Graduation from Thunderbird

The main purpose of our trip to Arizona was to be with Kyle and his family for his graduation.  The day of commencement was here.  When we arrived at Thunderbird School of Global Management, we were greeted with a jazz quartet.

They played a variety of tunes from show tunes to the classics.

We entered the commencement hall through a flag lined sidewalk and into the air conditioned hall.

One of the photo spots for the grads.

Welcome

Some of us got there a head of time to save seats.  Then we got there, there were only a about a dozen spots left in the parking lot and we were lucky to get one. We hurried in and saved about eight seats about half way back. Then we saw the rest of them with Ellie leading the way.

All of us that attended, minus Charlie.  He wouldn't have made it past the two minute mark.

The happy graduate walking into the hall.

Amelia was very good for the whole three hours. It was tradition to have a parade of flags with a student carrying the flag of their country and they each said something about their home country. These will be the future leaders back home. It was wonderful that the first student was a young woman from Afghanistan. There were two students who were the first in their countries to graduate from Thunderbird, from Mongolia and I think Eritrea. It was quite interesting and entertaining to listen to them sell their countries - The young lady from Greece started her speech by saying "I apologize for the economy".

Kyle in line to get the coveted diploma.

Announcing Kyle. This guy was good at pronouncing all the foreign names (half of the graduates, if not more, came from a foreign land, from Afghanistan, Mongolia, Vietnam, China, Greece, India - lots- Norway, you get the picture).

This is the President of the school - his last day.

This is the Dean of Students, also his last day.  The commencement went about an extra 45 minutes while the change of guard took place.

The happy graduate holding his MBA

I'm still doing good.

Then they dropped the balloons, which were batted around - Ellie got three of them and they lasted for days.

I finally made it.  Congratulations to me.

The congratulatory kiss.

I had to put up with you for two years, now its up to you to fine a good job and put up with me and the four youngsters.

Tiff, Amelia, Kyle, Ellie and Erik - Charlie is at the sitters.

The Goodwin side

The Larsen side

Oath of Honor, Kyle signed on the beak.

The school with blooming cactus

These oven mitts are Kyle's first graduation gift. Actually a fellow graduate had borrowed them and returned them as he was leaving.

Grand adventure in Glendale

I hate the changes Blogger has made.  I cant find my way around.

Judy and I took a trip to Glendale, AZ for several reasons: Kyle's birthday, Kyle's MBA graduation and to play with their kids.  We arrived at the airport about 1/2 hour before Anna and arranged to pick her up to save Kyle a trip to get her.  Even before we got to their house, we made a special stop at Elisabeth's kindergarten class.

Kyle was already there and when Ellie saw two grammas and one grampa she was all smiles and ran over to hug us.

Ellie was was anxious to hold the chick and she finally got her chance.

One group photo before they kicked us out of the classroom.

It was also Kyle's birthday and we needed to celebrate with a special "cake" for him. There was only room for four candles, three of them equals ten years each and one equals one year.

He managed get them all out, but he had help from the kids.

Then there is this sweet thing, Amelia, Mairin's competition, but I think it is a tie.  So adorable and full of smiles.

It does not rain very often in the Phoenix area so when it does, It's Play Time. Ellie was the first to venture out but it was Erik who first put on rain boots; Ellie just had on regular boots that were soaking wet in one minute. Just enjoy the photos of them jumping in the water - it was sheer joy and we let them get as wet as they wanted to.

After several minutes Charlie ventured out to partake in the fun. He tried to put his own sweatshirt on and didn't quite make it. It was a time to laugh at his endeavor.

Charlie marched off to stomp in the water.

The sun came out and the fun was just about over.

Then the boots came off and the jumping continued.

Tiffany even decided to join them in all that craziness. The few minutes of Dancing in the Rain was one of the highlights of our trip. Ellie, Erik and Charlie just loved it and they will certainly remember this day.

Cello Wars