“it is hard work, but there is happiness in it.” – takayuki ikkaku et al.

hello lovelies.
remember that time when i was a blogger?
yeah well let’s continue that, shall we?
bear with me as i bring you up to speed.

right after i finished my student teaching, brad flew me down to arizona so i could spend some quality time with his children while he spent some quality time with his wife. the kiddos were still in school, so i basically kicked it with lando all day. not a bad setup, eh? i had a blast while i was down there.
favorite moments from that adventure:
sunday morning, 8:08 am. church had already started (props to me for only being 8 minutes late, especially since i haven’t woken up for 8:00 church in, well, forever.) i hate walking into the chapel and up to the front after church has started, so we walked in the back of the cultural hall. i had planned to find one of the last few rows back there for us to sit in. the children all filed into the row, with me counting them as they passed me. i was one short. i looked up to see koen sauntering up to the third row in the chapel, turn around and wave us all forward. i shook my head and beckoned him to come back. he shook his head, pointed to the row, and waved us all up again. i shook my head harder, and beckoned him to get his little heiny back to where we were. he did, and we made it through church, with only two of the five children laying on the wooden floor. #nailedit
i woke up one morning to koen banging on my door and yelling at me that it was time for me to get up. despite how rude i thought he was, i complied, only to find that it was 7:48. (we were supposed to leave by 8 or 8:15) i ran around like a chicken without a head, trying to wake people up and get them to please hurry move it or lose it. somehow everyone was awake, dressed, and in the car by 8:10. (braden was probably wearing the basketball shorts and t-shirt he wore the day before and to bed, but i didn’t really care.)

when i was finally reunited with my starving husband, it was time to get ready to graduate, which happened without any hiccups.
proof:
rylee tallulah carling, best friend
tayte paul campbell, husband, #1 fan
the parental unitsthelissa blackhurst, lovely eldest sister

this picture is epic. on the left is tennery norton, who roomed with the above thelissa while in college. the above parental units loved the name so much, they decided to name the girl on the right tenery. and we came together for this historic picture. nbd.
it was a hoot and a half.

the day after i graduated, we went to DISNEYLAND with one of tayte’s brothers, jaren, his wife, lindsey, and their 2.5 children, flint, hinkley, and baby in tummy.
meet the whole crew:

we were there for a week and had so much fun! tayte and i did our own thing for a couple days, then hung out with them for the other days. it was amazing. it’s been years since either of us had been to DISNEYLAND, so we really enjoyed it. we had park hopper passes, so we could go to california adventure as well. it was my first time going there, and i LOVED it.
favorite DISNEYLAND rides:
splash mountain and space mountain
favorite california adventure rides:
tower of terror and cars (tayte didn’t love cars, but he’s a grouch so it’s ok)
also screamin and the toy story ride.
flint always wanted to ride with me, and hinkley always rode with tayte.
proof that we went on rides and loved it:

you probably can’t even tell what is happening in those. that’s ok. there are lots of joyous faces. here are my two favoritest pictures:

first time riding cars, which i LOVED. i loved carsland. it was just adorable and very well done. but i love this picture because of my hair. it is epic, and it is awesome.

the only time we successfully posed on splash mountain. every other time, i chickened out or we forgot. can’t you just see the utter bliss on our faces?
oh wait.
you can’t.
that lady’s hand is completely covering my face and my arm is perfectly covering up tayte’s face. we couldn’t have planned this better if we had tried.
moral of the story: WE LOVED DISNEYLAND AND WISH WE WERE THERE ALL THE TIME. the end.
note: i did NOT get sunburned. booya.

for mother’s day, this happened:

his name is jarvis, and we love him. i’m taking a class to learn how to use him properly.

shortly after that, brigett flew to utah to run the ogden marathon. we went up to cheer her on. she did awesome!
proof:

i got FRIED that day. i got the worst farmer’s tan i’ve had in a long time, and i’m still trying to get rid of it! ugh.

