What a nightmare...

Do you ever have those dreams that seem so real that when you wake up, you're convinced they happened for a little while? I had such a dream, rather nightmare. I was in the bathroom staring at a positive pregnancy test. (Now I know that this doesn't seem like a nightmare for some of you, but for me, I was scared out of my mind. Apologies go out to anyone trying to conceive.) I screamed into the air, "NOOOOOOO!" (Now I'm not saying that I'm never gonna have another kid but not for at least a year, if at all. So the thought of being pregnant again just about sent me over the edge.) In the dream, I waited around the whole day and thought, "What am I going to tell Merril?" (Merril supports everything so I don't know why I was worried in the dream.) So I wake up, roll over, and think to myself, "Ug. I'm pregnant. What a bummer." And then reality starts to take hold and I think, "What a minute, I'm not pregnant! Wahoo!" Talk about close calls. *wipes cold sweat from brow*

This last bit is just a picture from the 24th of July parade. Grandpa was playing with the kids and making them laugh until the parade started. Jack loves Grandpa.

SaY GoOdByE!!!

Yikes! I got my hair chopped! Here's the before picture:

Here we are at the salon, right before the first chop. Juliet sat on my lap the whole time and had hair all over her when we were done. Icky:

Thanks to Jeannie for being able to come and help with my kids!

And here it is now!

Are you ready?

Here it comes...

Whoa! I think it makes me look old(er). Jeannie says it makes me look like my Mom. It's the shortest it's ever been but I had to go this short to get enough to donate. My Mom is gonna cry. She loves the long-hair look and always dislikes it when I get my hair cut short. Sorry Mom. It'll grow back. And it'll be good for summer. Nice and cool. Every time I look in the mirror, I'm still surprised to see the new do.

Parade...

For the 24th of July, we volunteered to help the Primary by providing the flat-bed trailer and Tahoe to tow it for the parade in our little town. I took a couple pictures of Juliet and Jack with Grandpa and realized the batteries were almost dead. By the time Merril came rolling down with the float, my camera wouldn't take any more so I snapped these with my camera phone.

I'm planning on chopping my hair this afternoon to donate it again. Pictures to follow soon.

I just mopped!

I don't know what kind of cosmic forces are at work but an event happens every single time I mop. I usually mop after the kids are in bed so the inevitable 'tracks across my clean floor' don't occur. The floor dries, I smile at a small achievement for the day, and go to bed. I awake the next morning to a deliciously clean floor and smile as I get the kids' breakfast. Without fail, at least once during the day, something will get spilled. And not just crackers or something that I can just sweep up. It's always something that requires 3 rags and me on my hands and knees. Sometimes it's a whole bowl of sugary breakfast cereal milk. Sometimes it's a whole glass of sticky juice. Today, it was most of a strawberry-blueberry smoothie. What is the deal?!? Does a clean floor just cry out to be spilled upon? Why can't I keep the whole floor clean for more than a day?? I don't know what the deal is but it happens every, single time. (Good thing I only mop about once every 2 weeks!) :) Happy Tuesday people.

Camping...

Earlier this summer, I asked Maxine what she wanted to do and she replied, "Go camping." Then I started thinking, "When was the last time I went camping?" and it was before I got pregnant with Juliet, about 2 years ago. So we went camping over on the other side of Zion National Park. We started by going to Moqui Cave. It's a cave filled with fossils, dinosaur tracks and rocks that glow under a black light. It was once used as a tavern and the kids are sitting on barstools made from logs and vinyl.

Then we went drove to our campsite and pitched a tent that we borrowed from the Hummels! (Thanks guys!) Here we are at camp.And then came the traditional roasting marshmallows. I think we burned 3/4 of them and left them in the fire. Here's Maxine with her triton for roasting marshmallows and goo all over her hands and face.

We rode the 3-wheeler a little bit the next day and then took off again! Juliet was saying, "Whee!" even though she doesn't look like she's having very much fun in the picture. Then we went fishing. Okay, mostly we just played with the nightcrawlers. Maxine would squeal and shake with one in her hand but Juliet was fearless and even tried to eat them. She kept trying to pull them apart and I had to wrestle it out of her hands when we were getting ready to leave. That worm was pretty much dead. Notice the worm in her hands.

Then we hiked to Cascade Falls. It was a 1/2 mile hike up by Duck Creek and the falls were cool. There's just an opening in the rocks and the water just shoots out. It's kind of by Cedar Breaks so the rocks are orange and beautiful. The hike felt long because we were carrying Juliet and Jack on our shoulders. (We didn't think to bring the backpack because it was kind of a last minute thing.) In an attempt to get more photos of the whole family together, I've been trying to remember to set the timer on my camera.

On the way back, we stopped at an overlook to see how high we were. I forgot how much fun camping is! We had a great time!

