Dan's Favorites

I remember Getting my old car crave from hearing about Dad talk about his old blue ford mustang and how fun it was. Then one day when we lived at the forest house, Dad pulled up in a corvette that brice was using for a date or something, and I thought it was so cool.

another memory I have of Dad that has rubbed of on me is when he would not have his old truck or crown vic registered and we would see a cop and he would turn down a side street and try to lose him so we would not get a ticket. I always felt a "rush" and was rooting for dad to escape the evil ticket writer. I have that rush often still.

Never forget Dad helping me make a video commercial for high school, (laughing right now as I try to write this) about the "Got Milk?" being twisted to "Got fresh milk?" and the absolute crazy amounts of dry crackers and cookies he slammed into his mouth with his hat on sideways and him acting like a crazy person. It all ended with is mouth so dry and in need of milk to wash it down and he starts slamming down a carton of milk and then finds out it is bad milk and you see him spit cottage cheese out screaming. Funniest thing I have ever seen. someone find the video.

Very fun memories camping out, I remember getting to drink pepsi no where else but on campouts. I also remember Dad buying "Trix " cereal and it was the first time and probably only time as a kid eating it. It was glorious. Had two cups full, (no bowls) and Then we went fishing on Roosevelt lake and caught some fish. Camping was also where Matt and I got shot at. Dad had driven us up hobble creek by mapleton, and we had john manley, and mike swenson for a scout campout. Dad always brought a gun with him camping. Well it got late and Dad went to sleep. All four of us were talking around the fire when we heard a car coming, so swenson and manley decided to "moon" them and as the car drove down the dirt road 30 yards from our spot. As the car drove by, they started shooting at us and I remember hearing bullets hitting the tree branches just above us and swenson yelling " down, get Down! Well the car turned around and pulled into our camp, and I will never forget Dad emerging from the tent like a lion with his gun in hand and walked right up to the car without knowing who was in it and not being able to see anybody in it because it was so dark and yelling at whoever it was to get the hell out of our camp! They back out and drove off but then drove by again. So Dad got so pissed he told all of us to hide and to get big rocks (like baseball size or bigger) and if that same car drove by again, to "mark " it with dents and to break the windows so the cops could find it because it didnt have a license plate. We were supposed to run like hell when we did and get away as fast as possible. They never did come back that night. But I was hoping they would. How often do you get a green light like that?
I will never forget when Dad Matt and I were on the paper route and Dad dropped us off for delivering the apartments by foot. I would sometimes put my papers on the ground in front of the rear tire of the truck so that when Dad drove off, he would run over the papers and squash them smaller so I could carry them easier. Well it was a wed paper, and they were thicker because of the coupons inside, and when he tried to drive away, the truck couldn't make it over the pile, so dad thought it was a curb or something and gassed it and the tire started peeling out ontop of the pile and throwing them 50 feet back in shreds! It lasted all but 2 seconds and 25-30 papers were ruined. Dad got out of the truck and there were little pieces of paper floating down all over and he didn't even know what to think. I remember some of the papers coming back at high speeds again as he threw them back at me for being a dummy. (Trish is laughing as I write this) I never did it again. But I wished I could. I also remember seeing someone break into a car and Dad chased him in the truck until we found a cop and they caught them.

another paper route story, one that shaped my testimony, was when Dad dropped us off and Matt and I did our walk route and Dad met us about 30-45 min later at the Simons grocery store, but one day he didn't show up quickly and I was scared because of an accident he was in that almost killed him and I thought he was dead somewhere in his truck rolled over from a drunk hitting him. Matt and I decided to walk the route and try to find him. I remember walking down this one road, it was very dark because this one streetlight was always out since the start of the paper route 2 yrs earlier. I remember it so vividly because the house we delivered to had a big long giraffe looking neck up to the box and it was so hard to see the first few times we delivered to it because there was no light. Well I decided to pray, and I asked Heavenly Father if my dad was all right, and if he was alive, and I asked him if he was ok, to let that street light come on so I would know. 5 seconds later that street light burst on, and I felt that God knew where my dad was and loved my dad so much. I was so happy. I told Matt we had to go back to Simons, and that Dad would be there waiting for us. He was. Dad had been worried so bad about us he had called the cops to find us! That streetlight never came back on again. That helped me to know God's love for everyone and that he answers prayers, even 10 yr old ones that require some extra effort than normal.