Our Biggest Day Yet

Well since I seem to only post significant events in our lives, I guess this one qualifies! Yesterday Ron (& family) graduated from the University of Oklahoma College of Dentistry! I remember sitting our family down a little over 4 years ago and telling them that we had a couple of choices. As Ron put it...we can do this thing or we can't! We told the kids that in order for this opportunity to work we were all gonna have to work together. It was gonna mean we sacrificed some things along the way and possibly went without some of the things we had grown accustomed to. It was gonna mean a whole new way of living for us. Ron would be gone A LOT! Money would be tight, but in the end it would be the best thing for our family. We all agreed that it was what we wanted and the adventure began. Now at the end of our adventure it hardly seems possible that we were able to do it. We have truly been blessed along the way. Our children didn't go without many if any things, we didn't have to eat beans & rice....although we have aquired a taste for Ramen Noodles along the way, and as a family we have learned that together we can do anything we set our minds to. We are so proud of Ron...because no matter how much we had to endure, it was ultimately him who worked the hardest and never gave up. He put nearly 158,000 miles on his car. That's 6 times around the earth at the equator. I could hardly believe it when he put it that way. It wasn't easy for any of us, but atleast the kids and I had each other. Ron was alone in his apartment in OKC for much of the time. The very first summer when he started Dental School we celebrated Haleigh's b-day in OKC at his apartment. He decorated it with Barbie streamers and balloons and surprised her with a Barbie cake. The whole time he was there, the balloons and streamers never came down and it wasn't until last week when we cleaned out the apartment and turned in the keys did the party decorations come down. He missed us as much as we missed him. I recently came across the quote at the top of the page "If you don't like the road you're walking, start paving a new one," by Dolly Parton. This describes Ronnie better than anything I could have come up with. It's not often that a nearly 40 year old has the courage to change his whole outlook and pursue a dream to benefit those he loves. He was the oldest one in his class of 60 students. The youngest in his class was born the year Ron graduated high school. He has certainly paved a new road for our family and we will never be the same because of it. He is our HERO whether he believes it or not. Yesterday was our biggest and best day yet.... with many more to come. Great job Dad- WE LOVE YOU!

After 4 long years... Dr. Ron Campbell, D.D. S.

He also received an acheivement award from the American Association of Endodontists for remarkable skill in the area of endodontics. (He's really good at root canals!)

We celebrated our 20th anniversary a couple of weeks ago, but I have never been so proud as I was of Ronnie yesterday!

We can do anything!

We were grateful to have Rick & Robin share this special day with us.

Quick Update - Us in a nutshell

Ok, so I'm not the best blogger out there. Here's our life in a nutshell. Christmas was good. We got to spend a lot time together as a family. Money was pretty tight this year as we knew it would be this last year of dental school. We tried to shop wise and get the things we thought would get the most bang for our buck and Ronnie had the great idea that the kids would love to have a dog for Christmas. We went to the pound on Christmas Eve, and all of us fell in love with little Daisy. She had to go to the vet for her "procedure" so we weren't actually able to bring her home until the Monday after Christmas. She's a beagle mix about 2 years old and has quickly become the 7th member of our family. She's a great dog and pretty much rules the roost now. Ronnie was right a little went a long way.

