Happy Birthday, Daniel!
You have always done things your own way, whether it was busting out a piece of cardboard to do some breakdancing, or bringing home goats from Utah in your car. You never did anything just because someone thought you ought to, you did it because you wanted to. You always seem to be happy, and you want to share that happiness with others. Your attitude is contagious, and just what this family needs.
Thanks for being who you are. Happy birthday. We love you,
Nathan and Shauna
19 comments:
Happy Birthday, Daniel you are one of the people I miss the most. You have such a great sense of humor. I can just laugh and laugh when you are around. I love that we have the memories of living next door to you. I go back to those days a lot, with the citrus trees in the back and you wanting to make fresh squeezed o.j. all the time. You were always a big orange juice drinker. Eating over laughing at how much you hated Chocolate mint ice cream. Your yum-thick milk shakes. every time we have ice cream I do it that way.
You have given me a lot of advice from don't date until your 16, to no more than 1 pircing in each ear, and many other things mostly things that were funny but yet in a way very wise. :)
I remember when you and Pie Hershey asked me to cremp your hair. because you were "scater dudes" I thought I was so cool to do that for my big brother.
I'm glad that your living the life you've always wanted for your family. Small town, animals, outside stuff. But we really miss you and the fam a lot.
I hope you have a Great Day!!!
love ya,
Rachel
I feel like you are my twin brother since we are only 4 days apart. "My brother from another mother." :-) One of my 1st experiences is having to take a shower with your Nixon showerhead. You were always supportive of me even though you left for your mission right after we got married & we had your 1st nephew while you were gone. You wrote a sweet letter to Joshua that we still have. I like how you just pick up & go (Is San Diego your present to yourself or are your kids on spring break?) That's one of the reasons you are such a great dad - you are spontaneous and easy-going. I'm glad also that your dreams have come true - the rest of us should be so lucky. Have a great b-day. Love, Shauna
It looks a little weird with Nathan's picture - I forgot to change the account to me.
Hey Daniel -
Happy Birthday! Amen to what everyone else has said. You are great fun to be around and I'm always amazed at how you can make strange things sound so common sense (like goats, chickens, politics, etc.). Hope you have a great day!
Steph
Daniel, what can we say, we have been grateful every day of our lives that you came to our family...and brought Connie and your children with you. In hindsight we don't mind having to deal with the "Daniel-Scoop" wound or the "ankle-in-the-bike-spokes" wound or the "Daniel-frozen-in-the-high-chair" look. They were all experiences for growing parents and needed to let us gain experience in this life. No one could have done it better and we are sure Heavenly Father is pleased with your performance. While you were growing up with your brothers and sisters we longed for the day when we could have "adult" conversations with our children and now are amazed at how much smarter all of you are than we are. We stand are awed. We hope this is the best Birthday ever--they just keep getting better. We love you more than you know. Mom and Dad
Daniel,
Happy Birthday! What can I say...first I must say you are ha-larious, and what's even funnier is a lot of the time you are serious, and not necessarily making a joke. :) You are always a big help whenever I have a dog question. And even though you are far away (soon to be closer) and I'm at the bottom of the sib chain I still feel like you sincerely care and are interested in what we are doing and are up to and you actually like to talk to me. And that makes me feel good! You have a great Family and I really look up to you guys!
Love you lots and have a great day!
Mary
So #3 how old are you anyway? You have always been a wonderful big brother. I can remember when I was younger always bugging you, but even through that you have been a great brother. I hope that someday we live closer together so I can be around you more. I admire so many things about you, many of which have already been commented by others, but one is how you always make people feel like they are special no matter who it is. Even if there are a ton of kids around you, you will say hi to Marlie or whoever and make her know that you know who she is. Its not big but I notice it and appreciate how you always seem to do that. I hope you have a wonderful birthday Daniel.
#7
Thank you all for your kind thoughts and selective memories.
Shauna you're right about San Diego. Saturday evening when Connie returned from the women's session of conference I asked if she wanted to pile the kids in the car and drive them to Sea World in San Diego. In a serious laps of better judgment she said 'sure' and we left without putting to much thought into it. We'll go to see Shamu tomorrow but today we're just playing in the ocean.
Thank you all for the birthday wishes. I feel blessed to be where we are but we miss seeing our family. Though we probably see you less overall, when you visit we feel like we get to know you more because we cram a whole lot of fun and talking into a short visit.
By the way, thank you for not taking Nathan's bait and talking more about my dark year of break dancing and cardboard. - Daniel
Happy B-day dad. Hope you have a great b-day in Los Angelis. When we get home I'm going to give you a b-day present. - Shadrach
Daniel, I have waited to comment, for acouple of reasons, but one of them, is because everytime I start thinking of what I want to say, I get choked up. So here I go, I'm choked up and I'm not like that.