then we did some hiking, because we’re outdoorsy like that. (this is stewart falls)


then this cute girl got home from her mission. i missed her so much and i’m so glad she’s back.


then we bought ourselves some new books. i’m obsessed with the book thief.


then we went rock climbing in a new place: maple canyon. it was super fun! also, i did my first lead climb! tayte was so proud.

then, charisse flew us down to arizona to babysit for her. here’s what a typical day looked like:
9:15 am: tenery wakes up and goes in to the kitchen to find something to eat. ellie and bella are already awake, so she asks what they want for breakfast. ellie requests 2 pieces of toast with nutella and milk. bella requests 2 pieces of toast with peanut butter with the crusts cut off and chocolate milk. tenery starts eating a bagel. bella informs tenery that she (tenery) forgot to cut her (bella) toast into squares like her mom usually does. tenery cuts the toast into squares.
9:38 am: tenery suggests that the girls work on their chores. they disappear into their room.
10:05 am: tayte wanders into the kitchen, turns on the world cup, and eats breakfast.
10:08 am: the girls go downstairs and ellie sets the timer so she can practice her piano attempt to teach bella to play twinkle, twinkle, little star.
10:45 am: tanner wanders into the kitchen and announces that he is off to work, then the gym. exit tanner.
11:30 am: tenery takes advantage of the fact that the girls are busy playing in their room to sneak some peanut butter oreos. world cup game half time, so tayte also takes an oreo break.
12:24 pm: tenery calls the little girls into the kitchen for lunch. ellie requests a corn dog, bella requests a peanut butter sandwich. ashley wanders into the kitchen, disoriented from her hibernation, and eats a bowl of cereal.
1:17 pm: reese’s peanut butter oreo break
1:34 pm: the farming game is pulled out.
1:49 pm: ashley asks if she can go hang out with friends. exit ashley.
2:30 pm: tenery (still in pajamas), asks tayte (also still in pajamas) if he’s interested in going swimming. after he agrees, she asks the little girls if they want to.
2:32 pm: swimming games have begun.
4:45 pm: time to get out of the pool. tenery tells the little girls to shower, then we’ll make dinner.
5:00 pm: ellie has decided that there is no scorpion in her shower, so it’s safe to get in.
5:30 pm: tenery goes into the kitchen to start making dinner. tayte soon follows and turns on the world cup.
5:32 pm: ellie enters the kitchen with her hair literally dripping wet. tenery dries it with some paper towels.
5:40 pm: bella enters kitchen wearing a towel and carrying a brush, detangling spray, and curls rock. tenery begins to brush hair. meanwhile, tayte and ellie make dinner.
5:54 pm: tenery finishes brushing bella’s hair and sends her back to get dressed.
6:00 pm: dinner.
6:30 pm: reese’s peanut butter oreos.
7:00 pm: the farming game.
8:00 pm: tenery and/or tayte goes to the store to buy laundry detergent reese’s peanut butter oreos and black raspberry dark chocolate chunk ice cream.
8:30 pm: the girls are sent to get their pajamas on and tenery takes advantage of their absence to sneak some ice cream.
8:45 pm: tanner and a friend (or two or 5) come in and eat some ice cream and oreos. they then head downstairs to play ping pong. the girls come back out and want to watch disney channel.
9:45 pm: tenery is tired of the disney channel and suggests a reese’s peanut butter oreo break.
10:00 pm: frozen.
11:15 pm: two sleeping girls are carried to their beds.
11:20 pm: reese’s peanut butter oreo break. tanner and co. come upstairs and he says they’re all going to a friend’s house to watch a movie. they all leave.
11:40 pm: ashley calls, needs a ride. exit tayte and/or tenery.
12:10 am: tayte and tenery decide that tanner is a big boy and that he’ll come home soon. they go to bed.
(note: lindsay was at EFY for most of the time we were there, which is why she doesn’t make an appearance in this schedule.)

wowzers. that was a lot of words. but i think we’re about to the present time, so let’s be done now, k?
kthanksbye.