I met Dalen in Greenville, North Carolina in February 1994. She was the art teacher at one of the middle schools in the district I taught in. By September we were dating, and not long after things became serious. (I mean that in a good way.) In March of 1997, I asked her to marry me in Winnipeg, Manitoba (under no pressure from her of course) and she didn't say no! This page is my shrine to her. She obviously okayed this site since you are looking at it.
	This is Dalen at South Street Seaport on the east side of Manhattan.  (That's Brooklyn in the background)  It was her first trip to New York City, actually her first trip north of the Mason Dixon Line.  It gets a little colder there than in does in North Carolina.  It was her choice to eat outside.  The smile on her face at the moment the picture was taken was the "I'm trying to look like I am enjoying myself even though I really want to go inside and warm my fingers and toes."  I found out later at the 1997 St. Paul Winter Carnival (wind chill -40F) that she didn't know that you shouldn't run cold hands under hot water.  Oh, all the stories I can tell!
	Here she is freezing again on top of the World Trade Center.  I keep telling her that the cold weather is good for her--I guess all of that convincing was a good start in getting her to move here to Minnesota.  Then again, it doesn't get as cold as everybody makes it out to be here.  Its real nice from June to August.  This was taken the same day as the photo above (in case you are wondering if she only has one sweater).
	This is a good picture of Dalen taken at our home in Greenville, North Carolina.  I don't know why she is sitting the way she was.  Possibly she was being cute or maybe she had to go to the bathroom.  Someone could have been in there at the time.  This picture has significance because it was the last time I could actually see the dining room table (which is generally under 1000 pounds of her health magazines and mail).
	I have never seen the face of terror before this.  I still laugh when I see this picture.  (Taken at Busch Gardens in Williamsburg, Virginia).  Luckily she was wearing her glasses--I wouldn't have wanted to go back to pick her eyeballs out of the barrel.
	Dalen and I got married on August 9th, 1997 just outside of Greenville, North Carolina.  We didn't have much of a honeymoon, unfortunately, because she had to start work the following Thursday.  However, we did drive home the long way, stopping in Virginia Beach, Virginia, Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, Wawa, Ontario, and Duluth, Minnesota.  I drove almost 2000 miles, and got a speeding ticket with about 100 miles to go!
	This is a picture of Dalen in Wawa, in front of the largest sculpture of a goose in the world!  If you try really hard, it may amaze you--but probably not.  However, anyone with a sense of humor could have a good laugh.
	On our recent trip to Scandinavia, I wanted to go to the Arctic Circle since the sun doesn't set during the summer.  So we took a 19 hour trip from Oslo to Bodø, Norway and then a ferry ride from there to the Lofoten Islands.  When it was midnight, I wanted to take pictures, such as the one here, but she wanted to go to bed and take pictures in the morning.  Doh!  Anyhow, this is one of the pictures that was taken just after midnight (and shortly before we went to bed)
	Once we got back to southern Scandinavia, we went to Sweden, where the following picture was taken.   This picture was taken during the evening, so she wasn't tired and she could even force a smile.  Also what was nice was that rather than staying in hostels and guesthouses, we stayed at a hotel in Sweden.  It was the worst nights sleep because of the darn American tourists hootin' and hollerin' in the middle of the night.  It is a real wonder why Europeans think we're such jerks sometimes.
	Once out of Sweden, we took a train down to Denmark.  Dalen got upset with me and she had an affair with this guy, who is only slightly better looking than me.  He does look a little bit tougher, though.
	When Dalen finally came back to me, she let me take this picture in front of City Hall (in Copenhagen).  If I were a better photographer, I would have gotten the City Hall in the background.
	This is Dalen with Helena about a month after her birth.  As you can see, Helena has taken the maternal trait of sleeping with her mouth open.  At least she keeps both eyes shut.  People say that Helena looks like me, but I think she resembles that Danish warrior above.  Hmmmmmmm.....
	Dalen with Helena in Chicago.  This picture was taken in Lincoln Park, just south of the zoo.  Helena had just turned 5 months old.
	Dalen with Liam.