As most of you know Mitch was accepted into Marquette Dental School last fall. The two of us have been waiting out the humid summer here for the moment when he would start school and it has finally arrived. Isn't he so cute in his business casual! (It'll be another couple of weeks before they get their scrubs to wear) In comparison to some of his nephews school pictures that we've had sent to us and seen he's not as adorable but still handsome on his first day of school. All he needs now is a school bus behind him. Mitch was inducted into the school of dentistry last week during the White Coat Ceremony where he took an oath to uphold ethical standards and humane responsibilities along with 79 of his classmates. 9 out of these including Mitch are LDS and he's gotten to know all of them and a lot of his other classmates as well. Mitch is the only student from Utah State but he's so bubbbly that he makes friends easily.






Here he is receiving his white coat and officially becoming a dental professional.

THE DENTAL STUDENT'S OATH

"As I begin my clinical education for the profession of Dentistry, I pledge the following:

To uphold the highest standards of professionalism by demonstrating compassion, empathy, and sound judgement in the treatment of my patients and in my interactions with colleagues. I will remember that I am working with human beings first and foremost.

To demonstrate excellent leadership through my interactions with my patients, my fellow students, and my community. I will gracefully accept leadership opportunities presented to me.

To uphold the highest of prefessional ethics by doing what is right and just in my interactions with patients, classmates, and the community at large. I will remember that dental education and the practice of dentistry is a privelege and not an entitlement.

My dedication to this education and career will be exemplified in my commitment to learning all that I can, treating my patients with kindness, and always maintaining honor and integrity.

I promise to maintain the dignity of this profession by promoting the principles of patient autonomy, nonmaleficence, beneficence, justice and veracity.

All this I pledge with pride as I pursue the education that will lead to the honor of entering into the profession of dentistry."

Mitch has been harvesting away this past week from his little garden on our balcony. We received 3 puny plants from our ward out here in Milwaukee one of our first weeks to church and I thought there was no hope for the little guys. Mitch thought better and has shown me that it's not always the sturdy plant that reaps the rewards. Our little cucumber plant has really produced, Mitch has picked 5 cucumbers off it's vines so far and the plant barely takes up the space of its small planter box. Here you see him proudly displaying the first cucumber that it produced. You can see Mitch definately has a green thumb. I think he inherited it From Grandpa and Grandma Oliver.
He's also got two tomato plants that are starting to ripen now. The little cherry tomatoes are turning red and he was able to pick some and put them in our salad last night, I'm not a tomato fan at all but I drenched one in ranch and it wasn't as bad as I was expecting. Mitch was just glad that I ate one at all. He also has some larger tomatoes but they are not turning red yet. We have big plans for our little garden next year. We'd like to plant some peas, pole beans, squash, zucchini, tomatoes, cucumbers, and bell peppers. Our first attempt at a garden last year ended miserably with one or two bell peppers and some late tomatoes, but this year Mitch has made unprecedented strides in his garden abilities and hopes to bring more yummy food into the home next summer.

Mitch and I are firm believers in self reliance thanks to all the teachings of our parents and the church, hopefully we'll be able to be more self reliant in the years to come. If you're interested in some good articles and information on self reliance or food storage try these links.

After a few weeks of the weather being muggy and hot the air finally started to cool off and people are already saying that fall is coming and it's not even mid August yet. Compared to Utah though it is a lot cooler. Mitch and I decided to make the most of the cool weather so we got up early on Friday morning and went to the Wisconsin State Fair. The fairgrounds are only minutes away from our new house so it was a quick trip both ways. It was still really cool when we went and most of the things we saw were in the shade of a stadium. The fair didn't seem nearly as neat as it did when we were younger but we both had a really good time walking around and looking at all the crafts, animals, and things for sale. There were several barns with animals in them but not nearly as many as they have at the Western Idaho Fair it seemed like. I really missed seeing the Alpacas that Idaho usually has. They had rabbits, chickens, turkeys, cows, pigs and horses. Mitch and I even got to see them judge a breed of horse called Percherons, a type of draft horse used for heavy labor and towing. They were really beautiful. Mitch got friendly with some chicks in another barn and I had to put my foot down then. You can see him here with one of his girlfriends, he's so suave. The only thing we didn't get to do was have a famous Wisconsin Cream Puff. They make such a big deal out of these things that they even send them to the Brewers Baseball team at their away games so they can have a taste of the fair. OH Well, maybe next year we can share one with Adelaide at her first fair.