Preschool Thanksgiving Feasts

Emery and Madison both had Thanksgiving Feasts on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving.  It was very fun to be there with them.

Emery the Pilgrim and Madi

Miss Madi with her lovely turkey feather headband

Pilgrim Emery with her cinnamon turkey pine cone.  It smelled so yummy!  I am thankful for many things- and these girls are two of them.

Jake's 12!

 

On November 12th, our Jake turned 12!!!  (As usual- he requested homemade cinnamon rolls for breakfast.)

 

I can hardly believe my little boy is now a young man!

 

He had to pose with all the gift givers!-  Miss Claire

 

Jake and Miss Emery

 

Shelby and Miss Madi

 

 Why do I love pictures with these girls and their brother so much?

 

Jake and Kailey

 

We can't forget Stella (with the scary eyes)

 

and I LOVE a good kissing picture 

 

On Thursday, Jake decided to have a party.  Two days later- 5 young boys came over.  It wasn't just any party- it was a MAN PARTY.

 

They shot air soft guns and bows and arrows at this fun target and THEN they shot a few cases of soda.  (This was the major party event.  They would shake up the soda and then shoot it and the soda would go everywhere!)  Of course, Danny provided the adult supervision- but actually he had a great time being 12 again himself!

 

We celebrated with Texas Sheetcake

 

and Jake said he wanted to put his face in it.  (... so I helped...)

 

Happy Birthday buddy!  Sure do love you.

Halloween 2010

It seems like this holiday just went on and on and on! On Thursday, Emery and Madi had their costume parade at preschool.

Minnie and the Purple Princess. I would love to show you the adorable pictures of them with their classes- but alas, I can not put them online- school rules. I completely understand and yet...

Saturday was the Chili Cook-Off and Trunk or Treat at the Church. The kids went all out with their costumes (and Kailey did some great work in the hair and makeup division!)


Shelby was the witchy devil woman. (I left the red eyes because she looks even more EVILE.)


Jake was a Cop attempting to go undercover.


Emery the Cheerleader


Madi as Minnie


Claire the Pirate (notice her sword and gold coins)


Kailey the cute Teenage Witch

We celebrated AGAIN on Sunday with pumpkin pancakes (orange colored batter, chocolate chip faces and orange buttermilk syrup) and jello brains (skull cups with jello). A healthy dinner? Some of us felt that trick or treating was fine to do on the Sabbath. Others didn't- so, the party poopers stayed home and handed out candy while the rest of the family were out and about. (Okay, so it was just me at home. I had a lovely time.)

Here are the tricksters as they were ready to head out the door!

Kailey's friend Emily was totally 80's. Kailey, Jake, Shelby and Claire were the same as yesterday. Emery was a pink princess and Madi was Cinderella.

Happy Halloween from the Carrells! Hope you got lots of treats and no tricks!

Thanks Janice Kapp Perry

Most evenings, before and after the little girls (Claire, Emery and Madison) pray- Danny and I sing them Primary songs (Primary is the Children's program in our church). Their usual repertoire is "Scripture Power" followed by their prayers, then "My Heavenly Father Loves Me" and we hope to be finished. However, sometimes there are extra requests. Madi is having a hard time going to sleep in her own bed- so if she is in her bed we will sing whatever she wants. A few months ago, we sang "The Wheels on the Bus" almost every night. Now we alternate between "Popcorn Popping on the Apricot Tree" and "Horsey, Horsey."

Tonight, Madi was already in bed with Kailey. (She will walk into Kailey and Shelby's room and with her saddest face she will say to Kailey, "Didi- can I sleep in your bed?" Kailey is a pushover and will let her hop in - as long as we come and move Madi to her own bed after she falls asleep.) So- we sang the regular songs and Danny left the room. As I was leaving, Claire requested "A Child's Prayer." This is one of my favorite primary songs. When I used to lead the music in Primary- I would love to hear the little children asking if Heavenly Father hears and answers their prayers. The first verse says:

Heavenly Father, are you really there?
And do you hear and answer ev'ry child's prayer?
Some say that heaven is far away,
But I feel it close around me as I pray.
Heavenly Father, I remember now
Something that Jesus told disciples long ago:
"Suffer the children to come to me."
Father, in prayer I'm coming now to thee.

So, tonight I sang the song. As I sang the second verse and was looking at my sweet little 7 year old's face- the words touched my heart.

Pray, he is there;
Speak, he is list'ning.
You are his child;
His love now surrounds you.
He hears your prayer;
He loves the children.
Of such is the kingdom, the kingdom of heav'n.

Then, I kissed two sweet little girls goodnight and thought about how their room felt like it was a little piece of heaven. So- thank you Janice Kapp Perry for writing such a beautiful song and helping me remember how great it is to be a mom.

Kailey's 14th Birthday!

Miss Kailey is officially 14 years old. She celebrated with friends overnight and then spent time with us after they left.

We were thrilled to shower her with presents. Kailey is a great gal and she is such an important part of our family.

Kailey loves her littlest sister and they often refer to each other as "best friend."


Miss Emery adores Kailey and often mimics her very actions. (Some good and some that we have had to discuss.)


These three all attend the same gymnastics class. I love to see the interactions among all three of them.


Kailey and Shelby are learning what communication, tolerance and love can do for a couple of roommates!


Claire is the first to remember the funny stories about all of her siblings- especially Kailey!


I love watching these two walk to the bus stop together. They are becoming good friends.
Kailey is Jake's "fashionista." (But he's wearing his soccer jersey.)


Kailey's smile makes us all happy.


Here is the birthday gal with her 2 biggest fans.

Kailey even went to her first Church Three Stake Dance (which means there were a LOT of 14-18 year olds!) on her birthday. She was an angel (it was a costume affair) and danced several times!!! Woohoo. We think she had fun. Kailey was born after 11:00 p.m. so she was home by her actual birthdate. Danny and I took the opportunity to give her a group hug at that exact moment!

So, the celebration continued the next day when we finally ate her cake.

The very happy birthday cake!


Will she be able to blow them all out in one breath?

We love you Kailey. We are so thankful that you are part of our family.

A very Happy Birthday

Today is my birthday. It has been a great day. We decided that we would start taking a family photo annually on this day. Here is our first installment.

The timer on our camera did good things to some of us- not great things to others.


Take number two was a bit better for some... (welcome to the corner of our backyard!)

Then it was time to open presents-

Stella leaves me presents too frequently- but I love her anyway.

These are my favorite presents-














I love them all. They love me too! You will feel the love as you scroll through these pictures.













Finally- someone who is happy when kissed by me!!!

Truly, my children and husband are the best gifts I could ever ask for. I. Am. So. Blessed.