Friday comes so quickly!

Today I'm just going to focus on one thing. My hands.

In the last couple of weeks I've had terrible carpal tunnel problems. There is a reason I am grateful for this. A couple in fact.

First of all, I have had to stop, slow down and be more careful. I'm  pretty sure that dual-tasking, like playing with the ipad while I watch TV, has been an exacerbater of this problem. I have had to stop doing that. Put my wrists in braces and pay attention to only one thing at a time. I am enjoying that one thing I am doing much more.

It's also making me more careful about what I am expending energy for. After any prolonged activity my hands start to burn. And the braces go back on. So I am careful about what I'm doing. I have made sure to include the important things. Like work (I type a lot at work), and piano and organ. (I am now the ward organist! I'm such an old lady!) I have spent less time "plugged in to the mother ship" as Daniel and I call it. I've been reading instead of playing with technology. It's nice. My brain is grateful.

I am also glad I can sleep without the braces bothering me because that is helping tremendously.

Is there any trial that you have that is making you more grateful? Tell us about it. danielashleyadopt@gmail.com

Family Pictures

A couple of weeks ago we had family pictures done with Daniel's family. We had a nice spot and it was so cute to see the kids. There were even a few of us that I liked!

Daniel's family does this thing where the kids (& their families) each have a letter of their last name 5 kids, 5 letters. Daniel is the fourth child, so we get the fourth letter. Then they get photo-shopped together into a panoramic or mural with the name spelled out. This is the second time we've done it this way. I think it's pretty cute. His younger unmarried brother gets the last letter with mom and dad.

We just love our puppies! Wouldn't a baby look nice there on Daniel's lap? I think so!

Want to know more about us or talk to us? Email us at danielashleyadopt@gmail.com!

10 Things...

So I was supposed to update this on Friday, its now Monday with Five things that I'm grateful for. And while thinking about it I decided that maybe we could use a change up. Instead of Five things I'm grateful for below is two lists. The first is Five things that I'm excited about when we, Ashley and I, have kids. The second is Five things that scare me a little. Cause lets be honest big life changes are both exciting and scary.

Excited:
1. Watching the baby sleep. I think baby's are pretty cute when they are sleeping.
2. Being able to participate on Father and Sons outings or Daddy Daughter dates.
3. Getting a puppy. One of the things that always makes me happy is my dogs and the concept of sharing that with a kid is exciting.
4. Family road trips in the summer. I don't have a lot a memories from being a child, less than twelve, for some reason. But, a lot of the memories I have are about road trips. Whether it was going to Zion's and Bryce Canyon's or the Redwood Forest the road trips are what I remember.
5. The first day when bring a new baby home.

Scared:
1. The first time I'm woken up by a crying sick child and not quite knowing what to do.
2. Wanting to make sure my children are better of than I am, both as people and in life options.
3. Having a crying/upset/hurt child and not being able to make it better; regardless of age.
4. The first date. Yes this is a little ways off, hopefully at least 16 years, but I remember being a teenage boy and I'm not sure I would trust my daughter with one or my son with someone else's daughter
5. The first day when bring a new baby home.