Hello. My name is Michael Steven Danielsen. A little about my Life. Pull up a Chair!

I was born in Surrey, BC I was born on November 2nd, at 9:43am I weighed 7.2 pounds.

Chapter One: The Tragedy 　第一章: 悲伤的过去

One could expect our family was like any other but............ Don’t let the pictures deceive you! Although we were happy children with our Mom, there were parts of the puzzle missing. Future = Who knows!

I loved my toy crane

I didn’t have a dad! Due to circumstances beyond my control, my mother and father divorced

We were forced to live a life without a Dad! This caused a lot of pain, sadness and confusion already But that’s not the end to the sadness. I wouldn’t have to leave my........or would I??????

At 11 years of age, any hope for a better future was, infact, shattered. My worst nightmare as a child came true 政府把我放在个寄养家庭里。 在11岁的时候,任何希望寻找一个更好的未来就从我身边带走。 I could no longer live with my mother and was placed in a foster home.

I was too young to understand I missed my Mom....and this tore my heart to pieces

Could I recover from this tragedy? Would I like my new family? Would they love me like their own?

Chapter two: A New Beginning 第二章: 新生活的开始

Ordained by the LORD Jesus Christ with a mission 在他们年轻的时后上帝给了他们一个使命 A mission to preach hope through Jesus Christ! 一个通过耶稣带给我希望的使命 A mission to help broken families! 一个帮助破碎的家庭的使命 A mission to restore a broken heart 一个恢复破碎心灵的使命 Meet Sandra and Neil Leonhardt Led me to Jesus Christ 他们使我认识了耶稣 Loved me like a son 他们爱我像爱自己的儿子一样 Taught me to never give up 他们教我永不放弃 Encouraged, strengthened, and equipped me. 鼓励, 坚强, 和帮我成为一个成年人 I will never forget you two. I love you guys so much and think of you daily

Foster Dad Brother Me！ Foster Mother

me brother Aunty Sandra

We were encouraged to have fun as a family unit 他们鼓励了我们像一个家庭一起玩 We were told we can do anything if we put our mind to it 他们告诉我们如果我们全心投入我们就可以做任何事情

We had a hot tub in the basement of our house 在我们房子地下室有一个大的热水浴缸 Friday night was “Hot Tub” night 周五晚上是热水浴之夜

This picture illustrates that even though we come from different families and/or backgrounds, we were encouraged to accept one another Birthday nights were greatly celebrated 我们会非常隆重的庆祝生日

All from broken families 我们都来自破碎的家庭 From different families and backgrounds 有着不同的家庭背景 This picture illustrates how we were encouraged to make friends with each other and help each other through our different problems. We were not alone.

Here we are ATV’ing on the sand flats 我们在沙坪上开着四轮驱动车。 (这是我的那一辆) On the weekends, when there was no school, we would do boy things togther. 周末我们不用上学的时候，我们会一起做男孩子的事情 me

Leisure 休闲

In this picture, me and my brother are seen playing music together 在这张照片你可以看到我和我的哥哥在弹奏音乐 During the summer holidays we went camping 暑假的时候，我们会去野营

This is what boys like to do!!!!! 这是男孩子喜欢做的事情 On this day, it was my turn to take the kids for a ride. 这一天轮到我带着一些小朋友去兜风 This is our home in the background

As you can see in this picture as well as the last one, we were also taught responsibility. 同样向上一张照片一样我们学会了去负责任

And how to have fun! 而且学会了怎样去好好玩 I will never forget you grandchildren either. We had lots of good times together. Katelyn! Do you even remember this???

What casserole was this? hehe Never got tired of ‘black forest’ cake!!

Foster Dad Foster Mom

An extremely happy family.

We had lots of animals 我们以前有很多动物

All the animals were just pets. These animals were actually used as a therapeutic tool for us kids from broken families. Studies show that teenagers will often use animals as a comforting tool when they are in a time of crisis. I must say, “They were right!!!!!!!!!!’ So why all the animals????? 为什么有这么多的动物 Of course not !!!!! 当然不了！！！ 所有的动物都只是宠物。 他们实际上是用来为我们来自破碎家庭的孩子做心灵治疗的。研究表明当青少年处于恐慌时期时可以用动物来安慰他们。我可以说“他们是对的” Did we eat them????????? 我们要吃他们吗的肉吗？？？？？

To sum it up, with the help of these two people in my life, I was able to go from: 总结一下，感谢我生命中的这些人我可以从： 到 to

Many thanks to you two. I am not sure if you guys realize the impact that you have had on my life. Not a day goes by where I don’t think about a memory or past event that I experienced with you guys. Yes, I have left your home, I may leave the country now and then, and life living together is sadly long in the past. But remember, that my love and appreciation is with you always, everyday, and forever. I love you guys. God bless you two wonderful people. And again, thanks for giving your time and life to serve others, like myself

Is there room on this dance floor for me too? Sure Mom. Get in on the action, although, it’s not as easy as it looks. Let’s see what you got Mom. I anticipate i was better than you thought …………………… ………………. Grandma Harkema. Did you think i would forget about you? There is no way on earth i could forget someone like yourself. You literally adopted me as your grandchild, never forgetting a birthday or Christmas. I really would like to thank you from the bottom of my heart for being there as a Grandma that truly loved her grandchildren. I miss you dearly. May God richly bless you. I would like to extend my thanks to the rest of my extended family including: the Schmunks, the Leonhardts and all the other family and friends wonderfully and happily included in this family circle. I love you all and deeply appreciate the love you have showed. My life has quickly passed into adulthood and as i celebrate it, i think about you guys and thank you dearly.

