My big kids

I love this picture of Mykal and Zoe. Zoe TOTALLY adores Mykal. Even when she was teeny-tiny, she LOVED Mykal to death. When he would come home, she would always (and still does) get so excited. Mykal is 18 and Zoe is 18 months. When Mykal gets home from school, or work, or where ever, she always wants a hug, a snuggle, and often a story from her biggest brother. And he can't refuse her. She melts his heart. And he loves it.


This is a picture of my beautiful Tayzia. She loves taking pictures and then playing with them and tweeking them. She is really good at it. I really wanted to put about 10 pictures of her on here, but she'd kill me! :) I think this picture is so pretty.

Home Repairs

Travis had a few days off work this last week, so we (mostly he) was able to get a lot done. We repainted our living room and hallway, and the ceilings in the living room and hallway. We also repainted the hallway baseboards and door frames and half of the livingroom baseboards (I'll try to finish those this week...) Travis also put a new toilet in our main bath, and we bought some new linoleum for the main bath yippee! Now when we have company, I won't have to give the "How to Flush the Fifty-year old Toilet" speech, which went something like this... "If you go #1, and you only use a few small pieces of toilet paper to wipe, you can flush, but make sure you hold the handle down for 45 seconds. If you go #2, then go #2, and then flush BEFORE you wipe, holding the handle down for a FULL 45 SECONDS. Then wipe. If you need to wipe more than 3 times, make sure to flush again (again, holding the handle down for 45 seconds). If the flushing process doesn't work, don't even attempt to flush again until the tank has COMPLETELY STOPPED running, which will take 3-5 minutes. When the tank has stopped running, you can try to flush again. But again, if you don't hold the handle down for a FULL 45 seconds, you will need to wait 3-5 minutes, and try again..." No wonder most people would rather "hold it" or company would usually make a quick trip to the corner gas station... Now, you can actually GO in our house! Hooray for NEW TOILETS!




While Travis was putting in the new toilet, He dropped a bolt down the creepy sewer hole...and his arm was too big to fit down there....ewww, so I had to reach down the toilet hole to get it, but only after I had on a rubber glove and wrapped my arm in plastic wrap...

Soup Time...

Ahh...fall...cool weather...soup time...
I was just reading my cousin Katie's blog and she started a soup recipe swap. So here is my new favorite soup. Please try it and tell me what you think, then add your own favorite soup recipes as a comment, or post it on your blog!

Fifteen Minute Soup
1 can (16 oz) great northern beans
1 cup water (I did 2 cups)
1 teaspoon (or cube) Beef or Chicken bouillon* (I did 1 tsp of each)
2 cans (16 oz) tomatoes
1 small onion, chopped
1 tsp garlic salt
1 Tbs oil, marg, or butter
1 package (10 oz) chopped spinach
1/2 cup macaroni (elbow or any other shape)

1 In a saucepan, saute onion in butter. Add all ingredients except spinach and macaroni. Heat until liquid comes to a boil.

2 Stir in and break up spinach, bring to a boil again.

3 Stir in macaroni and simmer until macaroni is tender, 6-10 minutes.

Makes 4-6 servings
Cals per serving: 106
Fat per serving: 1 gram
Prep time: 15 minutes

When I made it, I didn't have the frozen spinach, but I had a 12 oz bag of fresh spinach. Travis just chopped it up, and we put it in. It seemed like a LOT of spinach, but it cooked down to nothing...Also, some of my kids are squeamish about tomatoes, so I often run them (or part of them) through the blender...Travis loved this, even though it had no meat in it. He thought it might be good with Italian Sausage, too.

*I thought it needed more liquid, so I added another cup of water, and put in 1 tsp chicken bouillon, AND 1 tsp beef boullion and it gave it GREAT flavor (I learned that trick from Cowboy Grub's vegetable soup-they use half beef and half chicken broth)
I also cooked up dry beans in the morning, and simmered until tender or you can soak overnight, then simmer til tender if you don't have canned beans on hand.

