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.