New pegboard...

I bought a pegboard for Maxine to have in her closet because she has a lot of items that need to be hanged, i.e: capes, cowboy hats, backpacks, fairy wings, etc. I decided to let her paint it and I figured she'd want the back blue and the pegs pink or something. It actually turned into quite the little piece of artwork. She wanted grass on the bottom, sky on top, with flowers, clouds and a sun. We painted a truck for Jack. Here's the finished product! Maxine loves crafts so we thought it was lots of fun.

Do you have a red boat??

Merril went to the lake early this morning to go wakeboarding. I often, okay always, stay home because: A) I don't like to get in the water when it's cool outside (in the morning) B) I prefer to sleep in C) I don't want to wake up the kids and throw them in the boat. But Merril asked if I'd like to go to the lake around 10:00 a.m. I said that'd be great. So the kids and I get up and eat breakfast and get ready for the lake. Merril shows up around 8:30 a.m. and says that he left the boat on the trailer in the parking lot so we should probably head back as soon as we can. We leave shortly thereafter.

So we pull up the ranger station to get our pass checked and the gal asks, "Do you have a red boat??" Merril's like, "Yeah, I left it parked up there. Was I not supposed to??" The gal walks away and an older and more official looking guy comes up and says, "Your boat started rolling through the parking lot and you need to fill out an accident report." Merril and I both look at each other with 'uh-oh' looks on our faces. Ranger continues, "It's all right, you can go up and look at it and come back." So we head up to the parking lot by the boat ramp and the boat has rolled down to the edge of the parking lot. The front of the trailer, as well as the front half of the boat, is sitting the dirt. The back wheels are bumped up against the curb, stopping the boat from rolling any further. Just beyond the front of the boat lies a nice hill. "Whoa!" I was extremely grateful there was a nice curb to stop the boat from rolling down the hill, otherwise this story might have ended tragically. However, the only casualty occured when the trailer jack hit the curb and snapped the pin to hold it in place. That'll be easily fixed. As for the rest of the trailer and the boat, everything else was fine. We pulled the boat out of the dirt, hooked on and put it back in the lake. The kids and I played while Merril went back and filled out an accident report.

Woosh! That was a close one. We were also very lucky there were no other cars or trailers in the way when the boat decided to take off. So when Merril got back about 10 minutes later, we took off for the beach and played in the water for a couple of hours. The water was a balmy 80 degrees, the wind was calm, the kids didn't fight and we were the only ones there. It was fantastic.

What to do while we change the oil???

While I was in town, I found myself with a couple of hours to kill and ended up getting the oil changed in the Tahoe. While we waited, we walked to Arctic Circle for burgers and fries. I took some pictures with my camera phone because we were having such a good time. We got an oreo shake, ohhhhh yummylicious.

Good job bro. And now the girls. Juliet has also become exceptionally aware of cameras and picture taking and pulls out her fabu smile on command. So when I pointed the camera at us, she snapped to with elation and pearly whites.

Juliet also got caught in the pantry today, sneaking cracker contraband. When I snuck up behind her with the camera and said, "Juliet!!" She whipped around and said, "Cheese!" (or something like it.)

Busted sistah. She knows it too.

Oh how I love construction...

For me, the sight of new commercial construction has always made me get excited. New things happening and new stores to look forward to! The first thing I'm excited for is a new church. (These pictures were taken with my phone and I apologize if there a little...what's the word...awful!) This is the new building we'll be going to once it's finished. It's just a couple streets over from my house and we would be able to walk to church! I'm very excited! Currently we have to drive about 5 minutes to church. (I know, all you who live far away from their buildings are saying, "5 minutes, that's nothing!" At one point in Vegas, we had to drive 20 minutes to get to church. So I know 5 minutes away isn't far but I'm excited nonetheless.)

AND

THEY'VE STARTED PUTTING UP THE WALLS FOR THE NEW WAL-MART!!! (Again I apologize for the picture.)The new Wal-Mart is going to be a couple blocks from my house. Maxine's so excited to be able to ride her bike to Wal-Mart. (I don't know what we'd be buying that she could ride her bike but whatever.) Now I know there are some people out there that don't love Wal-Mart and I don't blame you. That's fine and everyone is entitled to shop where ever they choose. But I'm just excited to have a place to get the things I need without having to drive 15 minutes into town. I don't mind the drive, I really don't! But some days I'm just running late and don't have the time. It should be done some time this Fall, I'm guessing Thanksgiving? All the money I'll be saving on gas will be spent on little trips to the store. Seriously, I'll be in there all the time.

And if that didn't top all, they're building a Walgreens a couple miles away. I don't know why but there was a Walgreens on ever other corner in Vegas. Weird. I got to like they're funky sales on holiday merchandise. I don't have a picture of their new store so we just have their logo. Yeah, yippee, yippee!

