Meet the McClellans

April and Daniel met back in January of 2010. April decided to make the first move and ask Daniel out for coffee. Daniel, being the smooth guy that he is, responded with "make it dinner and it's a deal." The two agreed to meet at BJ's restaurant. He was late, but that didn't falter her opinion of how handsome he looked. The conversation flew freely and easily. There were laughs and some serious topics. April was so nervous she only ate one slice of the pizza they shared (when does that ever happen?!). Once dinner was over, they were not ready for the night to be done. The two then agreed to shoot a friendly game of pool at a local pool hall, where a bet was made on the first game. If she won, a second date. If he won, a first kiss. Turns out our buddy Dan was a pool shark and, after quite the struggle on the 8-ball, royally beat April, earning their first kiss.

Flash forward to June of 2010. Daniel and April have spent the last couple days in Catalina with family. It was a wonderful time spent with lots of adventure and laughter, including ziplining, boating, and karaoke. One of the activities was parasailing. Daniel and April are hooked in, and up they went! They reached the highest point of the parasailing (which April requested, not to Dan's excitement) and they can see everything- the California coast, a small plane in the distance, boats, sealife, and local wilderness ranges. The boat slows down, bringing the couple's toes to touch the water before speeding back up to bring them to full height again. While April was scanning the gorgeous skyline, she turned to face Dan and realized all of it faded away. No more skyline, no wind, no fear, just an overwhelming feeling of love for the person in front of her. "Hey." she says, "I think I love you." "You want to do this now?!" he responds, and after laughing the two share their first "I love you." They casually courted until July 22nd of 2010 when Daniel asked April to make it official, and have been together ever since.

Daniel had been planning to propose to April for some time. The only issue is that April knew Daniel had the ring, and was always on her toes in waiting. Daniel made plans and involved family members, even making sure to ask permission of her father. Once the plan was in motion he told their son and other family members the deal. Christmas morning of 2018 Daniel gifted April her Christmas presents while April's nephew recorded. April, being none the wiser, just went about opening gifts. After all was said and done, Daniel said she had one more present to open and gave her a note. Upon reading, and crying through it all, she looked up she found Daniel on one knee in front of the Christmas tree, completely in shock. April said yes and the rest is history!

Everything was set to marry in the spring of 2020 on Fathers Day. A year and a half of planning, and then a global pandemic! Dan and April decided out of everyone's safety to indefinitely postpone the wedding. Friends and family understood and we all agreed it was for the best. Covid-19 affected us all differently, between being laid off work to having to work front line with patients, to homeschooling becoming the norm, to losing friends and family due to the virus. During that time April's father, Ron, found out he had stage 4 colon cancer and a tumor and started undergoing chemotherapy treatments. It has been very difficult but after aggressive treatment and a positive attitude, Ronnie's tumor has shrunk more than 50% of its original mass and his blood levels are within the normal range again. Coming towards the end of his original 12 prescribed chemo treatments is April and Daniel's 11th anniversary of being together. We have decided with him feeling the best he has felt in a year With everyone's safety in mind and over a year between the initial lockdown, Daniel and April are finally deciding to move forward with their wedding plans!