Happy 1 year Family Anniversay and Forever to go!

To Our Two Silly Monkeys: Ryan and Lindsay,

We love you, We love you and We love you.

We hope one day you will understand why Heavenly Father made us as a Family. I love reading and listening to the words from Michael McLean, "From God's Arms To my Arms To Yours," and words to "Yours." I know you guys like it too. Whether or not you know what it means. I hope the words to the song comforts you and puts a smile on your face.

Both your Dad and I, love to see you happy and enjoy being a kid. We love it, when you are excited to see us at your soccer game or ballet rehearsals.....The look on your face when you read the book all by yourself.....To hear you read a book you don't know the words to and try so hard to make it up.....To hear the words; Let's do something as a family....Anytime hugs & kisses....and of course, to hear I love you.

We love you both very much,
Remember we will be here Forever; You can count on us being their for the good, the bad and the ugly. That is right, you will never be able to get rid of us. You guys are stuck with us Old Folks to be.

Love, Mommy Missy & Daddy Dan

These first photos of our children before they came to our home October 13, 2006. How time flies and quickly children grow.

Enjoy a little of Micheal McLean

"FROM GOD'S ARMS TO MY ARMS TO YOURS"

With so many wrong decisions in my past I'm not quite sure
If I can ever hope to trust my judgement anymore
BUT LATELY I'VE BEEN THINKING 'CAUSE IT'S ALL I'VE HAD TO DO
And in my heart I feel that I should give this child to you

chorus:
And maybe you can tell your baby
When you love him so, that he was loved before
By someone who delivered your son
From God's arms to my arms to yours



"YOURS"

You didn't give me your eyes
Or the color of your hair
I'VE CLIMED THE FAMILY TREE AND FOUND
There's no one like me there
Sometimes I've felt like an alien
That came from foreign shores
But look inside my heart you'll see

I'M YOURS.

It is a Beautiful Day to Remember a Friend

It was a very long day but a good day. Our friend Nathan's funeral was held today. It was a beautiful service to remember our friend and his family. Nathan is a great man who thought of others and enjoyed serving others. There were several friends, and family there to pay their respect to a Good Man who loved his family, honored his priesthood and served his Heavenly Father while he was here on earth. He was a great example to all of us. He will be surely missed by everyone who loved him, but not forgotten. He will be remembered by all those who he touched and served. Now, it is our turn to take what we have seen and learned from Nathan; to serve others. We need to be strong and have Faith in our Heavenly Father's Plan of Salvation. Nathan thank you!

"In Memory of Nathan Von Niederhausern"

The world has lost a Great man, Nathan Von Niederhausern. He will be missed and remember for all the great things he has done. He has been a great example to learn and follow. He has help and served other in need.

Dan and I mourn the loss of a dear friend, neighbor and member of our Family Ward. He will be sorely missed not just by us but everyone who knew him. We will remember the good times such as the laughter, block parties, skit shooting, cards, Halloween Parties, gatherings in front of someone's house just chatting away, lending an ear to listen, and the laughter of friends.

We will take from this the things we have learned and pass it on to the next generations. He will always be remembered. It is scary to see someone so young and have a young family go through this life experience. Hope is not all lost for we have learned all these years, starting in Primary, there is a life after this one. Heavenly Father has a plan for each and everyone of us.

This is for you Nathan. Thank you for everything.

Girl's day out!

Girl's day out! It is time to hit the nail salon. Today was a day to enjoy getting a manicure and a pedicure. Eva and Lindsay were excited to join us gals at the nail salon. While Miriam, Mom and myself where getting our pedicure and manicure, the girls were exited to get their nails painted. Both Eva and Lindsay chose their nail polish, of course they keep coming across something better than before a better color, glitter, or hearts in clear polish. It was a tough decision before they each choose the one.

These girls were giggle and exited. They were moving around while they waited their turn. Will they be able to hold still long enough to let the nail polish dry? Believe it or not they made it through. At one point, I thought Lindsay was going to fall asleep. It was a tough call at the end. They started to copy each other's movement....just moments before the giggles start to come back. Yeah, there nails were dry enough.

It was a great day to spend time with each other and watch the girls giggle and enjoy girl's day out!

Lindsay Clan goes camping together!

We are excited to spend time with family! This years trip to California was very eventful and fun. Ryan and Lindsay were excited to spend time with their new cousins and Grandparents. We went camping for 5 days in the Lake Mendocino area. It was wonderful to have all the kids together.

Mom made sure there was plenty of food and games. She did not want to hear anyone saying they were bored. We had bikes, scooters, jewelry making, canoe and lots of fun down at the lake. Of course, we all brought our lap tops and sometimes were found hiding in the tents or cars to sneak in a movie or play a game. The kids had fun finding lizards, dead fish, performing a scene from Emma's imagination, soccer, cards and chasing each other around. Just watching them made me tired.


Dan and I enjoy taking walks at night; while the kids were asleep or riding bikes around during the day; no kids. I had a little mishap and lost to a tree stump. My shin is all scratched up. My hands and ankles swelled so bad it hurt when it got to hot.

