fish pond.... part 7 or 8 or 9....

This fish pond may be the death of Sam and I and actually many more creatures.

We bought new fish. 2 Koi and 2 placotomis (spelling?). In the morning one plactomis was dead but the other three fish are still kicking. They have lived for almost a week... woot woot!!!!

any how!!! Sam comes home from lunch yesterday and goes to the back yard and comes in and says..

THERE IS A BABY BIRD DROWNING in our pond...

OOOOHHHHH.... Sad.

So we got a net and fished the bird out and put a towel on our patio chair and got it warm.

We go back out about half hour later and the bird looks healthy and happy and jumps up and takes off... YEP WE ARE LIFE SAVERS!!!!

*side note.. I fell in the fish pond on Monday evening.. Well not fell in just my head... GROSS!!! Slimy fish pond water up my nose, in my mouth and fish scum hair!!!! YUCK....

Hubby Tag..

His full name: Samuel Lee Campbell
How long we've been married: almost 8 months
How long did we date: 4 months
Who eats the sweets? really neither of us
Who said I love you first: I did
Who is taller: Sammy
Who sings better: Sam by far!!!
Who is smarter: we're smart in our own ways and in different things
Who does the laundry: I do...
Who pays the bills: Sam
Who sleeps on the right side of the bed: Sam
Who mows the lawn: Sam
Who cooks dinner: ME
Who drives: Usually him
Who admits they are wrong: We both will but Sam is better at it than me...
Who asked who out first: he asked me out
Who wears the pants: SAM...SAM....SAM...
What does he do that surprises you: thoughtful gifts
My favorite feature on him: Eyes
Does he have a nickname for you: George!!!
His favorite food: Mexican
His favorite sport: Softball... but he is very good with most ball sports, ping pong, tennis etc.
Our favorite thing to do as a couple: Can I really answer this....hmmm. lol.. kidding almost anything!
Does he have any hidden talents: he can juggle and do the worm on his belly.
What do you admire most about him: his unconditional love for me and the kids!!
His favorite color: blue o
How did he propose: springs at cub river

Maverik Slaterville Grand Opening on Friday

Hi Everyone,
Friday we had an awesome afternoon. The Grand Opening at one of our new Maveriks was a lot of fun. Debbie and I ran up there for a few minutes to say hi and there was so much fun activity we had Cassidi take Brock out of school for us so we could take him up to have some fun.

The Monster Truck had a few cars to crush and right after he crushed them he turned a couple of fast cookies in the dirt and unfortunately, threw rocks and dirt EVERYWHERE. A few rocks just happened to find a brand new Ford F-350 and smashed the windshield and chip some paint on the hood and door. The guys stops his truck and creates a traffic jam..... steps out of his truck and starts yelling at the top of his lungs Mother eFers broke my windshield!!!!! Dropping the F bomb and cussing as loud as he could with families and kids everywhere. I ran over and gave him my name and number and calmed him down a bit and told him I would take care of it. Finally he left and unblocked traffic...lol I felt bad and luckily it didnt hit a kid or something but everyone got showered with dust so bad. I bet the neighbors really appreciated that.. haha
Well it was a great show anyway........



After we got showered with dust, Brock wanted to go climb the wall. Here is a video of him. He climbed all but one side and had a blast. So fun to watch and be around him. Thanks for coming Brock and great job!


Saturday we went on a long bike ride with friends up to Logan. Cordell was part of a promotional show at the Helicopter airfield. He took his Yamaha Raider and raced a Helicopter. I filmed the race and Debbie put it all together in a way nice video. She posted it on youtube... here is the link

Yamaha VS Helicopter Race

We had so much fun riding Saturday.... what a perfect weekend.

Have a great week everyone.

We need to get in Harmony ole' pond!!!

Dear Fish Pond:
I think you and I need to come to some kind of understanding. Don't you? I don't know why I am having so much trouble, with you, when I am truly trying to make you healthy and happy. Maybe this will help you understand!

When we moved in this house one of my favorite things about the house was the fact that YOU were here. I loved the fish (notice past tense) that swam in your crystal clear water, the fountain that made the soothing sound of running water and all the beautiful plants around you. I was THRILLED when the previous owner told us that the fish has been alive for 9 years and that you were little to NO maintenance.

NOW I AM ASKING YOU.. WHAT THE HELL HAS CHANGED?????? SERIOUSLY, WHAT THE HELL HAS CHANGED?

I understand that winter was rough on you but I was so happy when all 3, 9 year old, fish had made it through the winter and looked some what healthy. Now, this seems to be where the problem started. Sam and I drained you, cleaned you, and slowly replaced your water. The beautiful Spring weather was just what you needed to get that crystal clear water and healthy again... WRONG... Within a week all three, 9 year old, fish.... DEAD... DEAD.... DEAD.. I thought it was because of an anti fungus treatment I had put in you and chalked it up as that.

