Claire turns 8!

January 6th is a great day- because it is the day Claire was born.  I can hardly believe she is eight!

Thanks Grandma Jacque!

We love you Claire!

Yum...CAKE!

Apparently Stella wanted a little cake too and Grandpa Nef shared!

The END of Texas

We had to go shopping as Grandpa and Grandma Carrell gave the kids money to buy their own Christmas gifts.  A few little girls chose a teddy bear at Build-a-Bear.

Then a certain almost 8 year old got something really special:

BEFORE

and

AFTER!  (Take a look at the ears here!!!)

Then we HAD to get some good ol' BarBQ

Hook 'em Horns!

Then Sweet Em decided she needed to try to eat a lemon

and totally loved it!

I love these people.

Fort Worth Zoo

We all loved the Zoo

Giraffes!

and Elephants

I think they were actually looking at Grandma- but I still love it.

I thought these kids were awfully cute on that little elephant.

and I don't know why a carousel ride makes these people so happy!

My two favorite Texans

How much do we weigh?  How many chickens, goats or cows would we make?

Ben and Jilly kicking back on some good chairs and pretending they are old.  (LOVE the faces...)

Apparently, some of these people are NOT Gator fans.

We had a marvelous time at the Fort Worth Zoo! 

Texas Family Fun

It was Christmas all over again!  We had so much fun celebrating in Texas.  We were able to spend some time with people that we don't get to see very often.

Dawn and Kailey are ready

Ben- one of our all time favorites

What a handsome boy...

Grandpa Ross, Grandma Jacque and Grandpa Carrell

Aunt Shannon and Grandma (Can you tell that they are sisters?)

Madi is thrilled to get to open more presents

Dad and Claire are blowing up balloons

The kids- after playing the ultimate balloon and nylon game ever...

AND

we got to celebrate with Grandpa Ross on his birthday!

The Texas Trek

On Christmas day, we headed to Texas to see Aunt Jill and Uncle Ben plus Grandma and Grandpa Carrell and lots of other family members.  It was a LONG trip- we are talking 19+ hours one direction.  Actually the kids did really well and Stella was the best traveling puppy ever.  Our first night was spent in Atlanta, Georgia.  Night two was somewhere in Louisiana.  Then we were in Texas.  On the way back we stopped in Memphis, Tennessee (sadly I saw nothing of Memphis but I have been enjoying listening to "Walking in Memphis" quite frequently ever since.  Looooove that song!).  Some of the highlights of the trip?

Spending time with my all time favorite person.  What can I say?  I love him.

Fat goo... An app used by my children.  Sweet Madi is the recipient of this one.  She is cute even when made to look fat.

Bald Goo... Similar app to the fat goo.  For some reason, this picture provided much entertainment to Danny and I for quite some time.  

Madi got a baby bottle pop for her treat and somehow opened the powder and it spilled all over her and her seat.  We decided that this was the easiest way to clean everything up.

We know that this is a very safe carseat and it was fun for all of us, too!  (Madi actually was smiling here.)

We survived the trip and could actually do it again!  The stars at night are big and bright... (clap, clap, clap, clap) deep in the heart of TEXAS!