The Utah Campbells

1 More Lagoon Post

2010-07-11T22:18:00.000-07:00

Ashlyn, Jocelyn and Mackenzie

Ashlyn & Sophie, Jocelyn & Jessica, Mackenzie

Jessica

Anna

Proof that I made it onto at least 1 ride. Actually I only went on 2 rides this year, but I would still declare it a successful and fun trip. Maybe next time I'll get to go on some "big kid" rides!

More Lagoon

2010-07-11T22:11:00.001-07:00

Kimm and Kyler

Riley

Jessica and Craig

(Garrett and Anna are 8 days apart in age, and they are the cutest two kids you will ever see when they are together. They are 2 peas in a pod. When our families are together, they are together the whole time. And Anna can hold her own against Garrett. Hopefully they'll be good friends for a long time to come!)

Anna, Garrett and Sophie

Brianna, Ann (7 months pregnant) and Ann's sister Teth

4th of July

2010-07-11T21:57:00.001-07:00

Here are a TON of pictures from our 4th of July weekend. In the past we've had a tradition of going to Lagoon on the 4th, but it's been a few years since we've done it. This year we finally made it back but had Trent and Kimm's families with us. It was so much fun. Trent's family came down on Saturday and stayed the weekend with us. Craig and Trent played in a softball tournament in Perry with their Johnson cousins. We did our own fireworks on Sunday. Monday morning Ashlyn had an All-star softball game. I forgot my camera but her team won 8-3, and Ashlyn hit a TRIPLE which got her team's first point on the scoreboard for the game. After the game we quickly grabbed some lunch and then headed to Lagoon. We stayed until the park closed at 10. It was a LONG day, but so much fun! Can't wait for next year. :-)

Mackenzie and Jocelyn

Brianna at Lagoon. She's 10 weeks old here. (We catch her with her hands in her mouth more often than not. Not sure if we're going to keep her from being a thumb sucker. Keep your fingers crossed for us!)

Looking for trouble? Either one of these girls will work! ;-)
Jessica and Sophie

An attempt at capturing some of our fireworks on film!

The kids were supposed to be sleeping in the backyard in a tent, but when I found out that only 6 of the kids were going to sleep outside and the oldest two out there were the 8 yr olds (with no parents out there), I decided to put a nix on the camping out idea. This is what we ended up with...a huge sleepover in the basement! We love when the cousins come to visit!

Feeding the Ducks

2010-07-11T21:49:00.000-07:00

The other day we headed to Barnes Park to feed the ducks. Many years ago we did this with Tiffany and my mom. I decided it was about time I took the kids there again. At least 3 of my kids weren't even born the last time we were there. :-)

June

2010-07-11T21:31:00.000-07:00

For those of you who missed this picture on Facebook, Nathan had a late night on the last day of school. While at the friend's house, they decided to mess around on their tredmill. Well, this is what happens when the tredmill gets cranked up and you don't know how to get off. Nathan was in quite a bit of pain that night. As you can see, he had a ton of burns and a few that were deep enough that they bled. Not a fun thing to see your child in this much pain. The good thing from this...I heard "Mom, now I know why you don't let us play on our tredmill!" Too bad sometimes we have to learn the hard way!

Ashlyn's team took first place this year in softball. Here she is with her friend Kylie. They received the "Stockton to Malone" award from the coaches. Kylie played 1st base and Ashlyn played pitcher. They had more outs from pitcher to 1st than anyone else on the team. They had a lot of fun with it. The funny part of all of it was that Ashlyn had to ask, "Who's Stockton and Malone?" Good thing there wasn't a die hard Jazz fan standing near by!

Had to add a couple pictures of Brianna at 9 wks old. She had her 2 month appt and is now 11 1/2 pounds. She's growing so fast, and I don't think her "small" start is going to hang around for too long. :-)

6 Week Brianna

2010-06-13T14:39:00.001-07:00

Brianna is 7 weeks old tomorrow, and we believe she's about 10 lbs after weighing her with Ashlyn on the scale. Most of my babies have been 10 lbs at 2 weeks, but we still love our little girl!!!

