Stanford Grad

We can't get though the spring without a graduation at our house. My kids and their spouses keep us busily involved in higher education accolades.
This year it was SIL Austin's turn again.

He got a Masters in Management Science and Engineering.

 Congrats to him.

 My cute Kathryn helped by supporting him and taking care of other family matters so he could concentrate on his studies. It took him a few years and he was able to take classes remotely, listening to lectures on line, even while living in far away places.

 Austin and his parents who are also supportive in his endeavors. His employer Lockheed Martin was supportive financially. Thank you very much.

 "Good job Daddy."

The cute young family. The college graduation was in the afternoon following the morning full university ceremony. The main speaker was a famous mayor from Newark and an alum of Stanford.

Cory Booker was an impressive and inspirational speaker and implored students and the crowd to remain faithful in the hopes and conscience of their hearts. Cory spoke without notes and was on an emotional chord the entire speech. We were glad to have been there.

Stanford's main graduation ceremony was/is a tad unorthodox. The undergrads come out for a "Wacky Walk" wearing all kinds of crazy attire and running around the field in a celebration that makes them look like immature followers of their classmates. I'm sure they think they are such free thinkers and much smarter than everyone in other schools so that they should be able to show their individuality. 

The post grads are more traditional and walk in like normal graduates.
It was very unique and kind of fun to attend and see this in person.

Austin finding us in the crowded stadium.

It was a gorgeous day and felt hotter than the 79 degree temperature just because we were all in direct sun the whole morning.

Congrats to our Austin. Good job.

Noogle

Yesterday was David's first day at a new amazing job, it was also Kathryn's birthday but I'll talk about that when she receives her late present from me. (cause it's all about me?)
So, sorry but this post is for David. Our 2nd born baby boy, who is now almost 30 years old.

David and his wife Kara

Yess-er-ee! David got a job working for Google in the "Maps" area which is right up his alley.
He has been looking for about a year and a half for a job and meanwhile found a second job at Games Workshop, a little retail shop up at Stoneridge Mall clear up in Pleasanton. His original job at Mens Wearhouse has been ongoing part and full time for 11 years. He started working for them while he was in High School, and then after his mission he went back to MW Tux store and kept going to school while he worked and started a family.

David and his baby L

He now has been married for nearly 8 years, has 3 cute kids, graduated from San Jose State, and received his masters degree from there as well. All the while he has worked really hard at one full time and one part time job, and trying to find a better job this past while, but to no avail.
His resume had gone out to literally hundreds of businesses and some head hunter type woman found it on Monster.com. She saw he had a Masters Degree in Geography and she knew she had a placement for him at Google.

Now our David is a new Google employee. A Noogle.
His first day there were 90 new employees orienting at the main building on the HUGE campus in Mountain View, CA. There are 7.2 million square feet in the Mountain View facility. There are 32,500 employees worldwide and many more who are consultants, like David.
He is going to take a shuttle to work and save on the gas, he will be able to eat lunch in one of the 27 cafeteria/cafe's on the campus, and so many other amenities.
Last week our paper had a story about the best places to work in the USA. Google made #1.
So, bottom line, David is now working for the #1 employer in the Nation.
Not bad, eh?