Now, I know you can remember the next few weeks. I ran the fountain.. OFTEN, I slowly replaced some of your water, I cleaned the debris from the tree's out of you EVERY SINGLE DAY. I made Sam replace the filter on the fountain. I was excited to get more fish in you and excited to see you grow and prosper. ATLAS the day came that Cassidi brought you home 10 beautiful baby gold fish. I imagined these gold fish splashing around in your rock hidden corners, growing old, having grand children and making a wonderful life in your crystal waters. BOY WAS I WRONG!!! DEAD...DEAD...DEAD... Can you help me dear ole' pond.. Let me know what you NEED and desire from me....

Signed,
FRICKEN FRUSTRATED...

Sheridan Trip

Hello everyone,

It has been so long since I have blogged. We have been busy with spring time things. We will try to be better.

This last weekend we went to Sheridan to see my daughter Jordan walk in her graduation. She worked hard for that certificate and we are so very proud of her. Great Job!!!!!! We love you Jordan. 18 years old and moving on with life...... I feel old. You are a beautiful girl (woman) with nothing but blue sky ahead of you!!

Debbie and I love to go to Sheridan and see some of my friends as well. We hung out with a few and introduced Debbie to a few she hasnt met yet. We would go there more often if it wasnt for the 9 hour drive one way. Debbie was a trooper and gave up her Mothers Day to travel with me to Sheridan..... thank you honey.

My Beautiful Wife

Happy Mothers Day

Our Good Good Friends Steve and Des Marosok

HOME SWEET HOME!!!

Well it's official we are staying in Kaysville (for now). We are happy about it and look forward to what is to come.

back yard!!!

Our backyard is so so pretty right now. With the tree in blossom and the purple flowers it is just gorgeous.. I wanted to share!!!!

A NON MORMON STUCK IN MORMON CENTRAL!

*disclaimer..... this is NOT a Mormon bashing post!!! I repeat this is not a Mormon bashing post!!! Many many of my family and friends are Mormon and I would NEVER bash the church. This is just a struggle with Sam and I... I REPEAT THIS IS NOT A MORMON BASHING POST!

I normally do not blog about personal things or deep things.. I am going to today...
Sam had never lived in Utah and had NEVER been around a influence of one religious group in his life UNTIL he hit Utah. Sam was use to many many churches and everyone being together as one no matter what church you went to. Utah is a little different and Kaysville is even more so. 98% of our neighbors our Mormon and I mean VERY VERY Mormon. I am happy for them, I am glad it works for them, BUT we know it does not work for US. The problem with that is where do you find a life in a neighborhood that is all one religious group when you don't go to that church.... hmmmmmmm....
I am use to the Mormon culture. In fact there are aspects of it I thrive on and look up to, and obviously (because I have chosen differently) there are some things that do not click in my heart. I said to a church leader one day.. "I kind of feel like I woke up in a town that everyone was driving backwards, EVERYONE, and no one asked.. HEY WHY ARE WE DRIVING BACKWARDS? They just did it because their neighbors, their parents, and their grand parents did it. I told him "I don't want to drive backwards because everyone else is, if I choose to drive backwards I want to know why I am".... That is how I feel about the Mormon church. I did NOT want to be Mormon because my neighbors are, or my parents are or... or... or...
It has been a hard decision on me and I have felt like an outsider A LOT!!! A LOT... Sam just does not get it.. He does not get the living your religion for "other people" he struggles with the entire concept of things. I have said to him many many times... DON'T HAVE A BEER IN FRONT OF THEM OR DON'T DO THIS.. He looks at me like I have 8 heads... He doesn't understand it at all. Sam and I definitely are "WHO WE ARE". We don't "pretend" we don't drink alcohol, we don't "pretend" we don't go to a bar, and we don't put up a facade to make us look better in a neighbors eye. It has been hard... HARD!! A lot of times as I have been in Kaysville it seriously has went through my head. I SHOULD GO TO THE LDS CHURCH so I can get a life... I AM SERIOUSLY JUST CONFUSED AS HECK ABOUT THIS... I am not saying that this is exclusive to the "mormon" religion. I am sure if we moved in to a neighborhood that was 98% Jewish we would have the same problem.
Sam is the most spiritual person I have ever been with. He talks about the hereafter, and god and what he believes.
So I don't work outside of the home so I don't have "work" friends, my kids are older and getting all grown up so I don't do the "room mom" thing any more. We don't hang out in bars or clubs (well very often) because we don't have a group of friends... So we have struggled with the "friend" thing here in good ole Kaysville!!! anyone else????????

CLEAN SHEET NIGHT.

I love to go to bed in clean sheets with freshly shaved legs!

I have washed all the sheets in our house today and wanted to share one of my LOVES...

hmmmm.

