Dennis Part 2

I can't believe what I did last night.

I had a nice card to give to Dennis...he and I both love cards...so I hid it under my jacket to bring to the restaurant with us. So I smoothly take it out, put it on the table and said, "Happy Birthday" Den opens it up and says, "Isn't this the card the office gave me today?"

I brought the wrong card with me!! I left the one from me at home!

Here he is at the restaurant looking at his office card.
Can't you just see it on his face...he's thinking about his crazy wife.
How romantic.

Isn't he so cute?

Den's daughter Kris had the following on her blog yesterday. He was so touched by this that I wanted to put it on my blog too:

"Monday, January 26, 2009 Happy Birthday, Dad! I want to take a trip down memory lane for a few minutes and share with you why my Dad is so special in my life. Kim and I were the first to be born in our family. As you can imagine, having twins is a giant leap into parenthood to have happen at the same time. My dad was a very "hands-on" kind of Dad and helped my mom in so many ways as we were little.
I think my dad really just LOVED being a dad! Everything he did was for and because of us. Even many hours of hard labor in the backyard was for us kids. Here he is building a treehouse. It didn't matter that there were no trees in the backyard...he was going to build one anyways! And oh, the contraptions he would think up for this house. A hinged roofside lifted for us to peek out, and a little pulley system to bring up our treats were the highlights. It proved hours of fun for us.

My dad was a police officer for the Los Angeles Police Department. He did this for 30 years. We lived in Corona, about an hour and a half away from his work. This is just one of the many sacrifices my dad made on our family's behalf. I can't imagine making that commute each way, every day. He did not want to move our family closer to Los Angeles. He would wake up at 3 AM so that he would miss traffic, and then be home in the afternoons by the time we got home from school.

One of our favorite things to do while growing up was to attend the stake daddy-daughter activities. They would hold them each year and it was a real treat to be able to go with dad. He was always a good sport and dressed up to play the part of whatever theme the event was centered around. Here is one of us from the 50's night. Notice he's got a lot more hair during this time! (Sorry Dad...I couldn't resist!) :)
I love that dad can be very sentimental over small things. For example, he just loves old barns and covered bridges. He always knows there's a story behind them. Here is one of my most favorite pictures of my dad and I together.
Dad has a really fun, sometimes dry, sense of humor. He's always full of one-liners. Oftentimes, he can really turn that frown upside down by just being himself. One of my favorites is: "Hmm...well, as they say in Hungary...oh well." (Now this may not seem that funny, but he will say this line and change it depending on who he is talking to! So if you served your mission in some other place, that's the destination he ends up using in his statement. I can't help but laugh each time he shares this one.) By the way, if you're reading this and you know my dad and know of another one-liner favorite of yours, please share! :)
This picture makes me laugh because Jessica was trying to show him how to hula hoop one day and he decided to show her how to do it around your neck. It was hilarious.

Having Dad live so far away can be such a bummer at times, but the one thing about him is that wherever and whenever possible, he tries to be here for the important events in our lives. That has always meant so much to me. Here he is with the girls when he came to watch them perform in the Martin Harris Pageant a couple of summers ago. What a thrill it was for them to see Grandpa in the audience!

And I love this picture of he and Jacob- his own namesake. (Jacob's middle name is Dennis.)
Well, I really could go on a lot longer talking about what a special man he is in my life. I guess one of the greatest tributes I could give to him is to let him know that when I looked for someone I wanted to marry, I looked for the same attributes my father had, and was that was what I longed for the most in a husband. Strong character and testimony were so important to me because of his example. Thank you, Dad, for all you have done for me over the years. I love you and wish you a wonderful birthday!
Posted by Kris at 1/26/2009