So now, it's your turn! Give me a good recipe, please! (Sharena, if you get on here, I want your White Chili recipe...)

Apple-Picking

Fall is Here! Our neighbors, Ron & Lanelle VanOrder have a couple of apple trees. They are so sweet (both the neighbors AND the apples!:) and let us pick them. It is one of the kids favorite things to do (the teenagers don't love it so much anymore--notice they are absent) but the little ones still love it.

Some Cute Fall Pictures of Zoe Brooke

My friend Sharena babysat Zoe. When I came and picked her up, she had fixed and curled Zoe's hair so cute! Zoe NEW she was adorable. She kept jabbering unintelligibly, then raising her eyebrows, and touching her hair, as if to say, "I'm a gorgeous babe!" I wonder if Sharena would come over on Sunday mornings to doctor up all my little girls...





The next time Sharena babysat Zoe, she came home with THIS hairdo!
Not really! Zoe was playing on the trampoline. Wow! I love static electricity. Super Cool, eh?
My little Zoe is such a sweetheart. You can't help but love this funny little girl.

Some Internet Statistics...

I took this information from imView. The link to imView is in the column to the right. I don't know why I can't copy it over here. But here are some scary facts:

One third of kids have been contacted by a stranger and half of these were considered inappropriate.
81% of parents of online youth say that kids aren't careful enough when giving out information about them online.
76% of parents don't have rules about what their kids can do on the computer 65% of parents believe that kids do things online that they wouldn't want their parents to know about.
95% of parents didn't recognize the lingo kids use to let people know that their parents are watching.
89% of sexual solicitations are made in either chat rooms or instant messages
20% of children age 10-17 have been solicited sexually online; that's 1 out of every 5 kids.
75% of youths who received an online sexual solicitation did not tell a parent.
4,000,000 children are posting content to the Web everyday.
15,000,000 youth use Instant Messaging.
9 out of 10 parents will never know that any inappropriate contact has occurred.
14% have actually met face to face with a person they have met on the Internet.
1 out of 17 kids have been harassed, threatened, or bullied.
Nearly three-quarters (73%) of online teens believe that someone their age is most likely to be approached by someone unknown to them online as opposed to offline.
When asked how they responded the last time they were contacted online by a complete stranger, just 3% of online teens said they told and adult or authority figure.
Most kids will not report inappropriate Internet contact to their parents because they are afraid of losing Internet privileges.
61% of 13-17 yr olds have a personal profile on social networking sites.
44% of online teens with profiles like Facebook and MySpace have been contacted by a stranger, compared with 16 percent of those without profiles.
71% have reported receiving messages from someone they do not know.
45% have been asked for personal info from people they do not know.
48% of 16-17 yr olds report that their parents know "very little" or "nothing" about their online activities.
MySpace deletes 25,000 profiles weekly of users who don't meet the site's 14-year-old minimum age requirement.

This imView sounds like it is an excellent way to monitor internet activity. The link is in the column on the right, and titled "Family Online Safety Program" check it out and tell me what you think.

I really am still alive...seriously...

I know, I know....I promised to do better, and I haven't kept that promise...yet...But I will...hopefully...soon....
My last post I copied off of my cousin Katrina's blog, and I think the one before that I gave the excuse that I was busy canning peaches, and now my excuse is EVERYTHING, because I'm sure you are all doing nothing....

