Back from the warm California Sun...

Well, our nine days are up already and I miss it! Holy crap we had such a great time and a million memories were made! We left on Friday, Nov. 21st and went to St. George to stay with Joel and Kally. Kally had gotten us girlies tickets to "Twilight" and can I just say I LIKED IT?! There is so much discussion to be had on the movie, both good and bad but that will just have to wait for another day.
Anyway, Allie Beckett (my sister, Tracy's daughter) saved up her money all summer long and bought her theme park entrance passes and was able to join us on our fun trip! This has been very hard in deciding which pictures to post because I took over 600... whoopsie! This first picture is just outside the theatre in St. George right after we saw the movie. Kally and I talked all the way home about the parts we liked, disliked and what parts they should have expanded more on. We totally dissected the movie bit by bit...it was a blast!

Our first day in Cali we visited the San Diego Zoo. I must admit that it was not the greatest thing in the world, to me. I was actually kind of bummed out that it was so boorish. So I was mostly glad we didn't save this park for our last day of vacation.



Maddie wanted to get her caricature done. They guy who drew her was amazing! Her favorite part of the drawing is her braces because the guy put dollar signs where the brackets are.

Jaden was so excited to get his face painted. He walked around the park all day will cool attitude.

After the zoo we drove to Laguna Beach just as the sun was setting. Don't even get me started on our bad luck trying to find a place to park in that teensy town and all of the claustrophobic little streets! But the kids had fun splashing in the ocean so it was totally worth it.

Our next day was spent at Universal Studios, which we absolutely loved! Maddie and Allie are about to be swallowed by jaws...

I want to be barbie!

Next was Sea World where the prices for cotton candy exceeded Disneyland! Grrr. Anyway, Jaden loved the place where we (I shouldn't say "we"....the kids and Matt) were brave and touched disgusting creatures. Below is Jaden holding a starfish.

Maddie and Allie were quite scared touching the sting rays. They are actually called bat rays because the actual stinger had been cut off, luckily. The girls were WAY braver than I was, but still were a tad leary of them. They said they felt slimy-ish and jello-like.

We finally got to spend three whole days at Disneyland and Disney's California Adventure Park. By far, those were the highlights of our trip! If anyone know's Jaden, they know he LOVES Star Wars and especially Darth Maul. So WO WAS HE when he was chosen from the crowd to participate in a Jedi Training Camp. And lucky him, got to have hand to hand lightsaber combat with Darth Maul himself.

Me and Allie seriously almost cried when we first saw the castle. Keep in mind here, this was my FIRST trip to Disneyland. The only other castle I had seen was in DisneyWorld in Orlando. I can't even count how many times I've been to those parks because I lived there for a few years. Well, upon seeing this castle, I just about was disappointed. It is miniscule in comparison with Cinderella's castle in Florida! But really, how can you be disappointed in any way shape or form if you're in Disneyland? So the shock was short-lived and me and Allie soon grew to love it...especially at night when all the pretty lights came on.

This was how our first day at Disneyland ended. It began to rain about 7pm and the park didn't close until midnight. I literally felt soaked through. My toes were so soggy it was gross! But we decided to brave the rain and continue going on every ride we could. We actually were happy because when I checked the weather before heading down to Cali, it was supposed to rain for four days straight. And this was all we got the entire time we were there. LUCKY!

Here is Maddie in line to see Minnie. She was lucky because they cut the long line off just after her!

Look how pretty all the lights are on "Small World". I don't think I will ever get sick of this cute attraction...even though it's just a simple boat ride!

You can't go to Disneyland without riding in the teacups!

Happy Thanksgiving to us! My favorite thing in the world....the $7 turkey leg! Yep, we spent Thanksgiving day at Disneyland and enjoyed every last second of it.

Last but not least, our favorite, FAVORITE ride, "The Tower of Terror!". I bet we went on this more than ten times! It was a great trip and as usual, we are glad to be home, but sad we had to leave. Long live Disneyland!!!!

 

Happy Haunting!

Ok first of all, I have to give a big "THANKS" to my friend Allison because she was smart enough to tell me how to add more than 5 pics at a time..........
Here's Maddie and Jaden last night. Jaden was Dracula, or a Vampire, or Edward or whatever...
Maddie was all decked out in her jammies and curlers. Earlier this week we went to a Halloween party at my sister in law's house. Here I am being a "Flapper Dancer" from the '20's.

Jaden Potter!

Maddie the disco dancer. Groovy!

Sister's Weekend Part 1

So it's been two years since we've had a sister's weekend. This was LONG overdue and quite possibly much too short but it was well worth it! Tiff had us over to her place in Salt Lake from Friday to Saturday. Below is a picture of all of us (and Ben! He stayed for a bit and then took his kids back home) who came. We missed Mom, Tawnja, Guppy, Tran and Kally who weren't able to make this one...bummer!
Back row: Ben, Brenda, Karmen, Nadja.
Middle: Deb-T, Tracy, Valerie, Jen.
Front and center: Tiffy who is 11 weeks pregnant!