I have to admit!!! I forget how lucky we are to have Cassidi. Cassidi is definitely a teenager and comes with her own share of drama and disrespect BUT in general Cassidi is a very easy teenager. She respects us, comes home when she is suppose to and TRIES to do the right thing. I just want to send her a great big thanks.
Cassidi had a dance tonight and for the dance they all came to Sam and I's house to have dinner. It was fun to see everyone but WOW with teenage girls come drama. We made it through and no FIST fights.. HA HA.. Fun kids and I hope they have a great night.. KEEP IN MIND THE THEME WAS THE 80'S OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT!

Here are some pictures and some pictures of Sam and I's back yard. It looks so so pretty right now.

The other day Debbie was cooking dinner and Cass and I were hanging out chatting with her as usual while she cooked. I turned and was talking to Debbie for a sec and I heard a loud squeal to my left and this picture above is what we all saw. "What the hell?" was my first thought. This seemed to defy the rules of gravity. So then Cass started to play with it... the video below.........






This was the strangest thing and was good entertainment for a few minutes and thought you might enjoy it. It apparently takes just the right amount of fluid in the bottom to make it do this. I have no idea how much but give it a shot.

I am coming home to you tonight honey.... I love you and miss you tons.

yummy yummy sweet pork burritos... MAKE THEM!

I got this recipe from a girlfriend of mine, Jessica, and changed it just a little. Sam and Josh and Brock just raved about this.. TRY THEM YOU WILL LOVE LOVE LOVE THEM....

here is the recipe.. seriously so so good... I put the roast in about 8:00 a.m. and let it cook all day..
Put a 4lb PORK (or if Pork is not allowed beef or chicken, I prefer pork) roast in your crock pot..
Mix in a bowl:1 can doctor pepper
2- 8 oz cans tomatoe sauceand about 1 cup brown sugar (I did not measure)
place in crock pot (WITH ROAST) and let cook for 6 -7 hours.
Take Pork out.. SHRED IT ALL.
*at this point I took a couple of BIG BIG spoon fulls of "juice" out of crock pot. Just so it was not too runny (use your own judgement here).
Put Pork back in crock pot with juice and ad a couple big tablespoon fulls of Salsa (your favorite) and another cup or so of brown sugar.
Let cook for about another hour.
Take tortillas and heat them in microwave (I prefer homade from a mexican grocery store but whatever will work)
after they are heated ad some of the sweet pork from crockpot..
some spanish rice (I used the precooked bens spanish rice that you heat in the microwave for 90 seconds, I bought two packets and could have used three)
some heated black beans (just from the can heated in a small sauce pan)
Roll up.. serve with sour cream/guac..../salsa/lettuce (whatever YOU like)
They are so good.
This reciipe will feed A LOT. I fed my family and took 2 zip locks and froze the sweet pork for another night.
Knoks the socks off any sweet burito you are use to..

*I think this recipe would easily feed 15 to 20 if you used the pork sparingly and bought more rice and black beans...

I am so excited to defrost them and have them in a week and then after that... yummy!!!

TO MUCH HOUSE?????

When we bought our house in Kaysville we knew we needed something big enough for our kids, most of our kids. So we move in with 4 kids and Sam and I. We knew Josh would not be with us for very long. He is 22 (as of Wednesday) and we knew that it would only be a short amount of time before he wanted to go out on his own. Also Sam's youngest had thought about moving in with us and all 3 of my kids were with us.
Well turns out we have way OVER BOUGHT as far as # of bedrooms and square footage.

• Josh will be moving out on May 1st! He is so so excited and is renting a place downtown SLC 5 minutes from his work. We are nothing but happy for him but I am sure Brock will miss him. Cassidi and Josh have also became really good friend so we hope he comes back for lasagna night!!!
• Jordan (Sam's youngest) decided she was going to stay in Sheridan! She lives with her mom and is working and has a life there.
• Taylor, (my middle child) did not like Kaysville AT ALL!!! So she lived here for almost a month and decided to go live with her dad in Wellsville. IT BROKE OUR HEARTS BUT SHE SEEMS TO BE DOING WELL and she comes and visits..

So this BIG house with all these bedrooms are going to be left to Sam, I, Brock and Cassidi and keep in mind that Cassidi will be a senior next year and she will be moving on within the next couple of years also.

We just keep saying that it is good to have all of this space so when everyone comes and visits. In fact when everyone was here we did not have enough beds for all. However this big house seems to be getting less and less active. I think they call this "empty nesting"!!! It kinda a surreal feeling! *sigh!

There is a chance that Sam, I, Cassidi and Brock will be moving to St. George, Utah (about 4 1/2 hours South) within the next month. (STAY TUNED.... If we do we will post it on here.) So if we do that we will definitely not buy a home with 5 bedrooms, office, 1 living room, 2 family rooms and 3 bathrooms. We are thinking a nice 4 bedroom home with a POOL AND A PALM TREE... :-)! Our families know about this but in general we have kept it pretty quiet.

weeks menu.

