A day in the life

A day in the life at the Carnell house.

They love their little chairs and love climbing back and forth between the two.

He loves his terere

Kinley's school had an Art Exhibit of all of the childrens art.  It was really neat to see all of their artwork and how creative they are.  These are just a few of the many things that Kinley did.

Riding bikes is a bit of a sanity saver for mom these days!  I didnt even know Kinley knew how to ride.  I walked outside one day and there she was, riding! They also love to chase each other in circles around the dining room table for hours!

Sweet blankie!

Dancing... its all we do around here.

Messy Turner

One of my favorite times as a parent is when your kids start trying to feed themselves.  Of course, I don't love this EVERY night, but once in awhile it is very fun!  Turner loved being able to make messes.

Thanksgiving 2013

This Thanksgiving was anything but normal!  Turkey is not very popular here and to buy a turkey in the supermarket is ridiculously expensive.  We noticed one day as we were driving to Maria's house, that her neighbor had turkeys! She spoke with him and he said he would sell them for us to have for our Thanksgiving meal.

Kinley and I went over to check them out and she had a blast making them gobble!

A few days before Thanksgiving, Whitney Elliot and her dad came with me so that they could also pick out a turkey.  We pointed to the ones we wanted, the guy caught them, we carried them to Maria's house and then watched while Maria and her neighbor slit their necks!!  YIKES!  It was kind of an out of body experience.  Normally I would think that would really freak me out, but we all did great!

Turner came with me and had fun trying to pet the turkey and looking out the window!  No... he did not watch the killing!

After the blood had drained, we dunked the birds in boiling water, hung them back up and then we got to work on the feathers.  This was actually kind of fun!

Then came gutting it!  I like to play with the innards! ;)

These turkeys were SKINNY!  They actually had a ton of fat, but barely any meat.  We had some friends that donated another turkey that Lee smoked, so we were able to compare. It was a great experience, but there was no comparison in taste!

We had all of Maria's family, some friends and the missionaries for Thanksgiving lunch.  There was plenty of food and of course, some performing from Kinley! The most important part of Thanksgiving is the pies, so I guess that is the reason I dont have pictures of any of the other food!!

 Kinley might have convinced me in joining her entertainment.

Halloween/ Marine Corp Ball 2013

Halloween and the Marine Corps Ball are two things that the embassy gets pretty excited about. For the adult only party, Lee and I decided on a classic... The Sandlot! We had a great time being Squints and Wendy Peffercorn!

Everyone went all out on their costumes and we had a fun night dancing at the Marine House.

 Dannielle, by far, had the BEST costume! I couldnt stop laughing all night.

For the kids party, we chose a Monsters Inc/Ghostbuster theme! Kinley made an adorable Boo and Turner was the perfect Mike Wazowski! Lee was a Ghostbuster and decked out the golf cart too!  He even had the Ghostbuster theme blaring from speakers as he drove around.

This was our first Marine Corps Ball and it was fun to dress up and dance the night away.  We went to the Elliot's before for cocktails and Prom pics!