Dan and I had the chance to take the kids out on the canoe and had some one on one time with them. They talked about having so much fun and couldn't believe they have so many cousins. The kids were excited to have lots of food available to them. And asked why they still had to eat their Lunch. (They called everything Lunch.)


We even caught Lindsay and cousin Sophia in the food tent. Sophia got away but Lindsay got stuck in the zipper of the food tent. Uncle Bill did wonderful getting Lindsay to eat the foods she should eat first before eating all the snacks. He would pretend the food was telling Lindsay to stop eating them. Bill and his voices. He would even teach his daughter Sophia to rescue Lindsay from mean old mom; who was making Lindsay set down and eat her food til it was all gone. Sophia would tell Lindsay to run while she took Lindsay's plate and throw it away. All why mom was pretending not to look.


Ryan was so excited he was able to practice with Uncle Drew with soccer. He enjoyed his Hulk gloves chasing the girls with his gloves. He and his cousin Matthew were amazed with Uncle Mark's bike. Ryan was so excited when Uncle Drew invided all the nieces and he was the only nephew to stayed in his tent for one night. They stayed up telling scary stories and laughing. Ryan thought Uncle Drew was gross eating worms from the dirt. He then changed his mind when Uncle Drew gave everyone dirt and worms to eat for dessert. He decided eating worms was great. (Receipe for worms: gummie worms, chocolate pudding and crushed up oreos.)

We had a great time camping with my family. It sure was different. Noboday, got sick and no had to drive back living a throw up trail. It was a different camping experience than it was when I was younger. Mom and Dad, really wanted to make sure there was something for everyone

Surprise get together with The Neely's!

We were excited to receive a phone call from Uncle Richard. To our surprise, they were making a trip out to Utah and then to California. They were coming to see us in Utah before we went to California. We were able to hang with them again while we were in California. Talk about perfect timing.

Monday July 14th, we met up with them at Great Grandma Krause's for yummy stew and then we were off to the Park. Ryan and Lindsay were excited to go see Great Grandma Krause, it has been a year since they last saw her. Grandma Krause was happy to see her Grand children and Great Grand children. It was a nice visit and yummy stew!

At the park, the kids enjoyed laughing, climbing and swinging on the swing. Ryan loves the monkey bars, Lindsay loves the swing, Kyle enjoyed pushing his mom on the swing, and Kamae enjoyed the swing and slides. It was fun to see the kids be shy at first but then start to interact with each other.

This was a fun day to visit with our cousins from Indiana. This will not be the end. We will hook up with them again in California.

Good negotiator or bribes???

Have you ever negotiated with your kids or bribe your kids to get what you want? Does it always work? Or does it seem to back fire?

We went this year to Kiddie Kandid to have the kids yearly photos taken. I wanted to have some cute photos with props, cute smiles and poses. This year the kids wanted to pose their way and would put up a fight to get what they wanted.

Ryan wanted to make all the funny faces and noises he can make. Lindsay wanted to put her hands and feet in a ballerina position. Both kids did not want to set next to each other. They would push and shove each other or knock down the curtain. Oh my...the crying. My kids can turn on and shut off the water works. I had to pull one kid off of the other and put them in time out. If they would have just smiled and do what we asked...we would have done. I was not happy they were acting this way. I told the photographer, "We are done." She said, "Lets keep trying." They didn't have another sitting for a while...lets try a few things.

My kids were brats. I do not like these behaviors. I did try to negotiate with them. They can do one picture of the pose or face they want. But then....they were smooth....if we can have some ice cream that would be nice.....sure, I did it and told them my terms. I took their breb. The were a little better, but still not the best only tollerable. Two hours later....we finally had six photos we liked. We have four pictures I liked and two pictures they wanted. During the previewing of the photos the kids decided to have a fight and start hitting each other.

I was angry with this behavior that they were doing. I told them we are done. They smiled and said good. Let's go get our ice cream over there. I said, "NO." The deal was to seat down, smile, and do as I ask all the way through the photos and viewing....until we walk out their doors. You just heard, "Yes, to the ice cream and missed out on how you can have ice cream." The look on their face was priceless. Neither negotation or breb worked. The kids cried all the way home.

Enjoy the photos. If you drag your mouse over the photos they will in large.

Fun Day with Uncle Drew!

The Fun Day with Uncle Drew; started when he had an extra ticket for Stadium of Fire at BYU featuring Hannah Montana. Drew asked if he can take his niece to see Hannah Montana. He knew she liked HM since she keeps singing, "Best of both Worlds," over and over.

Ryan's day with Uncle Drew was to see the movie Kung Fu Panda. Hang out and have some Ice Cream. Ryan was excited to get two new books one the Hulk and the other Kung Fu Panda.

Utah Arts Festival

When I first moved to Utah; I lived in the Avenues where they always had the Art Festival going on downtown every year. A friend I met here introduce me to the Utah Arts Festival. We enjoyed going when we could. Once we moved in our house it died down; we were doing more house projects or attending the Parade of Homes instead.



