Halloween, Fall dresses, Go Utes!, and Watermelons

Hey guys! Coming in strong with some great posts. We had a great Halloween this year. Aunt Alyson has just got home from China and brought home some great silk kimonos.

Check out these Chinese Princesses!!!


We love these princesses.

We went to the UVa Lawn this year again to do some trick-or-treating. It is great because you walk ten feet to get to the next house. Claire, as usual, put on a great show. We would walk up to a door and I would ask Claire to say hi in Chinese. She would put her hands together, bow, and say "nee how." Everyone loved it. They would then proceed to load her up with candy. Claire had no idea what to do with herself.

Of course the best was when we went to the door of a large group of Asian students. They let out a loud roar of approval. It was so cute.

This is one authentic outfit.

Hey Amelia - you'll get your candy one of these days.

What a sweet family. We had a great Halloween.

We snuck in some cute pictures after church one day

Hill has become very crafty these days. She made this cute flower bow.

Try not to get distracted by the rolls on Amelia's arms and focus on the sweet hug.

Every once in a while dad sneaks in a picture with his girls.

Love these three girls.

We have had some close games this year (most of them when Claire is asleep) but Claire is happy to be at 7-1 on the year. She is a true Ute.

When we were out in Utah this summer, Aunt Ann made the cutest matching skirts for all the cousins. The girls loved wearing them through the summer and fall. Thanks Aunt Ann!!!

Love Amelia Jane!

The question is... what is Claire pondering? The depths of the universe... what to be for Halloween... what to put on her Christmas list.... We are open for ideas.

We are looking forward to a great Holiday season. We cannot wait for our visitors to come (and Hill cannot wait for the movie "New Moon" - I come home every day and that's what is up on the computer).e

Squirrels Beware!!!

We got such rave reviews from our last videos that we had to post these. The girls are just so much fun. Today we had a great day as a family. Every time we look at these two, we realize that we are the luckiest parents in the world

A couple weeks ago we went out as a family on a friday night. We had a great dinner and then went over to the UVa Grounds (please do not call it campus) where we saw a bunch of squirrels. Claire had a great time chasing them around and we had a great time watching her.

Dad and Claire had a date today and boy did we have fun. Here is what we did:

1 - Stories (Mom was sleeping in)

2 - Pancakes (Mom still sleeping in - she deserved it)

3 - Chasing squirrels again on the Lawn (similar to the grounds). We had so much fun.

4 - Fall Carnival

5 - Lunch with Mom and Amelia

6 - Claire nap - Dad football

I also had some time this morning with Amelia (mom was sleeping - and she deserves it). She is growing up so big. Five months have passed quickly.

Enjoy the videos. Go Utes.

A Few Months Late

Just some pictures from out time with with the cousins. Claire sure had a great time playing with all of them. She and Amelia sure miss you guys.

(The following pictures are in a random order, but I can't move them around for some reason)

Gabe enjoyes a nice ride on the merry-go-round. Nice work Gabe.

There is obviously an intense discussion about who gets to stick their head in the lion's mouth next.

These guys sure had a great time at the zoo.

That's a half-ton of Dahles.

Claire had a great time with Kiki during the trip. Thank you for your help with Claire Kiki!!!

Kins was also very good with Amelia.

Claire loves a great breakfast.

Seth and Leeah were the only aunt and uncle to make the post. Love you guys.

This is supposed to be the second picture in the series. Claire stared down Sam for a few minutes before the pitch was low and inside. I think she got him swinging.

Alot of mind games in this battle. Claire has definitely improved her throwing. We look foward to the next battle.

Everyone loves the Mad Hadders!

Great form Sam.

Strong smile Gabe.

Claire could not get enough of the sandbox at Grandma and Grandpa's house.

Hi Kins.

Sam also plays a mean sandbox.

Was this post a little weak? Sure. Was the commentary lacking? Absolutely. Am I as good at blogging as I used to be? No. Do I have another cute video of Claire chasing squirrels? Yes and you are all going to enjoy it. I'll do my better to get it out soon.

It's a jungle out there!

So we decided to brave a little piece of Virginia wilderness known as the Wild Safari on Monday...it was an absolute riot!!! I was in tears (from laughing so hard) from the moment we arrived 'til the moment of departure. What a blast! I don't think this little clip can do justice to the "wild animals" we encountered, but hopefully you'll get a small taste of our experience. Enjoy!

**Please note that I had a terrible cold, hence the raspy voice.**

You can't see the part where the animal (I'm not sure which one) bellies up to the trough and trys to yank the bucket right out of my hands!!! Then, I'm not positive, but I swear I saw him lick his chops at me, which is why I decided to save my own neck and toss the bucket out the window. Poor Claire. She was such a good sport.