I have a system of writing grocery lists. I go through the week and like a calendar I put..
Mon, Tues, Wed... etc. and underneath each of them I put what we are going to eat each day and then I do the grocery list. It is also fun to ask each member of the family to pick one night. They usually pick the same thing week after week. Josh is lasagna, Cassidi is these sandwiches I make, Sam is steak, and brock is seafood.
THIS WEEK I DID NOT ASK ANY OF THEM!

I only cook dinner and sometimes lunch for Sam. I only cook breakfast on the weekends and usually only 1 morning a weekend ( I know I am a slacker), and for Sunday dinners we usually eat about 3:00 p.m.. I am not a gourmet cook but I do cook A LOT. I cook simple and foods that my family will USUALLY eat.
anyway..
I am sharing this weeks dinner plan with you. I had a friend email me and ask me to do this so I was just doing my grocery list so here ya go...

Thursday: Angel Hair spaghetti, broccoli with Parmesan, french bread.

Friday: French Dip, with chips,veggies and shrimp dip.

Saturday: Taco Ring, with re fried beans.

Sunday: Oriental Wings with white rice and veggies and dip.

Monday: Sour Cream Enchilada Casserole (thanks Nichole), green beans, and rolls.

Tuesday: Pot Roast in crock pot with veggies and tators. ( I love to put a frozen pot roast in the crock pot early morning with a packet of zesty Italian dressing and au jus and a cup of water over the top, put veggies in and let it COOK ALL DAY!!! YUM)

Wednesday: SAM AND I GO OUT ON WEDNESDAY NIGHTS SO THE KIDS CAN HAVE WHATEVER WE HAVE LEFT!

I also throw on that grocery list top Ramon because my kids love to FRY it. A couple of fast things because Cassidi and Josh sometimes come home late and will say to me.. MOM I AM HUNGRY. I have seriously gotten up at midnight and fixed Cassidi food. SPOILED..
I also usually OVER cook so Sam can have it for lunch.
I hope this helps if ya are interested in knowing what is on the stove at our house let me know and I will try to do this more often..

SAM COMES HOME FOR JUST TONIGHT AND LEAVES AGAIN TOMORROW MORNING.. :-(... but he is going grocery shopping with me!

42 towels!

I did all my laundry last Tuesday before everyone got here. I MEAN ALL MY LAUNDRY. Sheets, bath mats, EVERYTHING.
I just gathered towels from every laundry bin in the house. 42 towels. 42 towels in a week??? Omyheavens.. Seriously?
KEEP IN MIND 3 DAYS I THINK WE ALL STAYED IN OUR JAMMIES ALL DAY.

42 towels......... not a typo.

lonely?

I am sitting in my family room. NO NOISE, NO TEENAGERS, NOT ONE PERSON HERE!! I am thinking am I lonely???? I don't think so. I have had a house FULL (I MEAN FULL) for 11 days, 11 FULL DAYS.. We have done so many fun things, Moab, roller skating, played games, dinners, cake decorating, etc. I am now sitting here all alone and thinking.. "It's good for things to get back to normal!" I am not saying I did not enjoy everyone because I DID. I am just saying if I had to do it every single day I think I would be a little anxious.. OKAY A LOT!!! lol..

So Sam and I have had a house full for 11 days and today would be a kinda quiet day and evening and guess what!!! SAM WILL BE TRAVELING A LOT THE NEXT TWO WEEKS. So he is gone to Idaho Falls tonight, will be back tomorrow late afternoon, leave again tomorrow morning and be back late Friday night.... and then start it all again next week. GO FIGURE.

I have to tell you about our cake decorating contest. So I baked the cakes and the deal was we all had to use the basic same shape of bunny but decorate any way you want. We were put on teams. Sarah and I, Cassidi and Jordan, and Taylor and Sam. We went to different rooms to decorate. Sarah and I went to the basement.. Here is us decorating our cake.

Sarah would color frosting and do the ears and tail and stuff and I would do the frosting work.

Sarah's and mine final project. I don't have close ups of the other cakes, I think Sam does on his laptop, but Sarah and I won. We came upstairs and poor Sam and Taylors bunny was called the "junk yard" bunny. It was even smoking. The poor bunny had a pretty hard life!

I am getting caught up with blogging and maybe will finally post some Moab arch pictures tomorrow. MAYBE.. MAYBE NOT. I am enjoying this quiet.. ha ha.

EASTER/SPRING BREAK = BUSY BUSY BUSY!!

It's been a little while and I am sorry for that. We have been busy as heck. Everyone came for Easter. Sarah (came from Laraime), Jordan (came from Sheridan), Taylor (came from Wellsville) and I had a friend from St. George (Jodi) stay on Sunday night, and my Mom and Nolan came for Easter dinner. So to say the least we have been busy. I HAVE COOKED, CLEANED, COOKED CLEANED, COOK CLEANED.. way to much. I am going to see if Sam will TAKE US OUT tonight!!! :-)

We mostly stayed in the house and played the Wii but we did get out a couple times. We went to lunch at Applebee's one day, went ROLLER SKATING, Yes Roller skating!! Sam and I even got on skates.. WE HAD SO MUCH FUN!!!