When Ryan and Lindsay first came to our home; we decided to find things they would enjoy. Now it is our little tradition to try and attend the Arts Festival each year. The kids enjoy the hands on kiddie corner and do arts & crafts, run through a maze, and play music. This year the kids were not that interested in the kiddie corner. The were more interested in all the little booths, face paintings, and musical numbers. I do have to say I was a little disappointed myself in the kiddie corner this year.

We always start off with taken Trax downtown. The kids love riding the train. We first hit the kiddie corner. Ryan and Lindsay did a few crafts. They were more intrigued with the instruments; banging on the bongos, and hitting the chimes. We found a booth with home made crafts for sale. Ryan and Lindsay both wanted something from the booth. I told them I was going to buy them a snack here. If they choose they can use the snack money for something at this booth instead of having a snack.

I was surprised they turned down a snack. Ryan wanted the bow and arrows. Lindsay wanted a Princess head piece and wand. I let them purchase the items. Both were excited to have these items. Was that a really smart move on my end...bows and arrows and a wand hummmm? It made them happy. By the end of the day they were taken away. They start to use them as weapons to start a fight with each other.

Anyways, the kids really enjoy listen to a group of children play the violin. Lindsay danced around with her little price attidude. It was cute. Face painting...I really disliked because with children it can be very mess. Children are already dirty and sweaty why make it worse. But again I could not say "NO." Lindsay had Hell0 Kitty painted on her face, which is her favorite. Ryan had the Transformer Emblem painted on his face. It was already smugged with in seconds after being put on his face. It does not look like a Transformer Emblem. Oh well. I just had two mess kids.

To top everything off they had the water feature finished and sure enough Ryan and Lindsay already had their shoes off and were already in the water. For kids who had water traum; they are starting to do much better and now have to be in the water, touch or near the water. They are now more facinated with the water verse being terrified.

Ryan and Lindsay enjoyed the Art Festival but compare to last year, I didn't enjoy it as much. Maybe, it was a little hard to enjoy since Dan was not with us. It was just me and kids. They didn't seem to have as much as they did last year. And my eyes were more on keeping track of the kids and not to loose them in this big crowd of people. Maybe next year it will be different.

No more Kindergarden! 1st Grade here I come.

Ryan has been telling us for the last few months he can't wait to be in 1st grade. He took his last test and he Passed. His first words were, "SWEET." He is excited to be a 1st grader. Now, he is telling us he can't wait to be in 2nd grade and that would be."TOTALLY AWESOME." Hold on kid, one grade at a time.

It's Ballerina Time!

Lindsay enjoys her ballet class. She was so excited to get her custom on once again. This time for her ballerina photos and for her Ballet Recital on June 13, 2008. She loves to be in front of the camera. This recital was Alice in Wonderland. She was a Red rose. However, this time on stage she was nervous to do her performance. She was not able to see the crowd and had lots of bright lights shining on her.

There goes Ryan! No that way or was it this way?

Ryan has a lot of energy and sometimes can be a ticking time bomb ready to explode. He can't seem to hold still. We were trying to find something for him to build his confidence and a place to let off some of this extra energy. Growing up my brothers and I played soccer. I enjoyed playing soccer. We decided to give soccer a shot for him. Who knew he would be such a good player for K divison. He played in the fall and then again during the spring. He was the STAR player. He loves playing the whole game and scoring. Spring soccer was a little different than Fall soccer; he had to figure out how to score with a goalie. Here are a few pictures of Ryan playing soccer enjoy. In the fall he wore Red and in the spring he wore Black with the #8 on it.

What? I have to read the manual to be a Father!

Dan is a wonderful father. He enjoys being a big kid himself and teasing our two kids. He is my equal and also deserves the title Mr. Mom. We share the duties of taking care of our kids. He only has the kids a few hours before they go to bed, but his job ends up being protector through out the night and the Hero of scaring the monsters out of our kids rooms. He thinks my job is hard being with the kids all day and taking care of some daily task with no sleep. He too is on no sleep.
The kids enjoy having a father. He is the only real father they have really known. He spends time with them each night taking care of baths, homework, and bed time stories. Once the kids are in bed; he switches gears and becomes the husband I married who does little things for me around the house. Whether it is finishing up the dishes, putting away the laundry, and doing odds and end cleaning around the house and outside. He enjoys finding a way to put a smile on my face.
He is an amazing man and will always be my one true love. I want to thank him on taking this detour of having a family in a different way. He has a lot of patience with these kids. He is always willing to step in and help me out.
Jumping into fatherhood with two older children is a lot hard than having an new born. He jumped in as quickly as he can and on the way learned a lot from watching Super Nanny, reading Super Nanny books and his own experience being the eldest of eight. Dan always joked that our kids came with a manual; we just have to find out which Super Nanny episode it was on. We love him and we know he is a keeper as a friend, husband and a father.

Lindsay Preschool photos!