But here's my last month or two in a paragraph:
made 14 jars peach jam
bottled 8 quarts peaches
bottled 14 quarts peaches
bottled 35 quarts peaches
bottled 10 quarts peaches
bottled 38 quarts peaches
bottled 6 quarts tomatos
packaged 140 ears of corn to freeze (yes, all grown from our garden :)
bottled 14 pints salsa
bottled 12 pints salsa
bottled 20 jars zucchinni relish
picked abt 300# apples
dehydrated 32# apples (should have weighed after, probably turned into, like 2 lbs!)
Made 27 jars of applesauce
Moved 150# of apples to garage to can later...
Picked over 125# green tomatoes out of my garden before they froze to can as they ripen & make green enchilada sauce
Wonder if Trick-or-Treaters would enjoy green tomatos
Bottled 48 jars grape juice
Cleaned my house about 600 times
Wondered why my house is still a mess...
Changed somewhere in the vicinity of 700 diapers
Potty-trained Zac
Wondered how 17 month old Zoe would re-act to potty-training...
Unloaded the dishwasher 100 times
Loaded the dishwasher 127 times
Wondered if disposable dishes are really THAT bad for the environment...
Did 8 bazillion loads of laundry
Got a new washer and dryer (I guess 8 bazillion loads is too much for 1 machine to handle...)
Wondered if joining a nudist colony would cut back on laundry...
Planned YW Evening of Excellence
Decided nudist colony is a "no-go" after hearing Stake YW Presidents beautiful talk...
Substituted in the Church Nursery 8 times
had family scripture study 55 times
had Family Home Evening 9 times
slept too little
yelled too much

And I think that about covers it. So, until my next post (which, at the rate I'm going, will be another excuse of some sort in a month or so...) hope you are all well & happy!

Grandpa & Grandma Campbell's DC Trip

I copied this off of my cousin Katrina's Blog. Thanks Katrina! I am so happy that Grandpa and Grandma were able to go and so thankful to Uncle Gary and Aunt Teri for making it all happen!

The following is an article that was in the Daily Harold, Utah County's newspaper this morning. It is about a trip my grandparents made to see the WWII Memorial in Washington DC. It's pretty cool. Courtesy photo Nephi and Elaine Campbell of American Fork visit the U.S.Marine Corps War Memorial in Washinton, D.C., better known as the Iwo Jima Memorial, with a daughter-in-law and three great-grandsons.

The couple's children and grandchildren pitched in money to make the trip possible.Saturday, 11 October 2008Veteran visit a family affair: Family, vets group pays for AF couple to visit WWII memorial Caleb Warnock DAILY HERALD Gary Campbell was sitting in the American Fork home of his parent, talking about his upcoming Vietnam War reunion in Washington D.C., when a thought struck him."I said, 'Dad would you like to see the World War II memorial they just built in honor of vets,' and he surprised me by saying, 'I wouldn't mind seeing it,' because he never goes anywhere. He never leaves the house," Campbell said.There was a small problem."He won't fly," Campbell said. "He's never been on a plane."At a family reunion, Campbell asked the couple's children to pitch in $100 apiece and the grandchildren $50 apiece toward the trip, raising $2,700 in total.And when Campbell's fellow Vietnam veterans, the India Company Third Battalion Fifth Marines, heard he was bringing his father to see the memorial, they donated $1,000 to put the family in hotel rooms."That was not cheap, what a wonderful gesture," Gary Campbell said. "So many of the World War II vets never got a chance to see it [the WWII Memorial] because they were gone before it was built. They built it 30 years too late. I didn't want my dad to miss seeing it, along with Mother. Sometimes we forget the sacrifice the women made."With everything in place, Nephi and Elaine Campbell, 86 and 84, Gary Campbell and his wife, and three of the elder couple's great-grandchildren arrived in Washington after a 50-hour train ride.There had been one small mishap -- during a layover in Chicago, Gary Campbell hit a bump in the street while pushing his father's wheelchair. His father spilled onto the pavement, hurting his knees, banging his head and blackening his eye.Because the train arrived a day and a half later than scheduled, the family had a hectic trip, visiting the WWII, Vietnam and Korean war memorials the morning after arriving."I saw tears in Dad's eyes, though he won't admit it," Gary Campbell said. "It was beautiful."Many Vietnam and Korean war veterans, upon spotting the elder Campbell in his WWII vet cap, stopped to express their thanks for his service, something neither the elder Campbell nor his wife had anticipated."You can't imagine the men coming up to him and say 'I want to thank you,' " Elaine Campbell said with emotion."It felt good to be there and see all that," Nephi Campbell said.When asked what he thought about at the memorial, pain creeps into his eyes. "I lost a close buddy of mine, from Cedar City. We were both in the same rifle company. He got killed and I managed to get out of it.""It was really emotional," Gary Campbell said.The family also went to Arlington National Cemetery, viewed the outside of the White House, visited the Lincoln Memorial and other sites, and Mount Vernon."This couple has been married for 67 years," Gary Campbell said. "That is a long time with one woman, as Dad says, and even longer with one man, Mom says. They have 42 grandkids, approximately 125 great-grandkids, and I think around 20 great-great grandkids."When drafted in 1944, Nephi Campbell was a Geneva Steel worker, married and living in American Fork "with two kids and a third one on the way," said Elaine Campbell.After boot camp in Texas, the elder Campbell was part of General Douglas MacArthur's liberation force in the Philippines, after which he went to Japan as part of the occupation. He earned the bronze star, among many medals, which are displayed in cases in the family's living room.After returning from the war, Campbell spent another decade at Geneva before deciding to go out on his own as a bricklayer, a job he did not retire from until he was 80.Having never been east of the Mississippi, the trip to the nation's capital touched the couple."I never thought we'd see anything," Elaine Campbell said. "All those grandchildren and my children, I just can't believe they would think enough of us to give money for us to go."Elaine begins weeping. A silence falls over the room."They are a bunch of sweethearts, I tell you," she says, still crying.

