Mother's Day Pictures

Since Grandma Carrell was visiting for Mother's Day, we thought it was the perfect opportunity to get a nice picture of the kids. Were we able to accomplish our goal? Take a look...




Oh well, we will try again another day.

The Weekend in Amsterdam

Danny's mom and sisters came to visit- so we had them take a weekend adventure. They went to Amsterdam and had a wonderful time.

Jill, Danny and Dawn

You can't go to Holland without seeing windmills.

They took a bike tour.

Saw where clogs are made.

Enjoyed the tulips-

And had a wonderful weekend together.

The ROCK... of Gibraltar

Our last day trip on our Spanish vacation was to Gibraltar. Gibraltar has been a British Territory since 1713 (although now it is self governing). It is a peninsula (on the iberian peninsula) but is sometimes called an island. The strait of Gibraltar separates Europe from Africa and links the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea.

We're driving to Gibraltar- the van in front of us is the Halls van. We followed the Halls to Gibraltar and then walked around and toured with the.

An actual tourguide found us and was willing to take all of us with him. (6 adults and 11 children all in one van.)

Gibraltar has a lot of history that involves war. Here the kids are on an old cannon. (L - R: Claire, Kailey, Axelle, Emery, Jake, Abby, Hannah and Shelby)

St. Michaels cave was amazing. The stalactites and stalagmites and so incredible to look at. Part of this cave is huge. They still give concerts here. Claire, Jake, Shelby, Abby, and Hannah- with Sarah in back- doing their silly faces.

It is said that if the apes ever leave Gibralar, so will the British. The apes are really not afraid of anything. Jake looks very natual with the monkey on his head.

Emmm, Kailey, you have a monkey on your shoulder!

Shelby with an ape.

Madison thought her dad looked cute with a monkey on his shoulder.

Here are all of the Carrells and Halls. I love this picture- too bad some of us were cut off! (This is what happens when you hand someone your camera and ask them to take your picture.)

The Carrells- solid as the rock of Gibraltar!

Meet me in Morocco

While we were in Spain, we decided to go across the sea to the continent of Africa- to see a bit of Morocco. We took the super fast ferry (35 minutes) from Tarifa, Spain to Tangier, Morocco. It was a fun few hours- although we really didn't get to see much of Morocco. In fact, we heard Tangier compared to Tijuana- so take it for what it's worth...

The first stop was Camel Rides. Our trip was especially good, because we got to take Sweet Sarah with us! (Sarah actually lives with the Halls in Paris- but because she hadn't seen Morocco- we got to take her with us!) Sarah was very popular because she is so sweet and made all of our girls think they were super important. Emery adopted Sarah as her BFF and wouldn't let Sarah go anywhere without her. As you can see- she was thrilled to share the camel ride with Sarah.

I watched the camel rides from the comfort of the bus- Madison fell asleep, so I stayed in the bus with her. Shelby and Kailey had a fun ride on their camel.

Jake and Claire also enjoyed their jaunt on the camel. I don't know how comfortable it was- but definitely a great adventure! (You can see our bus in the background.)

Danny didn't want to miss out on the fun, and Emery and Shelby wanted another ride- so Danny shared his camel with them. (The camel had to work for that money!)

Part of our tour included lunch at a local restaurant. We enjoyed (well some of us) soup, bread, a lamb skewer, chicken and couscous and mint tea and a pastry for dessert. Here is Kailey with her skewer. She looks thrilled doesn't she?

Claire, Shelby, Jake, Emery and Sarah
Kailey kept asking what the mystery meat was on the stick. I wouldn't really give her a straight answer (because I knew what would happen) and encouraged her to try it. Her dad told her that it was lamb. (Danny didn't realize that he was correct.) Kailey had already tried it- but chose not to eat any more after that and told her siblings what it really was. You have to realize that I have never prepared lamb and so there is a bit of a stigma with my children. Sometimes the unknown is just more palatable...

We enjoyed seeing the spices and other natural remedies they showed us at the pharmacy, we saw lots of rugs and a few tablecloths (and didn't buy even one) and the kids were all able to get a moroccan trinket to take home.
Morocco was a very fun day trip! Thanks for coming with us, Sarah!

Espana El Magnifico!

We took the opportunity to visit "sunny" Spain during the kids' Easter break. It wasn't always sunny- but it was wonderful. We flew into Almeria and then drove to the Marriott Marbella Beach Hotel.