At the Dancing Moose, Lindsay's school they were having the kids individual photos...old fashion style. Lindsay was so excited to have her preschool photos taken. She wanted to dress up in the big hats and dresses. I didn't even think of her having any issues. She freaked out. She did not want anyone to help her. She was sad that I was not their to help her put on the pretty dresses. I asked her why she would not allow her teacher to help her. She said, "No one is suppose to see her change or see her naked body." She ended up having her photos taken with her normal clothes on. The teachers did not tell me nor called me. I would have been there, if I only new. I did not find out the problem until when the photos came in. They were still cute photos of Lindsay. Lindsay thought I would be mad. I told her that I am not mad. I am just sad she could not have the photos she wanted all dress up. Next time she can tell her teacher she does not feel comfortable with her helping her and she would like them to call me. And I will let the teacher know ahead of time too or find out what time so I can be there.

Let's Go Real Salt Lake!!!

Ryan started to play soccer last fall. He was sad that he was on a break for the winter. When it came Spring; he kept asking when does soccer start. He started to play soccer again Mid-April. He is one of the Star players. he was excited to score 4 goals in one game.
On Saturday, we went to a REAL of Salt Lake soccer game. Ryan was so excited to watch his first soccer game. Ryan attention span was WOW! He would stare at the game with no emotion. Uncle Drew came with us and was trying to help Ryan cheer for the Real team or yell at the bad call. Lindsay wanted to really go with us to the soccer game. We were not sure how long her attention span would last. She was so excited to be at the game. Of course, it was because she saw they had food at the game. She ran right to the ICE CREAM stand. Both kids enjoyed the game. Once the ice cream was gone. Ryan went back to watching the game and Lindsay was ready to go home. Ryan's attention from the game was distracted from time to time; when he saw the cotton candy guy walking around. Once the cotton candy guy was out of view....his focus was back on the game.

Our team won 2 vs 1.

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

Happy Mother's Day to the best of best!!!

It has been a wonderful Mother's Day weekend. I had a three day weekend with my family. My children learned from us; "What is Mother's Day?" Ryan and Lindsay were so excited. It was sad that they did not know what Mother's Day was all about. But it was a wonderful experience to make this Mother's Day a first for all of us. The children kept whispering to me; maybe we can make brownies for you, huh Mom. Wouldn't that be nice for Mother's Day? It was so cute to see the excitement in their eyes and smile. I got lots of huges and kisses. I also go "I love you Mom. You are my best Mom. It was nice to hear.

On Sunday, I enjoyed a relaxing nap and waking up to a clean kitchen and a nice Dinner. The children were excited to say they helped for Mother's Day. And every single paper they could get their hands on; they made Mother's Day cards.

It was wonderful to spend time with my kids and be appreciated and loved by them. I have posted a slideshow ...These are a few of my favorite pics. They sure grow up fast and it has only being 18 months since they first joined our home. Enjoy.

Thank you Dan, Ryan and Lindsay for a wonderful Mother's Day!!

Thank you note to my Husband!

I want to say Thank you to my Husband for picking up the slack and making sure the house stayed in a little order while I was sick; so it wasn't a disaster zone. I love you honey. I am so thankful my husband is not a lazy slub. He is a keeper for life. Thank you, for making it a little easier coming back. And allowing me the time to really rest. They say a marriage shouldn't be 50/50. A marriage should be where each part is giving 100%. I appreciate you Dan. Honey, you were giving 210%; while mine was on temperary out of order. Thank you for your love, commitment, service, sofe spoken words of compassion and those healing hands.

When it was us (ya know double income and no kids.) We could let a few things wait or hire a temperary Maid to keep up on the daily/weekly cleaning. But now with kids, my heavens if we did not do anything. Lets just say; it would have scared Molly Maids away. Heck, it might have even gone to Clean House. I know you were exhausted working 10 hours days. Then to come home and be Mister Mom and the Super Nanny rolled in one. Usually, you came home to being a part time Super Nanny and lite maid duties from time to time.

I do have to say "What a hottie" to watch you in action. I am thankful and love you more and more each and everyday to have you as my Husband forever. I am thankful for our Heavenly Father whom allowed us these 10 years to be together and the many more years to come for Time and all Eternity.

I love you very much forever and ever.

Mel

Hello Family and Friends

Just wanted to say Hello to Everyone. It has been awhile since I written or post photos on our Family Blog. We hope all is well with everyone and their family.

We had an enjoyable time for Easter up in Logan, Utah. We visited my husband's side of the family. Ryan and Lindsay were excited to go to the movies with their cousins to see "Horton and the Who." And of course, playing, running around and blowing bubbles. The kids were having so much fun; we forgot to color Easter Egg.

We brought our Dogs with us; Koda and Bauer. They love to travel. They had a field day running around in Aunt Debbie's big backyard. This would have been a perfect day to have my camera in my hand and ready or better yet a video camera.

I will try my best to describe it....but a video clip would have been funnier to watch. Our dogs Bauer and Koda ran up close to her house were there was still snow. They loved to jump around and play in the snow. Bauer drop and rolled on his back and used his back legs to give him a push. The incline or little hill that went away from the house and was a perfect snow slide for Bauer. Bauer would get up and go back to the top of hill and roll back on his back to slide down the hill over and over.

