Our stint in the south...part I

Well, its been well over 2 weeks that we've been home from Alabama, but I get overwhelmed even thinking about blogging about it, so I have put it off and put it off....And here it is 2 nights before I head out for Girls Camp and I am blogging. Yes, I should be packing, or doing laundry, but I find that this is the time, for some strange reason, that I sit down at the computer to blog. Go figure! :) I really need to get caught up. Not only from our two and a half weeks in Alabama, but from the other two and a half weeks that we have been home now. I feel like I have been a hermit in my house this last little while. Still trying to catch up on sleep. Yet here I find myself, with a new thing to prepare for and pack for. :)

Alabama was a blast! We had such a great time. The very first day we got there, there was a huge thunderstorm. A southern storm! You can't tell from these pictures, but it was pouring! It was so strange to me that it was a thunderstorm yet, still 100 degrees outside. I usually associate rain and thunderstorms with cool weather. Not so in the south! :)





Grandma and Grandpa are so good to us down there. All 5 of Ben's siblings were there and we had a grand 4th of July celebration the first week we were there, while everyone was there. Tucker loved loved loved having all 11 of his cousins to play with and loved trying to keep up with the older boys. Grandmas house in and of itself is a pretty awesome place with TONS to do and lots of space to explore. Tucker was in heaven there! He especially loved Toby and Millie, their 2 dogs. In fact, he still remembers them in his prayers. They come right after mom and dad in the blessing line up, so they are pretty high on his list! :) Just at Grandma's house alone, some of the things we did were:
Countless rides around the front porch on the John Deere. Tucker loved this thing!!!



Getting hauled around in the real John Deere:



Feeding the fish every day was a must:

Tucker became a pro, just look at that form for throwing the food in the water. I think that this was the best these fishies had ever been fed! :)

Catching tree-frogs. There were a TON of them and this was a favorite past-time.

This one actually stayed in Tuckers hands long enough for a picture. They were usually pretty quick buggers...

Lots of good ol' fashioned Nature walks with grandma...

Picking tomatoes... My father-in-law has a big beautiful garden...



Aunt Meggie made us slushies one day to try and cool down from the heat!



So, its getting late and I still have like 500 pictures from Alabama to go through, so this post will have to be continued after I get back from Girls Camp. Some things to look forward to during the rest of our time in Alabama include:

• 1 trip to the beach
• 1 photoshoot
• 4 vomit fests
• 4 different states
• 1 surgery
• 1 call to poison control
• 1 4th of July parade
• 1 water fight
• 1 child falling into the pond!
• 1 cemetery visit
• 1 trip to the zoo
• A few trips to the park
• 2 attempted trips to six-flags
• A few bad movies
• A few good movies
• 2 movies in the theatre with grandpa
• 1 talent show
• 1 dinner with Bens old friends from High-school
• Way too many late nights
• A little bit of shopping-would liked to have done more! :)
• Getting kicked out of 1 pool
• Finding a few others that would do :)
• A few boggle games
• Countless small southern towns driven through :)
• Only a few melt downs...
• And lots and lots of yummy food

Make sure and stay posted for the rest of the Alabama saga... It only gets better from here! :) As for me, I'm off to Camp Liahona, the same camp that I went to as a Young Woman growing up, and we will see how the blogging world fits into my schedule when I get home. I have every intention of blogging for my posterity, I'm just not sure I can always muster up the energy to go through all of these dang pictures I have here! :)

Natalies Sentiments...

My friend, Natalie over at Natalie's Sentiments is having an amazing baby shower give away. If you are expecting, or needing to get a baby gift for a friend of family member, you have to check her blog out. She has some great gift ideas and an opportunity to win any of the gifts she has on her blog! They are awesome! Check it out at:

Good luck! I know that I am going to enter to win some gifts for upcoming baby showers and maybe even some for me! :)

What we've been up to...

We are heading off to Alabama tomorrow for two and a half weeks! Why then, you ask, am I spending precious packing time with blogging? Here's the thing, we are going to come back from Alabama with so much to blog about, I know that if I don't get this done tonight, it won't get done. So, here goes... A little re-cap of the past few weeks...

I uploaded these pictures in reverse order, and I don't want to take the time to put them chronologically, so here goes...

My cute cousin, Kristin came up and stayed with us for a few days. She wanted to see my sister while she was in town and she wanted me to take her senior pictures. (I still can't believe she is going to be a senior!!!) We had so much fun having her here!

