Check out these beautiful pictures!

Looks like today's the day....

We got a call from Joel at around 4:15 this morning letting us know that the midwife had arrived and that Carissa was in labor.  Just got an update (6:28 am).. that it's about time to push. It looks like today is definitely the day Ryan is going to make his grand entrance into life outside the womb.

Please pray for Joel and Carissa and Ryan - that all would go well!

Understanding Engineers

ONE
Two engineering students were biking across a university campus when one said, "Where did you get such a great bike?"
The second engineer replied, "Well, I was walking along yesterday, minding my own business, when a beautiful woman rode up on this bike, threw it to the ground, took off all her clothes and said, "Take what you want."
The first engineer nodded approvingly and said, "Good choice; the clothes probably wouldn't have fit you anyway."

TWO
To the optimist, the glass is half-full.
To the pessimist, the glass is half-empty.
To the engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.

THREE
A priest, a doctor, and an engineer were waiting one morning for a particularly slow group of golfers.
The engineer fumed, "What's with those guys? We must have been waiting for fifteen minutes!"
The doctor chimed in, "I don't know, but I've never seen such inept golf!"
The priest said, "Here comes the green-keeper. Let's have a word with him."
He said, "Hello George, what's wrong with that group ahead of us?
They're rather slow, aren't they?"
The green-keeper replied, "Oh, yes. That's a group of blind firemen. They lost their sight saving our clubhouse from a fire last year, so we always let them play for free anytime."
The group fell silent for a moment.
The priest said, "That's so sad. I think I will say a special prayer for them tonight."
The doctor said, "Good idea. I'm going to contact my ophthalmologist colleague and see if there's anything he can do for them."
The engineer said, "Why can't they play at night?"

FOUR
Three engineering students were gathered together discussing who must have designed the human body.
One said, "It was a mechanical engineer. Just look at all the joints."
Another said, "No, it was an electrical engineer. The nervous system has many thousands of electrical connections."
The last one said, "No, actually it had to have been a civil engineer. Who else would run a toxic waste pipeline through a recreational area?"

FIVE
An engineer was crossing a road one day, when a frog called out to him and said, "If you kiss me, I'll turn into a beautiful princess."
He bent over, picked up the frog and put it in his pocket.
The frog spoke up again and said, "If you kiss me I'll turn back into a beautiful princess and stay with you for one week."
The engineer took the frog out of his pocket, smiled at it and returned It to the pocket.
The frog then cried out, "If you kiss me and turn me back into a princess, I'll stay with you for one week and do anything you want."
Again, the engineer took the frog out, smiled at it and put it back into his pocket.
Finally, the frog asked, "What is the matter? I've told you I'm a beautiful princess and that I'll stay with you for one week and do anything you want. Why won't you kiss me?" The engineer said, "Look, I'm an engineer. I don't have time for a girlfriend, but a talking frog, now that's cool.

Hannah's Prom

We received this email from Hannah today.  It was so cute I got her permission to post it here.  Enjoy!

Hello Parentals,

While the King's Academy tried to hold me back from having the best night of my life, Prom, and took away my claim to fame, Prom Queen, I took it upon myself to MAKE IT HAPPEN ANYWAYS!

Maggie and I went on our friends' formal "date night yacht thing" and we had the night of our lives!

Thought I would attach some photos for you all - the serious one is by far the best - I am thinking we should sport that for our Christmas card this year!

Oh and both of our dates' names were Nathan, so the matching dresses + matching dates was hilarious.

-Hannah

Happy Birthday Lurinda

Happy Birthday Sis (Thursday)!  I hope you have a blessed and wonderful day with family and friends.

I wish you could be out here hanging with us - but know that your friends and family will take good care of you back there.

I love my sister.. and her amazing talents;  one of which is photography.  Check these pictures out - ones that you can only get in the cold Michigan winters.  Enjoy.

Hannah's Secret

The secret's OUT!  If you remember, Hannah teased us all a week or so ago - telling us she had a Team Henderson secret.  Hannah finally invited us to Berkeley to 'show' us her secret.  Well, we went up on Sunday and got to see Hannah's new.... PIERCING.

Yep,  she got a piercing - I guess you'd say in her upper lip/face.  Check it out.















Here's Hannah finding a creative way to point it out!

Way to go Hannah.  You never fail to surprise us!

Committee Announces Changes

The Team Henderson Committee met recently to review its editorial policies.  After fastidious deliberations the following policy change was adopted and has been recently implemented.

Commenting:  Anonymous comments will no longer be accepted on the Team Henderson Blog. 

While there is a contingent within the Committe that will miss reading and removing the semi-literate, broken English diatribes - consideration for our entire audience was the overwhelming influence in making this decision.

Therefore, from hence forth those wishing to make comments will need to at least put in the effort to create a fake identity before doing so.  So as to not seem heartless - the Committee has retained the services of the Illiteracy Foundation to assist those disenfranchised by this decision.

Tax Day Tweets

Happy April 15th!  I hope your taxes are done and submitted and you are enjoying the day.  Would you like to share a tweet with us?  Go for it!

Tod:  Less than a month from Grandpa-dom! Getting very excited.  Wishing we were closer to Joel and Carissa and could share more of the experience with them!

Tod:  Thinking a 3G iPad is in my near future ;)   Can't wait to get to sales-tax-free Oregon!

Tod:  Only days away from knowing Hannah's secret!