Brianna at 6 weeks with big, open eyes!

Jessica and Brianna

Garrett and Brianna

Utah Summer Games

2010-06-13T14:05:00.001-07:00

We just spent 4 days in Cedar City, Utah for the Utah Summer Games. Ashlyn's soocer team (now coached by Craig) competed in the U10 division. Craig, Ashlyn, Jocelyn, Brianna and myself went and had a great time. The other 3 kids stayed at home with their McMinn cousins.

Here's Ashlyn trying to boot the ball!

Ashlyn is incredible at throwing in the ball, and she can throw it in far! Most often the coaches want her to throw in if possible.

It was so much fun having Jocelyn with us. She loves watching and playing soccer, and she found a sister of a girl on our team and buddied up with her every chance they had. Here she's video taping while waiting for the awards ceremony. (And yes, she has a jacket on because it was very wet and cold that morning.)

One foot from all 12 players on the team, and a few showing off their finger nails from the finger nail painting party they had one night. :-)

Go Strikers!!! The team took 2nd place and received silver medals at the awards ceremony. This was a photo shoot before the awards were announced, so we could get close up!

Early May Update

2010-05-10T20:22:00.000-07:00

Ashlyn and Jocelyn had their annual clogging competition at Lagoon last Saturday. This is a picture just before they left. Craig was going to make a girl's morning out of it and take Jessica with them, but Jessica ended up getting pink eye and had to miss out on "galoon". She was very disappointed. These two had a lot of fun though and always love the treats they get when dad takes them somewhere!!! (McDonalds for breakfast afterward.)

This is a very common scene in our home now. I think they'll be happier when Brianna is awake more because more often then not I'm telling them they have to wait to hold her because she's sleeping, and when she's not sleeping she's not happy!

Not the best picture but it's a close up of Brianna. It actually makes her look big and chunky, but actually she's not. :-) This was from last week some time.

I believe this is the 1 week old picture I took.

Ashlyn took this picture for me tonight. Brianna went to the dr. today, and she's 2 ounces short of her birth weight (7 lbs 10 oz). Kind of funny when at least 3 of my children were almost 10 lbs at 2 weeks! Brianna is 2 weeks old today! It seems like she's been with us longer. Sure love this sweet girl!

And Just a Few More

2010-05-01T19:13:00.001-07:00

My beautiful children all together at last!

2 days old

3 days old

5 days old

5 days old (just different clothes and very peaceful)

Meeting the Family

2010-05-01T19:07:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the family Brianna Kirstine!!!

2010-05-01T18:53:00.001-07:00

This is the "day before delivery" photo.

Here's Brianna weighing in at 7 lbs 12 oz. on April 26. My smallest baby!

This is one of my favorite pictures!

I always love getting to hold my babies after delivery. Probably just really relieved to have them out of me. :-) But this was by far the easiest delivery out of all 6. The petosin was started at 8am, the doctor broke my water at 8:40am, and Brianna arrived at 11:40am. There was never any severe pain, my body did all the work (I only pushed 3 times right at the end of delivery), and I had the greatest nurse ever! Great overall memory to end having children with.

April Fun

2010-05-01T18:42:00.001-07:00

So Nathan has been in great need of a new jacket. We were really trying to hold off until his birthday in May, but I really started getting embarrassed of his old jacket and couldn't handle him wearing it for another day. So in celebration of "one month before my birthday", here's Nathan getting to open one present early!

I absolutely love Spring!!! And with Spring comes lots of playing outside. This day, the kids convinced Craig to play on the trampoline with them. Here are a few shots from their playing.

Dad and Jessica!

Garrett lost his first two teeth this month! I don't think there was a more proud kid in the neighborhood. Garrett had me tell everyone we saw or talked to on the phone about losing his first tooth. It was a lot of fun. Can't believe he's old enough to be losing teeth!

After the Baptism Photos

2010-04-18T16:41:00.000-07:00

Ashlyn was given control of the camera at the dinner since Craig and I are so terrible and taking pictures at events. Here she's making sure that she made it into one of the photos.

Kenzie sitting on Dylan!

