I wanted to add this page to my site because my wife, Christie, means more to me than any accomplishment, goal, or race I could ever do, and without her or my family, nothing I could ever do would amount to anything. As we approach Valentines day, it is hard to believe that this will mark the 17th Valentines day we have been together, the last 9 of which we have been married. I think sometimes Christie feels as though her contributions as a stay-at-home mom are trivial and because she does not have a flourishing social life, she may feel she is not liked or is not important. It is for these reasons I wish to express my love and appreciation for her to the public.

Just a perspective on a day in her life:

Her day begins roughly at about 6am EVERY Day, usually by my 5 year old son Ayden jumping on her, or to Ava poking her in the eye and say "Mommy Sleeping"! On a normal day, I get up at 4am and leave for the gym by 4:45am, so she takes care of them all morning and while I am at work during the day. Everyday she cooks them a warm meal for breakfast, Monday & Thursday she picks up a friend's child who goes to the same school as Ayden, and drops them off. After she takes them to school, she faithfully goes to the gym and works really hard. Did I mention she is 8 months pregnant? On Tuesdays she takes the kids to "Small fry club" at McDonald's and suffers through chaos and horrible food. Wednesdays she usually has to endure the kids driving her nuts ALL day, because she usually has that day at home with them, aside from maybe going to the gym. On Fridays, my wife has organized and runs a kids playgroup and that consumes a lot of her morning. Saturday's are my loooong training days, I usually start at 5 am and am gone until noon or so. She always goes to the gym on Saturday mornings and will usually have the kids dressed and ready to go when I get home from training, Every day she cooks homemade food for dinner, she also bathes the kids, takes so much time making Ava look beautiful, and tending to our kids who are tied to her hip! Also, Christie teaches Sunday School at church, and takes a couple hours each Saturday to prepare her lesson and sometimes some yummy treats for those sweet little children she teaches. My life is easy with just training and work, etc... She is the true provider for our family.

Several years back, when she was pregnant with our oldest child Ayden, we bought our first house. I had just been promoted to management, she had a solid job at a CPA firm as an Account, and we were so excited about life. About 4 months into her pregnancy, as she was beginning to "Show", she came home crying. I was in the shower when she got home, and asked her to come sit down and tell me what was wrong. She proceeded to tell me how she was laid off! We had a $2300 mortgage payment, and after I turned pale and lost my breathe, I thought about this for a minute, and here are some thoughts that ran through my head....

I thought back to when I was a child, and my Dad walked out on my mom, leaving her with 4 children and no support for us. I thought back to the times when I was truly happy, and those times included things like my mom coming into my room at 9pm when she got home from her 2nd job, waking just me up, and it was our "special time" where we would go out to the front yard and hand pick all the leaves off the yard. It wasn't that I loved picking up leaves, it was that I loved spending quality time with my mom, and we never got a lot of it because she worked so hard to provide for us. As I thought about these times as a child, I thought about the life of our unborn child, and other children that would eventually come into my life, and I thought in an instant, that no car, no big house, no 401K, no monetary posetion could even come close in comparison to children who know and spend each day at home with their loving mommy.  I hugged my wife, assured her that everything would be ok, and this was our Heavenly Father doing something for us that we never would have done for ourselves. If she had not been laid off, I probably would have expected her to go right back to work several weeks after she delivered Ayden. However, I made a decision then and there that no matter what I had to do as a father and husband to provide for my family, I will do it to ensure that my kids know and grow close to their mother and that she would not have to work while they are growing up.

There have been many times where we were literally living on a prayer, scratching our heads wondering how we were going to make ends meet, how we were going to ever see the light at the end of the tunnel. However, for all the things we have sacrificed and lived without, we have been so richly blessed in the things that matter most. Everyday my wife gives everything she has within her to me and the kids, and although I don't do enough for her, and have a lot of things I need to improve on, she knows that I love her and the kids, and nothing will ever change that. We never go to bed at night without a kiss and the words "I love you" being itterated. We never leave the house without hugging and saying the words I love you. Although we, just like everyone else out there, have our trials and struggles, there will never be a doubt of our deep and abiding love for each other and our beautiful children.

In closing, if my wife ever happens to read this, I hope she will know the following to be true:

Every stride I make while running, every pedal stroke I make while riding, every stroke I take while swimming, my thoughts are always about the beautiful faces of my family, in particular my wife. I think about you, Christie, every minute of the day, I truly am the luckiest man in the world to have you. My wife has never had a good self image of herself so I will close with these words to her....

Since we were 16 you have been my sweetheart. You have been the only woman in my life I have ever had a relationship with, you are everything I could ask for in a mother for our kids, but most of all, in my eyes, you are the most gorgeous woman in the world and the best wife any man could ever have. You may not believe you are, but to me, you are, and that is all that matters. May you always know that you are my girl and may you know that everything I do, including marathons, Ironman, and any other crazy thing I might want to do, I truly do for you and the kids. Yes, I want to have fun and do things that others are affraid to do, but most of all, I want to never go back to being obese, and I want to grow old with you and see our kids grow up. I pray that you will always know I will be here for you, and that one day, I will be able to give you all the things you have sacrificed in order to be a mother to our kids and the best wife that the world has ever known. I love you....

-Dan