This is Denny's side of the family. His sister, Anita, and her husband, Jim, came down for the graduation and Denny's brother, Mike, rode along. To tie it all in, Baby Bentley, is Mike's granddaughter. We were so happy to see them all. To be able to have both sides of our family here is a blessing. Our thanks to all of you!
This is a picture of Dana with her grandmother, Sandy Guilliams. She is my mother and also my best friend. I don't know what we would do without her.
She drove down and helped us get ready for Dana's graduation. Without her help and Heidi's, I'm not sure things would have gone so smoothly. Thanks, Mom!
This picture is of Dana with Heidi. Heidi is part of our family. She is not a sister by blood but a sister of the heart. We have known her since she was 5 years old; starting Kindergarten with my sister. She has had a place in our lives ever since that day.
When we lived in Missouri, she and I were neighbors. My kids sometimes got off the bus at her house and her kids babysat mine. It was all in the family. Every once in awhile, we will go to an antique shop or candle store and the kids will say, "Mom, this smells like Heidi's house." It is their second home.
Thank you, Heidi, for all your help during graduation. You and mom made life much easier for me!
There is an interesting story with this picture. These two wonderful people are Dana's teachers. Their names are Mr. Lewis and Mrs. Lewis. They are not married and they are not related. Their rooms are side by side. Mr. Lewis taught Dana Physics and Honors Chemistry II. Mrs. Lewis taught her Honors Biology I and Honors Chemistry I.
Dana would not be going to The University of Alabama if it weren't for Mrs. Lewis. She encouraged Dana to check out the school when Dana was making campus visits. We had just got back from Auburn. I'll never forget that conversation! When I mentioned that, Mrs. Lewis wrinkled up her nose and said, "She NEEDS to visit UA!" (She attended there!) Sure enough, Dana took one look at the place and the rest, as they say, is history. When Dana found out she got the full tuition scholarship and had been accepted at UA, the first phone calls were to her Dad, Grammy, Ben and Mrs. Lewis!
The family's bag of jokes was expanded by Dana's exposure to Mr. Lewis. So many days she came home with funny stories of his class. Who knew Physics could be so fun? He has a way with the kids, that's for sure.
God Bless Teachers!
This is my cousin, Blake, and his lovely wife, April. Blake's Dad and my Dad are brothers. We were so thrilled they could make it as I hadn't seen them since his father passed away. They have 3 great kids: Lily, Gavin and Maggie. I'll be posting their pics later as the one's taken with the Android didn't come out.
This is another attempt at taking a family picture. We wanted a picture of Ben, Ashley, and Bentley with Dana. Every attempt to get the baby to smile at the camera was meeting with failure. At one point, I yelled, "Whooo!". Bentley's head snapped around and Ashley started laughing. It was a mess but I love it!
This is Dana's cake. On top of the Hat is Dana's name written in icing. The top "book" was vanilla; the bottom "book" was chocolate. It was remarkably moist and the icing was light and fluffy. Thank you, Publix!
Dana is holding Bentley Woodruff, daughter of Ben & Ashley. Ben is Denny's brother's son. Trying to get this picture was hilarious. Bentley would look everywhere but at the camera. Babies are so fun to photograph!
Dana with Great-Uncle Glenn and Great-Aunt Anna. Glenn is Denny's mother's brother. It made the day special for them to be here celebrating with us.
Entering the auditorium at MTSU. This was taken with my Android so there was a delay. That's why it's fuzzy. I'll post the ones from my digital camera soon.
Denny's life goal was to see his kids graduate. Looks like he made it! One down, one to go.
