Lake Powell

Every summer our first week of June is spent at Lake Powell with our friends the Markham's. I spoke with Lisa a couple months before to see what the plan was for our trip. I was trying to plan around the kids birthdays and Ashlynn baptism. It was a busy time! Lisa told me that they were cancelling the trip due to the other owners on the houseboat not paying their dues. Last year we had some problems with the houseboat and the engines and generator were giving us problems. Kevin didn't want to have the same issues so until things changed and the trip was off. Of course we were all crushed but understood and I went on planning our other activities.
A week before the time we'd usually be getting ready for Powell Lisa called me. Kevin had decided to still make the trip and wanted to see if we could scramble our stuff together and get up there. We were all so excited, except for Dave. Since the trip wasn't on before he had things scheduled for work that he couldn't get out of. So he was out and totally bummed. This is his one trip a year that he loves more than anything. But I still decided to take Tyler and Ashlynn up and have some fun. I made arrangements for Parker for the week and everything seemed to fall into place. We were going to POWELL!!! We love turning into water rats for the week and playing hard. It wasn't the same without Dave though but we still had a great time!! We love having that week with the Markham's and other good friends we've known since our Utah days. It's one of our favorite places on earth!

Ty popped right up on the board like it was yesterday.....it was awesome.

 Ashlynn was pretty happy just going along for the ride. She loved to get out on the tube but that was it:)

 Kevin was teaching Ty how to scuba......Ty ended up swimming under to houseboat to check things out.

 Until next year........I'll be dreaming of this..........complete bliss!

Ashlynn's 8th Birthday Bash

Ashlynn seemed to have a plethora of birthday celebrations this year from turning the big age of 8. I took cupcakes to her school class to share. Her baptism day followed by a get together with family and friends. The last hoorah........a party with all of her friends and USA Gymnastics. I was so happy to just pay someone and show up!! After all the other birthday festivities for our other two children and Ashlynn, I was pooped! It was totally worth it for me to pay someone to entertain us and then go home. It was a fun party with all her friends and cousins. I'm happy to report this will be the last shah-bang from the Campbell's for a while. Haahaahaahaa............well until next year at least:).

 Even Pman swung on the rope!!

Parker turns 2

 My little guy has turned 2!!! Parker has been so much fun and is so full of personality. He makes us laugh all the time! He's a snuggle bug and likes to get into mischief. He LOVES the sound of running engines! Cars is his favorite movie and he can watch it over and over if we let him. He loves planes, trains, motorcycles, boats and cars. He's talking up a storm and loves to sing songs before bedtime and snuggle.....but he calls it "nuggle".  He's all boy and we love him to bits! He's brought so much joy to our family. I can't believe how fast he's grown. I love this picture of Dave showing Tyler and Ashlynn Parker for the first time. The look on all their faces is priceless. He's always been the cutest darn thing and he knows it too! We love this little dude so much!! Happy Birthday Pman!!!

Ashlynn's Baptism

On May 25, 2013, Ashlynn was baptized. It was such an amazing and special day. Preparing for this day as a mother can be very nerve racking and emotional. At least it was for me:). A couple weeks before I was already tearing up each time I thought about today. I couldn't help it. I couldn't believe that Ashlynn was already 8. She has always had a special spirit and been very sensitive to recognizing it. She knows what the Holy Ghost feels like. She's a special girl and daughter of our Father in Heaven.
We chose to have her baptism in the afternoon and I was so glad about that. I had so much to finish up that morning and it seemed like the whole day went so smoothly until we had to leave. It was so nice. We had a packed room full of family and friends. We are very blessed to have such wonderful people in our lives that love and support our family. I remember looking around the room and seeing people from every stage of our married life. We had friends from Utah, friends from Iowa and family/friends from Arizona. It was overwhelming.
It was a perfect afternoon. Ashlynn asked both her Grandpa's to talk about Baptism and The Holy Ghost. My dad spoke on baptism and had Ashlynn sit on a stool and he sat in a chair. He sat there and talked right to her. He looked at her in her eyes and told her that he knew that the Gospel was true and that he knew that Jesus lives. He bore his testimony to her and was very emotional and tender. He talked about how he was baptized at the age of 17 and described what he remembered about that day. He brought out my baptism book and showed pictures of me with my parents. He read my testimony at 8 years old. It was a wonderful talk. I love my dad so much. Then Dave's stepdad gave a talk on The Holy Ghost. I was worried about Ashlynn asking him because he is in the middle of cancer treatments right now. I wasn't sure if it was the right thing to ask of him now. But Ashlynn wanted to. I'm so glad that she did. He also sat her down and talked right to her. It was also a special talk from a Grandpa to a Granddaughter.
After the confirmation Dave decided to stay standing at the front with Ashlynn and say a few thoughts. He talked about the feelings of the Spirit and that Ashlynn knew what they were. He talked about how special she was. He was crying. I looked at Ashlynn and her sweet little face started to break down and ball. That's all it took and the whole room was crying. I had to get up and give her something from the Primary which was a horrible idea. I was so emotional I couldn't even think straight. But I got through it. It was such a special day. I was so grateful for every part of it. I'm so grateful for the blessings of the gospel and the blessings of family and friends.
After the baptism we all headed over to our home to eat and continue visiting. I don't think we could have fit another person in our house!! It was packed. But it was fun and we had some delicious grub. It was a perfect day!