Flowers for no reason...

Merril got a call on Monday around 4:00 p.m. from a friend, saying their ward was going to the lake for Family Home Evening but didn't quite have enough boats and asked Merril if he'd be willing to bring our boat to help out. Merril asks if it's okay that he goes to the lake on FHE, even though he was taking the 11-year old scouts the following day for some swimming certification. I say it's fine and we bump our FHE up earlier so he could leave by 6:00. So we do our FHE and Merril leaves. Me and the kids are goofing off and decide to read some books. The book reading isn't going that well because Maxine says she can't see the pages and Juliet's crying because Jack is touching her. (Blah, blah, blah.) Merril calls. (Juliet still crying in the background) Merril says that he saw a fellow 11-year old scout leader on the way and he tells me the scout leader says, "You're going to the lake? We're headed out there tomorrow, isn't that enough?" Merril laughs. And Merril says, "So I just called to tell you that the scout leader said I had a great life!" (Juliet STILL crying. My frustration building slightly.) "Okay, well, I got to go." and hang up.

So I think about it more and more and I'm a little ticked off that he had to call and tell me that he had a great life going to the lake to play while I was home with the screaming kids. So I do bedtime and clean up a little bit and watch some tv. Merril comes home and I don't really say anything. So we get ready for bed and as we're laying there to fall asleep, I say to him, "It was kind of jerky for you to call home to tell me what a great life you have while I'm at home with the kids." Merril says, "What?" I repeat myself. Then he says, "I didn't call home to tell you I have a great life. The scout leader said I have a great wife. I called to say I have a great wife." I pause. "Oh." Merril continues, "That would've been jerky." (I guess my cell phone reception wasn't great at the moment because wife sounded like life.) "Woops. Sorry." "Sorry."

So I thought that was the end of it until Merril came home from the gym the next morning with these. He apologized if they were a little short, he had to fit them in his backpack to ride home because he was on his motorcycle. I love that stainless vase. I got it for Valentine's 2 years ago and it's still my favorite. Thanks, babe!

4th of July and some other stuff...

Last week, we went up to my Mom and Dad's cabin in Kolob so that Merril could look at their broken generator. The kids were getting restless so we started playing with the camera. I guess this face comes in pairs.

For the 4th of July, we were invited to Justin and Rachel's and Kevin and Sara's place (Merril's brother and cousin). They were irrigating when we came so the kids changed into swimsuits to play. This is Maxine with Samantha. Kevin and Sara have the most amazing orchard and we took home a bunch of apricots! Thanks for inviting us guys! The food was great!

Juliet liked her toes in the water. I know this one is a bit soft but I like her little face.

And she's decided she knows how to smile for the camera. When I pull out the camera, she starts pulling this face. She squints and hams up the smile.

Then we set off sparklers and some fireworks and headed into town to watch the big display. Juliet slept on the way and was happy while we watched. Yeah!

The spell...

Juliet has been my fussiest baby but if I can just get her interested in something and leave, she'll play contently. However if she sees me again, she instantly forgets about what she was playing with and whines for me to come get her. I don't like to hold her all day because it doesn't help the situation and my arm just gets tired.

On a side note, I hope that all who heard Merril's comment the other night will forgive us someday because we seriously had NO IDEA about certain recent events! (We've been out of town a lot lately.) Sorry.

We'll end with 2 pictures. Juliet's favorite new game is unloading the dishwasher. Think it'll last into the teenage years?

And secondly, we'd been at the lake all afternoon and Maxine and Jack were playing on the computer. When I came in again, Jack was TOTALLY asleep on the back of the chair. They're both in their I LOVE NY t-shirts we brought back. That's the only thing we brought back for them. I kind of felt like a loser parent that we didn't even manage a toy or a book, just a shirt from a street vendor. They seem to like them.

What a turnout!

Merril and I were both pleasantly surprised how many people showed up to the dessert celebration last night! However, we apologize if it was a little loud! That many friends, family and kids yelling over each other produces quite the din. I haven't blogged for about a week because I wanted to keep the dessert party post front and center until after the party. Thanks for coming everyone and one day we'll have the basement done so people can disperse for conversation better.

I've been lazy about posting things from a Campbell reunion at the cabin so here they are! The picture of the grandkids. I feel like a moron because we took a ton of pictures of the grandkids and then realized that Jack wasn't in it. Woops! We found him and took a couple more. Silly!

Here's one of all of us!

Grandma's reading a story. Everyone is listening intently.

Here's grandma's birthday cake. Juliet's birthday was in a couple of days so she got to sit on Grandma's lap during the song. Can you believe the 4th of July is on Friday! Happy Independence Day!

Did you save room for dessert?