Jocelyn and Hailey (a friend that came from American Fork to support her).

Jessica and Taylor

Nathan and Kyle

Jocelyn's Baptism

2010-04-18T16:36:00.000-07:00

Jocelyn's Baptism on Saturday, April 10. It was a wonderful day.

Jocelyn's Birthday

2010-04-18T16:26:00.001-07:00

Jocelyn's b-day is on St. Patrick's Day. This is her being silly before school!

Jocelyn with her presents.

Jocelyn begged for a pillow pet. We had to do some hunting online to find one, but this is what she got. A duck that can be a pillow or a pet. The crazy ideas they have out there! (Now Ashlyn is saving up her money for one.)

Jocelyn wanted a chocolate/vanilla swirl cake. Have to say, my girls have good taste in cake. :-)

Ashlyn's Birthday

2010-04-18T16:18:00.001-07:00

Jessica trying on Ashlyn's new rollerblades.

Ashlyn before opening her presents.

Excited to find all the clothes she had been hoping for.

Ashlyn chose a poppyseed cake this year. Boy it was yummy!

Ashlyn'

2010-04-18T16:18:00.000-07:00

Family Picnic

2010-03-22T12:21:00.000-07:00

Jessica had been begging me for a picnic, and Nathan had been begging for turkey burgers; so I surprised the family with an indoor family picnic. We had a lot of fun!

Fun Kid Pictures

2010-03-22T12:14:00.001-07:00

Nathan and his lip sync group. They performed to "Staying Alive".

Just a wee bit scary!

I think the older two girls helped to hide Jessica in her stuffed animals. Gotta love the toes hanging out at the end too.

Three little monkeys!

Silly Jessica!

2010-01-12T09:23:00.000-08:00

This is how we found Jessica on Saturday watching TV in our room!

Last night we were trying to get Jocelyn to eat any of her dinner, so she could have some of the FHE treats too. At one point we turned around and found Jessica trying to feed Jocelyn her green beans! We had to stop laughing long enough to get a picture!!!

Along with Jessica's, "Come on! Take a bite!" she tried to pull Jocelyn's hands down too!

Just some pictures I took of Jessica today! She won't stop growing up!

This is her new favorite outfit to wear, but she isn't "pretty" until she has her shoes on too!

Wrestling with Dad

2010-01-12T09:19:00.000-08:00

The kids have so much fun when dad will wrestle with them! Typically, it doesn't end before we have at least one child crying with an injury. This time we actually stopped the fun before that happened!

Wii Injury

2010-01-01T16:15:00.000-08:00

So Ashlyn experienced our first real Wii injury, and guess who's to blame? Yes, me!!! I'm afraid she was a little too close as I swung while playing baseball. I was a little worried when she finally lifted her hand to show me because I saw quite a bit of blood, but once we cleaned it we realized there was the tiniest cut but quite the goose egg. Sorry Ashlyn!

One more shot. (Sorry it's blury!) Notice she's not trying to make me feel any better about it with the look on her face!

New Year's Eve Project

2010-01-01T09:39:00.000-08:00

This poor room in our basement has been everything from my attempted office/craft room to Craig's office to this attempt at a play room. As you can see, we failed miserably at the play room. The scary thing is that this picture was taken after at least a third of the "junk" had been removed. When we first started you could not even see the floor. Well yesterday Craig and I decided it was time to make it into a functional playroom. Here's the before...

and here's the after!!! We're still going to do some fun things (hopefully) with decorating, but that will have to wait for a bit while we recoup from the cost of this. It was wonderful to have the room done for last night since we had people over to celebrate the New Year. The girls did crafts on the table, watched movies, and played games in here while the 4 youngest boys played the Wii in the basement family room and the 3 oldest boys played the Xbox in our den upstairs. It's only taken us 6 years to get this figured out, but hey, maybe after 10 we'll finally have the whole house figured out! :-)

I believe Craig took this picture to show that for about 40 minutes last night we had 36 people in our home of which 17 of them were 14 and 15 year olds! Our good friends were here and got a call at 10:45pm from their daughter saying that she and her friends were wanting to head to their house for the countdown. Well, that would have meant that her parents would have had to leave our playing, so Craig and I invited them to bring all the friends here. We didn't have a clue as to how many there would be, but we knew we had plenty of food and could handle the group. Well, they came, and we had a wonderful time watching these teenagers mingle for a while. The younger kids were in awe of all the girls and boys here, and we had a fun time counting in the New Year! Maybe having teenagers won't be so bad after all! (I can hope, right?!!)