Tucker had to come out with us on one of the shoots, because Ben hadn't gotten off work yet. Kristin wanted a picture with him, but his picture smile is so cheesy, I told him to say pee-eew. And then he plugged his nose, so this is what we got: :)

He also wanted to get on the train with her, which he thought was SOOO cool! Yes, he got his head buzzed a few days ago! :)

Here's a sneak peek at some of the shots! I think that they turned out SOOO great! She is absolutely beautiful and a natural model! (It must run in the family!) :) ha ha

Thanks for coming Kristin, please come back soon! We miss you already! :)

As I mentioned above, my little seester, Kayla came in to town for the month. Her and her husband are moving to Wisconsin next month for Medical School in the fall. They decided to spend about a month up here before they move. It has been so much fun having her home. Unfortunately, because I am leaving tomorrow, I am going to completely miss her most of the time she is here. :( SO sad! Luckily, she got here just in time for her birthday, so we were able to celebrate! The big 2-5! And of course, Tucker was right in on the action! :)

Tucker loves his Aunt Kayla, I only wish we got to see her more!

My friend Stephanie had a baby shower! She is having a little boy in September! Don't worry, I tell her that boys are the BEST! :) My friend Sharlene and I went out together! What cute friends I have!

And of course, Fathers day was celebrated! I have such a great father, I always feel like whatever we do for him isn't enough! He does SO much for us! All of us kids were actually able to be here on the big day, so we got a picture with the captain himself! :) Love you Dad!!

And of course, we celebrated the FATHER of my child! One lucky kid, I'd say; he has a pretty great father, too! :) Love you Ben!! What cute boys I have!

We, of course, have also been spending lots of time outside, enjoying the nice weather and our good friends. Here is Tucker with one of his favorite kitties. (NOT ours!) :) She was actually ran over shortly after this picture was taken! :( RIP Lola.

I guess a blanket and some grass is all you need for a good time! :)

My friend, Rosie also came to visit for a few days from Utah. She brought her friend, Savanah with her and we had so much fun with them! We miss them, too! :)

We headed down to Riverfront Park one day. Tucker loves going down the slide on the big red wagon!

Beautiful Spokane...

Swinging with Savanah...love that face! :)

At the falls:

Tucker was impressed! :)

Me and Rosie and Erica. We were all friends in Jr. High! It is fun to have had friends for that long and catch up! :)

Tuck and I in front of the falls...

All of our kids... there were so many cameras that Tucker didn't know which camera to look at! :)

We fed the geese, and these geese are NOT afraid to come right up and snatch the whole piece of bread from your hand! I think Tucker was a little scared at first!

We, of course had to stop over in Coeur d'Alene for the HUGE yummy desserts at the Dockside. I have loved these since I was a little girl! Me, Tuck and Savanah:

That's my boy, digging right in! :)

My friend, Rosie is an amazing photographer. I stole these pics from her blog because I thought they were pretty cool.

The falls:

And the blocks downtown:

Well, we are off tomorrow and I probably won't update until we get back! Hope everyone is enjoying the summer and I look forward to returning to the blogging world in a few weeks! :)

Oh, and congrats to my brother and sis-in-law who just found out today that they are going to be having a baby GIRL in November! :) This will be the first girl on the Campbell side and I am so excited! :)

Ok, well Ciao! (that's how you say goodbye in Alabama!) :)

Thirty, Flirty and Thriving!

This week my dear friend Sadie turned the big 3-0. I wasn't able to go to be with her on her day, so Tucker and I headed over to Seattle for a last minute visit last weekend. We left Friday morning and came back Sunday afternoon. It was very last minute and very quick. But oh-so-fun! :) I'm so glad I got to spend some time with Sadie on her big day!

Ben wanted to come, and we wanted him to come, but since it was so last minute, Doug hadn't gotten work off, so Doug had to work all weekend, and I think the whole weekend spent with just the girls wasn't what Ben wanted to do! :) He took advantage of the house to himself and got some stuff done around here.

On Saturday afternoon we took Tucker to the beach. It was such a beautiful day! I had packed our swimming suits, only because they have a hot tub, but as soon as Tucker found out we were going to the beach, that is all he wanted to wear! I was expecting cooler Seattle weather and didn't pack any warm weather clothes for myself. We just got some Subway, headed to the beach and enjoyed a nice relaxing afternoon in the sun!

That night we had a little girls night out with some of her friends to celebrate her birthday. We went to a fabulous dinner and show! :) I got to see: Cher, Madonna, Britney Spears, Dolly Parton, Liza Minelli, and Gwen Stefani all in one show! $5 bucks to the person who can guess what type of show it was! :) Needless to say, it was a very FUN evening! :)

Some of us girls...

I also always love going to Seattle to see my dear sweet friend, Emily. She was also one of the reasons I headed over last minute. She is going to spend the summer in the Caribbean while her husband is going to school. So I went to say good-bye for the summer! Lucky girl!

On the way home Tucker and I stopped for a photo-op in Vantage point, with a view of the Columbia river.

And we also stopped in Quincy to visit Allen, Kelli and Keyton and have a nice Sunday dinner with them. They live about half way between Seattle and Spokane. The boys spent a lot of the afternoon in Keytons little blow up pool. These are the poses we got when we told them to smile for my camera...

These two together, I tell ya.... :)

It was a quick trip and a fun weekend! I'm grateful for great friends and family!