Claire's First Christmas Morning and other fun things

Merry Christmas!! We have had such a wonderful Christmas holiday. Everyone has been so generous to us and to Claire for her first Christmas. We just wanted to share our day with everyone.

Claire was so excited to see if Santa Clause showed up on Christmas Morning. We walked in her room and she was standing up in her crib chanting "Santa" repeatedly. She was very difficult to calm down. Papa always thought he would be a pretty good Santa. (Please note that this picture was staged and of course was not standing up waiting for us)

Our new Christmas tradition is this: Blindfold the children as we come into the living room to see if Santa has come. Let the suspense build as the Christmas gifts dance befor their blinded eyes. Mom and dad are on to something. Feel free to adopt this Christmas tradition in your homes.

Claire throws her arms up in frustration. She realizes that it is impossible to get the Rockin' Safari Elephant Chime Ball to fall down without getting back up.

Anyone seen our little puffy head around? Despite all the fun gifts she got from Santa, friends, and family, Claire finds her greatest joy romping through the wrapping paper.

What dad? Can't a girl just have a little fun?

Claire: "Who is this funny looking man with the long beard and the silly red suit?"

Dad: "Sant Clause is a man who will bring you joy for years to come."

Claire: "Is he as cool as you dad?"

Dad: "Not quite, Sweetheart. Not quite."

We hope that everyone had a wonderful Christmas. We know that we did thanks to the love of all our friends and family.

Merry Christmas Eve

Since we couldn't be with friends and family tonight, we wanted everyone to be able to spend it with Claire. Despite not knowing exactly what is going on, she has loved the tree and the presents. I imagine if she was mobile, we would be alot busier. We are so grateful for a wonderful Christmas season to celebrate the birth of our Savior. He has brought so much joy into our lives and we rejoice in the gift that he has given the world. May the Lord bless all of you this Christmas season.


Hill has been wanting to start some new Christmas traditions, so here it is. We started out the evening with a gourmet meal filled with European meats and cheeses and topped off with Aranciata. The food was excellent and the tradition is worth keeping.


Nate really outdid himself this time with the bruscetta. Excellent!!!



Claire rejoices over opening her first Christmas Eve gift.


Like most kids, the wrapping paper is the ultimate prize.

Claire shows off her new Christmas pjs from grandma Carter. She'll sleep warm and cozy tonight.

Caught with her hand in the cookie jar. We are on to you Claire.

Merry Christmas to all. We love you!!!

More trip pictures

In order to see more pictures of Claire, you have to enjoy a few more pictures that Nate took in Beaver Canyon. He is really enjoying his new hobby (despite his brothers giving him a hard time for wanting to be Ansel Adams Jr).


This picture is overlooking Puffer Lake (obviously frozen over).

This picture didn't turn out how I had envisioned it. Granted it was take as we were coming down the canyon and we had two kids under the age of two who were losing patience.


Mount Holly at 11,999 feet.

And now for the pictures you all want to see.

We love seeing Aunt Shell.

Two prettiest girls at the wedding (I know that will be disputed). I hope not to get into trouble with that statement. Ann looked beautiful and the wedding was so much fun.

Dinnertime for Claire and Sam. Sam did much better than Claire. She started out like a champ with solids, but she has gone downhill quickly. She loves playing with her spoon though.

Claire woke up late one night to eat. She was up and ready to play. So much fun to have her around.

"Mom, are any of those presents for me?"

It is so late, but I had to be dedicated to my Utes!!! It is tough to stay up for the games out on the East Coast, but,

GO UTES!!!!

The Dahles are Back!!!

We have been on hiatus for a couple of weeks due to our trip out to Utah. We got back late last night and it is so good to be home (living out of a suitcase, no matter where you are is a pain). We had such a great time with family and friends, but honestly, we are exhausted. Hill and Claire were there for a couple weeks and Nate joined them last Friday. What a fun trip. Everyday was packed with activities from sun up to sun down. We took a bunch of pictures and will post them over the next few days. We just chose a few to get something posted.

Nate's dad is working on a project just outside of Beaver, Ut and we spent a couple of days enjoying the beauty of Beaver canyon. We had no idea that it was so beautiful.

While Claire was asleep, we had the opportunity to get out and do some snowshoeingNate and Hill enjoying some time out on the tubing hill with Mt. Holly in the background.
If you look closely, you will see pure concentration on Nate's face as he hits the jump. Luckily there were no injuries on the hill that day.

Claire is hanging out with the ladies. Hello Ladies. Hill is so lucky to have such good friends.

Look who is ready for Christmas. Nate got a new lens from Alyson and Cydnee and he is already putting it to good use. Claire is his favorite subject.Claire was able to meet her great-grandma Carter for the first time. We had to tell Claire that it wasn't very nice of her to scare grandma Carter like this. It was such a fun meeting for everyone.

We hope everyone is well. It was so much fun to see family and friends. We will add more pictures in the near future. Merry Christmas