Ronnie went back to school this week and things are pretty much back to the same ol' grind. My life is pretty crazy right now as my new shop is really starting to blossom. If you didn't know, I've moved my store to the neighboring town of Collinsville, just 6 miles north of Owasso. It's not too far and well worth the $1300 less a month I now pay in rent. Check out my new website www.alldolledupbridalandtuxedo.com for more on that endeavor. I also made my television debute last week on the morning News on 6 show. A local t.v. station puts on a "Wedding Whim" each Valentines Day where they give away a whole wedding and marry the couple on the morning show. They had couples write an essay as to why they should be picked then the public votes online for their choice. This year I am sponsoring the gown and tuxedo so I had to go on the show and describe the choices for the gown and tuxedo. The public now has until tomorrow Wednesday, Jan 14 to vote for their favorite gown and tuxedo. It's online now for your viewing pleasure. It was a joke. I totally messed up and sounded like a fool and looked 100 years old and about 400 lbs. but oh well, it's over and it's been great exposure for the shop. Go vote now! www.newson6.com . Look for the Wedding Whim link or else look under the "Our Projects" tab at the top of the page. The kids are all good. We are especially proud of Whitney for making 1st chair for the bass clarinet in the All State try-outs... a while back (poor blogging). She's officially the best bass clarinet player in the state of Oklahoma. I guess you could say she's then in the top 50 of the country then. As another part of their Christmas the kids all changed rooms. Maddi moved back in with Haleigh and Riley then moved into Maddi's old room. We are in the process of turning his old room into the game room. They got a new t.v. and game system for Christmas as well. So far Maddi and Haleigh have turned their room into a pink & black Paris themed room. It's way cute. We already had all the pink and black Paris stuff from the prom room of the old shop. We also had tons of paint left from when we painted the shop. Anyhow, it turned out really neat. I'll post pictures another day. Riley chose bright RED paint for his room. Not sure how I feel about that. I've heard that red paint makes you aggressive. Yikes just what a boy surrounded by sisters needs...more anger! More on that later too. Oh yeah, and in case there's anyone out there who hasn't heard.... Since my last blog of Elder Campbell's return.... Elder Campbell is now engaged and the wedding will be March 27....this year 2009! I've got post more. Too much can happen around here in a short period of time.

Elder Campbell Returns

Ok, so I'm not the best blogger out there. I do however try and touch on the really significant events of our lives. One of those events took place on Monday when Elder Richard Campbell III returned home from serving in Spokane Washington Mission. We couldn't believe it was 2 years ago that he left. Seems like it was just yesterday. We were all excited to see him and wondering how he had changed. It was so exciting to see him walk down the corridor to where we were all waiting. I can just imagine the emotions that Rick and Robin must have felt watching their son return from serving an honorable mission. We are all so proud of Ricky and can't wait to hear all the stories of his adventures as a missionary. As far as change, other than being a little more mature, he returned pretty much the same handsome young man that left. Ricky doesn't like to be the center of attention and all the hoopla of balloons and lots of family didn't change his humble quiet demeanor. He seemed to be a fish out of water and almost uncomfortable with all the attention. It will take a while for him to adjust back to life outside of the mission field. How exciting to watch as he now gets to make choices that will change the rest of his life. Great Accomplishment Elder Campbell we are all so proud of you! Now for the pictures, my camera wasn't working great and everytime I had the perfect shot - without fail someone would walk in from of the camera with balloons. Here's a few I did manage to capture.

How much longer? Hannah and Robin anxiously await the arrival.

No one was more anxious than Noah. Noah dressed as Elder Campbell for Halloween and wore his suit and nametag to school. He got to answer lots of questions. He's already on track to be a great missionary...just like his older brother.

Finally it's here!

The first sight of Elder Campbell as he walks down the corridor. This was before he saw the crowd waiting for him.

A big hug from Mom!

Proud Dad.

Look at that grin with Boomp & Gramma Dell.

A brothers love? Elder Campbell isn't too sure about all the love.

Quick snap it before those balloons get in the way.

The sign says it all. What a great day!