It was absolutely funny. He looked like a seal sliding around on his back until he rolled over and came to a stop. And moments like these you never want to be without a camera or video camera. It was a laughter for everyone and the kids were laughing and giggling. Their excitement would have also been a treasure to get on video watching this event.

Easter morning was different. We had that night into early morning some snow. So, the fun of hiding eggs out side for the Easter Egg Hunt was a no go. As well as our Family was starting to get sick with the flu and cough that was going around. I hate it when our Family gets sick. It effects everything and the everyday task that needs to be done and sometimes takes a weekend to get caught back up.

Our Family has been hit hard with the flu and cough that has been going around. Our attention has been on getting each one of us better. This time around it was not the easiest for both Dan and I. This time I was really sick. I had a fever of 102 degrees and this fever lasted 5 days before it showed a sign of going down. It wasn't until the 6th day that my fever was gone. I had this cough that was at a breaking point of my head feeling like it was going to explode. I have been out of commission for two weeks solid and in bed. This last week and this week it is hard to get back on track and back in the grove of things. I am exhausted and tried.

Thanks to all Family and Friends who helped taking the kids to and from school or watching them until Dan returned home from work. We really appreciate all the help to our Family.

Tooth Fairy, Tooth Fairy, come to my house!

About three weeks ago Ryan's front tooth came loose; not by natural causes. He decided to use his teeth to pull apart one of his toys. He was afraid to tell us; afraid he would get into trouble. I was excited for him; his tooth was loose. Ryan was not excited; he was freaked out. He finally told me how his tooth got loose.
I told him to leave his tooth alone for awhile and not wiggle it. I kept telling him it will be alright. When it's time for the tooth to come out; it will be OK. I started to talk to him about the Tooth Fairy. He still was not sure about the tooth Fairy. He tried so hard not to wiggle his tooth. But, it doesn't help when you fall down two days later face first.
We needed to make loosing his tooth a big deal and fun for him. How can you make it fun loosing a tooth? I texts my brother Bill who told me to chat with my sister-in-law Kathryn about some of her family traditions about yelling for the Tooth Fairy. What is the cost for loosing a tooth?
A week went by and Ryan still had his tooth. I have been checking his tooth almost every other day. I didn't think the tooth will be coming out. It seemed to tighten back up a little. I guess it wasn't time for it to come out. Boy, was I wrong. On Wednesday Ryan came in to talked to me and I noticed it didn't look right. I told Ryan his tooth came out. He just shrugged his shoulders; like it was nothing. I asked him; "Ry where is your tooth." Again, he shrugged his shoulders. For a minute I thought his tooth broke and his gum was swollen. But to my surprise; his tooth was ready to come out. He had another tooth already coming in.

"Ry without the tooth the Tooth Fairy can't leave him money." Once I said the word; "Money." He ran into his room and pulled out his bed to go underneath to find it. He tossed his tooth against the wall and it fall down between the wall and his bed. Somewhere underneath the trundle. He found his tooth.
I took him outside and told him he has to jump and waive his arms around. He had to yell for the Tooth Fairy. She has to hear he lost his tooth so she can find him and bring her bag of money. We were trying to get him to jump around yelling, "Tooth Fairy, Tooth Fairy! I lost my tooth. Tooth Fairy, Tooth Fairy! Come to my house. Tooth Fairy, Tooth Fairy! I'll see you tonight." He was trying so hard to remember the words, yell and jump around at the same time. He kept starting over and over again.

I told him the Tooth Fairy only comes once and he has to be asleep when she comes. I figure this way he would sleep and I can sneak in and put a note and some change under his pillow. That didn't work. He tried his hardest to keep awake. Any noise would wake him up. I never turned on the light. He thought his note he wrote to the Tooth Fairy was still there. He thought he lost his tooth. He was trying to find his tooth in the dark. I had the tooth and quickly slipped the note and change under his pillow. I told him it would be OK; get some sleep. After, I left he was still moving around. He finally turned on his light to look for his tooth. He started to scream; "The Tooth Fairy did come and I have money." He was so excited.

Love Tag

This Love Tag was on a friends blog (thanks Kristine). I decided it would be fun to go through memory lane. She tagged a few of her friends to do this. I am going to do the same. I will Tag Shana and Julia.

