Our Wonderful Joel Daniel Gardner

In the foreground is our birthday boy, Joel Daniel Gardner, holding his son Christian: great dad, creative dating husband and one of the most wonderful guys in the world. Happy birthday, Joellie! I tried to do this blog entry yesterday, but the blog website was down for some reason. So please accept my apologies for the belated birthday wishes. We'll just have to celebrate extra hard in CHICAGO baby! Next weekend, yep, we're all 7 of us heading back to Chicago. I'm pretty pumped, especially since I had just told Stan how much I wanted him to come up with a fun idea to take me somewhere spontaneously like Joel did with Heather!

If I were to pick one word to describe Joel, it would be this: determination. I have loved this boy since I first saw his adorable face when he was born. He has an unquenchable desire to know all about everything. When he was crawling he got into soap, butter, sugar, toasters, cockroaches (we were in the Philippines and they are rampant there--even if you're a spectacular housekeeper), and was always watching everything with intensity. If we turned our backs, he could figure out how to take something apart and put it back together, and it would still work! The best fruit of Joel's determination is Heather. Joel fell in love with her when he was 14, informed me he would marry her when he was 15, and finally convinced her to marry him when they were going to school at Utah State University. They have three, going on four, adorable kids: JD, Camryn, and Christian. Heather tells me that they're considering naming their expected little guy after the places where they fell in love with each other. Pretty cool! With Heather's support and encouragement, I have watched Joel become a truly great man, and I know there's even more to come, because that's just the way Joel is. Once he decides something, NOTHING will stop him. Nothing. Nada. No Way. He just decides and goes for stuff, and gets there.
This is a picture of Joel and Christian. They are good buddies, and Joel loves all his kids. He and JD have a ton of fun together with Legos and ball games, and Camryn is definitely Daddy's little girl.

It always amazes me how each of our children has grown into such a unique, yet amazing individual in their own right. Joel has gone from a marginal student who worked part time at Checker Auto to an exceptional physician--an anesthesiologist who will be doing well in his contracted job next year in Pocatello Idaho. It's fun to see Heather and Joel excited to find a house. They deserve it after all these years in their crumby little apartment in Ann Arbor!
These six boys have a great time with their dad and each other. From left: David, Nathaniel, Joel, Stephen, Stan, Joshua, and Matthew.

Joel is wise, hilariously funny, witty. Inside he's a marshmallow: kind and compassionate, always willing to do everything he can to make things right. I love his integrity and I love his drive. Most of all, I love Joel. Happy birthday, dear son! You are an inspiration to me. I love you! Mom