Fun in the Snow

2009-12-30T12:53:00.000-08:00

We awoke to quite a bit of snow today, so our friends invited us to their cul-de-sac to ride on sleds behind their 4 wheeler. We had a great time!

Jessica's friend, Emily(2), pulling her on the sled.

Jessica and Emily's snowman.

Corey pulling the girls behind his 4 wheeler.

Most of the kids awaiting their turn.

Craig pulling the 2 littlest girls on their sled.

More Christmas

2009-12-30T12:45:00.001-08:00

Our tree Christmas morning.

Jessica being a super hero!

Not exactly sure what she's doing!!!

All the Campbell cousins in Pocatello.

Christmas Day

2009-12-30T12:39:00.000-08:00

Just a few shots of the kids with their presents.

Christmas Eve

2009-12-30T12:31:00.001-08:00

Jessica in her new pj's and robe.

Ashlyn & Jocelyn in their new pj's and robes.

Nathan & Garrett in their new pj's and robes.

All together!

Our nativity stars (with Brian's kids).

Midway Cabin with Friends

2009-10-27T15:25:00.000-07:00

Our friends, the Watts, invited us to their family cabin to play for a weekend in August before school started. We had so much fun! We designed a pully system that came from the garage, and the kids loved it!

They also had 2 four wheelers up there. Here's Craig with Garrett and Landon Watts.

Jocelyn taking a turn!

Summer Fun!

2009-08-27T20:22:00.000-07:00

This is a beautiful view going from Cody, Wyoming to Yellowstone National Park.

This is round 2 of the garden. Corn with pumpkins in front of them and broccoli, carrots and cucumbers to the side. All of my tomato plants are in the bark by my fruit trees. This was taken a few weeks ago. The corn is now above the fence. It should be ready the middle of September to the end of September. We can't wait!!!

On July 25, we had a reunion of about 8 years span of YW from my ward growing up....the good old 7th Ward. We had so much fun and hope to do it again in about 5 years. We may even invite the YM next time!

Our nephew Scott got to come with his dad and stay at our house for about 4 days in July. He and Garrett had so much fun together. Scott lives in Georgia, so we don't get to see him often. This was a real treat. This day the kids wanted me to take pictures of them swinging. Notice how high Garrett is!

Another shot on our way from Cody to Yellowstone. Garrett was asleep in the car. That would be why he's missing. :-)

New Family Pictures

2009-07-21T13:18:00.000-07:00

Craig's brother took these pictures last night at the Layton City Park. I can't wait to get one printed up, so we can update our family photo on the wall. Jessica keeps asking us where she is in it, so this should eliminate that problem!

Carthage Jail

2009-07-19T20:04:00.000-07:00

One of the highlights of the trip was visiting Carthage jail. It's hard to explain the way I felt while there, or in any part of Nauvoo actually, except to say that I have such an incredible amount of gratitude for Joseph Smith and the Saints who sacrificed so much, including many of their own lives, so that we can worship without the persecution they faced. I truly love them with all my heart, and I don't think I came back the same person I was when I left. Our closing song in Sacrament Meeting today was "Come, Come Ye Saints", and I couldn't sing because of the emotions it brought to the surface. This trip has left a lasting impression on me!

A picture from inside the jail of the window that Joseph Smith went through after being shot. Even while standing there in the room, it was hard to really take in that we were actually standing where Joseph and Hyrum Smith had died. And I'll never forget the sweet couple missionaries that invited the Spirit every time they would share their testimonies at all of the historic sites at Carthage and in Nauvoo.

