What's Up with them?

Dana and Dylan are our older boys.

Mirdza and Dana were married in 2002, but they both had been previously married. Dana and Dylan were from Dana's previous marriage; we all came together when Dylan was 9, almost 10, and Dana was 11. Their mom died a month before Dana and Mirdza got married, so Mirdza became a full-time mom for them as soon as she and Dana were married on May 17th. Mirdza had her son Emmanuel, who was almost 3, so she went from being a single working mom of one, to a stay at home mom of three boys! 

DJ has been living in a room not far from our home in Stanton since September of 2010, when he turned 21. He's had his ups and downs, but he is doing fine. If you see him and ask him how he is doing, he will smile and say "Good!", even if he is dead broke. 

Update August 19th, 2014 - No new news about DJ really. He is still working with his dad as an assistant and is living in the same room; he's got a pretty steady girlfriend, but no desire to get married right now;  he's not ready yet. We rarely seem him; he doesn't even like spending special ocassions with us, but it's okay. Every person can choose how they live their life. When I do see him, he's still the happy go-lucky kinda guy.

Update Dec 23, 2014: Even though DJ doesn't like family reunions, he got together with us for Thanksgiving this year and had a great time. It was good to see him interacting so well with everyone, especially his younger brother and sister, and of course his brother Dylan, with whom he will always share a special bond. 

Update July 22nd, 2015: Not much has changed! Dana continues to live in the same room and continues to work with his dad on a daily basis as an assistant; he hopes one day to be able to sell the music he composes. He will be traveling to Maine this summer for a little family reunion back east, something he hasn't done in quite a while. He will travel with Dylan, following the vacation schedule he gets from work; we will get a few days of vacation time together with him.

Update March 2019. Dana Jr continues to work with his dad and lives in the same room he's been living in since he turned 21, along with his girlfriend Marlie, who moved in with him a few years ago. His ambition level has changed though! He recently purchased his own truck, with the help of his dad, and hopes to start a family soon. 

Update November 3, 2020 Dana is now 30 and has moved into a nice little apartment not too far from us with Marlie. We helped them move into it in July. He continues to work with his dad in the Help Plumbing business. He shows up to work every day and continues to work hard. He gets together for almost all family gatherings now, so it's really awesome! 

Dylan is still living at home, though he will be headed out on his own sometime this year. He is working at Subway and going to college part-time. When he is not working, he is taking care of his car, or hanging out with friends. 

Update on Dylan (March 14, 2014): 

Dylan stopped working at Subway in the middle of December of 2013; since then, he has been looking for other jobs. Currently he is being trained at a new Olive Garden restaurant as a Host, though he would like to be "upgraded" to a waiter someday soon. He has been renting a room in Anaheim for about a month now. 

Update August 19, 2014:

Dylan is now working at a new restaurant chain called Del Frisco's Grille. He is at the Irvine Spectrum location. You can check out their website by clicking here. He is looking for a new place to live. 

Update Dec 23, 2014: Dylan is still working about 30 hours a week. He found an apartment with a friend not too far from where we live, so he stops by regularly (mostly to wash clothes and to wash his car - LOL). He still enjoys going with us on special occassions; he celebrated Thanksgiving with us, and also went to my mom's 80th birthday celebration this year. Just a few days a go he purchased a new car since the other one broke down. 

Update July 22, 2015: Not much has changed, except for his workplace. He now works selling cars in a place not too far from where he lives. His boss is really nice to him, he says, and we are thankful that she allowed him to take a week vacation in August so he could travel back east to spend some time with his family, even though it's not been long since he started working there. 

 Update March 2019: Dylan still lives in the same place, but he changed workplaces. He is now working for a car place, taking pictures of cars. He regularly takes vacations with his steady girlfriend, Bernice; they recently traveled to Asia, for example. 

UPDATE November 3, 2020 Dylan is 28 and continues to live in the same apartment near our house. He and his girlfriend Bereniz continue to go steady and they get along real well,traveling a lot together to fun places, since that is one of their favorite things to do. He works still as a photographer in a car dealership. He will come to pretty much all our family gatherings and stops by from time to time to say hi or to go out golfing with his dad or with Emmanuel.