1. WHAT IS YOUR HUSBAND'S NAME? Daniel Evan....(but he goes by Dan)
2. HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN MARRIED? Wow the big 10 years!
3. HOW LONG DID YOU DATE? We hung out for 2 months and had our first real date in September before I left to go back to school in Utah. And we were apart two weeks and then he moved to Utah. We were engaged after a twelve hour drive to Utah. We were engage for 1 year. Don't recommend long engagements. Our parents freaked out after two months of knowing each other. So, I guess when you really add up how long we dated...I guess you can say we only had one real date.
4. HOW OLD IS HE? He is now 36. I have been planning his "Over the hill" party for the last 7 years. Yeah, I started when he was 29 and complaining he was an old man. He has been complaining every year, of every month, of every week, of every day, of every hour, and of every minute. I am trying to decide if I should really wait for his 40th Birthday or do it sooner.
5. WHO EATS MORE SWEETS? Definitely he does! (He even eats it in front of the kids when they lose their snack)
6. WHO SAID 'I LOVE YOU' FIRST? He whispered, "I love you" in my ear. I was asleep on the floor at my parents house. And the funny thing is that we weren't dating at that time. Boy, did I wake up pretty fast and said, "Thank you."
7. WHO IS TALLER? Dan is 6 ft. I am 5'7'
8. WHO CAN SING BETTER? Funny question. Not me and not him. I guess, you can say I do. He likes to sit next to me and change the words of the song until he gets me to start messing up.
9. WHO IS SMARTER? We have not discussed this one who is smarter. I guess, there are somethings that are still unanswered. We are both smart in different things.
10. WHO DOES THE LAUNDRY? I have to say we both do. Before we had kids it was mostly ME! He was shrinking my clothes or mixing certain colors that bleed all over the other clothes. Or ironing clothing that end up changing colors or leaving a light imprint of the iron. He learned to sort HIS and HERS. If he was trying to be helpful; He did the House laundry and His laundry. ...Leaving my alone to avoid a very expensive shopping spree to Nordstrom to replace damage clothing. Now I have kids; I feel they just empty there drawers of cleaning laundry back in the hampers for me to rewash. As I am doing laundry and sorting them, I come across several clothing items still folded. I have a lot of things to teach my kids.
11. WHO PAYS THE BILLS? Me, for now.
12. WHO SLEEPS ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE BED? Dan and I decided it does not matter which side of the bed we slept on. Well, technically I sleep on the Right and he sleeps on the left. If I sleep on the left, Dan seems to find him self rolled out of bed and right onto the floor. I guess you can say I am a roller. That darn daybed growing up.
13. WHO MOWS THE LAWN? We both do yard work. Most of the time it is Dan. One year I hired a neighborhood boy to mow our lawn. Which meant more time for Dan to spend with me since I fractured my tail bone and he had to do everything; house work, laundry, cooking, yard work...everything. Boy, I missed my Man of a Maid.
14. WHO COOKS DINNER? I love to show off my cooking skills. Dan was so excited to marry someone who can cook. Now we both do. And let me say, "I love it." He has surprised me with dinner on many occasion.
15. WHO DRIVES? I do a lot of the driving. When we are on the go; he just got off of work, taking his pills (drowsiness hits), or he is usually changing in the car. When we drive to California he usually will do most of the driving.
16. WHO IS MORE STUBBORN? It is me. Poor guy, he doesn't have a stubborn bone in his body.
17. WHO ASKED OUT WHOM FIRST? Well, he made the first move in come up to me and start talking to me. He called me up a few days later and asked if it would be alright if we can go out sometime. Nothing, so I starting inviting people over to hang out my parents house. And then I started inviting less and less guys. It ended up it was just him and my brothers at the house. Oh yeah, it took him a few weeks to figure out my brothers were my brothers. My brothers wanted to play a joke on him. I'd figure, why not.
18. WHO PROPOSED? I don't know. After a twelve hour drive from California to Utah and I might say very interesting and enjoyable conversation. I asked him, "If we were engaged." He said, "Yes." He then tried several times to surprise me and do a real proposal. That didn't work for him, I always ended up asking him, "If he was proposing tfinally gave up.
19. WHO HAS MORE SIBLINGS? He does. He is the oldest of 8. Yes, eight kids in his family. In his family there are 3 boys and 5 girls. We figure his mom was pregnant the first 10 1/2 years. Two weeks out of the year Dan and his sister are the same age. I am the 3 child out of 6. I have 5 brothers. I am smack in the middle of boys. No wonder I was a Tom Boy for most of my childhood. It wasn't until freshman year; I started to change.
20. WHO WEARS THE PANTS? Ha ha ha! Quoting from the blog of Kristine regarding this question. She said,"I'd say we're equal, but I have more opinions." Of course, it's me. If he made all the decisions we will still be on our first date; starting to expire and smell; while he is still deciding what to eat off the menu. He is much better now. Just after we were married his Uncle gave him some advise, "Yes dear, anything you say dear." And of course, my parents advised him to succeed or to have things go his way to use one of the following phrases, "Do you have anything else to say?", "Regardless!", and "Nevertheless."

For those who have sons & for those who are happy that they don't.

I received an email today and I had to post a few of the photos and some interesting thoughts on boys on the blog. Growing up with boys and now having a son of my own...I never know what he is really thinging when he does something. It is just a boy thing. If you would like me to send you the full email with all the other really funny photos; send me an email and I will send the rest of the photos. These two remind me of my son Ryan or something my husband would do when he was little.

And you also find out interesting things when you have sons, like ...

1. A king size water bed holds enough water to fill a 2000 sq. ft. house 4 inches deep.

2. If you spray hair spray on dust bunnies and run over them with roller blades, they can ignite.

3. A 3-year old Boy's voice is louder than 200 adults in a crowded restaurant.

4. If you hook a dog leash over a ceiling fan, the motor is not strong enough to rotate a 42 pound Boy wearing Batman underwear and a Superman cape. It is strong enough, however, if tied to a paint can, to spread paint on all four walls of a 20x20 ft. room.