My new grocery savers blog...

OK, Many of you know that I love a good deal at the grocery store. So, because of a few of you urging me to "get the good deals out there" I've started a new blog listing the deals that I am aware of. I hope this will be helpful, and I hope you will post the good deals that you find on my new blog. The address is www.grocerygirls.blogspot.com . Now realize that there isn't much on it yet, so it's not cool...yet. I just posted 2 good deals on it, and then my kindergartener came home and is STARVING to death, so I must go. If you think it's lame, check back every couple of days, and hopefully it will get better and more informative. Thanks!

Blog Tag

The rules are that you have to answer these questions with only a one-word answer. So since I got tagged by Val and by Kally I guess I better answer before someone else tags me.

1. Where is your cell phone? I am the OTHER only person in the world besides Val without one...
2. Your significant other? Travis, significantly so!
3. Your hair? Messy
4. Your mother? Headstands
5. Your father? Older (he just had a birthday, I'm not being a meaner, meaner)
6. Your favorite thing? babies
7. Your dream last night? I had a cell phone.
8 Your favorite drink? Ice water. Unless I just ate a pound of chocolate, then milk.
9. Your dream/goal? Debt-free & food storage full.
10. The room you’re in? Living
11. Your hobby? Gardening
12. Your fear? Spiders, the dark, dogs, creepy people.
13. Where do you want to be in 6 years? happy & healthy
14. What you’re not? Quick
15. Muffins? Lemon Poppy Seed.
16. One of your wish list items? my house had another 1000 sq ft
17. Where you grew up? Idaho and Utah
18. The last thing you did? Told Mykal how to make cinnamon rolls with Pillsbury biscuit dough
19. What are you wearing? as Abbee would say, "Nuffin!" Just kidding, jeans and an old ModBe shirt that needs thrown out.
20. Favorite gadget? Computer
!21. Your pets? A lizard
22. Your computer? Wonderful
23.Your mood? Sleepy
24. Missing someone? Travis, he's still at school, but shoud be home 1n 15 minutes or so
25.Your car? To quote Oscar the Grouch, it's "Dirty and dingy and dusty! Ragged and Rotten and Rusty!"
26. Something you’re not wearing? Shoes
27. Favorite store? The one with a killer sale.
28. Like someone? SARAH PALIN! Yeah, me too, Deb and Val!
29. Your favorite color? all the shades of Purple and lots of blues and greens oh yeah, and pinks.
30. When is the last time you laughed? Today.when I asked "Who Stinks?" And my 16 month old Zoe patted her bum and said "Gross!"
31. Last time you cried? Today...teenagers...good thing they were once babies
Okay, I tag cousin Suzanne, Cousin Sondra, Karmen , Tiff (the pregnant one) and Karissa!