Chapter Three: A Happy Reunition 　第三章: 幸福的团聚 After almost 14 years of not seeing eachother……… 在十四年之后没有见到彼此。。。。。。

14 years lost! 十四年的分离 Me and my Dad were re-united! 我和我的爸爸团聚

Dear ole’ Dad came back

You were missed Dad! Glad to have ya back

At first, you thought this ole’ donkey would be a waste of money, but look how it has helped us make memories. Wasn’t this fun?

We love you a lot Dad.

My second father (foster dad) My father They are good friends. And they make a good team!

2 wonderful fathers = 1 very blessed son

Dad! There are just no words to express the appreciation I have for you. We have come along way since we first met eachother. Thanks for being there for me in times when things were tight. Now I would just like to express my gratitude. Thanks for supporting my ambitions to China. You played a significant role in getting me there. God Bless you. I love you!

but........... 但是。。。。。。。。。

Where was my dream planted? 我的理想来自哪里？

小学 Primary School Common little boy Came from a broken family Don’t know what the future holds To young to understand NO dream yet

小学 来自普通的小孩 来自破碎的家庭 不知道将来会怎样 太小而不能理解 还没有理想

Middle School God gave me a glimpse of my future At this age, this time, this school I made my first Chinese friend I Started learning Chinese, talking about a Chinese wife (haha), and China. Right! Dreamer boy. Like all this will come true! He planted a dream. A goal

中学 我的理想开始了 在这个年龄，这个时期，这个学校 我遇到了我第一个中国朋友 我开始跟我的朋友学习中文 这个理想成为了一个目标

My dream turned into an aspiration Had more Chinese friends Knew more Mandarin Did what I could to get involved with foreign students Believed God gave me this inspiration for a reason High school

高中 我的理想成为了一个渴望 我找了更多的中国朋友 我学会更多的中文 我尽可能的交很多的外国学生 我相信上帝给我这个渴望是有原因的

so........... 然后呢。。。。。。。。。

2001 – Grade 10 十年级 Part of my dream came true 我的部分理想实现了 In 2001, I had the opportunity to go to Tianjin, China for 3 weeks 2001年，我有机会去天津呆三个星期 Here are some pics

I almost forgot! 我差不多忘了一个事！ Hahaha！ 哈哈哈哈！ Remember I told you, that only “PART” of my dream came true?

so.............. What is that “other” part of my dream??? 所以呢。。。。 其他的部分是什么？

............................................................................................................

Hehehe. I know what it is!!!!!! 哈哈。我知道是什么！！ I don’t have a Chinese wife!!!! 我没有中国的太太

so...........what next???? 所以呢。。。。。 然后呢。。。。。

I met a girl!!!! She is so beautiful 他真的很漂亮 She was supposed to be Asian, right?

so we begin chatting online.... 我们开始在网上聊天.....

chatted more........then what?? 聊天很多。。。让后呢。。。

but........但是........ She lives too far away 她离我太远了 Soon, we discovered a problem 不久，我们发现了一个问题 we started to fall for each other 我们开始爱上了彼此

That’s ok! I will go fly to her 没问题！我会飞向他

Who would have ever thought? 谁能想到？？？ Mike (牟阳) &Ella (张雪)

Mike (牟阳) &Ella (张雪) Who would have ever thought? 谁能想到？？？

Who would have ever thought? 谁能想到？？？

I married the most beautiful girl in the world! 我娶了世界上最美丽的姑娘

The End!!!!! 结束

I would thank you everybody for your support. I would like to thank my Mother and Father in Law who have adopted me as their own son and shown me what love and true acceptance is all about. Our relationship has grown so close that I wouldn’t even know I just met you. I would also like to thank my father for being there to support my dreams and ambition to China. Thanks for all your support financially and other, and just for being the kind of Dad you are. I love you!

A very special thanks goes out to my foster parents and my whole extended family who chose to accept me and my family as their own. Aside from the good LORD, you lovely people gave me another chance in life. At times when my heart was torn to pieces, you were there to help me pick them up and piece them back together again. You also played a big part in my ambitions to China. Thanks a lot. I love you all.

Last but not least, I would like to thank my beautiful wife. If it wasn’t for you, I would never have survived in China. You have accepted me in more ways then I expected. We have been through thick and thin together but it was you who always was there to forgive and forget. And I truly want to say “I love you, baby!”