So after skating we came home.. I COOKED AGAIN. LOL and the weather was good enough for us to sit on the patio. Brock made a fire.. ALL BOY! We hung out and chatted!All the way around it was a pretty good weekend. JUST A LOT OF WORK. Sarah went home yesterday morning, Taylor went home last night and Jordan is with us till tomorrow. I will blog more later about Moab last weekend and our bunny cake contest etc.

It was fun but boy I have no idea how people can afford to "feed" and keep their sanity with 4 teenage girls, a dog, a tween son, husband and wife and all that goes along with that. WOW...

WHAT PRICELESS MEMORIES!

MOAB WEEKEND

What an awesome weekend. We had a blast even though it snowed and was cold our first 2 days. We made the best of it and had a great time. Cass was a trooper and even though she is a teenager who would rather be at home with friends still had an OK time... lol
We stayed in a cabin in a camp ground with bunk beds and a heater that barely worked. So at night we would snuggle up and tell funny stories in the dark.... I better keep these stories a secret.... especially the ones about me.
So me and Brock wake up and of course have to go pee with Winnie so we proceeded outside and found SNOW on the ground. So much for a Spring Break WOW... COLD. So everyone rolled out of bed dressed warm and we hit the parks and Moab. We had never been to Moab for play before... I had been there for work since there are two Maveriks there but never to goof off. There are TONS of things to do there especially if you have a couple of 4 wheelers, jeep or a dirt bike....... so much dang fun. We are definately going back when its warm and maybe with some toys and friends...... make it an adult weekend... lol

Sunday was way warm and we went on a hike of all hikes but I will let Debbie post about that one with pictures.... what a great time.

HOLE IN THE ROCK HOUSE

4 Wheelin in the park

Cold Arch Hike

Fun Gift Shopping with a Blizzard Outside

Afternoon Siesta after a day of cruizin through the cold parks

Weeekend Getaway....

Hey everyone we are headed out to Moab for a weekend get away. I am sure we will come back with some great pictures and stories so come back to see us in a few days..... I promise we will have an update. We have been lazy bloggers lately. Shame on us!!

Prom 2009.

It's Cassidi's prom tonight. She looked so unbelievably beautiful. My mom bought her the dress and I truly think it is the prettiest one she has ever had. The orange was SO fun and I love flowers in hair..
Davis High Schools prom is at the Utah State Capital Building. I want to go so bad!!!
Here ya go!

Our Dawg is growing up......and has officially taken over

As most of you know, Debbie and I would love to have a kid but cant. So we bought a puppy...
Debbie and the kids love her to death.... especially Debbie. She loves, cuddles and spoils her so much its enough to make ME jealous...hah

Last night Winnie decided she was going to piss on the floor right next to me.... bad idea. I chucked the blanket at her, snatched her up and swatted her on the ass and hauled her outside. When I came back in, it was a little somber in the room. Debbie and Brock were next to me and saw the whole thing. They were a little taken back that Sam would treat their dog like that... lol Brock felt bad because he heard her whimper a touch when I smacked her on the butt. Debbie looked at me with her own sad puppy dog eyes as if I did something wrong.

I am all male.... I will NOT give in... I wont I wont I wont I wont.... I run this house NOT A PUPPY!!! Right???? Someone help me here.. pAlease??? haha
(yes I love her too)


WINNIE WHEN WE FIRST GOT HER

WINNIE AFTER HER BIG GIRL HAIR CUT LAST WEEK

My Poor Wife........

Yesterday, Debbie finally starts feeling better. I mean remarkably better to where her face even changed. You know when people are in pain it shows in every expression? Well Debbie was in horrid pain for a solid week........ no not her boobs... her throat. Her uvula was cut or nicked during surgery with the breathing tube then got infected. So the 127 stitches and rib scrapping procedure was fine.... lol I swear, my poor wife. I felt so bad for her..... she couldnt catch a break.... well until Tuesday. Exactly one week after her surgery...... she is showing signs of Debbie again.
Anyway.... as soon as Cass got out of school Debbie whisked her away to go shopping at the mall in Layton for Prom goodies. She texted me about the time I was headed home and said "pick up Brock at meet us at Applebees for dinner". Wow... I could tell by that statement alone my wife was feeling great. Brock and I sat down and ate with the girls. I think it was Debbies first meal in 8 days. Well after they told me about the story of an old perverted fart picking up on them in the mall and the very flirty waiter that sat with them before I showed up I thought to myself.... My Debbie is back!!!
Just a quick note..... for those of you that dont know Debbie very well... she carries a presence about her and is extremely attractive...... no matter what she wears or where she is she is always getting flirted with and picked up on. Then you bring Cassidi into the picture.... her mothers daughter in every sense of the word including presence.... and watch out. They walk in anywhere and own the place. So hearing the stories I just say to myself.... Yup she is back... you go girl!! lol Ok I lost my train of thought....... where was I????

