Merry Christmas Again!

We had a great Christmas season this year. I took some pictures (and our photographer neighbor John also took some pictures. We held them out because they were a Christmas surprise for family. I am happy to share some of them now.

Where's Emme Jane????

There she is!!!!

One last story to finish things off. Yesterday on Christmas morning, the girls were making a grand entrance to see the kitchen that Dad had spent three hours putting together. This conversation took place in the hallway.

Hill: Claire, you are going to be so excited. You are going to die.

Claire: Why am I going to die? I don't want to die.

Hill: Alright everyone into the family room.

Emme: (Crying)

Claire: But I don't want to die. I don't want to die ever.

Took the steam right out of the new kitchen. The steam has come back and they love it.

Merry Christmas

Hey guys! Long time no talk. We hope everyone is doing well. We just wanted to wish you all a very merry Christmas! I PROMISE good things to come on the blog in the very near future.

We have already been questioned as to why we have Mater the Tow truck and why he is not still at Disneyland.

These three girls are the best!

I am thinking of trying out for MegaMind 2 and Claire wants to be an Ogre on the next Shrek (if somehow they break their promise to stop at 4).

It's been a great summer

We have had a great summer here in Virginia. But I do have to say that it has been too hot - much hotter than past summers. Just a few pictures to wrap it up.

We had a great time (although maybe not evidenced by this picture) at the pool this year.

Em always enjoyed a nice relaxing day in the sun.

She also loves Pesto - and mom makes a MEAN pesto.

This scene actually depicts the princess (mom) coming to the young girls cucumber shop to buy cucumbers. I am sad I didn't get to see this whole thing play out. That's a good looking princess.

We mentioned Claire's shiner earlier.... Well here it is. She took a mean hit by a little guy coming through the waterfall.

We had some great visitors this year. We had my parents and brother, Hill's parents, Hill's sisters, and the Burtons. It was very nice to see everyone and it worked out great as most of these visits took place during the time when dad was studying. Here the kids are showing off their hotdog hats.

We had a great time at the fireworks.

Dad graduated from residency!!! Congrats to dad.

We went with Uncle Kevin to Kings Dominion. What you can't see in this picture is the pain that I am in inside. I no longer have the stomach for the big roller coasters. And these were some big roller coasters. The 100 degree weather did not help. Thanks to grandma and grandpa for some serious babysitting that day.

Amelia absolutely loved the Zoo. She was enthralled by the animals. Unfortunately Claire didn't feel well that day. But we do love the zoo.

We roasted marshmallows.

What is Amelia thinking in this picture? She probably wants to know if you are all going to become "Nate and Hill's Adventures" blog readers again. We all hope you have enjoyed this week of getting caught up (if this is your first time back to the blog in a bit, there has been a post a day for the last week). Dad will not be able to keep this up, but he hopes to be able to get back to 1-2 per month. Hope you all have a great day.

Go Utes!

Always good to get a win!





Claire and I have been practicing the Fight Song! She would be happy to sing it for anyone who would like to call her.

Emme is now making her animal noises. Our favorite is her pig. She wrinkles up her little nose and snorts. She also does the horse, the dog, the cat, the chicken.

Family Night at the Football Game

Consistency. But I am going to need alot of sticktoitiveness to keep going for 2 more days. Tonight was family night at the high school so we loaded up and went. Unfortunately the game was a blowout (38-0 at half - although in favor of the team we were cheering for). No problem, we had fun the same.


Claire was ready to cheer.

Emme was ready to get down and do some exploring.

The girls loved the halftime show.

What you can't see is Em's full dance routine. She starts dancing whenever she hears music. Cutest thing ever.

Big smiles.

Big smiles again. She's coming to get me.

Still Going

This post a day thing is tough! I'll keep it up though. These pics are from this spring. I thought you guys would enjoy a couple more.


Emme is a champ. She is enjoying some nice time one on one with mom now that Claire is gone a couple mornings a week. Of course this isn't helping her lack of desire to be with dad (if mom is anywhere in the vicinity.

Claire did round two of preschool today and she was awesome again. Her quote to mom before she walked into school - "It's okay mom, don't worry. I'll be back in a couple hours. Don't be sad. I'll be back soon to play with you and Emme."

Labor Day Fun

With only 10 months (most likely) left in Virginia, we are going to try to get out as much as possible to see this beautiful state. We love living in Virginia. It is so beautiful. So, we started out our tour on the Blue Ridge Parkway with a nice relaxing hike with the girls. Always an adventure with two little ones.


We started by walking through a replica farm on top of the mountain. Of course Claire and Emme were most interested in the three chickens running around. In order to keep Claire going we had to tell her that we had to look for chickens ahead on the trail.

Emme was not happy most of the time in her backpack. Actually, she was not happy anytime she was more than a foot away from mom.

Em did get some actual hiking time in. She did great (if by great we mean falling over many times and eating rocks and dirt). I think she is taking some time here to ponder the great outdoors.

Claire needed a break. She had a lot of fun.

So far so good

I promised a post a day for a week. It turns out that I have at least one follower left out there. Thanks for your comment Kate!

Claire went to preschool today! She did awesome. She played games, did puzzles, read stories, and went to recess. Boy do I miss recess. I think I am going to try to implement recess at work. Anyways, we are so pleased with Claire. She had a great time. She missed mom just a little. Details were a little sparse about the day (you can imagine that from a 3 year-old). We just love Claire.


Here is Claire on her first day getting ready to fly!!!! It was a success.

Here is Emme Jane giving some last minute advice before the big day.

And not to cheat Emme out of equal face time on the blog.... On Friday night we went out to the downtown mall. The people just could not get enough of Emme Jane in her polka-dot rompers and her pink crocs. She brought out more smiles than we could count - of course she does that for us every day. We love you Em!

A post a day for a week

That's my goal. Of course I have been waiting the past 3 months for Hill to post something. Unfortunately, we have probably lost all of our readers. Here's hoping to get a few back.



This is what happens when it's Dad's turn to do Emme's hair. Mom got ahold of her before we could get out the door. I think Em likes it.

Claire starts preschool tomorrow. We cannot believe it!!!! We keep telling her that she can't grow anymore - and she hasn't been listening. She is so excited for her new preschool. She will be going 2 days a week. Good luck Claire! We love you. You make us so happy and proud.

Happy Birthday Miss Claire!

Can you believe she is three? I know that we can't believe it at all. She is growing up so big. She is so sweet. What a blessing Claire is in all of our lives and we are so thankful to Heavenly Father that she is our daughter. We love you Claire.

Claire had a great party on thursday with all of her friends from nursery. Pictures to follow (including the one of Claire with one heck of a shiner).

But dad wanted to post these photos. He has been trying to get some pictures lately and the timing was off. This last week he had off and he grabbed some beauties. Hope you all enjoy.

A friend of ours tipped us off to this great spot for some photos.

What you don't see is Claire's spray bottle as she is watering the plant.

Always good for a smile this one!

They are such good sisters

Two cuter girls in this world, there are not!!!

Of note, there has been some discontent lately about the frequency of posts. With dad currently studying for the boards, things probably won't get better for a while. We'll do our best.