You were my best friend in high school. All of my memories of Good ole St Johns high have you in the mix somewhere. You helped me be a part of things and people. Remeber when we had a spontaneous b-day party for Pye? It was your idea, and you said, hurry and make cookies, and that was one of the funnest evenings I can remeber. Or how about when we would go to the cannery and then take the long route so we could stop at Burger King. I know you don't want to remeber too much about this part of your life and neither do I (Russel Frank), but you were an Awesome break dancer and I was so proud of you for it. Sounds corny hugh? Well you were my hero and I was proud to be your sister. I loved it when it was coming around your b-day time and you would tell everybody at school how many shopping days they had left. Just a bunch of random thoughts, but like I said most of my memories are with you in it.
When I got engaged one of the things that bothered me the most was that you wouldn't be to my wedding, because of your mission. It ment a lot to me for you to visit with Scott on the phone. I needed him to know, how special you were to me and how much you would be missed. I loved it when you started to bring Connie around. I knew instantly, as I'm sure you did that she was the right one.
Your still as crazy as you were back then. I was thinking "I can't believe that they all took off to CA", but then again I can. You took off to CA when you were first married, then you told us that we should just take off somewhere, you were a bad influence, because we did, and I had a nursing baby and your poor wife got to take care of him.
Sorry for so much gibberish, but I love you and I don't have enough room to tell all about it. Thanks for being you and sharing yourself with us. Happy birthday
Love, Rebecca
Hey, happy birthday Daniel. Just reminiscing a little about the days in the 'hood on the mesa block. Though the fluffy souvenir around my waist might say otherwise, I really enjoyed the late night grilling and conversations over bone-in ribeye root beer. I hope you and the family are doing well. Oh, one word..."Konos" near Crystal Pear on Pacific Beach. Breakfast all day long...awesome!
- Greasy Tony
Daniel - don't have time to type....My battery is about gone....All I can say is "Chic-A-Boom"
Joel
What is the significance of "chic-a-boom?" Is it somthing in your childhood that I should have be aware of but wasn't?
I'm not sure I remember what 'Chic A Boom' stands for either. Probably some supressed memory. Wish I could resond to each blog individually because they all made my day. I'm glad you all have positive memories of my misspent youth. The one thing I regret is not having any fabulous diet tips to leave you with. I'm actually considering the surgery option now but I've got more research to do.
Again, thank you all. We're off to have breakfast with Shamu. - Daniel
Hope it was a good birthday Daniel. I didn't forget it was yesterday, I just forgot to make a comment at the end of the day when I was planning on making a comment. I remember as a kid fresh into jr. high and high school in St. Johns being taught in the ways of conservative Republicanism. Not only did you have your RM Nixon showerhead which I thought was awesome, but it was under your tuteledge that I learned a little bit of appreciation for the Gipper, ie. our daughter's namesake - and Oliver North, ie. my attack dog dalmation's namesake. Most of all though, I've always appreciated your willingness to be ready to do anything that would strengthen friendships and family relationships. If any of us want to do something fun together, you're always ready to be on board. I remember when you were here in Mesa going to school before my mission and a friend of mine and I were here visiting. We were at Grandmas hanging out one LATE night and you asked us if we wanted to go to the Phoenecian and get some fruit jubilees. We all piled into your little white Mitsubishi that used to be Joel's and drove all the way over there for a bowl of nuts and fruit jubilees. That was one of my favorite memories growing up. In fact, It was one of the first things I wanted to do with Erika when I started really liking her so hopefully we could have that memory. I don't know if you even remember that, but It was a valuable experience for me and I'll always appreciate it. Anyway, I hope you had a great birthday and thank you for making our Missouri cookies so much better.
Daniel - Are you serious or kidding about surgery? I can't tell. And how do you make Missouri cookies better? How was Shamu's breakfast?
Shauna, I think your sooo cool. I love how you keep the comments going, and going...I was actually wondering the same questions. All of them. So let loose Daniel and tell us all. I'm in full support of surgergy. My friend just did it, and she has been so successful.
Rebecca
Sorry I couldn't comment for a while. We had computer problems while on the road so I'm just now getting to these. Jeremy, I don't know that I ever really influenced you too much in the ways of right thinking. You always had a natural inclination and I think as you got older you had more of an influence on me than the other way around. Thanks for your comments. Breakfast with Shamu was great and a must in our opinion if you go to Sea World. You get to have a more private show than the big stadium show and the trainers tell you things that they don't talk about in the big show.
As for Missouri cookies, we don't call them that any more since we changed the recipe. It can be found in Devynnne's book under the name we call it...LOTSTGONE.
I am serious about surgery. I'm still not sure which one to do. There are a couple of options out there, one less invasive and less chance of dying during surgery than the other but also less of a chance of it working. I drove to Greeley CO (seems like just west of Omaha) and talked to a surgeon about the options and am not sure I got from it what I hoped...What I hoped though was that I would be thin immediately after the consultation so maybe I need to reign in my expectations. Rebecca I would love to hear more about your friend's situation. - Daniel
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