New York, New York!

Hey Team!! Can't believe that December is more than half way over. And that means that it has been a whole month since we last checked in. I know there are some unhappy people out there. We have had a busy month to say the least. To recap a few things:

1 - I am proud of my Utes for the way they beat down the Cougs. I wish more than anything we could head down to New Orleans for the Sugar Bowl. But we will be cheering hard the same.

2 - Nate turned 32 a couple weeks ago. He celebrated with a night out with Hill at the movies - something that doesn't happen nearly enough. We went to Twilight. I didn't mind the movie, but I just couldn't get past the special (or not-so-special) effects. Deep down I'm a closet Twilight fan.

3 - Seth and Leeah visited for a few days. We had a great time with them, and if nothing else, they ate well. Seth and I had a bang up game of frisbee golf. Seth won.

4 - I am currently on vacation and enjoying a few days off. We just got home from an awesome trip to New York. Ever since we moved out to the East coast, we have wanted to go to the city. We hope you enjoy the pictures as much as we enjoyed the trip.

Grandma and Grandpa Carter flew in to Charlottesville and Hill and Claire drove up with them to NYC. Between weather, traffic, and an 18-month old, it was a long trip (taking 10 hours to travel what is normally 7). Luckily Elmo came along with his Sesame Street friends to keep Claire company. Claire has actually gotten much better in the car (for those of you who have bad memories of her earlier days). Luckily for dad, he was able to fly up to meet them the next day. And then the fun truly began...

Our hotel was in the heart of the big city - right on Times Square.

Mom and Dad in the Hershey's factory...without Claire. We loved being with Hill's family, and we were also happy to have a couple extra babysitters to give us a break. You would think that the "factory" would be cheaper than picking something up at the regular store. You would be wrong, especially since that "factory" is in the middle of NYC.

That's one big m&m! I guess that is why they call it m&m world.

Friday evening we went to the Metropolitan Museum. We had a very short amount of time and we tried to make the most of it. Claire was so much fun to watch at the museum. She just ran around looking at all the Egyptian displays and yelling. Just yelling for fun. She has so much to say these days. Unfortunately not very much of it makes sense. The words that do make sense, she repeats over and over. She is adding alot of words to her vocabulary.

The Egyptian display was amazing. They brought in a full temple ruin from Egypt. Highly recommend the Met.

Happy Birthday to me!!! For my birthday, Alyson took us to Radio City Music Hall to see the Rockettes in the Christmas Spectacular. The show was so much fun. We had a great time. Thanks Al!

They did a great number when they dressed up as toy soldiers. At the end, they shot a cannon and did this whole fall down in slow motion. Very cool. Could not recommend the Christmas spectacular any more highly!!!

Thank you so much to Grandma Carter for allowing us a night out on the town. She and Claire had a great time at McDonalds.

Claire had a great time on the Subway. She was of course always moving around, wanting to sit by herself, wanting to stand up and grab the pole. Whe always made friends with her neighbors on the train. She even learned what the Choo Choo Train says ("choo choo" - in case you were wondering).

Claire had a great time with Grandma and Grandpa Carter.


We took a trip down to south Manhattan to see the Statue of Liberty. It was FRIGID!!! The line was way to long to get on a boat. We just waved to Lady Liberty from a distance.

There are all kinds of strange things in NYC. Claire has never seen an Elmo so big. She liked him alot more from a distance.

"Popular! We're going to be Popular!" Being in New York, we had to see a broadway. At the top of the list was "Wicked." Of course the night we could go see it, it was sold out. We almost blew the bank and bought a couple tickets off of scalpers. Luckily that fell through. I walked up to the box office and saw a bunch of people in line. I found out they were waiting to enter the lottery for front row tickets. To make a long story short, luck smiled down upon us and Hill's name was drawn out. We got the tickets for $25 each. What an awesome night out. Thanks to Alyson and Cydnee for taking such good care of their niece!

Monday morning we made a trek out to Rockefeller plaza to see the tree. It was all we ever hoped and dreamed.

Claire had a great time in Times Square.

Lookin' good ladies.

The window displays were great - "Magical," according to Hill.

Aunt Alyson was a champ to carry Claire around through the night.

Come on Claire!!! This is the time for laughter and smiles.

Despite some great meals (and some that weren't so great), we always found ourselves starting the day out right - at McDonalds. They do have a pretty good breakfast menu.

On Monday we made a trip to the FAO Schwartz mega toy store. Claire was in heaven. That is a great store. What I liked the most was the gummy bear selection. I heard someone ask why they would add candy beads to the outside of the gummy bear. Obviously the answer is "More Sugar!!!" Al, we hope those gummy bears made it home like promised.

Claire had a great time playing with the stuffed animals. Aunt Alyson got her a small one to remember the trip. I said, "Claire, what do you want to name the dog?" She said "Woof." So, we named the dog Woof. Claire takes Woof to bed with her now. Sometimes in the morning we will hear her barking in her crib. So cute.

Just playing with the dogs!!!

After the toy store and a stop for lunch at Pop Burger, we headed to the legendary Central Park. The girls took a great ride in a horse drawn carriage. "Neighhhh, Neighhh." Claire does know what a horse says.

Daddy and his girl.




On Tuesday we got up and headed down to NBC studios to try to take in the Today show. We were of course too late to meet Al out on the plaza. This is the face that Claire was going to make if she met him.
Love my girls!!!

