Happy 28th Birthday Daniel Jon!

We welcomed Daniel Jon to our family on May 17, 1982. Well, we actually welcomed Baby Boy Vander Woude to our family because I thought he was going to be Baby Girl Vander Woude. After a couple of days we decided on the name Daniel John but when the nurse came to get his official name for the birth certificate Dale wasn't around and I changed the spelling of his middle name to Jon - this caused a bit of a ruckus with his oh so traditional daddy when he found out but it was too late to change it! I'm still glad I changed it!

I just love this picture of Danny & my mom! He always enjoyed being in the kitchen and helping with cooking and baking and today he's a very good cook! His grandma would be so proud of him! And his grandpa - who he's so much like - would too!

This picture really shows Dan's personality as a little guy! He was/is the cheesiest of the three boys! His sense of humor was evident at a very young age!

One day when he was little he started getting big laughs when he would dip us "The Look" and he did it for years! Here he is with one of his "Dan" namesakes - his uncle Dan doing the look together :-)

Dan & Mark all dressed up for Nerd Day during homecoming week in highschool. Pretty sure this old suit of my dad's is still used today by Dan in Young Life skits!

Going through Dan's box of pictures to find these brought back so many memories of his growing up years. He really rocked our world after raising Mark who had a much more easy going personality. Dan drove us to our knees and Dr. Dobson on many occasions! But he also brought us/brings us so much laughter and joy and I'm so thankful for the gift he is! Happy Birthday to my middle son - I love you very much!

Journal Entry....May 18, 1982

I finger my hospital name tag at 2 A.M. I cannot sleep - I have just delivered a miracle and one doesn't sleep well after a miracle. It says Maribeth VanderWoude - male - Meyer(my doc). I know quite well the names on the ends but who's the little stranger in the middle? We've been together for 9 long months, but you were always a question - he or she? I've seen you now my precious son, and you know I love you, but we are still strangers to each other. You are in my world now and I welcome you to it. Come morning sun! This "male" and I must get on with the business of discovering each other!

I am still delighting in that discovery 28 years later!