Dennis' Birthday!

Lil Dennis ~ Juneau, Alaska ~ 1965

Dennis ~ about age 8

Brothers and Sisters ~ 2007

Dennis ~ about age 12

Happy Birthday to my BFF! (Best Friend Forever) He's awesome! Such a great father to the kids and just a great guy all around! We are celebrating with a family dinner...with Tim and Brooke coming out, too. Oh, course the menu includes some kind of juicy tenderized meat on the grill with mashed potatoes and gravy....and a few other things...the above mentioned are of course the most important to Dennis! haha German Chocolate cake with ice cream is the other important essential for his birthday. I was thinking how it is nice to get older with the fact of when you go to put birthday candles on the cake....and there are so many stinkin candles...just take the sum of the two boxes and minus, oh, say 3 or 4 candles, then you've got the correct number! haha....The cake might topple over with the weight of the candles however! JK....I'm getting old along with him...so the joke's on me, too! Then he's off (and the rest of us) to Youth Night, Scouts and Young Womens. He is working today, but took some time to come to Erik's doctor appt. What a great b.day present, having the Doc tell you your son is going to be ok!

Like I said...we met with Dr. Donaldson today. It was a great appointment...meaning Dr. D says Erik looks great! It was fun to see the other staff members too. With such an ordeal, you just become friends with them all. They were excited to see Erik doing so well and are all so happy for him. Next appointment in 3 months....November....what?.... it's still summer! It's hard to look ahead that far. 3 months for Dr. D, but interim appt with Dr. Pearson....so the next followup will actually be in 6 weeks.

The kids are going through their school clothes, seeing what their needs are in a just a few weeks. It was a fun FHE going through things together. Justin will be in Mrs. Houle's class in the 6th grade and is excited to go to Cedar Middle. Since Ash and Erik are both class presidents...they are getting ready to do some fun things to help welcome all the Cedar High students back on August 19th. Wow....I can't believe my kiddos are growing up.

Chris is doing great on his mission. It's nice to hear from him always even if we have to translate it first! He writes in Spanish, but I know how to copy and paste into one of the many internet sites that will translate for you in an instant! It's fun having his blog to update and put pics on once in awhile, too. I've been printing out his letters for his Mission Book for him. I'm sure it will be something that he'll always cherish through the years. It will bring him back close to the people of Texas and all the companions he has served with. He has a new mission president. It is Pres. Stephen Jones and his wife. The Cutlers were released the end of June and I'm sure Chris has a special place in his heart for them. He mentioned on quite a few occasions of the passion and love for the gospel that the Cutler's demonstrated. It's amazing to think that his mission will be over in 5 months....whoa....I can't wait to see him again and listen to all of his experiences firsthand and do things as a family....but yet, I will miss having him out in the field and having a "missionary". So I will enjoy these next 5 months and cherish them.