Visit to the Zoo

The girls are just the right age for viewing the animals. Everytime we would leave one cage, Sabrina would say, "see more animals." So Cute....

Destiny didn't make it on this trip, she was with Mema Lorelei and Papa Jerry at the lake. I couldn't help but remember our first day with her. This is the first place we ever visited together.

The twins have been making roaring noises all night. We've been to the zoo today. We saw lots of animals, but the girls really liked the panda's and the elephants the best. They also got to pet the goats and lambs. We rode the train, which they didn't like. We rode the carusel and both girls cried most of the way thru. Right at the end, Sabrina actually started to have fun. She even held on by herself.

Looking at the monkeys in trees.

Fourth of July

Happy Fourth of July !!!!!!
Peyton celebrated the fourth of July by running the Peachtree Road race. It's the largest 10k in the world. Over 50,000 people ran. Peyton finished in just over an hour. We were very proud of him. He left the house at 4:15am. In the afternoon we went to Mary and Rabun's for a cookout. It was very nice. Amber stopped by with Riley and Kenna. Riley warmed up to me a little this time. She even sat in my lap so I could read to her. I was surprised. Almost all of the kids were there. Molly, Micheal, Destiny, Mitchell, Anna, Riley, Sabrina, Samantha, Katelyn, Tyrus, and Kenna. We were missing Maddie and Dylan, they were home in Ohio and Taylor, who is no longer a kid. He has begun to bail at these little get togethers.

The kids played in the pool and with the puppy dogs all afternoon. The fourth of July is always a little bitter sweet for me. I am very patriotic so I love to celebrate, but it is also the anniversary of my dad's death. This year was the 32nd anniversary. I'm working on a short story about his life right now...or his death. It's the first time I've written in a long time.

Jace's Fourth Birthday

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JACE!!!!

We had quite the adventure at Jace's fourth Birthday party. We had to call 911 because we thought Mema Shirley had a heat stroke. It turns out she was passing out from the severe pain in her ankle. She turned it over getting out of the car and likely broke it.

The girls had lots of fun swimming and playing on the swing set. Thought for sure it would exaughst them, but it's 2200 hours (10pm) and they are still going strong.

I think Jace had a lot of fun. Michael, Destiny, Sabrina, Samantha, Jordan, Skylar, Blake, Garrett, Zach, Dylan, Kora, Chase, and Chandler were all there. It was a "Pirates of the Caribbean" party. Everyone was really hot until we made it into the water. Next time we'll picnic after the swimming and not before.

Look how red Sabrina and Sami are. This is just moments before we rushed Mema by ambulance to the hospital. She passed out again on the way to Southern Regional. She's alright tonight, but she is down for the count, so it leaves us without a nanny for the kids for a while. Mema Lorelei really wanted to have the girls for a few days, so it looks like she might get her wish a little more often than she thought. With the kids being out of school, she can help out for a while.

Dress Up

I haven't uploaded the pictures yet, but I have to write this while the memory is fresh. I told the girls earlier that we needed to go to the store to get Jace's birthday presents. A few minutes later, both Samantha and Sabrina came into the living room wearing hats and purses. It was so funny. I can't remember the last time they made me laugh so hard. I ran for the camera. I got a couple of good shots. This is the first time they have played dress up on their own. They also clincked glasses today...toasting each other....no idea where that one came from. I bought them new swim suits tonight and a couple of sun dresses. We are going to Atlanta Beach tomorrow afternoon. They are already wearing the suits tonight and fussing for the "pool."

Early this week I had a bad mommy moment. Something went wrong with the DVR while I was trying to record a program. My response was to say OUTLOUD....oh sh**. Sabrina, of course, copied me. They understand everything. Both Peyton and I laughed, but it was a wakeup call.

Destiny got a new yo yo tonight at Target. She can't quit playing with it. She is really excited about the beach tomorrow. Destiny is really glad that I got a hair cut. Now her hair is not the shortest. Mine is almost as short as Peyton's.

Vacation is just a couple of weeks away. At this point, I think we are going to stay home. We've never had a whole week together at home. I think there are so many things we could get done....fun things. I'd love to paint some with Destiny. We used to have time to do that a lot. Maybe make the model planes and bird houses that we bought but never put together. I haven't taken her to the libary in almost two years. Too afraid the girls would tear up the books. They don't tear them up anymore, they just write in them, on them......I know I keep bringing it up, but the WALLS are like an art museum around here.

Summer

I can't believe it's already the middle of June. I am in trouble with Jennifer for not updating the blog for over two months. We lost our digital camera the last week of school and have only just replaced it a couple of weeks ago. Biggest news of the past few months...baby Scarlett Grace Vaughan was born. Sabrina seemed afraid to touch her at first, but she warmed up to this beautiful little girl. Jessica and Paul are so happy. Jenny and Tim are grandparents. It's crazy.

