Dan turns 66 years old

Last weekend I turned 66 years old. Dad gave me this super plush bathrobe with my name on it. Like Wow, super sophisticated, right?  In an effort to do it justice, I struck my very best super sophisticated pose.

Yikes!  Despite my best efforts to look stately, wise and sophisticated, I only succeeded in looking dorky, stupid and fat. Old too. Thanks for the robe, Dad. Too bad I can't do it justice. Maybe next year you should give me some worn out gym socks.

Auf Wiedersehen to Jonas

After being with us since mid-September, Jonas left last week for greater adventures elsewhere. An experienced world-traveler, Jonas brings sunshine, enthusiasm and joy to wherever he goes. In the 4 months he was here, Jonas made dozens of friends and shared his creativity with dozens more. A tangible example of Jonas' creativity is his campfire lamp. Inspired by experiencing Samantha's and Jake's storytelling paper campfire in Menlo Park ...

 Jonas designed and created his own.

Badgered by Helen for years for not acknowledging her email to him, he built her a beautiful wooden box that softly and quietly pulses a gentle golden light whenever he receives an email ... no matter where he is in the world. I call it the Pulse Notifier.

Mega thanks to 712 Innovations (the maker space in downtown Topeka) for empowering Jonas' creativity. An even bigger thanks to Jonas for sharing his zest for life with us. 

We don't say "goodbye" to Jonas. We say "see you later." He was with us in 2010-2011 as he attended his senior year at Topeka High School. We joined him in 2012 as we traveled Germany and France together. He returned to Topeka in 2014 and again now. In between, he finished his industrial engineering degree and traveled to 40 countries on 3 continents. We can't wait to see what happens next.
See you later, Jonas.