Hannah's Big Day!

Today was Hannah's day.  We are proud to tell you that she received her BS in Business Administration from the University of California Berkeley Haas Business School.  The celebrating started early this morning with Julie gifting Hannah with a lei.

The graduation occurred in the Greek Theater at the campus.  It was very emotional seeing Hannah walk in during the processional.

She looked jubilant as she walked in.
 

Ryan got a special call out for showing up in his Cal polo shirt.

Here's a better picture of the venue.

 

After wonderful speeches honoring the graduates - it was time to receive her diploma.  With tears in our eyes we proudly watched as Hannah was honored.

 

And, if you know Hannah - you know there is going to be a celebration!

Here she is sitting between her friends Calvin and Graeme in the student section.  Don't you love Calvin's outfit?

That's Hannah's cap sailing through the air.  Nailed the picture.

After the festivities it was time for a reception at the business school.  It was great to see Maggie again (it's been months!) and Calvin.

And we got a bit of a tour of the facilities.  FINALLY.. here it is folks.  A picture of Hannah in a classroom during college!  Hahaha.

Julie and I are immensely proud of the young woman Hannah has become during her college years.  We are so thankful to God for holding her in His hand throughout this journey.  We're thankful for the friends that she developed and maintained through her years at Berkeley that form a solid foundation for her future.  And we are thankful to God for the grand odyssey that God entrusted to us when he brought a little red-headed ball of joy into our lives almost 22 years ago.

We are all excited for her future.  And we are thankful for those family members that were able to be here in person to witness her graduation and cheer her on.

And we are thankful for the Godly influence and support of our family members, through the generations, that have directly led her to this moment.

Our prayer, our wish for Hannah is that God would continue to be an important part of her life and that He might guide her through a most adventuresome, rewarding and meaningful life.

Ritter Sport

Our first full day in Berlin Hannah took us on a bicycle tour of the city.  An important destination within the city is the Ritter Sport chocolate store.  If you've ever been to a frozen yogurt store that allows you to pick your yogurt and toppings - you would immediately fall in love with Ritter Sport.

Ordering is easy.  First you check out all the delicious ingredients you can add to your chocolate bar.

Then, the spectacular chocolate maiden puts them into a little plastic bowl.  Next, they take it to the magical chocolate fountain; milk chocolate or dark and fill it up.  Then, the mixture is scooped into the candy bar mold.

Once the mold is filled and packed - it looks like this.  The next step is to put it into a refrigerator for 30 minutes or so to cool. 

During the 30 minutes we toured the 'factory' - learning all about the making of chocolate.  We ended at the picture wall and snapped this dandy family picture.

So, what did I get?  Dark chocolate.  Raspberry chips.  And roasted almonds.  Here's the finished product.  Stunningly good.

It was hard to wait to open it until we got back to America.  It was harder to share ;)

The Banana Queen!

We've been playing a lot of cards with family in town for Hannah's graduation.  Last night we played a couple games of prediction.  The second game winner was Linda!  Having achieved that incredible feat she immediately asked "do I get a trophy?".   "You bet", I replied as I jumped up to make one.

Here it is.  Linda's Prediction Trophy!  It reads "U R The Winner" - and indeed she was. 

We love you Linda!

First In!

Congratulations to Joel who came all the way from Oregon to nail down 'First In' honors at the pool this year.  And he also won special honors for his very stylish entry.  Clearly a force to be reckoned with!

Well done Joel!

The Flying Henderlogans

Last Christmas I gave Joel and Jon (Logan) certificates for indoor skydiving lessons and a couple of flights at iFly.  Unfortunately, we weren't able to schedule flights while everyone was in town for Christmas.

Hannah's graduation was a great opportunity to get everyone together and flying.  So, I got her an appointment as well and off we went.  Jon and Joel were ready to go!

Here's Hannah practicing her upside down flying.  (or I flipped the picture upside down.. hmmm..)

We started with some flight training.. (by watching a 3 minute video).  In it, they explain that we are going to be flying in wind produced by 4 250 HP fans.  Pretty sweet.  Then, off we went to get our gear on.

Then, it was our turn.  We nominated Hannah to fly first because this is her special, graduation weekend.  Here she is flying next to the instructor.

Joel absolutely loved it - as you can see by the expression on his face ;)

Here's Hannah on her second flight.  Impressive!  She did so great the instructor was basically just getting out of her way and letting her fly.

Ok.. I went too.  I know, I look ridiculous - but it was a lot of fun.  It's hard to look good when you've got 120 MPH find in your face ;)

This is Joel's form.  It's pretty awesome.  You want to have your arms up near your head and a natural arch in your bag.  He did great.

