Funny thing...

When you stop posting, it's easy to continue not posting. So I'm going to make good on my goal of last year and post! Here are a few things from the holidays. 

Babysitting Naomi, our niece. She and Lacy are pretty good friends. At this point she had just declared Lacy as her horse and commanded her to 'go.' Lacy was less enthusiastic about it. 

My cousin Ben won a duck at family Christmas Bingo and his wife was not excited about it! Once it was defeathered and breasted out, she was much happier about it. 

Ethan got one too. He was pretty excited about it. 

Annual family surf 'n turf with too much food. But it was yummy. Something my dad started years ago that has continued since. We toasted him and the wonderful tradition he started. I miss him greatly, especially at Christmas time. He always made it magical for me growing up. 

My Christmas present from Daniel. It makes things so much nicer in our little kitchen. I got him a new stereo for his truck. 

We (I) made these nerf gun slings for Daniel's dad for Christmas. He was excited and so were the kids. They played for over an hour on Christmas Day. 

Since Christmas we've been pretty much just trying to stay warm. 

What was your favorite part of the holiday season? Want to know more? Email us at danielashleyadopt@gmail.com

Busy Christmas!

Beef noodle soup!! Daniel found a recipe that is super close to one of our favorite recipes from China. We made lots of broth so it will be easy to make next time. 

Gingerbread part 1. 

We did the prebaking for this weekend. We are going to decorate them this weekend.

 

And last but not least, we went to a concert last night with friends and had a blast such fantastic music. The Lower Lights have such a wonderful  contagious spirit, it makes you want to sing and dance along. In fact, for part of it we did! It was at the Masonic Temple in Salt Pake City. Such a neat venue. Thanks Matt & Caroline for going with us! 

The ceiling was cool. 

We had a swinging good time! 

(Wow, my hair is getting long!)

We can't wait to add new traditions and experiences when we have kids. Christmas is such a wonderful time of year for friends and to remember our Savior. 

What are your favorite parts of Christmas? Want to know more? Email us at danielashleyadopt@gmail.com

Doctor Who!!!

I forgot to post this last week. Last Monday we went and saw the Doctor Who special in theaters. We've been fans for quite sometime. Daniel longer than me. He got me hooked on it while we were dating. It was fun. Such a good show. I'm so glad we took the opportunity to see it in the theater. 

Do you like Doctor Who? Do you know who that is? My favorite Doctor is the tenth, David Tennant. 

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

Thanksgiving!

We had Thanksgiving dinner with Daniel's family. After dinner (which was so yummy!!!) we went down to the park and played capture the flag with nerf dart guns. It was a hoot. Daniel's dad had over 20 guns and 100 darts. The missionaries joined us and they were so fun to add to the mix. Right after this photo (which Daniel took) we all shot him with our darts. 

Each adult had to partner with a child and Daniel claimed the baby. Ella is 6 months. And was fascinated with the gun. He pushed that stroller around shooting people. We even hid the flag in her stroller for one round!  

Then later we went to Ashley's grandma's house and played games with her family. We played apples to apples and had some pretty good laughs! Grandma even played. And won! What a sport. 

It was a fun filled day with good food and even better company! 

What are your favorite parts of Thanksgiving? Want to know more? Email us at danielashleyadopt@gmail.com

Fun weekend!!

We had a fun and busy weekend. Friday night we played with my fimo sculpting clay. I worked on some star ornaments and Daniel made a Lacy dog. It turned out really good. Unfortunately I haven't taken pictures of those yet. 

Friday Daniel made breakfast. We've taken to having pretty substantial breakfasts on Saturdays and it keeps us full most of the day. 

We are definitely foodies that way. 

Then, Saturday evening we went and saw Brigadoon, a musical, in West Valley and then to dinner with Daniel's mom and dad. 

The stage before it started. 

The obligatory selfie. Maybe we shouldn't do that? 

Then Sunday we spent the afternoon at Ashley's mom's house having Sunday dinner, chatting, and games. Our favorite right now is Bananagrams! 

After we ate, while some if us were cleaning up, the guys went and sat in the living room. 

Daniel is on the floor on the left side. You can't see Cam on the couch. My sister and I got a laugh out of it. 

Busy busy! And we're in for another one this weekend. I'm looking forward to it! Are you excited for Thanksgiving? What's your favorite part of that Holiday? 

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

Sushi!!

On Saturday we went to an adoption conference and learned so much. It was really good for us. We listened to a birth mother panel, talked with others about feelings associated with infertility and the adoption world in general. We're both glad we attended. 

Afterwards we went and got sushi with my sister and her husband. I'm such good friends with my sister and we enjoy spending time together. The four of us have good times! They both tried nagiri (raw fish on rice bundles) for the first time. Let's just say we like it more than they do! I'm so glad we had such a good day and got to enjoy spending time with them. I'm grateful for them and our friendship. 

Down the hatch! 

A favorites was the deep fried roll with crab and cream cheese. Yumm-mmy. 

Do you like foreign foods? What's your favorite? 

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

A few things we like to do... and have done.

Daniel and I decided to use our habit of Friday posting to share things we have been up to recently and answer questions about us. What do you think? I hope this is helpful in helping you get to know us.

A few things from earlier this fall. I'm afraid this is going to be a bit of a picture dump. I hope you enjoy it.

In early September, We headed up to Bear Lake to enjoy some 4 wheeling. I decided that is so much fun. I'd never been before. We had a good time with the fresh air and mountain views. A little mountain time is always good for the soul. 

In late September we went to the Ogden Greek festival. The local Greek community sells some fantastic homemade food. My favorite is the Tiropitakia. It's filo dough layered with feta cheese. I love it. Daniel's favorite Greek food is the dolmathes - the  grape leaves wrapped around lamb and rice.

In October we had our regular monthly meal with Daniel's family to celebrate the birthdays for the month of October. While there Daniel helped his dad, brother and brothers-in-law move a shed into his parents back yard.

Later in October we went up to my mom's house and picked apples with my sister. My dad built a cider press a number of years ago and then planted apples trees to make fresh apple juice. It was a blessing to be able to participate in something that my dad had established before he died. The fresh pressed cider was so delicious. We didn't get a lot, but oh, it tasted delicious. I look forward to sharing this with my family in the coming years. What a fun tradition!

 Daniel helped cut all the apples in half in preparation for pressing.

 My sister and her husband did the pressing.

The sweet nectar and finished product.

For Halloween we did a few fun things. I saw mummy dogs on Pinterest - so we made those. Then we carved pumpkins with friends.

 These are Daniel's. He did a better job at wrapping them.

 Daniel with Grace, our friend's little girl. She guided him with decisions like square eyes, etc.

We are Doctor Who fans so Ashley carved the TARDIS, the Doctor's time machine.

Fall is such a fun time of year. We are looking forward to the coming holiday season and all the fun things that come along with it!