My favorite quote at Carthage Jail. In case you can't read it..."Patience is heavenly, obedience is noble, forgiveness is merciful, and exaltation is Godly; and he that holds out faithful to the end shall in no wise lose his reward. A good man will endure all things to honor Christ, and even dispose of the whole world, and all in it, to save his soul." Joseph Smith, Jr. and Hyrum Smith 1844

A picture of where we stayed. It was about 5.5 miles south of Nauvoo. It was a wonderful place. We all had our own beds (2 doubles in 2 rooms), 2 bathrooms, a kitchen, and a family room with couches and a tv. The tv went unused but the 2 bathrooms were life savers!

Our view from the back porch. Breathtaking! (Ok, so maybe not evident from the picture, but it really was!)

Arthur, Illinois and the Amish

2009-07-19T19:33:00.000-07:00

Tammy Watts introduced me to reading about the Amish quite a few months ago, and I have just loved reading about the Amish people. When I planned this trip and knew Tammy was coming, I knew we had to visit an Amish community while in Illinois. Tammy did some investigating online and found an Amish lady, Ruth Yoder, who serves lunches in her home. Even though it was a 4 hour drive to Arthur, Illinois (the largest Amish community in Illinois) we decided that it was an opportunity that we couldn't pass up. This is the cute little sign Ruth had placed in her yard to show us where to park our car. There was another group of women, 11 of them, that ate with us. We had a wonderful time chatting with them, the food was fantastic, and Tammy was able to ask all of the questions she's had about the Amish and their beliefs and way of life. I have a great respect for them. Ruth is only 58 years old but appears to be in her 70's. A result, I'm sure, from the 4 am mornings feeding the animals and going to bed at 9 pm every day of her life. They certainly work hard. Their community does not use electricity. Her fan ran from an air compressor, propane was used for her lamps, and even their farming is done with horses pulling their plows. It was a fun trip!

The four of us in front of their horse and buggy.

After lunch we stopped at an Amish market where Tammy started up a conversation with an older Amish gentleman. She was trying to find out if we could get a ride in a buggy some way, and while she was visiting with him a gentleman named Cephais came along with this wagon and said he could take us for a ride around his property for a few dollars. He was supposed to be taking another group around, but they hadn't shown up yet. So, we got our ride. The following pictures are from his property (except the one of the laundry). Craig likes to tease me that I might leave him for Cephais and the Amish way of life, but I reasure him that it could never happen...because of the beards!!!

Cephais and his sisters actually run the market we stopped at, so we got a good glimpse of all they grow to put in their market. These are his tomatoes. I told him he needs to teach me how to grow tomatoes because I have failed miserably in the past. He assured me that if I lived there a month, he'd have me growing tomatoes! I almost took him up on the offer. ;-)

We happened to drive through on everyone's laundry day because no matter where we drove, this is what we saw.

Nauvoo Trip

2009-07-18T14:40:00.000-07:00

About a month ago, I decided I wanted to go to Nauvoo, and with Craig's permission I made it into a Girl's trip and took 3 friends with me! We planned the trip in about 24 hours, and left 3 weeks later. We had the most incredible trip, and felt the Spirit almost all day every day. I will never forget the trip.

This is a picture of myself, Lauri Pendleton, Jeff who portrays Joseph Smith in the pageant, Tammy Watts, and Wendy Brown.

When I originally planned the trip, my friend Tammy informed me that she had a dear friend who's family was in the pageant this year. So we called my parents and found out when they would be performing and was able to plan our trip so that we could watch them in the pageant. Tammy was so excited! Here she is with Jaron Packer and his sweet family.

This is the first night of the Nauvoo pageant this year. It was raining, and raining, and raining. They actually post-poned the pageant a half of an hour to see if it would let up a little. They finally were given the go ahead to start but the band that normally played the national anthem had already left, so one of the girls in the pageant sang it instead and did a beautiful job. The man to the right of her (looking at the picture) is Dallyn Bayles. He is performing with Phantom of the Opera right now and also performed at Women's Conference this year and also played Joseph in the pageant a few years back. He was in the audience that night and gave the opening prayer. The rain continued to fall pretty much the whole pageant, but people were good sports and stuck around and the cast acted as if the rain wasn't there.