Okay, I've weaned Juliet and it's time to have a party. A party dedicated to creamy and chocolate confections. I sent out invitation via email but I want to make sure and get the word out!

The Campbells Dessert and Chocolate Celebration!

Date: Monday, June 30th 2008

Time: 6:30 p.m.

Place: Merril & Jamie Campbell's house

R.S.V.P: Call Jamie or send me an email so I can get an idea for how many people are coming.

There will be desserts galore but fresh fruit and vegetable trays for those looking for a healthier alternative.

Cheesecake, brownies, home-made ice cream and warm chocolate volcano cakes are just a few of the ideas I've had. If you have any suggestions or would like to bring your own special dessert, just let me know.

It's going to be yummy! P.S. I didn't actually make these desserts in the picture but wanted to get your mouth watering.

Awesome and sleepy...

We took off on Wednesday night and hopped on the red eye for New York City. Merril caught a couple hours of sleep but I only snuck in 1 hour. Juliet slept most of the time and she was happy while she was awake so that was good! We were totally wasted the first day but Juliet napped in the stroller a couple times. We hit the Statue of Liberty

Then we went back to the hotel and slept and had a shower.

Then we caught a red eye bus to Boston, MA. I apologized to the whole bus because Juliet had a teensy screaming fit for about 10 minutes. Oh well, it was only because the bus driver slammed on his brakes and woke her up. We slept in and met up with my best bud, Emily and her daughter, Tessa. We caught a Boston Red Sox game and saw the historical sites around Boston. We caught the train to Salem, MA to stay at Emily's house. Juliet and Em's daughter, Tessa.

She has the sweetest little smile.

Since pictures of all three of them are getting harder to come by, she asked if I'd take a couple while I was there. Here's my fav I think.

Here's the kids playing together.

Then we took the red eye flight home and got to bed around 4:00 a.m. So we had lots of fun but are a little sleepy today! It'll take me a couple days to recover from the hectic pace. We had so much fun and thanks to Emily for letting us crash at your place and thanks to Grandma Campbell and Buffy for watching Maxine and Jack!! It's crazy to think that when I went out to visit last Spring, Tess was still in the NICU but now she's a normal, healthy baby girl, almost a toddler. I really thought she'd be small from being a premie but she's way taller than Juliet and right on track developmentally and that makes me very happy!!

Cake baby...

Maxine wanted to help decorate Juliet's birthday cake so I bought some different colored frosting and let her go to town. She made a little picture of Juliet in a dress and a cloud. I did the writing and we called it good! It made cake decorating a breeze but nothing worthy of Amy. I love to decorate cakes but Maxine loves to help and so we compromise. It might not be stunning but it's fun.
Here's Juliet wearing the birthday hat that Maxine made her. I thought it was sweet of Maxine but Juliet was less enthused.

And finally, cake time. She wasn't hesitant at all and dug right in. She kept trying to grab the details of the stick figure, like its shoes or face.
It was yummy and a big thanks to Maxine because she was my big helper!! Thanks Maxine!

Other than that, we're leaving this evening and catching the red eye to New York! I'm mostly packed, except for a few things for Merril and hope we don't forget too much. And I hope Juliet just sleeps on the plane!!! Please, please, please, please.

Juliet turns one, triathlon and the splash park...

I have a million things to do because I'm leaving for New York tomorrow and it's Juliet's birthday today so I've been washing clothes and baking cakes and I haven't even purchased a gift for her yet but wanted to hurry and post a couple things before I left. (Can you sense the urgency in my run-on sentence?)

First of all, Merril ran the Utah Summer Games triathlon with his brother Jared. They are the 2 very white men in front. Jared more so than Merril.

And they're off! It was by sheer luck that I actually snapped the two of them as they started. I actually had to zoom way in on my computer so I could read the numbers on the swim caps to see if it was them. Otherwise, I'd never be able to tell. See how Jared's behind? That was pretty much the theme for the rest of the race.

Transition from the swim to the bike portion.

Biking back.The big finish!

Merril finished in 1 hour and 34 minutes, shaving 15 minutes off his previous triathlon time, and Jared finished in 1 hour and 53 minutes! They both did great for even being tough enough to compete! Good job boys!

Yesterday we went to the splash park in the middle of town and had lots of fun but it was mega hot! But the water was cool!

Juliet had lots of fun in the fountain!

Jacky liked the water stairs.

Well, we all had fun!

Oh, no needs to feel left out that you weren't invited to Juliet's 1st birthday because I'm only inviting Grandmas. (I've got too much to do today and throw a party too.) I'm going to have the chocolate and dessert party after I get back from New York and thought you could all wish her happy birthday then! I'm thinking the 25th of June! So I'll apologize with creme brulee and chcolate fondue. What? You've forgiven me already?