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?

So long

I'm sorry for not posting for so long. We have been busy, had some ups and downs, and been on a few adventures. Here is a picture dump that will hopefully catch us up. 

Sunshine!!!

Homemade chicken noodle soup!! 

Snorkeling in Grand Cayman on our Disney Cruise. 

At Mickey's Pirate Party. 

Time with Grandma for her 80th Birthday. 

Daniel with his Grandma. 

A new adoption application with Premier Adoption. 

Puppies who need love! 

Fresh fruit, my favorite. 

Fabric for a new project. 

So many things. Hopefully I'm back on my feet with this and I will be posting more regularly. Life is good!! 

Learned from Lacy

This is Lacy. Our dog.

I have learned a lot from Lacy. Below are the highlights of what I have learned, in no particular order.

• Be Optimistic. Lacy always expects you to share whatever you have; food, space, attention, love. No matter how many times she doesn't get what she expects she still hopes for it the next time.
• Don't Judge. Lacy doesn't care who you are, she wants to be friends.
• Be excited to see friends. It doesn't matter who comes over, Lacy is excited to see you.
• Be More than Others Expect. Lacy is part pit-bull. When we tell people that they expect her to be a vicious attack dog. She isn't. She is a sweetheart and a push over. She is eager to please and just wants to be loved.

Yummy!

Daniel spent a lot of time on Saturday making our famous "man chili" for the Super Bowl. Let's be honest, it's not about the game for me. I'm not a huge sports fan. Daniel enjoys watching the game, but I enjoy chatting with my friends. 

Daniel is such a sport. The prep took him 3 1/2 hours for a double batch. It's a lot of work, but it tastes so good. 

Meat. Lots of meat. That's a 10 inch dinner plate under there. 

Onions and peppers and garlic. 

Tons of sauce. 

Frying the meat. 

A wound here and there. 

Spices. 

A little bit if sautéing and then the house smells delicious. 

A little love from a messy but talented chef. 

And then you have a batch of fantastic meaty flavorful chili that people drool over and request. 

Do you like chili? Do you even like food as much as we do? 

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

We would love to learn more about you! 

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