The POWER of...Obedience...

This is my cool nephew, Justin (Jennifer's boy). I came across a deal this week in Albertsons where you end up getting 6-32 oz. bottles of Powerade Zero for 14 cents plus tax. That's not 14 cents each, that's 6 bottles for 14 cents! So I emailed my family and told them how to do it, and told everyone to go stock up....and Justin was O! BE! DEE! ENT!!!!!

This is him with 150 cases of Powerade Zero. This is 2,250 bottles of powerade which would usually cost $3,577.50+tax, but he got for under $100.00. You curious? Here's how....Albertsons (in Utah, Idaho, and I think Nevada, don't know where else) should all have 32 oz. Powerade on sale for $0.69 a bottle. If you buy 6 Powerade ZERO's all at once and use your preferred card, then your total will come to $4.19 plus tax. Pay for it. After the cashier closes her drawer, then a $4 coupon will print off. Buy 6 more, use the coupon, and your total is right around $0.14 (it comes to about 39 cents, depending on your tax rate). Pay your whopping 39 cents, and buy 6 more, use your new coupon, and Viola! You've got cheaper than heck Powerade ZERO! You can use the $4 coupon to buy anything, it doesn't have to be for Powerade Zero only...So, buy 6 Powerade ZERO's at a time, and the sale ends on Tuesday, September 23rd. AND it HAS to be Powerade Zero...the coupon won't print out on regular Powerades. So go get your year's supply...

I've been busy...

Just a quick post to let you know we ARE all alive and well, I've just been busy! (as I'm sure all of you aren't...) I only have one word to say....PEACHES!!!!! It's THAT time of the year! I have almost 200 lbs of peaches and have been busy trying to get them all canned before the fruit flys totally take over my house. They have invaded, but I have fought back by hanging fly ribbons around my kitchen. A few of them have succumbed to the temptation of a beautiful brown swirly sticky ribbon and are now stuck...but many are still resisting the sticky goo...I'd like to stay and post more, but...
MUST.........CAN........PEACHES!!!!!

Lunch Time

Lunch is always an adventure at my house. So is everything else, for that matter. First of all, no one wanted anything normal for lunch, no PBJ, no mac-n-cheese, no ramen w/ veggies, no fish sticks or chicken nuggets either...come on! With menu choices like that, what's not to like? So I finally resigned my "healthier" menu for what the munchkins wanted...cold cereal. So I'm getting the cold cereal ready and tell the kidlets to get seated--at which time the next problem arose...seating arrangements. Alyssa didn't want to sit by ANYONE, which meant that EVERYONE wanted to sit by her, which meant that the louder she screamed, "I DON'T WANT TO SIT BY ANYOOOOOOOONNNNE!" then the more adamant Abbee and Zac became at sitting RIGHT next to her. And the louder she yelled, the bigger they smiled and the harder they giggled...(what naughty little beasts)...and the faster they crawled over the table to sit by her constantly moving, screaming little 5 year old body. So I finally got THAT settled down and everyone sat with an empty space between them, the vitamin-fortified cereal poured into the bowls, milk poured, prayer said, and then they began to eat. Then I noticed a dark brown goo coming out of Zac's nose. I'm thinking, "Did he get punched or kicked in the face during the seating fight? Did he fall off of something? What the heck!!! Why's it so DARK BROWN???" And then I remembered that Abbee and Zac had caught me eating chocolate chips earlier, so I had to share with them, and the strange brown goo looked exactly like melted chocolate...ewww...
So I asked Zac, "Did you put chocolate chips in your NOSE?!?"
(Zac) "NO! I didunt!" and simultaneously Abbee yelled "YES! HE DID!"
(Zac) "No I DIDUNT! ABBEE did it!"
(Me) "ABBEE! Did YOU put chocolate chips in Zac's NOSE!" (and I'm picturing her sitting on Zac, laughing evilly as she pokes chocolate chips up his nose... )
(Abbee) "No I didn't! He did it himself!" and Zac simultaneously "Yes she DID!" and then a barrage of "She did it!" & "He did it" and "Not me!" and then I notice that Abbee's nose has started to run...a strange brown goo...Ugh...I'm not going to share my chocolate chips anymore.