And the instructor makes sure you're in good form.

Jon did the best.  He was so stable during flight the instructor started teaching him how to spin left and right.  Show off ;)

That's right... we ALL graduated.  Flippin Sweet!!!

Finished

I almost forgot to mention that we finished the bathroom project last week; just in time to free up the guest bathroom for our visitors to Hannah's graduation this week.

It's hard to get a good picture of such a small room.  I don't have lens with sufficient wide angle to nail it - so I tried with Julie's camera this morning.  The results were mediocre - but you get the picture.

We love the dark vanity and matching mirror - and the solid surface vanity top and matching shower walls turned out great.

A critical design decision for the bathroom was low maintenance.  We went with solid surface walls to get rid of those grout lines we'd need to be cleaning when we're 70.  And, there won't be any failed grout lines letting water through the walls and popping tiles off! 

I'd discuss the floor - but Joanne would laugh at my commentary.  So, let me just say we've received some nice compliments that the floor looks good.

It was bittersweet finishing this project as this was the last room in the house we renovated.  I guess it's time to focus on the backyard now.  Julie already told me I'm going to have to slate the patio sometime :)

Let's Get It Started

Sometimes if you don't take the first step - you never get anywhere. That's a lesson I learned related to personal fitness.. but it applies to vacation blogging as well.  Despite our hectic schedule - it's time to start fitting in some rememberances before my drug addled brain drops them from memory.

We arrived in Berlin to meet Hannah on the Friday before Easter.  Her visit in Germany has been the longest time period we've been separated from her and both Julie and I were relieved to see how well she was doing.  She looked fantastic.  Once we tracked down our bags we immediately left the airport and started learning the Berlin public transporation sysem; one which Hannah had perfected.

As we were heading towards Hannah's apartment and a waiting dinner reservation - I noticed that Berlin had already honored her with a road sign.  Not shocking if you know Hannah.  But, I did take the time to photograph her with it. 

Europe clearly has a longer history that America.  Duh.  You can see that in the architecture all around you.  The place oozes permanence.   Longevity.  You think the people there would make a note of it.

You can imagine my surprise, then, when on our very first Bahn (train) ride to Hannah's place I spied this tattoo on the gentleman directly in front of me.  That's a cassette tape for those of you who don't recognize it.  Think of it as your iPod - except the 'portable' player required 8 'D' batteries and the tape itself stored about 10 songs.

This is a cautionary tale for you folks that might be thinking about tat'ing up - and something that the architects and craftspeople of Europe learned over the centuries.  Pick enduring images and designs. 

Here's a good example.  This is magnificent bauble we saw at one of the many palaces we visited while in Germany.  It has definitely stood the test of time; remaining breathtaking centuries later. 

Additionally, this gorgeous necklace highlights another important insight into our journey through Germany and the Czech Republic.  Although the big picture, alone, is stunning (as is the necklace) - inspecting the details leads to unimaginable delight.

For instance - the picture below is a more detailed look at a section of the upper left area on the necklace. (I strongly encourage you to click on the image - and then zoom into the detail!)  As you start to look past the large stones and focus on the detail of the setting you can't help but be impressed with the craftperson's attention to design and artistry.  It's staggering.  As is much of Germany.

More later....

Tax Day Tweets!

anyone got a tax day tweet to share?  let's here 'em!!

Tod: bathroom grout done... which means i don't have any excuses left... time to finish my taxes.

Tod: a week from now i get to see my beautiful daughter again!  and eat schnitzel!

Tod: i got the best welcome home kiss you could imagine last night.  looking forward to getting home tonight!

Making Progress

I better stick to my day job; I'm way too slow to make money working in the building trades.

We are making progress, however.  Here's a couple pictures of our bathroom remodel.  We've got the walls back together and the shower pan in.  We also installed the vanity (it looks great! - and yes, we have more knobs and pulls to install).  With the pan and vanity in - it was time for the folks that did the solid surface walls and vanity top to do their install.  Then it was on to the floor.

Julie picked a hexagon pattern marble tile that adds a lot of visual interest to the design.  Her idea was to break up all the solid, straight lines in the room with a different shape.  It's beautiful - but a bear to install.  I won't bother you with all the details - but let's just say this project took up pretty much the entire weekend; most of it with me on my hands and knees.  And I still have to grout between all those little tiles!

Wish us luck.  We have to finish the floor.  Install the shower doors.  Do all the wood trim.  Hang the mirror.... well, you get the picture.  We should be done before Hannah returns and people start dropping in for Hannah's graduation. 

At least that's the plan ;)