Turning 50 on January 3rd 2010

Yes I have come of age and my daughters and Daniel wanted to celebrate it in style. On Jan. 1st They invited people to the house for dinner and got a mariachi band to sing las mañanitas and produced a very touching dvd of people saying nice things about me. they gathered several pictures of me to produce it. toward the end they even hired a DJ and turned the home into a real disco. Amazing !!!

A tradition of sub for Santa

First Christmas and New Years with all the children was great. We had to combine and accommodate every body's traditions so that we all would enjoy the holidays.

Tradition #1 The annual family picture x-mas card

Tradition #2 drawing names for the gift exchange. The children were separate from those over 18

Tradition #3 going to Chachis for her annual Christmas dinner and white elephant game.

Tradition #4 stuffing the stockings with fruit, not just candy

Tradition #5 choosing a needy family to do a sub for Santa

Tradition #6 bake cookies or goodies to take to neighbors

Tradition #7 reading Luke and dramatization

Tradition #8 staying up late to open one gift at midnight

Tradition #9 for new years eating the 12 grapes

Tradition #10 watching the New York count down

Tradition #11 dance till you drop at Bettons which we didn't do this year because we decided to have our own party

Of all those traditions the one that has always kept us from being too greedy is to think of someone else to give. this year we took gifts to a family that didn't know or will ever know where those gifts came from. We got together as a family and wrap all the gifts according to their name. We then took them to their home to surprise them. That family had nothing, not even a x-mas tree and that my friends, was the highlight of the season.

Our Temple wedding

Our wedding took place on October 16Th 2009 in the Salt Lake Temple. We got sealed at 3:00 pm by Elder Jensen of the seventy. Later that day we invited our guests to have dinner at the Joseph Smith Memorial 10th floor that evening. All of the people and Daniel's friends came from the perpetual fund office.others invited were people from Daniel's work and many of the General Authorities he knows well.

Bianca sang and played the piano at the end. Sister Hopkings play the piano at the start and at the end. The flowers were done by Alejandro and a friend of his and the pictures were done by Cristi and another girl she hired.

Cristi made a nice table book of the wedding. Those family members present included: my mom, her sisters Dina, Silvia and husband Jeff and Norma and husband Franklin. My sisters Liz, Vanessa and Maricela also came. I bought the dress in El Salvador and the diamonds in Israel. We decided to match the Autumn colors of purple with gray to the theme for the wedding.

All of Daniel's children were present with the exception of Gabriel and his wife who live in Argentina. Daniel's father was too ill to come and his mother was taking care of him in Uruguay.

Our family dog patch is now dead

When I think of our family pet I can't help to think of my life before my former spouse had a change of heart. Patch was the most sweet pet dog any family would love to have in their home. He was calm, didn't bark and didn't get angry at anything or anyone. the girls would dress him up and take him on long hikes. His only flaw was chewing things all the time. He couldn't see a soft blanket or a pillow because it was destroyed instantly and he would chase after animals and stared at the bunnies. He is going to be missed by those who knew him. Patch was also part of that family that no longer exists just the same way that Patch is now dead, so is the relationship I once had with my former spouse.

Looking at this picture of Patches, Patch for short, brings closure to the past as a Vanleeuwen and to those memories. It brings some understanding that in some cases things don't work out the way we hope for. Patch is that bittersweet memory. He died in July of 2009

A day in Cristi's life in 2009

Going back to 2009 many things were happening before our big day in October including Cristi's graduation from Idaho State University. She is now ready to continue her work as a Therapist. From the time she was a little girl, she wanted to work helping people especially children. She worked for the Children's Center for a few years and got her training early in life. She also loved taking pictures and has done remarkably well doing so. Now she is a well known photographer in the Boise area and has started her practice as a Child and Family Therapist.

Trip to meet the family

Last June in 2009 I was engaged to Daniel R. de Alemeida and it was also vacation time for our family. we were all going to be attending alex's high school graduation from Escuela Americana and Liz and Eric had invited our family to come. I used my flight miles to give to Cristi, Brooks, Bianca, Joseph and Mandy so we could all be together.

At the same time, I had started to date Daniel and we knew that we were going to get married soon. We were only waiting to hear from the First Presidency to dissolved my first marriage and to get permission for Daniel to marry me. The trip was fantastic other than the fact that I got sick and maybe it was because I was bragging to Daniel saying that I never ever get sick on trips like other people do.

Liz had a full schedule plan every day. From as early as 6:00 am to see many of the beautiful sights like: el volcan, el lago de cuatepeque and the beach. We went to some little towns as well to see how people make things out of clay and "las amacas"

One of the highlights was also celebrating Cristi's birthday on June 9Th at the Country golf club, that is a nice place and probably the most exclusive place to have a party. Thanks to the Behners who are members we get to enjoy of those amenities.

Daniel also needed to talk to the girls to tell them of our decision to get married and we all had a heart to heart discussion with each other. When my Bianca Asked, why did he think he loved me, he simply said, "there is not a reason why I love your mother, I just do." He explained that he felt like that from the first time he saw me and that many things he does, he does them because they feel right and because he knows that it is what he should do without questioning why, he just follows those promptings. Daniel is a very spiritual man and I know the Lord guides him.

This two week trip in June went by so fast because of all the things we were doing and very special because it was our very first time spending time with my side of the family. Many didn't even know I was divorced.

A day in Mandy's life

This picture was taken in Virginia November 2008 on Mandy's 17Th birthday.

We went laser tagging. I got the lowest points in the negative because I didn't know what we were doing but it was a lot of fun.

The people in that picture are Brooks, Joseph, Bianca, Cristi, Laura and her husband Mandy and me.