thinking of dan

this week I have had dan on my mind more than usual.  don't know why, just can't stop thinking about him.  could be because he is reaching the six month mark soon, or because my good friend janelle hopkins is getting ready to send tanner off and I am thinking of her.

we had ward conference on sunday and president miller was asking me how dan was doing and we had a good visit.  we laughed about dan cutting the coconut with a machete wearing only flip flops (he had seen dan's blog).  he is a doctor and was not aware of how premature dan was; 12 weeks early, weighing only 1 1/2 pounds.  he commented on what a miracle boy dan really is and i agree.  i shared with him that when dan was born and his future very uncertain, i would pray that one day he would be well enough to serve a mission and that's exactly what he is doing and he's doing it very well.

on Sunday we had dinner at Laura's house and Dad, Derek, Jamie, Laura and myself had a fun time sharing our favorite  DAN memories.  we were laughing so hard.  derek and I could seriously write a bestselling book on raising that boy.

that night, James Ocaya (in previous post pictures) sent me a message on facebook that said 'he misses you really much'.  he is scott's age and his helping Dan fellowship one of his investigators.  that just melted my heart to pieces.

we received in the mail today, a birthday greeting for derek and emily from elder kearl.  i loved it so much that i thought i would scan and post it.  so very dan.

i so wish my mom was here to see dan on a mission.  she would be his biggest cheerleader.  she would probably driving my dad crazy with all the packages she would send him.  she would print out every email and carry it with her to show all her friends in Cardston.  she died too young.

i miss him but wouldn't want him anywhere else right now.  my dad always told me 'you will never know how much i love you until you have your own kids' and that is 100% true.
julie