Haleigh's Baptism

Haleigh's baptism took place last Saturday and was a wonderful experience. She was lucky enough to have her grandparents from Hurricane, UT here to take part. We are also grateful to have Boomp & Dell here who have become her adopted grandparents. Bishop Hagedorn conducted as he was recently called to be in the Bishopric of our ward. Gramma Dell gave the opening prayer, and Whitney conducted the music. Maddi gave the talk on Baptism and did a fantastic job. She gave a talk about the Three Bears - the 3 bears of baptism. Bear the name of Christ, Bear your testimony, and Bear one anothers burdens. It was very good and there wasn't a dry eye in the house by the time it was all done. Haleigh was baptized by her Dad, who almost wiped out going down into the font. Luckily he caught himself before he went head first. Grandpa Campbell then gave a talk on the Holy Ghost and then Haleigh was confirmed by her Dad also. There were lots of friends and family there and we are grateful for all those who came to show their support of Haleigh's decision to be baptized. Grandma Campbell gave the closing prayer and then we took some of these pictures. Afterward we went over to Rick & Robins for tacos and had fun visiting with all of our family.

This was the whole group of us. In every one of the pics of all of us, Robin was hidden. Sorry Robin.

This is Haleigh with her grandparents. Bro. & Sis. Hagedorn who have so graciously stepped in as grandparents to our kids since their other grandparents live so far away. Haleigh was so excited to have Grandma and Grandpa come for her special day.

Haleigh with her BFF Amanda. It's so neat to see the two of them share these special occasions.

Haleigh with her brother and sisters. Hardly seems possible that she is the last in our family to be baptized.

Who's taller? You be the judge. Ronnie insists that he is taller but I'm not sure. Comment your answers and we'll post the results later.

This was Sunday morning before church. She looked beautiful all dressed in white. Her dad's not half bad either.

Did they have to go there!!

Classic Maddi

Well the party was a huge success. Everyone had a great time. I'll post more about that when I get some pictures from the photographer. Today's post is just classic Maddi! Ok, so last night during dinner the conversation drifted to a discussion about which would be better to die in- a plane crash or a car crash. Haleigh stated that she would never want fly on a plane and when asked she said because she didn't want to die! That's how it all started. Ronnie then quoted statistics about how more people die in car accidents than in plane crashes. Whitney put in her two cents about how atleast in a car crash you wouldn't know it it coming, blah, blah, blah. Ronnie then started to relay a story about how as a child he and his mom (Grandma Campbell) were in an accident. He said "I'll never forget it....we were in North Las Vegas right in front of the "Wienerschnitzel"... Now mind you our kids have mostly been raised here in Oklahoma and have never had the privelege of partaking of the classic Wienerschnitzel-

Haleigh then asked "What's that"?

Maddi just as serious as could be says - "Is that like a Port-a-Potty?"

It was all over after that. I had to excuse myself from the table.

Luau Invitation

Well Whitney's Sweet Sixteen B-day party is only 2 weeks away and I still don't have a menu put together. Ideas? Our front room is turning into a tropical... i don't know what. I've got tiki torches and tropical flowers everywhere. We cut out five 6ft. tall surf boards that still need a coat or two of paint. I've got center pieces still left to put together and hula hoops and silk leis everywhere. Where can I buy bamboo for a limbo stick? I'd really like to find some polynesian dancers to perform. It's starting to look a little like an island here. Here's the invitation we had printed she's also got it posted on her facebook. It's gonna be fun...just hope people come after all this work...and EXPENSE! Waiting for comments with recipes or luau ideas. More later.

08/08/08 Haleigh Turns 8!!!

Little Haleigh Bop turns 8 years old today. It hardly seems possible.

Eight Things about Haleigh at 8 on 08/08/08:

1) Her Dad's favorite quote about her... "That girl's CRAZY!" Haleigh is a special spirit who loves to make us laugh. She's quite a ham...hmmm wonder where she gets that? Ronnie!

2) She loves to sing and dance! She can sing every Hannah Montana and Jonas Brothers song and make up a dance while doing it.

3) She's very quick and witty. She's known to let the zingers fly during dinner. Her brother and sisters have nothing on her.

4) Her best friend's name is Amanda!

5) Amanda taught her to love frozen fish sticks....still frozen! Ugh!

6) She'll be starting 2nd grade in just a few days - August 13.

7) She's very affectionate - and loves to give hugs.

8) We love her very much and couldn't live without her! We are so thankful to have her in our lives.