Summer Wind Storm

Monday night, Travis' mom and dad and grandma came over for dinner. We were going to eat outside, when all of the sudden a big windstorm came up from nowhere. We all ran inside, and moments later, our gazebo blew away, crashed into the swing set, knocking it over and into the garden. It was blowing so hard, that it also blew a bunch of branches off of our big sycamore tree, and blew our corn so it is no longer upright, but was at an awkward 45 degree angle. It blew a bunch of our tomato plants over, but I think they are ok....grrr....I liked that gazebo!

This is the crooked corn 2 days AFTER the windstorm, so it's actually straightened up quite a bit. I think it's going to be fine.

Abbee and Zac walking amongst the tree debris...There were also a bunch of big branches that had fallen down, but Travis dragged them out for the garbageman to pick up.


This is the broken frame of my beloved gazebo.

Now it's just a jungle gym...

Waaaaaahhhhh!!!!!

Mmm...Mmm....GOOD!

Our delicious home-grown peaches.

Zac helping daddy pick peaches from our tree.

My handsome fella with a basket of peaches.

Breakfast at the peach tree.

Cute Abbee enjoying a juicy peach.


My darling Zoe and my adorable Zac.

Yeah, We Love Our Big Trees...

...but so do all the T.P.-ers...

I think this was our best TP job ever. They got us REALLY good. I was completely shocked, because I have ALWAYS caught the TP-ers, so they don't get very far. I am a very light sleeper, so I USUALLY wake up and hear them, but Travis and I had a little window air conditioner running in the window right above my head, so I heard nothing....

The kids had fun collecting the tp rolls (otherwise known as "doo-doo's--because they put them to their mouth and run around singing "doo-doo-doooooo!" through them)

These pictures just don't do it justice, it was BAAAAAADDDD! And the TP-ers tore off little squares of toilet paper and threw them ALL OVER the lawn--bazillions of little squares...everywhere...

The kids had fun playing hospital and wrapping up each others broken bones.

Alyssa hiding from the camera behind a piece of toilet paper...I

can still see you!

Our big tree in the back with 3 toilet paper covered tree swings.

Abbe & Zac--mummified.

The culprits...Mykal's friends. One of them had actually dropped their cell phone while toilet-papering...tee hee hee....so when they called it to find it, we knew who they were. In order to get the cell phone back, they had to help clean up.....

Campbell Family Pictures (finally)

I have 11 sisters and brothers. We finally all got together this year at our family reunion for a few updated family pictures. It's been a LONG time since we've ALL been together. This one is in order of youngest to oldest (well, except papa and mama they are pictured in the middle, but are actually WAY OLDER than us kiddos :)

From left to right: Tawnja, Tracy, Jennifer, Brenda, Koriann, Valerie, Papa, Mama, Karmen, Keith, Debbie, Benjamin, Tiffany, and Joel


This one is in order of age, too: TeeDub, Trag, Foo-Foo, Endendra, Guppy, Valdundree, Krem de le Krem, Keefy, Deb-of-tee, Besherman, Tiffy-Poo, Do-Do Bird, & Pappy & Mammy in front.