We did have some sad news to report. My mom's best friend of twenty seven years, Donna Wadford, passed away on May 24th. I was honored when her youngest son called to ask that I do the eulogy. He said that his mom told them all that when she died, she wanted Bobbie Jean to give her eulogy because no one could tell her story the way I could. It makes me feel like she knew how much I respected and loved her to trust me to have the final word. It was always a big joke between us over who would have the final word. It was a very difficult, but very healing thing for me to do. I didn't see Donna much over the past ten years, but we did email a lot and I really miss hearing from her. She was like a second mom to me. My mom is never going to find a friend like her again. That kind of connection comes but once in a lifetime.

We've been busy but here's a quick recap. I moved into my new offices at work the middle of May. I worked with the movers for 10 hours on Saturday making everything perfect. Then on Monday morning, I got a call from my boss who said he just wanted to warn me before I saw the office. On Sunday, a forklift driver drove into a main support beam on our dock. He ruptured the water sprinkler system. Luckily for us, only the sprinkler system on the dock was activated. The water, however, ran into our offices. So the perfect office that I left on Saturday, was missing the floor molding and full of industrial fans and vaccums on our first official day of business. Quite funny in hindsight, but Peyt said I looked like a kid whose new bike was run over on Christmas morning. Happy to report, things are nice and clean again. Work is very busy, but it's a good kind of busy.

Peyton has been working on building us a storage building in the backyard. It's been a big project, but like the fence, he amazes me with what he can do. It is truly going to be "too nice" to be a storage unit.

The kids finished up school at the end of May. We went to the McGarity Family Reunion. Uncle Joel showed the twins how to share a swing. We celebrated Mother's Day and Father's Day with gifts of I-pods. I didn't think I would be interested, but I love mine now. Peyton has a cool feature with his. A receiver in his shoe sends updates to his I-Pod so while he's running, it tracks his progress. He just uploads it after a run and all of the information is there. It also talks to him while he's running to give him his progress. He's running the Peachtree Road Race in a few weeks so I thought it would be the ideal gift to help with is training.

Sabrina and Samantha got their first haircuts. We took them to Fantastic Sams. They did really well and sat up nicely for the ladies who did the cuts. Daddy held Sam and I held Sabrina. Look how cute....

Destiny turned 7 and her Daddy took her to Six Flags for the day. She chose this over a big party. We had to get out the tape measurer to see if she was tall enough. She was just barely over 47 inches...most coasters require 48. Peyton had her put on her shoes and socks and it was just enough. He would have so much more to say about this than I do, but he doesn't seem very interested in adding anything to the blog. I guess I'm the story teller. I did talk to her after she rode the Georgia Cyclone, which was her first BIG coaster. She said, "Mommy, I thought I was going to die." At the time, she was standing in line to ride another one. She's a brave little girl. I am sure it was very cool to have her daddy all to herself for the whole day. We had cake and ice cream when they came home. We didn't even know the twins knew how to blow out candles, but while I was trying to light them, they were trying to blow them out.

Michael is away at Camp Promise this week. It's at Hard Labor Creek State Park in Rutledge, GA. I hope he has fun. He is spending the week with 45 kids who were all adopted from the State of Georgia. I think it will be a good experience to be with his "peers." The camp looked really cool with all of the cabins and the lake. I wish I had sent a disposable camera with him. I'll be sure to do that next year.

We went to Ty's first birthday party this weekend. The kids played in the pool and "beach" that Jennifer and Neil created in the backyard. The girls really wore themselves out. We took Skyler with us too. She is spending the week with Mema Shirley, so she and Destiny has had someone to play with for the past week.

Samantha kept trying to help Tyrus open his presents. Sabrina thought they were all, "cool." I can't believe that he is a year old or that the girls will be two next month. Life seemed to move in slow motion when I was a kid, but it really flies. There are not too many things that the girls can't say. Sabrina used to call herself Sambo whenever she looked in the mirror, but just today, she has started to say "me."

Last but not least, our house has beautiful borders throughout. Crayon, pen and marker....on almost all of the walls. I never thought I could overlook this kind of thing, but it's really not that big a deal. We need to paint next summer, but oh well...we did pick a fixer upper.

Home Sick

I have been in Charlotte, NC for the past three days. I have one more day to go before I make it home to Peyton and the kids. I think two nights might be my limit for travel. It seems like any more than that and the babies just seem to grow an inch.

They are at the age now where they can ask for Momma. It breaks my heart that Peyton has to tell them I am at work when I should be tucking them in. It will be easier when they are old enough to understand that I am coming home in one more day. I won't feel so guilty about leaving.

The training class has been good. It's intense and comes complete with a project that is due in two weeks. If I had known there were action plans and homework I might not signed up for this one. Of course if I want to keep my job....

Speaking of projects, Destiny gave her presentation in class today. She did a great job. She was very excited about it. I rarely see her happy about school, but we worked really hard on this project and she was prepared.

Peyt--If you are on tonight, I love you and miss you. Kiss the kids goodnight for me.

