8 and baptized

Our big news is that Cody turned 8 and was baptized. He was pretty excited about it, not to mention his birthday party after the baptism. Everything turned out pretty nice with the help of family and friends. And it was nice to have my family from Utah come down for the festivities.

On his actual birthday I made him a small cake to celebrate as a family. Oh, does he love frosting!

Cody also got a treat for breakfast. We gave him a pop tart, which I never let him have because it makes him so hyper.

We gave Cody a new watch and a Nintendo 3Ds. He was excited and I tried to make a big deal out of this birthday. I hung up balloons the night before when he went to sleep so he would wake up to a celebration.
And then it was on to making food/dessert for the party. Cody wanted an Angry Birds theme and I was surprised how many ideas I found online.

But first it was the baptism. We took a few pictures before Cody and Daniel changed into their baptism jumpsuits. And then some more pictures of them in the jumpsuits. We had Daniel's Mom give a talk and then my brother, Colby give another talk. There was a special musical number by Daniel's sisters. It turned out to be a nice program.

And then it was PARTY TIME! We got home to finish decorating the back yard. We rented a jump house and that kept the kids busy most the afternoon. We had all of our family there (which is a lot of people) and a few close friends. Then we brought out the huge pig pinata and the kids were all over that. All of the kids are in baseball and have pretty good swings so you can imagine how fast that thing broke and it rainned candy.

 We ate pizza and cupcakes and then Cody opened his gifts. He received a lot of nice toys and video games for his new 3DS that Daniel and I gave him for his birthday. It was a good time but it definately wore us out. All three of us were exhausted. But it was fun for Cody, and that's what matters most. And...you only turn 8 once and we tried to make a big deal this year because he was baptized also.

Time flies

Where to begin is the real question. Well Cody has been learning Karate for a few months now and he loves it. He has passed two tests and is now a white belt with two stripes. He can't wait until he's a black belt.

During the summer we took a trip to Wild Rivers where all had fun. Some of Cody's cousins were there to play with. Funny, but they loved the lazy river and the jacuzzi.

Daniel had something really big happen in his career. He was awarded a Valor award for saving an elderly woman during a fire. He is the first person in his city to get this award so it was a big deal and we were/are very proud of him.

We took a trip up to Utah over the Thanksgiving holiday. We were all prepared for the snow but it didn't snow one day while we were there. But it was a fun trip.

While we were in Utah Daniel were snowboarding one day and ended up with two broken ribs. I received a call from my brother-in-law that they were at the Emergency Room! But he ended up being okay, just breaking the two ribs and being very sore. He is better now.

 Before we knew it, Christmas was here. We had a very nice Christmas this year with family and friends. Cody was excited to see that Santa granted his only wish, to have a quad runner of his own.

 Over Christmas break we tried to keep Cody as busy as we could. We went bowling one day, and to the Science Discovery Center were they were displaying some of the costumes from the Star Wars movies and some of the action figures they used while filming.
                  The next big event coming up is Cody's 8th birthday and his baptism.

 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