Our family has been pretty busy. In November 2011 Daniel was awarded the medal of Valor which is the highest medal awarded to a living hero. He's the first person in his department to receive this award so needless we were very proud of him. He got this award for saving a woman's life in a fire a couple of years ago.

 We've been getting ready for Christmas. I am way behind this year because I had a Christmas party to plan at church and so that's where most of my time and efforts went. But I am excited for Daniel and Cody to open their gifts and spending time together.

 We took a trip to Utah to visit family. I was glad there wasn't any snow but the kids were a bit disappointed. My sister's family came as well so Cody enjoyed playing with his cousins. He managed to knock a tooth out jumping over the swings and then when we got home he managed to knock out another tooth playing with an umbrella. This was all for the best because both teeth were already loose and he didn't want to wriggle them!

 Daniel went snowboarding with my brothers and brother in law and he fell and launched himself onto a tree. He broke two ribs but is doing well. He's back at work and I think is glad after 4 weeks off work. I think he decided it's time to retire his snowboard.

Valor Award

Can you say "hero"? Daniel received an award of Valor for saving a woman's life during a fire. He is the first person of this city to get the award.  We are very proud of him. All of his Captains and Chief's had wonderful things to say about Daniel. It was a very patriotic night. They had men playing bagpipes and presenting the flag. Then they told the story of how Daniel climbed over a fence to help an elderly woman and helped her over the fence to a couple of other firemen. He then had to get himself back over the fence. Note that all of this was going on during a fire that did not have water being put on it yet so it was getting close and hot!!  The story itself was a bit scary but it made me proud to have such a brave husband who is very well respected at work.

Cody with Blaze and Dotty, the fire dogs!

It was a wonderful night!

Our story

Our Family of Three...looking for more excitement in our lives

Daniel and I have been married for 11 1/2 years. We are both in our early 30's. We met when we were 8 and were friends growing up but didn't start dating until we were 19. I had just returned from my first year at BYU-Hawaii. After coming back to California for a few months I then left to Utah for school and we dated long distance until Daniel received his mission call. He served in Ecuador where he learned to speak Spanish and speaks fluently still to this day. I was attending college at BYU-Utah when he returned. We began dating again and were married within 4 months of him being home. We were married and sealed in the Bountiful temple January 2001. I finished college with a degree in Fitness and Wellness Management and did an internship in out-patient cardiac rehab. We then moved to California so Daniel could begin his schooling. He took the classes necessary and went through a fire academy. He currently works as a Firefighter/Paramedic/engineer with a local fire department. He loves his job. His job has also enabled me to stay at home after we had our first child in 2004. I love being a homemaker. It has been a huge blessing. We have a son, Cody, that is now 8 1/2 years old and full of life. He's a very loving boy but definitely loves to play and have fun. All of his cousins have siblings and he has asked us for a sibling for a long time now. We tried to get pregnant without any success and kind of gave up hope of having more children.  It wasn't until recently we thought of adoption and here we are.
We live in a home we purchased 7 years ago, in a great neighborhood. Daniel comes from a family of 7 siblings, most living in Southern California so there are many cousins of all ages. I come from a family with 4 children. Myself and my sister live here in California and two brothers live in Utah. Love is not hard to find love in our family. We are very family oriented.

 Right now Daniel is serving in the Young Mens as the first counselor and I am the Enrichment Leader. We know that if it's meant to be, we will find that special someone who will help us expand our family. We are open to discuss any topics that you find you need more information about. We are trying to adopt through LDS services but we can be contacted by email any time at calfamofthree@yahoo.com

 This is Daniel in action on the job. He's a very ambitious man and a hard worker.

Cody is a fun loving 8 year old

He loves to ride his bike, skateboard, swim, play basketball, soccer, rock climb, and jump on our trampoline. He's excited for the day he will have a sibling. He's a sweet boy, but all boy.

He loves to go camping and ride quad runners.

We love going to the beach, going swimming in Grandma's pool, take bike rides, and just spend time together as a family.

 Because of Daniel's schedule we have a lot of time to spend together.

We enjoy visiting our local museums and science centers where they have fun things to teach Cody.

We take frequent trips to Utah to visit family and enjoy going to Oregon to visit friends.

Thank you for taking the time to get to know our family.

Daniel, Chanda, and Cody