Sunday, May 16, 2010

My brother gets his Masters!

Today was a monumental day! Dan, my brother, graduated from the University of Illinois with a Masters Degree in Curriculum and Instruction. Brian had a bike ride this morning so I dropped the kids off at church and I met my parents, Jen, V, and Jen's mom for Dan's ceremony.

When the graduates entered, we spotted Dan. V was so excited and started smiling and waving but you could tell she couldn't really "see" him. Then, all of a sudden- in the sweetest manner possible, her face lit up, her eyes gleamed and she yelled "DADDY!!!" She had seen him. And the " I love you" signs began. What a sweet sight to see!

Dan signing back his love for his daughter!

We had pretty great seats and we could see Dan really well!
After he crossed the stage, I went down onto the floor with my camera to steal a few closeups of the new grad ( I can't miss a great opportunity to get a good picture).

Then we headed back to Dan and Jen's house for a party. Brian met us there. It was raining so we didn't get the traditional cap and gown pics but a few in the living room suited us all just fine.
Dan and Dad
and mom
The proud parents
Dan shows off his tie tack and pin on his shirt while mom and dad respond with surprise and pure joy...Dan decided to wear his Grandpa Bechtel's tie tack and his Grandpa Davidson's 50 Year Illini pin to honor them on this day. It was very special.
Alaric, Amara, V, and 3 other toddler best friends had a ball playing all afternoon. No naps though...they did pretend for awhile to have a sleepover though.
=All Dan wanted for his graduation party was a Beer Tasting. Brian and Dan do beer tastings all the time and have gotten pretty creative over the past 8 years in themes, execution, etc. This one, designed by Dan was ALL DAN!

In the garage with his family and favorite co-workers
Since Education was the focus today, Dan created a Report card for each beer and the participants graded each beer and wrote comments.
The graduate loved his day!
Dan and his Urbana High School friends!
Just a few of the beers we sampled.
*****
Video of Dan crossing the stage

Congrats Dan! You make us all so proud! We love you!

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