Sabrina and her Bunny Basket

Beanie ran down the hall with her basket. She couldn't wait to show it to Daddy. It was almost bigger than she is.

Destiny and her Bunny Basket

Destiny had a diary in her Easter basket. A place to write down all of her little girl secrets.

Sami and her Bunny Basket

Sami was too sleepy to really look at her Easter basket. She loves her "duck."

Easter Egg Hunt

Aunt Marissa and Maddie helped Sabrina hunt eggs. She was very serious about the hunt. She walked right over and picked up four eggs that the big kids kept running right past. They were hidden behind a cinder block. We hid 526 eggs total. I had so much fun helping Samantha hunt. About half way through, one of the plastic eggs opened. A mini Reese cup fell out and it was all over. From that moment on, she had to open EVERY egg and eat a piece of candy before moving onto the next. She picked up a hard boiled egg....struggled to open it, and then threw it down when she realized it did not have candy inside.

Chilly Easter

Grams, Bethany, Papa Don, Tammy, Codie, Tim, Paul, Jessica, Rosie and Dale gather around the fire. This is turning out to be the coldest April in Georgia in 113 years. Jessica and Paul are having a baby. It's a girl.

Rabun, Mary and the "kids"

Front Row: Adrienne, Mary, Rabun
Back Row : Galen, Peyton, Owen, Joel, and Neil

Campbell Family

Not too many members of the Campbell family actually have the Campbell last name, but here they are. That's what happens when you have more girls than boys. Frank Campbell, my grandfather, would be proud of his clan.

I was really hoping to see my little sister on Easter. There's a bit of a rift in our family right now, but I know that Rustie will eventually make her way home to us.

My sister, Kim, and her fiance, Chris, brought Matson and Anna over to meet the family for the first time. Anna is beautiful and very sweet. Although I didn't get a chance to hang out with Matson, I did learn that he is a coffee connoisseur like me.

Tingle Family

Easter on Callaway Road was a blast. We invited 89 people and 66 showed up for lunch and an easter egg hunt. It was so nice to have the whole family together. Peyton's brother Galen, his wife Marissa, and their children, Madeline and Dylan came down from Ohio to visit.

Dollywood and Pigeon Forge

DOLLYWOOD

Sabrina and Daddy on the Flying Elephants

Destiny, Samantha and Mommy on the flying elephants. Samantha loved this ride. She laughed whenever the elephants soared high into the air. Sabrina was a bit more concerned. She didn't mind the ride as long as her Daddy did not make the elephant fly.

Destiny was a little too short for this one. I had to pull her hair up into a pony tail on top of her head so she would meet the height requirement.

Destiny loved the Shooting Star. Brenda recommended this ride to her.
Michael and Destiny rode the
RAMPAGE together. Then Michael was off to the big kid side of the park, where he rode the brand new "Mystery Mine." It sounds like a really scary coaster.

In the end, it was too much excitement for the girls. They slept right through the next hour.

Sabrina...back in action after her nap. She stuck her face down over one of the holes, just in time to get a mouthfull.

*************************************

We've just come back from our first family vacation to the Smokies. The weather was beautiful for the whole trip. We spent Monday at Dollywood...compliments of Brenda Durkee. Then on Tuesday, we spent a few hours at the pool....floating around the "heated" lazy river at the hotel. Michael had a bit of a run in with the side of the pool...very close to stiches in his front lip. We cut our losses and went to the arcade for pizza and ski-ball. This was the closest I made it to a "WHEEL OF FORTUNE" game all week. I can't tell you how hard it was to drive past Harrah's in Cherokee and NOT stop. I haven't been inside in two years and here we were practically in the parking lot. Lucky for the kids, Peyton was around. I might have locked them in the trunk (if we had one) for a few hours of play time. They did get to see the Indians in full dress as we drove through the Cherokee nation. We really should have stopped for pictures, but if the babies are happy in the car, why ruin it? Samantha and Sabrina did really well on the whole trip. Peyton loaded up the portable DVD player and the "BARNEY" DVD's. We pulled them out for the last couple of hours each way. It worked like a charm.

The girls swinging at the Durkees. Technical problems..lens cap stuck.
Michael coming down from the mountain.

Tuesday evening we were off to Dandridge, Tennessee for a cookout at Bob and Brenda's. Michael and Destiny got to ride the 4 wheelers "up" the mountain. I can tell you that for someone who isn't used to riding ATVs, this can be scary. The minute you get used to handling the machine, it becomes really fun and you want to find higher and bigger areas to climb. If you really want a challenge, you can find it on the Durkee property. Michael even went fishing in their pond. It was so nice to sit and talk to Bob and Brenda again. Of course we started plenty of conversations that we didn't have a chance to finish. We really should have planned on a staying a couple of days in Dandridge just to catch up. Brenda really loved hearing the kids calling Peyton, "Daddy." Does that tell you how long it's been since we've all been together. TOO LONG. We won't wait so long next time.