We went to a Garden Party...

Hai, Andrew, Bekka and Thuy, along with neighbors, family and friends celebrated Andrew's graduation from Prior Lake High School this afternoon in the back yard garden.

Shrimp salad dressed with hand-cut red peppers

A cool June afternoon in a fresh back yard garden provided the perfect setting for Andrew Dang's high school graduation party today. Friends and neighbors of the Prior Lake family enjoyed a sparkling buffet of Asian treats, hand cut and cooked for the occasion by family members. The graduate circulated easily among the guests, greeting and serving, and making his parents ever more proud of their fine young man.

Hai, Andrew, Thuy
(Egg rolls, fried rice, pork dish)

Andrew will attend the University of Minnesota in the fall, he has earned scholarships and the support of his parents, who are both U of M Alumni. After immigrating from Vietnam, they worked their way through school in a burst of achievement undimmed by a host of financial, lingual and cultural challenges, and are now a source of inspiration for their freshman son.
Fifteen years ago Stan had the opportunity to hire Andrew's Dad, a new father with bills to pay and an idea that he wanted a science career in biology. Recognizing the fire blazing in this energetic, talented, brilliant man, Stan convinced him to try newspapers instead, even though the immigrant said he rarely read one and didn't believe they could actually make any money. The rest is history. Today Andrew's Dad is an indispensable cog in the Southwest Newspapers organization, where he manages all the information systems, designs clever artwork, creates software and stimulates those around him to do better.

Sisters.
(Kathleen is the tall one)

In the meantime, as the family's employer, Stan has enjoyed a traditional position of dignity and  respect throughout this extended Vietnamese family unit, a unique cultural status with very good benefits and a title that goes with it: "Oohm Stan," -- which is sort of like saying Uncle Stan, only with respect.
So it was with a mixture of pride and nostalgia that we attended Andrew's celebration today. We are real excited too, because we know the stuff he's made of and so we know, whatever he does, it's going to be really, really good.

OK. Beer me, Hai.