Cutting a Christmas Tree

Maxine is doing home MTC and we couldn't find a day to go to cut trees as a family. I told Merril to go. I would stay with Maxine so she wouldn't feel alone at the house. 

The kids climbed this tower!

And they picked out a great tree! Sometimes you have to divide and conquer. We are getting it done around here.

Thanksgiving At Our House

Thanksgiving is here! We decided to get out in the beautiful weather and get some exercise at Grandpa's Pond Park. Mikayla explored.

I hiked on the surrounding hills and ran/walked.

Juliet, Merril, and Maxine jogged the whole time.

Julie and Merril even started clear at the house! I drove down. 

Mark and Jack rode bicycles.

Then we ran home to prep Thanksgiving. I wrapped that turkey in bacon and threw it in the oven! (Thank you Vick!)

And then I got busy and did not take any pictures during dinner. 😓 But I remembered to snag a few when some of the peeps were still around.

Gwen was visiting and came to eat.

Besides the turkey taking an extra 45 minutes, everything was delicious! I really like the flavor of the bacon on the turkey. And now I'm done.

I'm not gonna lie, this past 30 days has been killer. Mark's birthday and baptism with people over for food. Jack's birthday and party at the sand dunes and getting his license. Maxine getting endowed, food after. Maxine's mission farewell, food after. Twenty-eight people at my house for Thanksgiving. I am spent. I'm still helping Maxine secure the last few items for her mission. I haven't hardly Christmas shopped AT ALL! I'm usually so much better about getting things done early but not this year. I'm hoping to be able to focus on Christmas and get some stuff done in the coming weeks because I'm so behind! 😭😭😭

Maxine, I mean, Sister Campbell starts home MTC

Maxine should probably be writing this but she's busy. Sister Campbell started home MTC on November 22, 2021. Her mission phone calendar filled with zoom meetings that she needed to attend from about 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. with 5-10 minute breaks at the bottom of the hour. I could hear her laughing and commenting in the office. Her MTC district is District 04-E and apparently it's pretty fantastic! They've scheduled their own zoom meetings to get to know each other. Her companion is Sister Fiame. The more Maxine gets to know these people, the more she is excited to get up to the Provo MTC and meet them in person. I think she's going to do amazing things and we are proud of her. Just a few pictures from her first mission email. 

I'm working on a project over here: http://sistercampbellmission.blogspot.com

 

Maxine's Mission Farewell

Maxine gave a fantastic talk and then we had food at our house. I probably should've asked for more help but whatever. We had around 75 people over who were here to support Maxine! It's great to see the people with which she's surrounded herself. These are the people that have had a positive influence in her life! I'm so glad that she's had good friends.

Mike, Chaise, Grandma Gordon, and Jo Anna.

Wade and some of the Zittings.

Amy, John Henry, and Calvin Hummel.

Katelyn, Tesslyn, and Evelyn Hummel.

The Howards and Sheri Beatty.

Maxaroni!

Jeannie, Jo Anna and me.

Jo Anna, Max, JoLyn, and Logan.

Max and Ellen.

Maxine's seminary teacher, Sister Merrill.

It was awesome and we had a great time!

Busy in Baja and Vegas!

I'm just trying to get it all done. We are busy, busy, busy with all the family and fun things we are up to! Merril is off to Baja with the boys. Jack is riding Merril's Adventure 1190, with his motorcycle permit, and Merril is riding a BMX GS adventure bike with Mark on the back. His Baja crew has exploded this year to include 28 bikes or 28 people, I'm not sure which!

It was freezing down at the beach but Mark decided to swim in his skivvies. Crazy! 

While the bois were in Baja, Maxine and I stole away to Vegas to do one more endowment session before she starts the MTC. And to SHOP!

We found some Doc Marten boots for her mission and played around in Vegas a little. We went to lunch and to Trader Joe's.

We went on the high roller, because Maxine has somehow missed out on it.

Baja sand sculpture.

Mark talked Daddy into buying this hat for him.

This dude in his samurai rolled up and offered to go get pizza for everyone in Merril's group. It took like an hour but he delivered 2 mega huge pizzas and drinks to everyone in the middle of nowhere.

The Baja adventure was fun but there was a slight mishap. They went down a road that was supposed to take a few hours but ended up taking several. They had to camp out and ran out of water and supplies. They had camping gear, not a lot else. Merril thinks it might thin out the herd on people who want to go next year. He said Jack and Mark did great and hardly complained. He was surprised at how grumpy some of the full grown adults got. It's called adventure motorcycling for a reason! An adventure is what they got!

 

Maxine Endowed in Cedar City

Here we are, getting to the Cedar City Temple for Maxine's endowment. I have a light mustache from the car's reflection.

My Mom, Jeannie, Justin and Rachel, the Campbell Grandparents, Vick and his wife Lisa, Sara Gilberg, Valerie and John Scott were there. It was a great day but I could tell that Max was nervous the whole time. We're going to Vegas next week to do another session and I think that will be good.

One step closer to starting her mission next week!

Jack's Driver's License

The day is here! Jack is 16 and got his driver's license and motorcycle permit! 

Merril and Jack went riding on his birthday.

Now he can drive himself to school instead of riding the bus! I just hope he doesn't run into any mailboxes or small dogs. Yikes!