Rachel Got Pwned

Ohhhh myyyy sports fans!!  I guess Rachel got pwned and owned by Jon this year!  Check out these pictures straight off the memory card!  Yep, Jon and Rachel are over tonight to share the return of Glee and he took advantage of the occasion to stake his claim this year to first in the pool!

Amazing.  Really, really cold... but amazing!  Way to go Jon! You are the man!

Day 1 at The Masters Tweets

Today is the start of the Masters... but that doesn't mean that we don't care about what's going on in your life!  Tell us about it...

Tod: Remembering that my sister has been to The Masters and I haven't.  Need any further proof that the world is not fair?

Tod: You do???  okay.. how about this one.. 47% of Americans pay no income taxes at all.  In fact, the bottom 40 percent, on average, make a profit from the federal income tax, meaning they get more money in tax credits than they would otherwise owe in taxes. The government sends them a payment.

Tod: Planning on getting bed sores watching The Masters this weekend.

Tod: Leftover bone sugar cookies were quite the hit at work this morning.  So, why does everyone just say.. 'thank your wife for me'?   Aren't I the one that personally delivered them to your desk??

Happy Birthday Indy!

Happy 1st Birthday to Indy Anna Henderson! Whoo hoo!!

It seems like only yesterday that you were that 1.8 lb bouncing puppy that Hannah found and fell in love with at the flea market.

We have come to love all 5 lbs of you over the last year.  We eagerly look forward to ending our day, plopping down on the couch and having you lay with us in our laps.  I still remember your first, failed, attempts at jumping up onto the couch.  You were so cute and wanted to be with us so badly.  And how excited you were when you finally were able to make that leap!  You're such a big dog now!

Shhh... don't tell Indy.. but she is going to work with Julie this morning where they are planning a birthday party in her honor.  Julie even made some 'bone' sugar cookies for the special occasion.

And, of course, I stole a couple of them before leaving for work this morning... so I will be having a private celebration for you here!   Happy Birthday!  I can't wait to have you laying in my lap again soon.

Meet the Schlams!

Okay.  That title is a totally fabricated.  In fact, meet Nancy Schlink and Peter Lam and their new son, Noah.

Nancy and Peter are two of the nicest, kindest people you'll ever meet.  You've seen both of them on the blog before.  Nancy is the wonderful baker who provided Julie cooking lessons for her birthday last year.  And Peter participates in all the Highway cookouts we do each Spring and Summer - starting again this year with Easter on Sunday.  It was also Nancy and Peter's dog, Katie, that spent a couple of weeks with us recently.

I say they have a new son because they just returned from China where they adopted Noah into their family.  It has been a wild experience - one which you can keep track of by reading their blog The Adventures of Noah.  I highly encourage you to check it out - and to pray for them and encourage them as they transition this boy into America as well as adapt to having an instant two-year old (who doesn't speak English!!). 

Note: There's also a navigation link to their site over there on the left side of the page if you forget.

This Just In!!

NAIROBI, Kenya – An unidentified US intelligence officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, acknowledged this morning that a specially trained US military team has infiltrated a Somali pirate training center deep within this African nation. While details regarding the training camp remain carefully guarded,  this reporter was able to piece together an account through interviews with observers directly or indirectly associated with the facility. 

Insiders have identified this Somali, known only by his codename, Mr. Big,  as the leader of the recent pirate uprising.  Mr. Big avoids capture by never staying more than a day or two in the same location - floating from hideout to hideout in the dead of night to avoid detection by US and allied satellite imaging systems. A nappy dresser - his outward appearance belies the calculating mind of this heinous leader.

Mr. Big recruits his band of renegade pirates from nurseries throughout the world - preparing them at hidden indoctrination sites for the rigors of attacking US Navy military warships.  Training includes such skills as underwater attack,

small weapons training,

and survival training for when your dinghy gets blown to smitherines:

Following an intensive 9 week course, successful recruits are assigned to a mothership and deployed to the waters off the African coast to be sunk by US and allied forces, captured and brought to freedom in the US.

Engaged!!

Our heartfelt congratulations go out to Julie and Evan on their recent engagement!  We are so excited for you two!

As you can see,  Evan picked an extremely romantic setting for this most memorable of occasions.  And Julie said Yes!!

Apparently, operation Ring By Spring was a total success!

Oops! They Did it Again!

Apparently, those Somali pirates aren't the brightest bulbs in the treasure chest.  I would put this story up against any of the 'dumbest criminals in history' stories.   Check it out:

NAIROBI, Kenya – Suspected Somali pirates fired on a U.S. Navy guided missile frigate off East Africa early Thursday in what appeared to be a ransom-seeking attack. (don't they know we're broke and printing fake money??)

The USS Nicholas returned fire on the pirate skiff, sinking it (duh) and confiscating a nearby mothership. The Navy took five pirates into custody, said Navy Lt. Patrick Foughty, a spokesman.

Last May, pirates chased a U.S. Navy warship and fired small arms fire at it.  <-- seriously made me laugh when I read that one!!

"If you think of the kind of young men who are doing this  (whackjobs), they go out into the middle of the ocean in a tiny boat. (understatement ALERT!)  They might not always make rational decisions, and they often attack things that are bigger than they should (attack)," said Middleton.

(understatement ALERT!)  "It's also quite possible that they don't have a full understanding of the targets they are attacking. Perhaps they just see a big ship they think is a worth a lot of money," he said. (well.. it IS.. but that's because of all the WEAPONS it has on it!)