Oh yeah... food!!! So we get home and sit for about 3 seconds and Debbie wants to go shopping.... so we go and buy another hippie light for our living room to match our first lamp we bought
1st lamp link
2nd lamp link
then we went home again... Yes she has cabin fever
We sat down for a minute then she said she was hungry..... sent Cassidi to the grocery store with a list I have never heard of before. Cass gets home and Debbie gets me involved in cooking up some gormet meal (pics below) I have never heard of before. Please keep in mind this was 9 PM at night after we had already eaten. Whips up a peanut butter and chocolate desert and puts it in the fridge. Cooks pasta, shrimp and a home made sauce that had wine it in that was out of this world and we ate our second dinner about 10 and watched the recording of Dancing with the Stars.
My wife is almost back with us... haha... now if I can just get her to have a beer with me.... sheesh

PORK WRAPPED SHRIMP

HOME MADE TOMATO SAUCE FOR PASTA

Brock's school program!

OH BOY.. it's been a very very long week. I am on the mend and can actually shower on my own. I have had a real struggle the last week and poor Sam has just stood by and watched.

My chest was not my biggest problem. My chest actually felt better by Saturday. The biggest problem became my throat. As Sam d posted the knicked my uvula when putting the breathing tube in (or out, who knows). This resulted in a throat that was so red, swollen, and Pusey that I could not even swallow. Honestly swallowing even spit brought me to tears. It finally is starting to feel better today.

We did go to Brock's 5th grade program last Thursday night. It was fun and we laughed so hard at the instructor, he was truly adorable.. Enjoy and make sure you watch the leader knock his glasses off.. YEP HE WAS THAT EXCITED!!!

Happy Birthday Brock!

Hi YALL!!!! I am not going to write a lot but I just want to tell Everyone THANK YOU!!! THANK YOU!!! THANK YOU!!! I am surrounded by the best friends and family.
I am married to the World's best guy. He has struggled with this entire thing. He has hated every minute of it yet he has stood by my side and cooked, cleaned, taken care of Brock's birthday and done ANYTHING I have asked. Sam I truly love you and everything you have done and continue to do for me.. THANK YOU SO MUCH I KNOW I AM A PAIN IN THE ASS, and it's almost impossible to keep me down. I AM TRYING.. I LOVE YOU!

For Brock's Birthday. Cassidi made dinner (like I said everyone has been so wonderful) Nolan and my mom came over and Sam bought Brock an ice cream cake. Here is the "Happy Birthday" video..

Day One Recovery

As you may know by the previous blogs, Debbie went into breast reconstruction surgery yesterday. She had breast cancer 10 years ago and she was having issues with her old implants and surgery. Yesterday, the doctor found her left SILICONE implant was leaking quite bad and had to clean out her breast cavity area of the remnants which was a little invasive. They replaced both old implants. They also found that the old scar tissue from the original mastectomy was way bad and had capsulized, or formed tube like things. So, he cut out all the old scar tissue, 4 areas nearly an inch in width from her arm pit to her sternum, and sewed everything back together under the skin and glued the cuts in place to help reduce scaring. OUCH!!!!! On top of all that, the breathing apparatus they used nicked her uvula and is swollen and hard to swallow.
We got home at 8PM last night and even with drugs we had a nearly sleepless night. About 3AM to 5:30AM we had the most sleep before the kids got up.

She is doing fine and had a 4 hour period of time where she felt good. We will see how tomorrow goes.

Its Brocks birthday today so I ran to McDees and got a greasy breakfast for him and Cass for the Birthday.... no I dont cook much... lol Tonight we are going to have ice cream cake and Debbies mom and Nolan are coming over.

Happy Birthday Brock we love you.

Stage 3....

At 5:15 the doctor came out and said "Debbie came through fine and did great and is now in recovery". After a quick visit with the doc he said that in 30 to 45 minutes in recovery the RN will come out and get me. This is the same RN that was supposed to come out every little while and give me updates on how they were doing...... NOT ONCE DID HE COME OUT. So I was a bit skeptical on the RN actually coming out and getting me. After the doctor left I NEEDED to be with my wife.... I was pacing up and down the waiting room, lit up the laptop and surfed the internet and updating facebook and driving myself nuts. After 45 minutes Sammy got pissed... not one friken word from the RN. So I packed my shit up and proceeded back into the recovery room myself. A night nurse caught me and said "you must be here for Mrs Campbell". I said yes but I am a bit upset... I said "the RN said he was going to give me updates and NOT ONCE did he come out" "I want to see Debbie" I said. She got right on it and I was finally able to see my wife.
When I walked in I saw this IV in her freakin neck (pic). So they attempted to find a vein in her right arm 5 times and finally decided to put it in the big vein. Other than the vein issue and the itching nose thing just out of surgery she is doing great but LOTS of pain.