Me, Tracy, Val and Tiff started off sister's weekend by running a few errands before the others arrived. We found this awesome place that had killer deals on modest shirts and dresses. It's a small warehouse in Salt Lake by Tiff's house...the DownEast Clothing line. We seriously found shirts for $2.50 and dresses for $7.50! Everyone else arrived about 5:30 that night (coming from Idaho). We had artichokes for dinner, which is a Campbell delicacy! Then everyone brought food to share. Karmen made our traditional avacado sister's night dip and Nadja brought some Danish abelskiver...just to name a few. We had so much to eat but that's part of all the fun! We kept going back for more again and again...


One or our new traditions that Tiff came up with, was to bring "our favorite things" to sister's night. We each bought, made or came up with something to bring that we considered one of our favorite things...and gave one to everyone in the group. It's a little bit hard to do because we have a $3 per person limit so it doesn't get too expensive. That was SO MUCH FUN! This first picture below is of Brenda. She brought some dried apples that she had made, and a roll of very pretty scrapbook paper.

This one is of Karmen who had made handmade greeting and birthday cards, and her favorite candy bar, an Idaho spud!

These were some of the shirts we found at DownEast! What a find, Val! We were all excited about these... Notice "Charlie" in the background about to take a bit of Val's head.

Ok, since I'm computer challenged, I can't figure out how to make my pictures smaller. It will only let me put 5 pictures on per post so you'll have to go down to the next post to see the rest of the pics from sister's night.

Sisters Weekend Part 2

Here is Jen with her cute baggie of goodies. She put in some dove chocolates, some breathe right nasal strips (totally funny!) and some cherry carmex. Jaden snores so I'm going to try the nasal strips out on him!

Here's Tiffany with her tootsie rolls, some shiny lipgloss and some lotion for our purses. She and Tracy were so funny because they kept 'apologizing like a Campbell' for being too practical in their goodie bags. SILLY! That was the fun part...seeing everyones different ideas. Plus I was totally out of lotion...


This is Tracy with her bottle of Calcium pills for all of us. The funny thing about this was that we all gasped in happiness about getting this! We small boned too-skinny Campbells are starved for strong bones and it was funny to see how excited we all were about these!

Nadja made the cutest witch hats that she painted up and decorated herself. We all squealed with excitement to get a cute Halloween decoration!

I had made up some wooden blocks and decorated them up for everyone there. The 'C' is for Campbell. Each sister there had the letter for her last name to display somewhere at their house (G for George, B for Beckett, R for Ross, H for Hansen, M for Memmott, P for Pope etc...).
We stayed up til just after 2am on Friday and then crashed. Saturday we had orange rolls for breakfast and then headed off to Salt Lake Temple for a lunch and a session. There is something special about being in the temple with your family. All the sweet little old temple ladies kept commenting on how we all looked alike and was amazed at how many sister's we had.
SISTER'S NIGHT ROCKS!

Jaden's 9th Birthday

Jaden turned 9 on September 11th and yes, he still thinks the entire country celebrates with him by flying their flags outside! He turned 2 years old when our country was attacked and he actually remembers it!
Well, since he's really into football right now, he wanted a football themed birthday party. Let me just say this much about the cake: I'm terrible! For the life of me, I couldn't get the stupid white frosting to cooperate which is why you don't see numbers along the yard lines in the 'field'. I finally put a dumb little piece of football candy on it and called it good.




Here's some of the gang chowing down on pizza and soda pop.




The kids all got to make their own "jersey" used for the touch football game we played at the end.




They all loved this one for some reason. They got to pick a prize when they were able to throw the football through the tire. They sat and continued to throw it through long after all the prizes were gone!




Friends and cousins! What a great team!

Go Cowboys!!!! #11 rocks!

Uh-oh...a tag. Blast!

Well if you know me at all, it's rather impossible for me to put one word to a question. I am changing the rules to this tag so that I can answer any way I want to because frankly, my dear...I gon't give a tag! (I'm so lame! Ok, I'll TRY to one word it here-)

1. Where is your cell phone?
Purse
2. Your significant other?
3. Your hair? Will be getting colored tomorrow.
4. Your mother? Loves working at Walmart!
5. Your father? Bishop
6. Your favorite thing? Pristine (That's the name of my new car and I love her!)
7. Your dream last night? None.
8 Your favorite drink? Pepsi
9. Your dream/goal? To have a baby!
10. The room you’re in? Office
11. Your hobby? Scrapbooking
12. Your fear? Spiders, the dark, airplanes, cockroaches, dogs, that I won't ever have any more babies.
13. Where do you want to be in 6 years? not 36 years old
14. What you’re not? Pregnant
15. Muffins? Dry and gross.
16. One of your wish list items? To have a baby.
17. Where you grew up? Idaho and Utah
18. The last thing you did? Cut up chicken
19. What are you wearing? Jeans and a striped shirt
20. Favorite gadget? My crop-o-dile! Say goodbye to the inconvenience of eyelet setter tools!
21. Your pets? 3 kitties. Unless you count the butchered cow and pig in my freezer.
22. Your computer? Wonderful
23.Your mood? Ornery. It's just that certain time...
24. Missing someone? Joel and Kally
25.Your car? Pristine!
26. Something you’re not wearing? Shoes
27. Favorite store? Mall
28. Like someone? SARAH PALIN!
29. Your favorite color? Purple
30. When is the last time you laughed? Today. Life is laughable
31. Last time you cried? Today. See question 23. Grrrr.