We had some fun day trips including a trip into the mountains to see the city of Ronda.

Ronda is considered the birthplace of bullfighting. It is a pretty town with a 100 meter chasm right in the center of town!

You can see Danny and the girls near the rock fence with the bridge that spans the chasm in back of them.

We met up with John and Renee Hall and their family. The Halls live in Paris, but we have known them since we (and they) were newlyweds. We planned this trip with them almost a year ago. The Halls almost weren't able to come to Spain as their sweet little boy Parker contracted Meningitis in February and has been very ill. However, we were so blessed to spend time with them. The kids all had fun together and we were able to renew our friendship and enjoy some great chats. John and Renee are absolutely incredible people whom we are privileged to call our friends. (Photo- L to R- Renee, Danny, Jake, Diane, Madi, Axelle, Abby, Shelby, Claire, Kailey, Hannah, Emery, Penelope, John and Parker is in the stroller)

Shelby and Claire with the bridge in the background. (They look just a tiny bit nervous.)

Our hotel was wonderful and we enjoyed a little picnic on one of the sunny days!

Danny and Jake took the opportunity of seeing a bullfight. They had a great time. (I did NOT want to go and did not encourage the girls to go either.)

The kids had a fun time searching for shells on the beach.

They enjoyed playing in the sand as well.

Madi even had fun being partially buried in the sand.

Jake showed off his muscles while he and Kailey soaked in the hot tub.
Spain was magnificent. We had a wonderful time and would definitely go again!

Happy Birthday Baby!

Can you believe that our sweet Madison Eire Carrell is a year old? I can't! I also can't imagine NOT having Madi in our family.

The little "Birthday Princess" wore her tiara to school and got SO many compliments. She loves to have people's attention.

Instead of having a party, (we are waiting for Grandma for the party) we went to the church for an activity. It was there that Madison discovered Kailey's purse and would NOT let go of it. She altered her crawling pattern so she could carry the purse around. What a funny little thing.

We love you Madi and are so thankful that you are part of our family!

Stepping out and UP in Zermatt

My sweet sister Nancy came to visit us and it was so great! Traveling to and from Dublin was a nightmare for her (Salt Lake to Chicago- missed flight to Dublin- so went to London and THEN to Ireland... her luggage didn't make it until the next day...) but we were so glad that she came! We spent less than 24 hours on the Emerald Isle before whisking her away to Switzerland. Traveling again proved to be more than exciting. Emery was feeling better (see older post) but Claire wasn't quite herself and Madison was really sick. We took an extra outfit for me and 3 extra outfits for Madi (to be used as backup on the plane and train) and I believe we used them all plus two blankets. It was a rough day for the little angel- but she wasn't very upset- just puky. (It's a miracle Nancy ever comes to visit.)
After arriving in Zermatt in the evening, a taxi took us to the apartment we had rented. He stopped the taxi and said, "Okay, just follow the stairs." We were a bit surprised to see how many steps there were. Just a few less than 200! (I think the actual number was 193.) I believe that we had 8 suitcases and several backpacks/ carryons. I overheard Jake say, "Think Rocky. Think Rocky." We hummed the song and made it up the stairs! (Danny did the majority of the heavy work. What a man.)

The upside was that the view from the apartment was truly spectacular! The Matterhorn is gorgeous! Zermatt did not disappoint us. The weather was wonderful and the sunshine was splendid.

We had a wonderful time going sledding!

Shelby and Claire in their matching snowsuits. Claire tried skiing this time and Shelby spent a lot of time on her skis. She is doing well!

Emery also tried skiing but prefered just hanging out in the snow- and she looked so cute in her sunglasses! (That sun was so bright!)

Madison didn't feel super great during our trip (it took a full 5 days for her to get over that nasty tummy bug) but she was so pleasant most of the time. What a little sweetie.

Danny, Kailey and Jake tried out snowboarding. They looked great and agreed that the boots are much more comfy... but have decided that they will stick with skiing. (Danny was thankful for Ibuprofen for a day or two afterward. Kailey sprained her wrist and wore a splint for two weeks...) I even got to ski. It has been 9 years since I had the opportunity. I truly enjoyed my time. It was absolutely breathtaking. It was quiet. I realized again how amazing this beautiful world is.

Zermatt is winter paradise. We loved our second visit! It was even better having Nancy with us!