My only problem is keeping Debbie down on her ass so she can heal up. I am here to wait on her and she keeps getting up and wanting to pick up the house or something....... I have to cuss at her and and sit her down lol poor girl.

More later

The Wait.......

So the hospital told us to be there at 11 AM to work on preop things as well as ask and answer questions before they begin. So we get there at 10:55 like the good people we are. After getting into the preop room we would get a visitor about every half hour, ask the same questions and complain about the IV that apparently the first nurse did a terrible job of. The two doctors were very nice when they finally showed up about 1 PM..... probably after lunch and a few green beers. lol Then they left after marking up her chest with pen marks.
After talking to each other for quite some time until Debbie got sick of me, we quized each other on who knows the names of the capital cities of the 50 states. So I tested her first and she failed bad as she said she would.... she tested me and I failed but not as bad.... then she asked me to test her again. Little did I know she had been memorizing by association during the time she was testing me. Her second round she only missed ONE!!!???? I have never seen a steel trap like that before. I was amazed. She was laughing as she was guessing because her associations were quite humerous and I would have a hard time just thinking of them rather than the actual city lol... Anyway... she blew me a way.

So finally at 3:15 they came and wheeled her off to surgery. Yes 4 hours and 15 minutes later....... I am sitting in the waiting room biting my fingernails chewing my cheeks worried sick about my woman somewhere on the other side of this wall going through who knows what.

They promised me she will be ok.........

Surgery Today

I dont know if you know what Debbie has gone through in her life but she is a 10 year breast cancer survivor. She has been through a lot including a double mastectomy and just recently we took her to the doc because we thought an implant was leaking. There are also some other things Debbie was concerned about and with the Docs help she will get it all taken care of.

So Today..... I take my wife in to have total reconstruction. I am more nervous than she is I think. I hate the thought of my wife in pain but I took a few days off of work to take care of my girl. I love her so much!

I will post an update on how she is doing and I am sure in a couple of days she will post something of her own.

Wish her luck...........

Frozen fish!

Remember the blog a couple months ago about our fish pond that was frozen? Well if not here is a picture of our fish pond. We had to go outside with an ax and put breathing holes for the fish thru the ice.I really didn't think there was a chance that the fish would live thru the winter. Well I was wrong!! All three fish are alive and well.
Yesterday we did the first yard work of the year and we decided to clean the fish pond out.
IT TRULY WAS ONE OF THE GROSSEST THINGS I have done for a very very long time. I was gagging. Sam got a garbage can and got the water out and than we got a paint scrapper and scraped the scum off the sides.. OMYHECK.. sick...
We cleaned the lower (larger) pond and put the fish in the upper one and than added new water. IT LOOKS SO GOOD. I am sure glad we only have to do that once a year... YUCK... YUCK.. YUCK..
I also got the kids out in the yard to do yard work. We have a problem THE KIDS LIKE FIRE FIRE FIRE.... Well they actually LOVE IT. We put a bunch of leaves in the raised garden beds and let the kids burn them (I do think that is illegal) and Sam brought out a blow torch for about an hour. Winnie played outside for a couple hours while we did work. She was so tired. She only ran off once. She had never been outside for that long.The best thing on Earth happened after that. SAM HAS A EDGER. An electric edger.. I love it.. I am in love with it and I am sure I will lose a finger before the yard is cleaned up this spring and we may not have any tree's or shrubs left.We are going to go get a bottom feeding fish today and I am going to Plant peas. Are back yard is looking so cute. When It greens up a bit we will post pictures!!!

His Story........

I get asked often about when Debbie and I met. I think partially because when people see us they see how much in love we really are and are curious. "How did you ask her to marry you?" or "what happened when you first met?"....... things like that. I decided to put together a short... ok... kind of long..... story about that time in our lives. Sorry this is so long but seriously... how could I make such a great story short.... haha. So for those of you that are interested.... here is my story............

We have 6 kids between the two of us from 11 to 21. Brock 11, Taylor 14, Cassidi 17, Jordan 18, Sarah 20 and Josh 21. We now live in Kaysville Utah.

We both just came out of some tough relationships and really were not looking for long term anything. Certainly we wanted companionship so we were looking for something thank goodness. We spent hours and hours on the phone talking about anything and everything. We lived 80 miles apart so meeting each other had to wait a week so we got to know each other just on the phone. I was totally mentally involved with Debbie by this point already. It was all I could think about every day. Every night for a week we would call and visit until midnight or later.

