The next person on our list is my Momma. Her name is Melodie Dennis. She grew up in Arkansas, fell in love with my Dad at 16 and got married at 18. This lady is the biggest people-person you will ever meet. She could tell you someone's life story after 10 minutes of talking to them and she has very keen "mom radar" (which was very unfortunate for me while growing up). My mom is the parent of 3 girls and 2 boys (all of which you will meet below). My mom is everything good put into one person; her biggest flaw is loving people (especially her children) a little too much. And if you ask me, if that's your biggest flaw, then you must be doin' alright. 
Moving along...
This is Ashley and Reid Pierce. Ashley is my older sister and Reid is her husband. They met when they were 14-ish and are still together 12 years later. The adorable little baby boy in front is Caeden their 16 month old son (whom you will hear more on later). Reid teaches Jr. High Biology and is a fanatic about the Razorbacks as well. Ashley used to teach second grade but she is taking a break so she can spend some more time at home with Caeden. Growing up Ashley was a bit of a nerd (shh!! don't tell her I said so). She was always so studious, doing homework before it was even assigned. She made schedules when she used to babysit me and my sister and when we would go on family vacations we would have assigned time slots for "reading," "coloring" and other festivities. Ashley is also the mediator of the Dennis Clan... she is so wonderful to settle all of our family dispuits and disagreements! :)
That is their adorable little boy Caeden. He is now sixteen months old and he is the cutest little boy on the entire planet. He is very strong-willed and is all-boy (which means he doesn't know how to play with a toy the way it was meant to be played with). He is spoiled rotten by his Aunts and his Grandma's and Papa's but he doesn't mind at all, however, if his mom knew, we'd all be dead!!!!
This cute lil' couple is Amber and Caleb Gutshall. They are the kind of couple that everyone loves to hate. They are the kind of people that will make homemade pizza with the fresh vegetables they got from the farmer's market that day then go running together with matching running outfits; they also like to spend their time at public libraries reading books drinking a cup of coffee. As you can see they really are quite charming. It wasn't always that way though. Actually miss Amber used to have quite the temper on her. She probably won't remember but I recall many a time me running for safety to the bathroom, locking the door behind me. Occasionally, if I didn't run quick enough she would drill me in the head with the remote control. But luckily, when she went off to college and I grew up we both began to love each other and now we are greatfriends.
Amber got her teaching degree from U of A and her Masters in Christian Ministry from Liberty. Caleb (her hubby) is an electrical engineer (i'm still not sure what that even means). As you can tell from their picture, they are expecting a cute lil' boy due on March 24th. His name is going to be Emerson Paul Gutshall. We are all very anxious to meet him!!!
This is me, Ariel Dennis. I am 21, not married & looking. ;) Haha, I am going to Ozark Christian College and I'm majoring in Biblical Communication for Women. Basically it teaches women how to correctly interpret and teach the bible to other people through preaching, teaching, writing, and etc. I would like to someday speak at conferences and write books, possibly teach at a Christian college at some point, but we'll see how that all works out. I'm quite the dreamer and I have a hard time staying in one place for very long. I was a bit rebellious growing up, I was one of those little 6 year olds who thought they knew EVERYTHING! As i've gotten older I've realized this is not the case. I'm a bit indecisive but also really spontaneous. I'm an introvert and an Extrovert. In fact, almost all of my personality traits are paradoxical. :) I, like my dad, am quite the character. The one thing that is dead set in my life is my love and passion for Jesus. I did not discover the truth of him until I was about 19 years old, but having lived 19 years without him, I am now 100 times more thankful for every day that I have with him.
Below is a picture of us three girls while we were growing up! Ashley is on the left, Amber is in the middle, and I am on the right!
This is Asher and Clay. Asher is on the right and clay is on the left. We adopted Asher and Clay through the foster care system. We have had Cay since he was about 7 months old and Asher since he was almost 2 yeras old; Clay is now 5 and Asher is now 6.
Asher is a sweetheart. He has blonde hair and blue eyes and when he grows up he is the kind of charming prince who will make girls' hearts melt! Sometimes when I come downstairs in the morning looking at disheveled he looks at me and says I look "stunning" or "beautiful." Then he offers to play with my hair or scratch my back for me. He truly does have a way with words. In his free time, Asher likes to pretend he is spiderman or batman and constantly forces Clay to be the bad guy.
Clay is an accident looking for a place to happen. His new nickname is trouble. He is the loudest one in the Dennis Family (he took my place) and he literally never stops talking. One time, I was sleeping next to him in his room on Christmas Eve and I woke up to him punching me in the face as he was sleep talking (more like sleep screaming) about not wanting to share with Asher. Oh, it was a long night! Basically the definition of Clay is "a noise with dirt on it." But, somehow, this little troublemaker never fails to capture your heart whenever he cuddles up in your arms and tells you how much he loves you and calling you his new best friend.
I am so thankful for those two new additions to our family.
Well, this is the Dennis Family Introduction for you! Hope you enjoyed it and I will try to update about our complex life from time to time. :) Have a great New Years!!!!