The next clip gives you a feel for how clever and sneaky the animals were...you snooze, you lose!

You can't really hear Nate's scream, but scream he did when he was caught off guard by those terrible "raptor" birds. I'm not sure what their real names are, but they seemed like the sort of bird that might have been used in the filming of Jurassic Park. Sneaky little things.

It was such a great trip! We'll post our apple orchard trip pics soon.

We Love These Girls

We just wanted to tell everyone how much we love these girls. Can you believe how much they are growing up?



Claire has recently started participating in tummy time with Amelia (including today on the sofa at Target). It is nice that Claire is now acknowleging her little sister. She now says, "This is my sister."


Very tender kisses by a big sister. The other day I asked Claire to go give Amelia a hug and she pretty much just went over and laid on top of her. It was hilarious.



Emme is such a good baby. She laughs and plays all the time.


And, she is now sleeping through the night. It was a long 3 1/2 months, but we made it!



Em loves the star! She just lays there and laughs and smiles. Claire never really went for the star. Em loves it. It is a great babysitter when mom needs to get things done.



During the first week of Amelia's life, the doctors worried about failure to thrive...


I dare say that after 3 1/2 months of mom's creamy milk shakes, that is no longer a concern. Every time we look at Ems, we think about how lucky we are to have her.


Claire could not be cuter these days. Just wanted to share some great stories.


Claire has a princess castle that she loves to play with. She also loves the movie CARS. As we drive around the city, she will see a red car and say, "There's Lightning." "Where's Sally?" "Where's Mack?" "Look mom, it's Mater!" So I bought her some small Lightning and Mater cars. I walked in to find her one day and she had the dining table set up like this (I went back in there tonight to recreate the scene and this is how she wanted it set up). Mater and Lightning are treated like royalty around our place.


This is what I found today when I walked into her room. "Claire, if Lightning and Mater are cars, why do they need a horse to pull them around in the carriage?"


These next pictures I took back in Utah and I do love them. Claire is so cute. A few more stories.

One morning I was watching Claire while Mom was taking a nap. I told her she could go in and wake her up. She came back a couple minutes later. Dad - "Hey Claire, where's mom?" Claire - Momma is not being very nice." (She was trying to get Claire to be quiet since Emme was sleeping)

Mom and dad have become master artists - mainly drawing animals. "I want a little kitty cat." "Mom, I want a big kitty cat." So we draw all these silly looking animals. The other day Mom and Claire were going through the checkout at Sam's club where they mark the receipt with a highlighter. The lady drew a smiley face for Claire. She looked up and her and said, "I want a kitty cat, please."

Claire has two dolls and she has named them Buttercup and Ladybug. She puts them to bed on mom and dad's bed each day before she goes down for a nap.

Our neighbor came down with her dad to grab something and he was introduced as Bob. A few minutes later they came back to return what they borrowed. They were greeted at the door by Claire. "Hey Bob." He was amazed by her memory. She continued to ask, "Where'd Bobby go?"

We hope everyone is well. I will post some more of the Utah pictures soon.

The Wedding

I have decided that one update for the whole trip is just too much so you will get it in small bites. Hope it is more enjoyable that way.

The main even of this trip out west was Nick and Lindsey's wedding. And what a great event it was. Weddings are always alot of work, but always lots of fun. We had a great day celebrating with the happy couple. I had a dual role at the wedding - I was groomsman and photographer. This is my first official/unofficial wedding. Overall I think that it went okay, but I was missing some key equipment for some difficult conditions. I hope everyone enjoys a few pictures (I know there are a few of you anxiously awaiting all of the pictures - Marcie, we will talk).


The most important part of every wedding... and this bride did not disappoint!


Nick looking pretty dapper


A good looking smile. He must have said yes.


T-E-N-D-E-R

The happy father of the groom (what he is really happy about is that the deck is almost done).


Everyone can see how my first photoshoot with the bride was going. I had to think fast to turn it around.


Amelia Jane is sure happy to welcome Lindsey to the family. Boy is she cute (in the near future Amelia is going to get her own blog post to document all her fat rolls).

Claire was Claire. She had a great time and she brought smiles to everyone's faces. Yes Claire, we still love you.

Good form

The boquet is airborne and a mele is about to ensue. I will refrain from saying who got the boquet after a hardfought battle

Those are some good looking girls!

And some flowers to finish it off

We had a great day with Nick and Lindsey. Good luck to the newlyweds. We love you guys.

A Trip to Utah

More pictures to come... But I just wanted to get the most important one up-


The Girls make their first visit to the U. Go Utes!!!