Of course their were many more details that I will spare you. We had a great time with the Carters (Grandma, Grandpa, Alyson, Cyd). The drive home was tolerable. The best thing about this trip... I still have (had) five more days (now two), before having to go back to work. I have been able to take a vacation from my vacation. Back to work on monday.

But not before I make my maiden voyage out into the woods tomorrow morning for my first shot at hunting. My goal is to shoot a turkey and eat it for Christmas!!

Poor Little Claire

We'll be cheering loudly for the Utes tomorrow!!! Claire and I have been working hard on saying, "Go Utes!" She does pretty well. I am a Utah man, sir!!!

We had a series of unfortunate events yesterday. Claire has been so active lately - walking, running, climbing, etc. She made her way up onto a chair yesterday morning and proceeded to fall off. After crying for a bit, she seemed to be just fine. Except for the fact that she wouldn't walk. She was happy to sit and play, but she was favoring her right leg. Mom took Claire to the doctor and it turns out that she had a toddler's fracture (hairline). We were told that she would have a walking boot. They went to the orthopedist today and much to our surprise, she came home with this...

Claire is not happy about the cast. I think she is quite confused by it. She keeps wanting us to take it off. It has seriously been so sad to see her in pain. We are really hoping that in a few days she will adapt and the pain will resolve. We were so lucky to have some sweet neighbors bring over dinner tonight. Hopefully these three weeks go quickly.

For months, mom and dad have been planning a date for tonight. Mom has been looking forward to the release of the movie "Twilight." We bought our tickets last week, we arranged for the babysitter and we were excited for a night on the town. It would not have been a good idea to leave Claire in the hands of a babysitter tonight. So, mom called a friend and Dad and Claire hung out and watched Elmo. I have to say, before the injury, Claire watched almost no TV. Tonight she sat down for an entire movie of Elmo. We love her so much.

And finally...

We promised a picture of Nick and Lyndsie. We had some problems opening the pictures earlier, but we did get it figured out. Looks like July is the time. We are looking forward to it.

A Clarification

While it is true that we are pregnant, the sex of the baby is not confirmed. Dad had a hunch just thought it would be fun to guess that it would be a boy. We will definitely let you know when we find out. The due date is May 30. We are thrilled!!! Stay in touch.

Go Utes!

Well, to start things off we have a few announcements!!!

1 - Go Utes!!!! A gutsy perfomance on Thursday against TCU. Looking forward to Nov 22.

2 - Congrats to Hill's brother Nick on his engagement to his fiance Lindsay. We are waiting for pictures and as soon as we get them, we will get them posted.

3 - Congrats to Claire for her future roll as big sister.

4 - The reason there are no pictures of the Carter side is because Hill doesn't take pictures.

5 - Go Utes!


Now on to the pictures. Like I said earlier, we were so happy to add Natalie to our family just a few short weeks ago. Nice job Kevin. We knew she was a keeper when she shunned you to join us for an episode of Lost.



Good looking couple


Yes Nat, believe it or not, you did just say yes. We had no idea about all the break ups. Thanks for sticking with him. Can't imagine our family without you.



Great wedding lunch. No reception. Talk about the way to go. Best story was the one about Kevin wearing color-coordinated sweats - red, green, yellow, blue. He finally came to the realization that this wasn't cool (after some prompting from his loving siblings) when he exclaimed "I need jeans!" This story has been a family favorite for years. Nice job Kev.



With some careful planning, this could be you guys in seven years. Nat, you inherited some great nieces and nephews. We are excited to add another one next May.


Nat, the ladies of the Dahle fam welcome you with open arms (we appreciate Leeah for smiling)

Kev, that's a stiff wind you are walking into.


For those of you who didn't know, Kevin is a closet romantic. He delivered these flowers to Nat on the morning of the wedding. Luckily he did. I hear it was what finally put her over the top and made her say yes.


Strong work Kev on some very cool flowers.

Hill his missing her right leg in this picture. Luckily we found it later.

Of course Claire was sick on the day of the wedding. She ran around most of the day with a bib on to catch the drool and protect the dress. She was just plumb tuckered out come lunchtime. This is one of the rare times that she has fallen asleep in my arms in the last year.

I must be married to the most beautiful woman in the world!!!

Love my girls!

We had a great time taking these pictures of Claire before she finally crashed.

Claire loved trying on all of grandmas necklaces. Her favorite seems to have been the large gold money sign. Hill found it stashed in the suitcase as she was packing for home. We of course made Claire return it and apologize to grandma.

The ZOO Crew

The day before the wedding we took the cousins to the zoo. At this time in the journey, everyone may or may not have been having a good time.

Claire loves giraffes. She kept asking "what does the giraffe say?" Anyone? Anyone? Does anyone know what the giraffe says? I was stumped.

Claire had a great time with her cousin Kinsley.

And just a few more pictures to round out the post.

"Oh mom, come and get me!"

"Sorry Claire, I am to nauseated. Your little brother is making me sick!!!"

"Fine mom, but I'm not happy about it one bit. I am even less happy about this booger hanging from my nose."

We wish Kins could give Claire hugs more often. Come visit soon Kins. We love you.

And last, but definitely not least, we met our sweet cousin/niece Hadley. She could not be cuter. We love you Hadley.

Well, that about wraps it up. We love you all. And one final thing...

GO UTES!