Just one more picture of Emma, Joseph, and Hyrum walking through the crowd of Saints.

No More Training Wheels!!!

2009-06-28T14:12:00.000-07:00

With all three of our oldest children, I tried to teach them how to ride a bike without training wheels and failed miserably. Then Craig would spend a little time with them, and they instantly started riding. What's up with that?!! Once again I attempted to teach Garrett and failed. Then this week Craig stands and talks to him for literally 2 minutes, and then Garrett starts riding with no training wheels. I don't think I'll even try with Jessica. I'll just hand her over to Craig right to begin with! :-) Here's a picture of teacher and student.

Garrett with his bike.

Garrett doing his thing.

The Garden

2009-06-28T14:07:00.000-07:00

For all of you who wanted to see our garden...here it is! It no longer looks this way because I started pulling the plants out yesterday. I'm half way done and hoping to finish tomorrow, so I can get some corn planted. Hopefully we'll have a long season so the corn can make it! (Last Thursday I picked over 25 gallons of peas and froze 23 more bags. And...I was picking more peas two days later, but these are going to my neighbor who didn't get any planted this year.)

Sprained Ankle

2009-06-28T14:01:00.001-07:00

Wednesday night Craig sprained his ankle playing basketball with guys at the church. We took him in Thursday morning to make sure nothing was broken or torn. He received a clean bill of health, but this is what he did for work on Thursday because he couldn't drive the car with his foot. After it happened Craig informed me that this is what happens when you think you're better than you are. So I'm just wondering what that means for me? Obviously I must have thought I was better at sports than I was because this was an annual scene in our home during jr. high and high school sports. :-)

Fun in the Pool

2009-06-28T13:53:00.000-07:00

Tuesday afternoon Jocelyn, Garrett, Jessica, and I decided to go buy a pool. This is what we got. It is 12' X 33". We are having so much fun with it, but it has added a little more responsibility to me to make sure I always know where Jessica is. We are not going to be another statistic of chilren drowning in their pools!

This is one of my all-time favorite pictures of these 3 together!

We had the Donigans over later this week to swim with us. We were rudely interrupted by a huge wind storm but got out and things picked up just before it hit!

Heading Out of Town

2009-06-28T13:48:00.000-07:00

Craig's dad, Scott, came and visited us on Father's Day and then took us to breakfast Monday morning. After breakfast he took Nathan to Idaho to go camping with Craig's sister and family in Salmond, Idaho. Then he took Ashlyn with him up to Powell, Wyoming to spend a week and a half until we meet up with them for the 4th of July. It has been quite a different week with the two of them gone!

More Father's Day Pictures

2009-06-28T13:41:00.000-07:00

Just thought I'd post a few more pictures from Father's Day!

The End of our Week

2009-06-21T21:47:00.001-07:00

(Once again I can't get my picture to rotate, so tip your head for a minute!)

This is after church with dad. We sure love our dad and can't count the many reasons why we love him soooooo much!!! Love ya Craig!

This is how we chose to start our day celebrating our dad. How many Campbells can you fit in your bed? We can fit 6! Thankfully someone has to take the picture or I'd be out of luck!

The boys before the loaded up for the Fathers and Sons outing this weekend! They went to a campground just outside of Kamas, UT. They had a lot of fun, but Craig did not sleep too good. That would explain the 3 hour nap he took when he got home! The girls and I had a fun night without the boys. We went to Golden Corral with another friend and her daughter and ate until we were bursting at the seams. Then the fingernail polish came out, and then we played a fun game in the morning. I even have blue on my nails, so don't die of shock!!! I love my girls but missed my boys. Good thing we have a little of both. :-)

Ashlyn's team giving a cheer after her final game of the season. She did end up having a make-up game on Saturday, and they won 10-1 which put them in the tournament this coming week. They were very excited, especially after enduring the cold rain to beat out the other team. Oh, and Ashlyn had her first pop fly catch of the season earning her an icecream cone from the coach. Plus, she was invited to play on an all-star team for a special tournament over the 4th of July, but we will be out of town at a family reunion in Wyoming. Even though she can't play in it, I thought that was a great accomplishment for this being her first year of playing softball.

