Update on Dan and his Fam

Hello everyone,

Dan has moved to Dodge City, Kansas to work with a law firm that deals primarily with Spanish-speaking clients. Dodge City's population is about 75% Hispanic/Latino. I do everything here, this is a full service law firm, but primarily criminal defense, & immigration. Two days ago, I got to be a pro tem municipal judge while the judge was at a conference. That was really fun.

Melca and the girls are still in Topeka, while the girls are finishing school. The girls are all braniacs, and didn't want to disrupt their Kansas Assessment Testing.

Gabby (10) is in Math Club, scored in top 12 in recent Math Competition for Northeast Kansas, got straight As except for Spelling (didn't turn in some homework). She is a reader to rival Kim and Mom (and a little lazy as a result) and with a month left has smashed the previous Accelerated Reader school record with more than 550 points. (She got 5 points for each Harry Potter she read). She is also quite the athlete, earning the Presidential Physical Fitness award again this year. She loves swimming and soccer, and I'm teaching her tennis. She is also taking viola.

Suzy has straight As again this year. She got 98% in Reading and 95% in Math in her assessment tests, the 2nd highest in her grade. She is mini-mom around the house, loves to cook and clean, loves to sit with the adults and listen to their conversations. Suzy is very sweet, but don't get her angry! You wouldn't like her when she's angry. Suzy is an excellent musician, loves to play piano and the cello. She is very much admired at school. She already has several amirers who have asked her on dates. (She's only 9!). I'm seriously looking into buying a gun to ward off all the boys.

Sofia (8) is our little diva. She loves to sing (although she is still a little off-key usually) She is a great dancer, always smiling, loves to wear pink and red ruby slippers. She is probably the most brilliant of all the girls, but she isn't as interested in school. She gets mostly As, but has been known to get some Bs also. She really loves attention. Sofia is a drama queen and loves to watch High School Musical, and the Disney Channel and act out the scenes. She is also very good at getting her sisters in trouble.

Tatiana (6) is a clone of her mother. She is beautiful and incredibly thin. She doesn't eat unless the food is pasta or pizza, but if it is one of those two things, watch out! She eats more than I do. Tatiana is sweet and smiles all the time, but can have eruptions of fury if she is bothered. Tatiana likes to be the boss and is very talkative once you get her going. She loves her kindergarten class but she has got in more trouble with her teacher than all of the other girls. Her teacher likes to control the class, but Tatiana has other things in mind. Tatiana is very popular. She's a future politician.

Vanessa (3) is very sweet. She has many of the features of her Dad, and even looks a lot like him. Amy always said I woul be cuter as a girl. She is introspective, quiet and self-reliant. She loves to go to the bathtub (with no water in it) and sits for hours by herself playing with all 20+ Barbie dolls in the home. She is very protective of the Barbie dolls, and Gabby and she sometimes have heated arguments about if Vanessa can play with Gabby's portion of the Barbies. Vanessa does have one unpleasant attribute. She will pee herself to get attention. She has only been potty trained for 2 months, so we aren't that worrie.

Paola (1) is the most demanding child we have had. She started screaming from day one and hasn't stopped since. She is either screaming in anger, or shouting in joy. She just stopped nursing a week or two ago, and she is still angry about that. She went to Utah with Melca to see Melca's niece Amy get sealed. Paola was screaming pretty much non-stop throughout each flight. I'm sure the passengers around her were glad when the plane landed. Paola has started sleeping better since she was weaned. She now sleeps about 4 hours a night. I think she got Grandma Arkell and Grandpa Ruano's genes when it comes to sleeping.

Melca is doing as well as can be expected as a single mom. She still wants one more baby, despite Paola, and is looking forward to the day when she can start practice as a dentist. She really had a lot of fun on her trip to Utah, and wishes she could have been there more than four days. Her sister Jayli just started her mission to Oakland California, where I served, so Melca is missing her baby sister. We will be in Utah at the end of July for Melca's baby brother Rolando's wedding.

If you read all of that, Congratulations! We love you all!

Dan and Family