The goofy gang: Deb, Tawn, Ben, Gup, Jen, Keefy, Karm, Bren, Papa, Mama, Tiffy, Joelly, Trace, Valla

No Campbell Family get-together is complete without a pyramid. From the bottom left:

Jen, Ben, Keith, Joel, Tawnja. Row 2: Val, Karm, Gup, Tiff. Row 3: Tracy, Brenda, Deb.

And of course, my cute Pappy and Mammy peeking around the sides.

And when you have a pyramid, there's always a collapse....

What fun we had!

My Garden

Here are some pictures from my garden. I love my garden and planting things and digging in the dirt. I love picking and eating fresh fruits and veggies. Spring, summer, and fall are my favorite times of the year because I can garden!

The Seven-Year Itch

Travis and I just celebrated our seventh anniversary. When I've mentioned to people that this anniversary was our "seventh" there has been several "Uh-Oh's" and "Oh-no's" and raised eyebrows saying, "The seventh year, huh? You better watch out! Do you got the itch?" Well here's my answer: Yes! I've got the seven-year itch! And I've got it BAD!!!!! I'm itchin' for another 7 years with my sweet honey-baby! And I'll scratch and claw my way, if I have too, to get it, because I never knew life could be so good! And when those 7 years are up, give me 7 more, and 7 more....For those of you who don't know my Travis, he is the most amazing person I have ever known. He has a heart of pure gold. But not the cold, hard kind of gold, but warm, smooth, liquid gold. He is so kind and gentle and amazing. He is what he is. He's not fake or pretentious. He loves me completely. Just as I am. Imperfections and all. He can wrap his arms around me when I'm sad or mad or scared or psychotic, and that warm, liquid gold oozes over me, and all my crazy emotions melt away, and I'm normal again...and life is good...and everything is fine. Thanks, baby, for the best 7 years of my life...I'm itchin' for an eternity of sevens with you...

Our Albion Trip

This weekend in Albion, Idaho, was the openhouse for the old Albion Normal School. It is an old college campus (originally opened in 1901) that has been abandoned for a looong time. It was bought by some friends of ours and they are renovating it. They have one building completed, Miller Hall, for this year. We will be having our Campbell Family reunion there. We are so excited! It will be such fun! Click on the "Albion" slide show at the bottom of my blog to see some of our pictures from the open house.

Father's Day Notes from the Kidlets...

Zoe's Father's day message: "Na na na, Ahhh" "I zee zoh!" "Geemble, geemble, goh!" "Ah! Ah! Ah!" "Dyah, Dyah! Da...DA!!!"

Zac's message to Daddy: "I wuv, woo, D! I yike fine woahms na gen wiff woo, D! yah, IIIII do. I yike wessle wiff woo, D. Woo awr mine beh, D! Woo, en, me, huh, huh, D!"

Translation: "I love you, D! I like to find worms in the garden with you, D! Yeah, I do. I like to wrestle with you, D! You are mine boy, D! You and me, huh, huh, D!"

Abbee's message to daddy: "Happy Fathers Day, Daddy! I love you, daddy. I love to tackle you and I'm sorry, please, for, because, I really love you because I like to tackle you ANYWAYS! I really, please, love you so much! Then I super-duper love you super-duper much! I miss you the mostest, anyways. You are always in my heart. When I come home, I'm going to hug you forever and ever!"

Alyssa's message: "I love you, daddy! It's Father's Day! I'm happy. Happy Father's Day. Ummm...I love to play with you. I love to play games with you. You are the best daddy in the whole world! I miss you sooooooo much! OXXO"

What I love about you is that you always, always want to make people happy and you go above and beyond to accomplish it. Whenever I'm upset, you are always there and willing to try and make it right. Thanks for being such a rad dad. With Love, Tayzia Elaine

Mykal's message: "Happy Fathers Day! I love you very much, even though we have our differences sometimes :) Thank you for loving me. I love you, too.