And the Peas Keep Coming!!!

2009-06-21T21:38:00.001-07:00

Thursday was finally dry enough for me to get in the garden again to pick. This is what I ended up with, and yes that is a garbage sack full of peas. I had picked four 5 gallon buckets full of peas. The one is partially empty because I had started shelling them that night, but it was full when I had started.

This was my shelling crew on Friday. I told the kids that if they stuck with it until they were all done, I would take them to the store and they could pick out any candy they wanted. The 3 oldest kids stuck with it the whole 3 HOURS! Garrett didn't do too shabby himself, and Jessica helped to deplete the pile by eating everything she shelled. :-) I paid up, and we made a trip to Smiths to get some candy. When I came home empty handed from the store and sore from sitting on the floor that long, I decided I should have gotten me some chocolate too! Maybe next time.

I know many of you may think it's so funny that I do so many posts of my peas, but I am very proud of the contribution I make to our family through our garden. So here's one more picture for you. This is what we ended up with, and I was able to freeze 16 bags this week with 3 cups in each. Not too shabby!!!

A Crazy Bunch of Campbells

2009-06-21T21:23:00.000-07:00

Garrett's favorite thing to do lately is to stick these nerf gun darts to his face. I told him to make a scary face, and this is what I got!

Jessica decided to climb on Craig's car this week, and in doing that she ended up falling off and landing on her face. We were not outside when it happened, but we figured we had made a good deduction by the bruising on her face. (Notice the bruise on the forehead and between the eyes; plus the boxer's nose with the scratch.) It's a good thing we didn't have family pictures scheduled any time soon! The swelling and bruising is going away, and our pretty little girl is returning quickly.

Since I posted a picture last week of our morning biking, I decided to post a picture of our running morning this week. Notice who joined us!!!

We Love our Playground

2009-06-14T11:11:00.000-07:00

Almost every day since school has been out, the kids have played in the playground with water. They run the hose out to it and then make rivers and battlegrounds for the army men and just have fun. We love our playground!!!

Garrett with his friend Dylan in the "pool" at the bottom of the slide.

Lexi, Ashlyn and Nathan

Parker and Jocelyn

One of Nathan's great creations.

Messy Room

2009-06-14T11:04:00.000-07:00

Due to problems with getting to sleep at night, we put all three girls in one room. The room Ashlyn had been sleeping in was going to become a craft and play room for the girls...

...but it had to be cleaned first!!!

Here's a picture 2 days into the cleaning process. We're getting there!

After four days of cleaning, we finally made it. What a project, but the girls are loving the room! They have been threatened with their lives if they let it get that messy again. :-)

Bird in our Window

2009-06-14T10:58:00.000-07:00

Wednesday night we decided to watch "Wipeout" together as a family. When we got downstairs, Nathan saw this robin in our window well. It wasn't able to fly away, so we helped it out. The bird still didn't fly away, so the kids decided to get our old rabbit cage and take care of the bird until it was able to fly again. (They put it in the cage so the neighbor's cats couldn't eat it!) They named it Starley Robin Campbell; and they made up a list of who would find the worms, who would feed it, and who would change it's water. I was so impressed with them. But...Thursday morning we woke up and the bird was dead. The kids were so upset and sad. We're not sure what happened but figure it must have been sick.

Family Exercise

2009-06-14T10:51:00.000-07:00

I decided that I wanted my children getting some form of exercise every day this summer, so if they end up in front of the tv for too many hours I won't feel so bad. And, if we decide to do some hiking this summer, then we will be in shape for it. So...we run 1 mile on Mon, Wed, Fri and we ride 3.5 miles on Tue, Thur. We only missed one day this week because of the rain. We're having a lot of fun (not even one tear), but we do hope to have our dad join us this week!

Peas, Peas and More Peas

2009-06-14T10:46:00.001-07:00

My shelling crew! They all volunteered to do this. I'll take it while I can get it. :-) This shot was actually from a smaller picking that I had on Monday.