5. You should not throw baseballs up when the ceiling fan is on. When using a ceilin g fan as a bat, you have to throw the ball up a few times before you get a hit. A ceiling fan can hit a baseball a long way.

6. The glass in windows (even double-pane) doesn't stop a baseball hit by a ceiling fan.

7. When you hear the toilet flush and the words "uh oh", it's already too late.

8. Brake fluid mixed with Clorox makes smoke, and lots of it.

9. A six-year old Boy can start a fire with a flint rock even though a 36-year old Man says they can only do it in the movies.

10. Certain Lego's will pass through the digestive tract of a 4- year old Boy.

11. Play dough and microwave should not be used in the same sentence.

12. Super glue is forever.

13. No matter how much Jell-O you put in a swimming pool you still can't walk on water.

14. Pool filters do not like Jell-O.

15. VCR's do no t eject "PB & J" sandwiches even though TV commercials show they do.

16. Garbage bags do not make good parachutes.

17. Marbles in gas tanks make lots of noise when driving.

18. You probably DO NOT want to know what that odor is.

19. Always look in the oven before you turn it on; plastic toys do not like ovens.

20. The fire department in Austin , TX has a 5-minute response time.

21. The spin cycle on the washing machine does not make earthworms dizzy.

22. It will, however, make cats dizzy.

23. Cats throw up twice their body weight when dizzy.

24. 80% of Women will pass this on to almost all of their friends, with or without kids.

25. 80% of Men who read this will try mixing the Clorox and brake fluid

Asked to Speak; "What?"

We were asked to speak for the UFCF to a foster care pre service class were other families working on getting their license or relicensing. They wanted us to share our experience in adopting two children from foster care. We were bribed to get credit hours; since we are renewing our license. They have been asking since we adopted our two children to come and speak and share the good, the bad and the ugly of our children.

It was sad to think of all the bad and the ugly. But it was wonderful, to remember all the good. It was nice to share that we have a lot of good days. We wanted to give the children a history or a life book for them. We started it but have been so busy we could not keep up with it. We now have the kids story down and are ready to put it into scrapebooks. A scrapebook they can always look at and a scrapebook they can have when they turn 18 years of age and ask for the information.

It is not a baby book; but we are going to make a special book for them. We will see if we get ask us back or if we get blacklist to not be asked to speak again. Maybe, we scared to many foster care potentionals.

The snow keeps coming down.

We have been having snow storm after snow storm. The kids have been excited to go out side in the snow. They were acting as if it was a day at the beach. Lindsay wanted to wear her swim suit instead of getting dressed up in warmer clothes; she was too hot to wear her jacket. When she came in she said, "Mom I told you I will get wet. Now, I have to change my clothes".

If you are not careful....You might get hit with a snowball.

"We didn't throw the snowball in the house. Our hands are clean."

They want you to think they are just innocent and full of gigles.

Our beloved Prophet Gordan B Hinkley

Our family was able to take part; along with thousand of others to stand in line at the Conference Center to have the opportunity to say Good Bye to our Prophet Gordan B Hinkley. We were prepared with snacks, warmer clothes, and quite games for the kids. We ended up leaving the games in the car since we were racing to catch the trax. Lindsay and Ryan had to learn another way to entertain themselves; quietly.



Our family experience was standing in line for about 2 and 1/2 hours; only a few feet from doors. We heard once you entered the Conference Center it would be another 2 or 3 hours. Lindsay said, "Mom, I am ready to go home, to our home." Ryan said, "The last time we waited in line for long time was at Disneyland. What is the ride at the end." We knew it was time to go home.



We will have the memories of standing in line. The comment's the kids shared and moment we had to teach our children. A few of my favorite comments was Lindsay explaining to everyone in line; "the Prophet died and we are getting a clean Prophet." Her replied when asked Why; "Because he is a dirty prophet with all that dirt." Lindsay and Ryan, both were singing "Following the Prophet" and telling everyone they were married in the Temple.





We warmed up in the Visitor Center and gave the kids a tour of the Visitor Center. A nice way to finish our first FHE.

Dan's Family

Dan's family is not small. His parents had eight children; 3 boys and 5 girls. We had it figured out that his folks had eight children in the first 11 years of their marriage. This picture was taking in 2006. Dan is the eldest of his family. At the time of this picture we had no children. Dan and his sister Becky are the same age 2 weeks out of the year. Becky is married to Chad and they have two girls and one boy; Kacie, Logan, and Jessica. Debbie is married to Brett and they have one girl; Ellie. Rachelle married Richard and they have one girl and one boy; Kamae and Kyle. David married Jennifer the honeymoon is over; they had a little girl Katelyn. Still living the single night life are Mike, Marie and Sarah.

