Open Adoption

My cousin wrote this beautiful post about her feelings towards Breanna, their daughter's birth momma. The feelings she express are so tender and all that we hope to feel in an adoption of our own.

Adoption.com has so many wonderful stories and resources and connections that can help all sides. As it grows and improves those things only get better. Check it out!

Please feel free to contact us at danielashleyadopt@gmail.com. We would love to learn more about you and get to know you better.



Thanks, Jessie, for such a wonderful contribution!

Pioneer Day/Birthday Weekend

This was another busy weekend for us. We are actually looking forward to having a quiet home weekend coming up.

First, Thursday was a holiday, so I had the day off. Daniel worked part of the day. I watched some favorite movies and then made meatloaf for Daniel's birthday. His birthday was Friday and we went out to eat with his parents, some of his siblings, and his two grandmas. Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures of any of that. Except my dessert.

We went to Maddox. Daniel go the Prime Rib and I had the Petite Filet Mignon. 

Then for dessert he had raspberry cream pie and I had Snickers ice cream pie. It was delicious.

For his birthday present I gave Daniel tickets to the Alton Brown Food and Science show in February. It is a long time to wait, but I'm excited for it and so is he. We love Alton Brown cooking. You can find episodes on YouTube. He's done late night TV with food experiments. We are both excited.

Then Saturday we went 4 wheeling again. This time with his Dad and brother. His dad drove the truck, Daniel rode the motorcycle, and Eric and I drove the 4 wheelers. It was fun. We went up to the top of Willard Basin, north of us. You can hike to the peak, but it was noon and we were hot and tired. We did go looking for the mountain goats though. We spotted about 13 of them. Kind of cool. The view was spectacular.

 The view of the Basin on our way up.

 The view of Ogden at the top. My father-in-law is pointing out mountain goats on the far left.

 If you look closely, you can see three white spots in the shadow of that first outcropping of rock. That's three mountain goats.

 Me driving on our way up.

 Daniel rocking it on the Honda Trail 90. The coolest "not-cool" motorcycle around.

 At the top. Apparently at this point Daniel had lost his glasses. Good thing we have back ups!

 The wildflowers were wonderful. They were in full bloom with lots of color. I love wildflowers and I think I will plant some when we move to a new house.

Such a pleasant day.

Then, Saturday evening we headed south to have dinner and games with some good friends of ours.  We ate at Red Iguana in Salt Lake. It was yummy. Then we went back to their place and played Ticket to Ride. That was a fun game. We may need to buy our own version!

Then Sunday I napped. Daniel has meetings and home teaching. For dinner we went up to my mom's to celebrate Daniel and Caitlin's (my sister) birthdays. We had lasagna and then our family's famous cinnamon cake for dessert. Such a weekend. We are exhausted!


Do you do fun things over the summer? What's your favorite activity for those hot dog days of summer?
We can't wait to get to know you better! Want to know more? email us at danielashleyadopt@gmail.com

A busy weekend

This last weekend was kind of busy for us. I had a great girls night out Friday with two of my best friends and we talked for hours! It was so good for me! No pictures, but trust me, it was good for the soul and a great time was had!

Saturday I spent most of the day cutting fabric for a new quilt I'm working on. It has 30 fabrics in a rainbow of colors.

First I had to cut it into strips

 

Then I cut it into squares that are 5" and 10".

 

Next I will sew the 5" squares into patches of 4. I have to mark each color and square for where it goes. It's a complicated pattern. I'm keeping the end result a surprise because I love doing things like that. Since I don't work on Thursday, I hope to spend all day working on this project. I had to order a couple new supplies that will come in the mail tomorrow to help with it. This is going to be EPIC! I'm so excited.

Then Sunday evening, after my regular Sunday nap (which I try to get every week!) we went to my grandparent's house and talked with cousins before they head off on new adventures.

April and Jared, on the left, are headed to dental school for him at VCU in Richmond, Virginia. I''m so excited for them. This has been a long time dream and a long time coming. Good luck to them and their family! Then Celeste and Sean, right, are headed down to the Phoenix area for him to go to medical school. They pull out Tuesday for a 4 year adventure. I will miss them dearly. Celeste has been such a good addition to our family and I have loved getting to know her the last few years. Good luck to all of them!

What a fun weekend! Are summer evenings fun for you? What's your favorite weekend activity?

Want to know more? email us as danielashleyadopt@gmail.com. I can't wait to get to know you better!

The weekend at Bear Lake

We are spending this weekend with Ashley's family at her grandma's condo at Bear Lake. Yesterday we took the 4 wheelers and the motorcycle out on the trail with my sister, her husband, my brother and us. We went to Old Ephraim's Grave. He was one of the largest grizzly bears know to have been in the area. We stopped at his monument marker along a 5 mile trail. We have tons of fun and the weather was just perfect.

 A panorama Daniel took.

 Enjoying the beautiful view and perfect blue sky.

 My sister and her husband

 Me with my brother and sister.

 Action shot!

The beautiful sunset from our balcony last night.

Where is your favorite place to go with with family? Do you have a dream vacation you would like to take?

Want to know more? email us at danielashleyadopt@gmail.com

4th of July treats!

For the July birthdays I made these delicious tea scones for a side dish. I had fresh berries and white chocolate chips in them.

What's your favorite summer treat?