Ok, I now tag: TIFFANY, KALLY, VAL, NADJA, BRENDA, GUPPY!

My Nephi Campbell Family Reunion

My Uncle Gary held a family reunion up in Hobble Creek Canyon in Utah County. It was so fun to be able to go. My Grandma and Grandpa Campbell are so dear to me and so time spent with them it a treasure. You never know how long you'll have them with you.
This first pic is of my with my Grandma Elaine and Grandpa Nephi Campbell. Next to that one is my Aunt Pam and Uncle Jim who are brother and sister to my dad. Below left is a picture of my Aunt Terri putting on Bingo for the kids and the last one is of my cousin Steve and his girlfriend, Katie.


Here we have my Papa giving his dad a hello kiss. My parents came up from St. George for the day and turned around and had to be home for church the next day (My dad is Bishop of the singles ward down there and couldn't miss his meetings). The next photo is of my cousin Shaunee's family with her husband and 8 kids! Below left is my cousin Erika and her two kids, Mackenzie and Cameron and last is a pic of my cousin Katrina and her son, Travis.


OK here it might get a little tricky. Perhaps one of my dear cousins will help me fill in those faces I can't remember. This first pic is of my cousin, Shane and his wife Tina (Thanks, Traci!). Next to that is my cousin Travis and his wife, Jessica. Below left is my cousin Dustin and his wife, Laura and the last pic is of my SILLY Uncle Gary and my sweet Aunt Terri.

OK, this first pic is of my cousin Rachel and her two sons, Jake and Sterling. Next to that is my cousin Brandon and his fiance________. Below left is my cousin Stacie and her husband Jeff and their two kids and last is my sweet Grandma Campbell.

All in all it was a fun day to spend with my relatives that I don't always get to see all that often. Love you all!

Football,Braces and School OH MY!!!!!

Well, here he is! Mr. Football himself! Jaden started his first year of football and is loving every minute of it. As a Mother, I can't get over how seriously CUTE these little guys are in their mini uniforms. They practice four times a week and games begin this weekend. Go Cowboys!!!!





This past Wednesday, Maddie got her braces put on. A whole week before school begins. Look how pretty she makes them look! She is getting used to talking funny and using up all her wax because gosh darn it....they hurt!


As long as I'm posting something...................Well I thought I'd be smart and put pictures of the kids on the first day of school....although it doesn't start for a few more days. I thought, "well heck, while I'm at it- I'll add a first day of school post!" See.......this saves me having to post something else for a while. So I made the kids get dressed up in the outfit of their choice and pose for me.
Maddie will be starting Jr. High and going into the 7th grade.
Jaden is starting the third grade this year.

Joe's Valley

This past week we took off for four days to a place called Joe's Valley. We went with my sister and brother in law who own a cabin down there and lot's of water toys. We had such a blast and we want to go back every year!

Ok for everyone out there who know's me, I'm a real wussy baby when it comes to water. I actually went out on a jetski all by myself! I made sure someone snapped a picture for proof.

Here is a picture of Maddie, Jaden and their cousin Jordan on the big tube. Maddie is much like me in that she prefers the beach rather than all the water toys...but she did try the tube! Jaden however, wants to try it all. He's very brave!


Here is Megan giving her best shot at surfing on the lake. She actually had great balance!

Here is my baby! Jaden is only 8 years old and got up on waterski's! I was such a proud mother that he was able to do it! His cousin Cuyler sat with him very patiently and taught him just what to do. It took several tries but HE DID IT!

Campbell Family Reunion

I want the whole world to know what a great family I have. We had our annual Campbell Family Reunion last week and for the first time in many years, we were all able to be there together. When you have a family of 14, it is difficult to all come together and we are so BLESSED that we were all able to do so. The family pictures were one of the best moments for me. There was a feeling of togetherness that I hope to hold on to forever.
A tribute to my family that I love and cherish! I love you! Pictured below in order: Front Row: Tawnja, Jennifer, Brenda, Tiffany, Jennifer, Mom, Tracy, Debbie, Valerie, Karmen
Back Row: Benjamin, Keith, Papa, Joel
Ok, wait.......if you've just read my sister, Tiff's comment, you've discovered that I can't even get my own family straight! Hilarious!!!! Go back and read Tiff's comment, and then you can look at people's faces and this time I'll match up their names CORRECTLY! ...........I hope............
Front Row: Tawnja, Jennifer, Brenda, Tiffany, Karmen, Mom, Tracy, Debbie, Valerie, Koriann
Back Row: Benjamin, Keith, Papa, Joel