16 years? Are you kidding me?

On August 4th we celebrated our 16th wedding anniversary. We went to Chili's for lunch to celebrate.

On Friday, we went to the Temple and the kids made dinner for us. It was great. Sadly, I didn't think to take a picture until we had finished eating. They had really worked hard for us.

Shelby and Emery were our waiters. They met us at the front door and escorted us to our table. They had candles and everything. We enjoyed a lovely salad and then tortellinis for our entree.

The kids even had our wedding video ready to play when we sat down. (We hadn't seen that in ages!)

The kids had each made us a card and they came down to enjoy dessert- super delicious mint brownies with ice cream- (and to laugh at our video). It was the best anniversary dinner we have ever had.

With our waitresses and Madi.


(Me and Danny- an extreme close up- thanks to Jake our in house photographer.)

As for marriage after 16 years? I adore my husband. The best decision I ever made was to marry him. He is my best friend, a great dad, a wonderful provider and my knight in shining armor. Our wedding video ends with- "And they lived happily ever after..." And so it is.

Our new addition...

We have a new member of the family!


Stella Faye Roisin (pronounced Roesheen) Carrell!

Since we didn't go to Hawaii this year, the kids felt like they needed to be compensated. SO we got a puppy. Stella was born on March 28, 2010 (her birthday is a day after Madi's) and is 18 weeks old. She is a Maltipoo (Maltese/poodle mix) and will be about 7-8 pounds when she is fully grown. (She weighs a bit over 4 pounds now.)


Madi, Shelby, Stella, Claire and Emery on the day she came home.

Stella was born in Oklahoma and had a very long flight from Tulsa to Houston to Raleigh. We collected her at the airport (and got lost a few times before finding the cargo area) and on the way home, she was almost immediately sitting up and looking out the window of the car. I guess the plane ride wasn't traumatic at all!


Stella and Claire

At first, she was a bit nervous with the kids, but before long she was out running and chasing them in the backyard.


Em and Stella

Stella loves to chase Emery! This puppy is a hopper! She runs and then hops. It is so fun to watch.


With Jake

Jake is super cute with the little lady. Although today he told me that he has 6 sisters. I reminded him that technically Stella is a dog and not a sister- he wasn't convinced. She loves him and he really enjoys playing with her.


Kailey and Stella as we walked to the Vet.

Kailey wanted to come with me when we took Stella to the vet for the first time. Stella did great and didn't even get really nervous. She now has had all of her puppy vaccines. Now she's ready to get groomed. She is mostly hair.

We are all thrilled and love the little angel. She has a ways to go before she sleeps through the night, and we hope that she will leave fewer surprises in the house soon- but she is so much fun and we love her.

Home

After two months of immense craziness, TONS of drama and a lot of hard work- we really are here. Tonight, Danny gave a really sweet Family Home Evening lesson. He reminded us of the little things that are so important. He quoted Pres. Monson in saying that three of the most important things we need to do as a family are to pray, read the scriptures and spend time together. Then he blessed our house. Finally, it feels like we are home. Hurray.