I picked these 2 buckets of peas on Friday while we had a little break from the rain. I'm hoping I'll have a few more pickings like this before the season is done. (This should bring back a lot of memories for my mom!)

Final Game

2009-06-14T10:42:00.001-07:00

This was at the end of Nathan's final game for the season. They lost, but gave the other team a run for their money when his team fought back from 10-2 and got it up to 10-6.

Silly Jessica!

2009-06-07T21:45:00.001-07:00

Jessica has a thing with socks going on. I just had to take this picture. If she had a beehive hair-do the outfit would be complete!

Last Day of School

2009-06-07T21:38:00.000-07:00

We were invited to a friend's house for an "end of the year" water party. Ashlyn isn't in any of the pictures because she went to a different water party. It rained on us a bit, and it wasn't the warmest day; but the kids still had a great time!

Nathan trying to dunk his friend Dallin.

Jocelyn sitting with her friend Chelsea.

Jessica playing in the baby pool.

Garrett and his buddy Dylan playing some volleyball.

More Baseball

2009-06-07T21:32:00.001-07:00

Here's another shot of Nathan and Ashlyn batting at their games this week. Only one more week of games!

Ashlyn swinging at the ball.

Nathan watching the ball come in.

2009-06-01T09:43:00.000-07:00

A view from along the trail in Adam's Canyon in Layton, Utah.

We were hoping to reach some of the waterfalls further up the trail, but the boys were worn out, and it was time to head back. But this was a fun spot to end at either way. There was a lot of run off and it was coming fast too!

Our group on the hike. (2 boys couldn't come.) This is just after the first stretch before you get into the trees, so you can see part of East Layton behind us. And even though the one boy doesn't look like it...he did have a fun time too!

2009-06-01T09:35:00.000-07:00

A group hug from all the kids after opening all of Nathan's birthday presents.

(Sorry for the sideways pictures but I couldn't get them to rotate in our files. You get the point though.) Nathan showing us that he is 11. Notice the big toe to make it 11.

This is Nathan telling us he's turning 21! We told him that was fine, but he'd have to pay us rent, get a job, and pay his own bills. He quickly decided 11 was just fine!

Holding up his bakugan!

2009-06-01T09:28:00.001-07:00

Nathan at his piano recital.

Ashlyn at her piano recital.

Jocelyn cheering for the March birthdays in her song!

This song was a "Class Rules" song and the kids got to wear their sunglasses for it. All the songs were sung in Spanish and the skits were performed in English.

A little blurry, but this is Jocelyn doing her speaking part. She was adding a banana to the soup. Yuck!!!

2009-06-01T09:25:00.000-07:00

I informed Craig this year that I would take care of my own Mother's Day present. This is what I got...a beautiful picture of the Idaho Falls Temple. That is where Craig and I were married and sealed 12 years ago! It adds a nice spirit to our home.

2009-06-01T09:21:00.000-07:00

Nathan needed to learn how to start a fire for scouts, so we took a Friday night to cook hotdogs and smores in our backyard. Hopefully we'll do it more. We had a blast!

I had to take this picture by lantern light because we were struggling with getting the fire started. But as you saw in the previous picture...we were finally successful. "Survivor" here we come!

2009-06-01T09:16:00.000-07:00

Jocelyn doing a handstand during their tumbling.

We're still not sure how she can bend that way!

Jocelyn and her dance group.

Ashlyn and her dance group.

2009-06-01T09:13:00.000-07:00

Nathan finished up Cub Scouts this month and will be starting 11 year old Scouts. Before leaving Cubs he received his Arrow of Light Award. We're so proud of him!

Season Finales

2009-06-01T09:08:00.000-07:00

May has been a crazy, busy, fun month for us. We've finished up soccer, dance and piano. We've celebrated Mother's day and Nathan's birthday. We've been at baseball fields 5 nights of the week. Plus, we've enjoyed a Memorial Day trip to Wyoming to visit Craig's parents and extended family; and I had an awesome hike up Adam's Canyon with my 9 year old scout group. Oh, and school ends in a week! Yipee!!! Anyone else tired yet?!!