My Family

My Family has grown in the last 13 years. My Parents had six kids; 5 boys and 1 girl. Of course, that means I was the only girl. I remember telling myself; one day I will have my sisters. Bill married Kathryn and they have three beautiful girls; Hannah, Eliza, and Sophia. Mark married Staci and they have two girls and one boy; Emma, Rebecca, and Matthew. I married Daniel in and we now have one boy and one girl. Jared married Miriam and they have one girl and one boy; Eva and I call my newest nephew Gavin (aka baby Jared Jr.). Joshua married Lorretta and they are still the newlyweds. And my youngest brother Andrew enjoying the single life. The count today is Girls 13 and Boys 10. As you can see the girls are out numbering the boys. And that is just on my side.

Snow Angels

Ryan will be six in February. He keeps tell everyone he is six, almost. He has a lot of energy. Sometimes, way too much energy. He loves to have fun, enjoys boy movies not girl movies, and love to play with his Transformers and Star Wars toys. He is excited to be in Kindergarten; and we are too...it's all day kindergarten.




Lindsay just turned four last October. She is a girly girl all the way and loves to be the Princess of the house. She loves her ballet classes and is excited to start a new preschool. She laughs everytime she says her preschool name. She thinks it is funny to have a school named Dancing Moose.

Lindsay's ballet recital

Lindsay started ballet at C & C Ballet after her 4th Birthday. She has been very excited to finally be a ballerina. She had her first recital December 19th, just before the Christmas break. Lindsay was wearing a cute red outfit and antlers; dancing to Rudolph the red nose reindeer. She did great! The ballet recital was held at a high school gym instead of an auditorium; due to the auditorium was vandalized two days before the recital. She is third ballerina from the left. Enjoy the recital.

2008 Family News Letter

Our first Family newsletter

The 2007 year has been a very interesting year. We are grateful for Family and Friends. Without our Family and Friends 2007 would have been even harder then we thought it would be. We want to Thank each one of our Family and Friends who lend an ear, encouraging advice and a hug when needed. We are blessed to have you as part of our support system.

We started the year off as a Foster Family for a sibling group that need a home. It was not easy going from nine years of marriage and have placed with us a little boy 4 1/2 and a little girl 3 years of age. They were placed in our home October 2006. The honeymoon was over the first hour after having them in our care. It started out to be a hard adjustment. We wanted so much for this to be a positive experience and share our home with children who need a safe and loving environment.

We have been told things will come around once you give unconditional love. That was one factor in the equation. The problem we did not know how to give unconditional love to not one but two children who so much did not want it. They did not know what was going on and why they were not with their family. It was hard to see them and their sad brown, teary eyes look at you and not understand.

These two silly monkeys brought the good, the bad and the ugly all at once and it seemed a little to overwhelming most of the times. For a couple, who did not have children for 9 years of their marriage; it made you think of the years of not having children look better and better.

We did not want to spoil them, but we want them to have some good memories and some fun experience. Things changed because we were not giving up on them. We took them to meet our Family and go on a Family Vacation. Things were looking good. Both Ryan and Lindsay were growing and learning to play catch up to all the other kids.

Ryan and Lindsay are both happy to be adopted and sealed to our Family. They can't believe how many cousins they now have. Ryan is almost six years old. He is in all day Kindergarden. There are days he wishes he could stay home and play instead of going to school. He enjoyed playing soccer when it was not cold and rainy. Lindsay just turned 4 years old and is in preschool a few hours durning the week. She enjoys her ballet class and just had her first receital. She loves telling everyone we are married now.

We are happy they are able to be adopted and stay in our home as a part of our family. We thought that day would never come. We are able to start 2008 off with a new start as a Family and put some of the unhappy memories behind us and move forward. We wish everyone a Happy New Year.

And may your dreams and wishes come true.....For us it has, especially now we have finished the downstairs basement as a playroom and a functioning toilet. The toilet started off as a joke, "What would you like for Christmas? A toilet." Thanks to my Mom and Dad for letting that happen. And to Dan's Mom and Dad thank you for your contributions for a soon to be bathroom sink. I am just waiting on Dan to finish hooking it all up. This joke finally came true and makes a good family story.

Of course, we will still be sending stories and photos of our Dogs; Koda and Bauer from time to time. Just because there are grand kids from us now; doesn't me I am going to stop with photos of just the kids. Let's see I will have to send the update on Koda's Hello and tricks. Oh! and Bauer can crawl. We are still working on Bauer's Hello. Our two cats have hit the up tight old maids.

Again Happy New years from our Family to yours.
Dan, Mel, Ryan and Lindsay.
(koda, bauer, parie, and pacey too! we can't forget them too!)

Our First Real Family Photo

This Family photo was taken at the beginning of November in Memory Grove with our two dogs Koda and Bauer. This is our First official Family photo. We are glad to have Ryan and Lindsay as part of our Family.

Two Kids

Our two "silly monkeys", Ryan and Lindsay. They love to laugh and smile. We call them our "silly monkeys" because of how giggly and silly they can be. They love calling everyone silly monkeys; hence the name.

Our Annoucement

Daniel and Melissa

joyfully announce the adoption

of their children

Ryan Evan

and

Lindsay Caitlyn

on Monday the twenty fourth of

September two thousand and seven.

Ryan and Lindsay are being

sealed to our Family

on Saturday the twenty fourth

of November two thousand and seven

for time and all eternity

in the California Oakland L.D.S. Temple.