Our Cam

Happy Birthday to the funniest, happiest, kindest, smartest thirteen-year old we know!

We absolutely adore you Campbell.  And are grateful everyday that you are ours.

(Thirteen years since I became a mom.  How could that be?)

Clan Campbell

Jacob spent the last four days in Scotland for a business trip. And while he has traveled to many countries in the last few years (we were counting his total country tally the other day and I think it was twenty-two), I can honestly say I have never been as covetous as I was for this trip. I have always wanted to go to Scotland.

Maybe it is because our oldest carries the name of the one of the most famous clans from that beautiful country. Maybe it is because I am named after my grandpa, who absolutely loved anything to do with Scotland. Maybe it is because from the time I was very young, my mom taught us all to love and appreciate our ancestry and heritage. Whatever it is, I was jealous. And Jacob telling me that the country was even more beautiful that everyone claims, didn't help my jealousy.

Sigh.

I'm going to get there someday. I can feel it in my bones. And I cannot wait.

The trip was too busy to do any kind of sightseeing, but Jacob was able to take this photo of one
of the several castles belonging to the clan of our ancestors. The Duke of Argyll, chief of the Scottish
Campbell clan, lived here. Apparently it served as the family townhouse in Stirling. I don't think he
still needs it. Did I mention my oldest child is named Campbell? I believe that qualifies to have
us use it as our family townhouse, right? I'd better let them know. And start packing my bags.

Ben's first day of preschool

This is definitely one of my favorite photos of Ben to date.

Oh, and he loves preschool. A whole lot.
And I love this darling boy. A whole lot.

Sad

Good grief, I feel sad right now. All because this is the sight

that greeted me this afternoon when I went outside.

Oh, and this.

That would be the sight of trees being cut down. Not our trees, mind you,
but trees that have lined our property since we moved in. Trees that belonged
to two of our neighbors, but might as well have been ours they were so close
to our property. For four years, they have looked beautiful and lovely
and kept our yard and driveway shaded and private.

Now this is the view from our mud room porch each time we leave the

house. I don't have a before photo, but believe me, this is drastically different.
As in, the whole empty space you see above was filled
in with one huge and beautiful tree. And now it is not.

And in our backyard. There are honestly no words for how different it looks.
This entire side was blocked in by several huge trees. And now look at it. And the
only tree that remains, the one on our side? It is bent funny and only has leaves
on one side of it. Which we couldn't believe we had not noticed until they removed
the tree that was literally right next to it, but on the other side of the fence.

And then, the other night, Jacob and I were walking around the block
when we noticed from the street that several limbs had been cut from our tree,
but on the side facing the neighbor's house. Once again, no words. Just sadness
for the yard we used to have, but feels so different now. And gratitude that we rent
this house. Because I can tell you if I was the owner, I would be devastated.

I looked through a few of my photos to see if I could find a proper before photo
of the yard. And while this doesn't show the entire side, it was the best I could
find. See how the whole left side of the photo is lined with giant trees?

Not so much anymore.

Oh, and for the record, the day it happened, I called Jacob at work to tell him
what was happening and how sad I felt. I told him our yard felt totally different.
When he came home that night, he headed out to the back deck to see the damage.
He looked for a minute and then I asked him, "So, was I being dramatic about how
drastic it is or how sad our backyard feels now?" He replied, "Definitely not."

Yeah, that didn't help me to feel any less sad.

Who would have known that something that seems so small could
make such a difference? Not me for sure. It is still such a strange feeling
to look out the window and see a yard that doesn't look like the one
we saw every day, a hundred times a day, for four years. Sigh.

Okay, deep breath and time to move on.

And block out the back windows with dark curtains.

First day of school

Yes, we are the last known people in the universe to begin school and yes,
we love it. And really, aren't these darling chicklets worth the wait? I thought so.

And although he doesn't start preschool until next week,
Ben boy wanted to join the group. With no objections from us.

I love my kids.

Labor Day hike

On Labor Day, we spent the morning and afternoon hiking at a place called
Purgatory Chasm. It is such an awesome place to hike. We've done it once before,
but as you can see, the kids have changed a little bit since then. Unfortunately, it took
us three years to get back to there. Fortunately, it was still as fabulous as the first time.

Summer storm

We had a fabulous summer storm this morning.

When the kids saw the rain pouring down, Matt immediately picked up Nate,
holding him in the doorway so he could experience his first rain storm.

From the look of things, I think they both thought it was pretty cool.

Man hike ~ Part three

Okay, so the last day before Jacob returned home had nothing to do with hiking
really, but it was a part of the package, so it is getting included with the trip.
A day out on the boat, taking turns waterskiing. Jacob was in heaven.

Take a look at the height on those will you?
It is like no one told him he is the old man of the group.

Man hike ~ Part two

There isn't much explanation needed for these photos.

One dad and six brothers backpacking in the Uintas.
No cell phones, computers, work or distractions.
Just talking, laughing, sharing and climbing mountains.

Jacob told me after it was two of his favorite days ever.

Man hike ~ Part one

The day after we returned from Maine, Jacob had the chance to fly to Utah to spend several days with his family. His youngest brother was scheduled to return home from his mission for our church toward the end of July, and his dad and brothers were planning a backpacking trip to get away and just be together for the first time in two years.

Here they are right before they left.

And here they are on their way.

Thanks so much for these pictures, Jess!

How much wood would a woodchuck chuck?

Nine months

Last week this little sweetheart turned nine months old.

He's been crawling for several weeks, his eighth tooth is seconds away from breaking
through, he spends his days trying to get his siblings to laugh at him, but mostly, he just
makes us happy. Just over two years ago, I was told we were incredibly lucky to have four
children and that five would not be a possibility. I thank my Heavenly Father everyday
the doctors were wrong. Because not one of us could imagine our family without him.

I'm a mother

About eighteen months ago, our family started listening to the Harry Potter series on in the car. And loved every second of it! It took us a while to finish all seven books because we only listened when we were all together (well, at least a majority of us--Jacob is seldom with us on the way to and from church, which is when we did a majority of our listening). But on our way home from our Maine vacation we finished it and all felt a little (okay, a lot) sad that it was over.

Today I was thinking about how much we enjoyed listening to these books (Jim Dale is, without question, the greatest reader of audio books) and thinking about how the book ended and I realized something.

*Spoiler alert*

I love how the books end. Of course I love how Harry Potter defeats Lord Voldemort. I got teary reading that part the first time and got teary listening to it again. But the part that made me even more emotional? To the point I had to turn toward the window so that everyone in the car didn't wonder why I was such a mess?

The part where Molly Weasley takes on Bellatrix Lestrange. The part where she pushes her daughter and her friends out of the way and tells Bellatrix in no uncertain words to leave her daughter alone. And then, in defense of her child, takes out evil personified.

Yeah, that part.

I'm a mother.

And there's nothing in this world I would rather be.

Our Maine vacation ~ Together

Our favorite part of the vacation? Just being together. No question.

...The end...