Finally, we decided to meet on a Saturday. June 21st 2008 to be exact. I had to drive an hour to get to her and what an hour that was.... nervous, excited.... kind of a mess I was... haha. Debbie wanted to meet at a local gas station and I agreed. I pulled into the parking lot and saw her car and my hands got sweaty immediately. I got out of the car and started walking towards her and she got out of the car and we met eyes, big smiles and hugged a deep hug. I was in heaven. I said to myself "This is the most beautiful woman in the world". I was a puddle of mush.

She took me on a hike in a populated area in the mountains and she kissed me when we were on top of Cub River just over the border in Idaho. WOW. We went back into town and had a couple of drinks at the local bar and I met a few of her friends and went home. I emailed my parents that night and I told them I just met the most beautiful woman in the world. I kept that email. The next day I came back up and met her kids and from then on it was all over. I have been totally enamored and in love with my new woman ever since.... still am. Her kids are so incredible and welcomed me with open arms.

We started looking at rings just a couple of months into our relationship and I bought one a couple of weeks later with out her knowing. I kept it hidden in my car not knowing how or when I would ask this incredible lady to marry me. Finally, a week or two later, an opportunity. She wanted to go on a hike to Cub River. I thought to myself "perfect... this is it this is it... the place where we first met and kissed!!" So during that whole next day, Debbie invited her kids, friends and seemed like whoever she ran across... "want to go to Cub River with us?" In my mind I am thinking "no no no" haha which I would have been fine with... I would have just waited a bit longer, however, now I have the perfect place in mind to ask her to marry me. So, as it turned out, everyone turned us down... so we went alone. Perfect! So we get up to the beginning of the trail and all the way up there I am wondering how the heck I am going to dig the ring out from its hiding place in my car, put it in my pocket with out her knowing what I am doing. I put the car in park.... she said she has to go pee... "yeah perfect" I thought but little does anyone know about Debbie.... she is the fastest urinater in the west. She will walk into the bathroom and before the door shuts behind her she is pushing the door open all finished up. So I knew I had about 30 seconds to get the ring into my pocket. She opens the bathroom door and I tore that car apart frantically, got the ring in a safe pocket, crammed everything back into the console, shut the door and there she was walking towards me..... good grief that was close.

Off we go on our walk and come to the spot of our first kiss and sat down on some rocks right at the edge of the river. I was sitting right at her knees just below her looking into her eyes holding her..... another perfect moment. So I look deep into her eyes and ask "Debbie will you marry me and complete me for the rest of my life?" She responds nonchalantly "sure, do you want to marry me??" I said "YES" but I was kind of set back by her calmness and her moving on to talk about something else. hah (we obviously have talked about getting married before). So I proceed and change the subject back..... I said "can I put a ring on your finger?" She asked calmly "you have a ring?" then her eyes got bigger as if she suddenly realized what just happened "YOU HAVE A RING????" .... before I could answer, she talks again "YOU HAVE A RING ON YOU RIGHT NOW???????" I was finally able to talk and I said "Yes I have a ring right now" so I pulled it out of my pocket and put it on her finger. We both embraced and cried and sat there for a while holding each other. You know... while I am writing this I am not sure she even said YES... haha.

We flew to Kentucky to introduce her to my parents and family. While we were there, my Father married us in a very nice home wedding in Kentucky on October 10th 2008.

We finally went on our Honeymoon January 23rd to Cozumel Mexico and had the time of our lives.

I love you Debbie.....

recalling our first "date, Kiss, etc."

SAM!!! SAM!!! SAM!!!

friday night alone...

Since I met Sam I have not spent a Friday night alone AT ALL, except tonight.
It's Friday night at 10:35 p.m. in Utah and I am sitting in my family room ALONE... It's kinda a strange yet very surreal feeling..
The reason I am alone...
I am simply married to the World's best man. Sam and my son, Brock, are at a Utah Jazz game. Sam had two tickets to the Jazz game and since Brock had never been to a Jazz game in his life Sam said.. "Can I take Brock?"
Yep... the Step Dad of the YEAR...
Thank you Sam.. I am sure you two are having a great time. Brock will remember this for the rest of his life...
Did I mention they have seats on ROW 9...
I am truly blessed!

Music Lovers

Debbie and I are very much music lovers. We love to listen to music and we listen to music when we love... hehe..
Anyway... so I wanted to post a few of our favorite songs. Can you guess who's is who's?
(you need iTunes to listen to links so just click the song)

Freebird
Hotel California
Lets Make Love
Out There
So What
Dont Stop Believin
Gives You Hell
Let Me Go
I Kissed a Girl
Meet Virginia

I could go on and on but these are the ones that come to my mind right away.

Debbie is a music guru when she has her iPod with 8 million songs on it from every genre there is. We love to cruise and play songs just like teenagers...lol

We also play name that group when a song comes on to see who can name it first. I kick her butt on the 80's rock and she wastes me on country. Fun trips to Logan and back. I love you Debbie.

ROCK ON!!!

Sam's hidden talent..

WHY WE LOVE SAM!!!