ATTENTION!!!! NEW BLOG!!

We want to let everyone know how sorry we are that this has taken so long. We have had so much going on. Between Dan losing his job, starting his own business working from home, and then adopting again, our new baby girl Sydney, then the holidays, needless to say, we have been super busy. Instead of trying to keep up 3 blogs, one for the family, one for Ian, and one for Sydney,...we decided to save time and make it easy, we would create a new blog to serve all purposes. So here is the new blog address and we will be updating the new one from now on. We hope you enjoy! Love to all our family and friends!
http://danroni.blogspot.com/

Prom 2009

Well, another Prom has come and gone. Whitley is growing up before our very eyes. While we are talking about Whitley, I just want to express our love and appreciation for her. We have been so blessed to have a daughter like her. She is helpful, kind, sweet, and just a genuinly good girl. We are truly dreading the day when she leaves for college. There will be a large void in our home that we all will feel, especially Ian who loves her so much and looks up to her. We love you so much monkee! That said, here are some beautiful pictures of a sweet little girl, who really isn't so little anymore.

This is her date Joe Packer. They have gone together the last 2 years.

This is the group they went with. From left to right, Whitley, Joe, Richard, Christina, Ashley B., Ashley S., Charlie.

The ice cream truck had just pulled up when we were taking pictures and wanted to see Whitley.

Whitley's good friend Ashley B.

Whitley looks so beautiful!

Whitley and Joe

Finally!!! I can walk at almost 16 months!

So Dan and I decided that we needed to go to the temple so while Whitley was on spring break from school we went down to Columbus. Whitley played with Ian all day while we were gone. The funny thing is that that day she taught him to walk. When we left he wasn't walking at all and then when we got home he was literally doing laps around the house. It was so cute to see him walk. It's funny too because he doesn't know how to get back up on his feet, so if he falls, and he wants to walk again, he will whine until someone puts him on his feet again. so these clips are of his first day walking on April 8th, 2009.

Another milestone,.........I will now drink out of a sippy cup!

All these months we couldn't get Ian to drink from anything other than a regular cup that we would hold for him. We think it was because it was too much effort to get just a little liquid out of some of the sippy cups so he just got impatient and would get really mad if we tried to make him drink from a sippy cup. I finally found one by recommendation of his pediatrician that has a straw and that he can get a decent amount out of quickly. It took some doing to teach him how to work a straw but he finally got it. YAY!

Cooking Baking Day '08

Every year we all get together for cookie baking right before Christmas time. We usually bake them at Uncle Eddie's catering kitchen. It makes it a lot faster since we baked almost 2000 cookies this year. Everyone comes and has a good time. Daddy gave Ian more cookies than he probably should have had. This was also the day that we found out that Ian isn't allergic to nuts.

Ian is crawling!

Ian started crawling today. It was awesome because it was on Roni's birthday, October 23rd that he started to crawl! What a great birthday present! He's still a little shaky but doing very well for his first time!

Apple Picking with Dan's Family

Every year we go apple picking in the latter part of September or the beginning of October. This year we went on Saturday October 4th. It was a beautiful fall day! Ian got to have some of the fresh donuts and apple fritters that they make at the apple farm! He was loving it!

We are a forever family!

Today we were sealed in the Palmyra New York Temple. Roni's family was in town and wanted to see the pageant in Palmyra so we decided that instead of driving to Palmyra then coming all the way back to Cleveland and then driving to Columbus (which is our disrict's temple) that we would get sealed in Palmyra! It was so awesome! Ian was as good as gold the whole time until the sealer put Ian's hand on ours and we had to hold it there. He didn't like that at all and started crying at the top of his lungs. We will always remember how we felt finally being sealed as a family!

Ian's Blessing

Today Ian was blessed in Church! It was so neat. Dan of course did the blessing. The following people stood in: My dad, our Brother-in-law Kurt (my sister Angela's husband), Bishop , Bro. Chapman, Bro. Lund, Bro. Ruffell and a good friend of ours, Elder Cluff. Almost all of Dan's family came also, Dan's Uncle Bob, Annie ( Dan's Mom), Rich and Lynn and their kids, Brian and Elizabeth (Dan's Brother and his family) Ed and Lisa (Dan's other brother and his wife) and Cory and their two kids Troy and Sam (Dan's other brother Tom's wife and their kids). We thought it was very nice of them to come for us on this day. Ian was all dressed in white and he looked so cute! He was so good all through the service too. And when they took him up to get blessed he didn't make a sound! He was so cute! Dan said that someone in the circle told him that he peeked at Ian while the blessing was being given and Ian was just looking around at those in the circle and smiling. The blessing was wonderful! Here are the basics of what was said in the blessing: "We stand before thee to give our baby a name and a blessing and the name he shall be known by is Ian Micheal. Ian I give you a blessing that you may be able to discern between good and evil. I bless you to know that many people on this earth love you, and that you are in our home because you are loved by us and your birthparents. I give you a blessing that you will always have confidence and humility and I give you a blessing to know that you are here under special circumstances, as part of a divine plan as layed out in the prexistence for you. I bless you that as you stay faithful to the things you are taught and perservere through hardships and trials you have in your life that your family will be there for you. " It was beautiful and very emotional for us. We know how blessed we are to have this beautiful little child in our home, and that the Lord has been watching over each of us, as adopted parents, as siblings, as birthparents. We hope and pray that Ian will always know how much he is loved by us all.



These pictures are of Roni dressing Ian for his blessing and at church after the blessing.

The Adoption is Final!

We are so excited! Today Ian's adoption was final! We all went together as a family to Columbus to go to the courthouse! It was a long day for Ian. He slept right through it. At 3:22 pm we were pronounced a family by "Judge Giorgione." It was a very happy moment for our family! From left to right is Spencer Zitzman (our case worker with LDS family services) Whitley, "Judge Giorgione", Roni, and Dan who is holding Ian who is asleep!

The baby shower

Friends & Family at the shower.

It will always be a great memory!

Our family put so much effort to make it nice and it really was beautiful. We thank them from the bottom of our hearts!