DAN & ALEX
OUR FAMILY
We are a family of four that live in Minnesota. Dan is a mechanical engineer with a flexible job, working with a family oriented company. Alex is a registered nurse and works as a ‘casual’ staff nurse, meaning she picks when and how often she would like to work. She works a few times a month to keep up her nursing skills, and is mainly with our 2 kids, Kellan and Marielle. We love being parents!
We also came from very different backgrounds – Dan was a country boy from rural Minnesota, while Alex, a child of a military family, lived in large cities all over the US and in a few foreign countries as she grew up. The differences in our perspectives due to our different backgrounds allow us to fill in each other’s gaps, and make us more complete as a couple. We met each other while attending the University of Minnesota, where we quickly became close friends and eventually started dating. Fun Fact: for both of us, this was our first time in a relationship (first boyfriend/first girlfriend). We feel so happy and blessed that this worked out for us. We fell in love, and have been happily married since 2010. Our biological son, Kellan, was born in March of 2016 and Marielle came into our lives via adoption in January 2018. We are big on family time and love being outdoors. Most weekends we are at the park, running, working on house projects, gardening, or going to a family event in our area.
We have always wanted to adopt, and starting planning in the beginning of our marriage. After getting out of the Army (Alex served 4 years, Dan served 11 years) we moved back home to Minnesota, bought a house and adopted our beautiful daughter through Special Angels, an agency that specializes in special needs adoptions. Alex is a registered nurse, and several other members of Dan’s immediate family are nurses or training to become nurses. We have a good support network for children with medical needs.
We live in a very diverse neighborhood, and attend a multicultural church, which is very important in our multiracial family. We work hard to make sure both of our kids have racial mirrors/representation. Our daughter, who is Chinese, visits with her Chinese mentor (who is also adopted) who speaks with both our kids in Mandarin once a week. As they get older we plan to register them in a Mandarin language school.
WHO ARE WE?
About Dan From Alex
Dan (or Danny as I call him) is a great husband and father. He is an incredibly hard working mechanical engineer and he loves to talk about his work projects. His job is very family oriented and flexible, which allows us to enjoy our family time easily. We eat dinner together pretty regularly, have weekly family Bible time, and husband/wife Bible devotions several times a week.
Somehow his incredibly nerdy jokes make me laugh. They are so bad! But they make me die, haha. He is my biggest cheerleader, supporting me when I’m working towards a goal, and also there to let me cry when I’m frustrated or upset. He also surprises me with little things that lets me know he is thinking about me during the day (surprise cupcakes, anyone?)
Danny is so loving towards Marielle and Kellan, he gives hugs and snuggles whether they are happy or sad, and loves to provide a scientific explanation to the 8 million questions Kellan asks per day. He also loves roughhousing and tickling, providing squeals of delight. He is a good husband and daddy.
About Alex From Dan
Alex is an amazing woman, whom I have grown to love even more deeply through the years we have been married. I’m not sure if it was her caring nature that made her become a nurse or if being a nurse made her such a caring person, but either way it is a job which suits her well. She is also incredibly hard-working. She came from a background where it was unlikely that she would have the means to attend college. However, she worked incredibly hard and was able to graduate from college despite all the challenges she faced. I am still impressed by what she has been able to accomplish.
Alex loves being able to care for children as a nurse. With our children, Kellan and Marielle, it is heart-warming to see how her caring and hard-working nature translates into a mother who is so tender and attentive toward our children, and so dedicated to ensuring that they be loved and cared for properly. She is so excited to be able to love and care for another child.
Aside from being a great mother, Alex is also a wonderful wife and has a silly personality that makes me laugh all the time. I love being around her, even when it is for day-to-day activities that might normally be boring, like going shopping. She always has a way of bringing light-heartedness and joy to everything she does.
Kellan
Kellan is a curious preschooler who loves to play outside, go to the library, and play with other kids. This is such a fun age, we love seeing him learn and ask questions, and use his knowledge to ask 8 million more questions. He is shy around strangers, but once he feels comfortable he loves to get people to read him stories, or tell them crazy stories. He is very snuggly, and says “I love you” to us throughout the day. We asked him if he would like to have another brother or sister, and he shouted, “Yes! I want 3 brothers!” :o Mmmmmm, nope haha.
Marielle
Marielle is the extrovert of the family. She is not afraid to shout ‘hi!’ and ‘bye!’ to random strangers at the grocery store. She is also very confident, and is not afraid to strut into a group of big kids to join in the fun at the playground. This girl is our little water baby, if there is even a puddle of water somewhere, you will bet she will be there. She loves coloring, dancing, and anything that has to do with music. She also loves rocking her babies, and ‘Shhh-ing’ us all because her baby is asleep. She will be a great big sister!
