The Best of 2008

It is hard to believe that another year has gone by so quickly! 2008 was a great year for the Campbell's. As we look back at the year we feel very fortunate for our happiness and health and are thankful for all the wonderful memories.

We had the pleasure of celebrating the marriage of Ben's cousin Emilie to her sweetheart of 5+ years Matt and our friends Stephanie and Dean in August. We also that the pleasure of celebrating the births of several of our closest friends first babies: congrats Robyn and Mark (Caleb was born in July) and McKenzie and Ken (Maya was born in November).

This year was once again full of exciting travel with vacations to South Dakota in September, Portugal and Spain in October and Las Vegas for Thanksgiving.

And, we grew our family by one as we added Odin (our Brittany) in May, celebrated our 6th anniversary, a total of 9 years together. What a great year 2008 has been! We look forward to a great 2009. We wish everyone a Happy New Year!!

Christmas 2008 Highlights

Our Christmas festivities started as usual with having my family and as a special treat- Ben's parents and sister over for Christmas eve dinner. Everyone had a good time eating, drinking, playing the arcades, pinball machine, playing with the puppy and catching up.

We woke up to snow falling (we already had 10+ inches), which was the perfect way to start off Christmas Day. We headed over to the my family's house for the start of what is a busy day for us. We started off with breakfast (overnight french toast, sausage, and fruit) and then gathered around the Christmas tree for what my little sisters still consider the best part-opening presents. We all took turns opening the bounty of presents from everyone in the family and everyone made out quite well this year and there were even a few surprises in the presents.

After opening presents we headed back home to relax and opening presents with each other and Odin. Being that this was his first Christmas we had fun spoiling him with a Christmas bone and other treats and a couple of new toys. Here are a few pictures from the day.

Odin with his very first stocking full of treats!

I love my iPod and have been wanting the new iPod touch for a long time. Ben is the best present giver ever!

Ben with his new flash--this will come in handy for all of our nighttime photos on vacation

That evening we headed to Ben's grandma's in Auburn to celebrate with his extended family. Both of his aunt and uncles that live here in Washington as well as cousins, parents and siblings were there. Everyone spent the evening catching up, opening presents and of course remembering grandpa Baker who passed away in January of this year. While everyone was a little bittersweet that grandpa Baker is no longer with us we were all glad to know that his spirit is always with us and grams is doing well.

We hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. Best wishes to all!

Merry Christmas

Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas from our family to yours.

Caught In The Act

Last night we came down to our living room to find Odin sleeping on one of the couch pillows which is a big no-no since we do not let him on the furniture. Here is a picture of our little trouble maker caught in the act.

Snow Day

The predicted snow in Seattle came late yesterday afternoon and we woke up to about 5 inches this morning. We have about 7 inches on the ground as of this afternoon and it is still falling pretty hard. Ben decided to bundle up and take Odin out to play since snow is a relatively new thing for him. Such fun.

Thanksgiving in Vegas

We hope that everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving with their friends and/or families. This year Ben and I decided to take a break from our usual of going to Puerto Vallarta and headed to Vegas for a few days of fun. We stayed at the MGM Grand and were able to see the Cirque du Soleil show KA, the Blue Man Group and took a day trip to the Grand Canyon.

At the Grand Canyon

Odin's New Trick

Ben decided it was time to teach Odin a new trick since the past few months he has been working on the basics of sit, stay, come, heal and of course bird hunting. After a few days of working with Odin on sitting and shaking his hand I think he finally has mastered it.

Happy Halloween

Portugal and Spain Vacation

We have been fortunate to be able to do a lot of traveling over the last 6 years and this year was no different as we just returned from 12 days in Portugal and Spain. The weather was wonderful (mid 70s- high 80's everyday) which made for a great time since we were on the go the entire time. The itinerary for this year's trip included Lisbon, Madrid, Seville, Santiponce and Barcelona.

The trip was complete with highlights including sightseeing in each city, getting to see a bullfight, the Real Madrid vs. Espana soccer game, seeing a flamenco show, and going to the Barcelona aquarium.

Here's a few pictures from the trip or click here to see the rest.

Ben and I at the Bullfight in Madrid

At the Real Madrid vs. Espana Football Game

The Barcelona Aquarium

Vacation 1- Rapid City, South Dakota

We just returned from spending a week with our good friends, Mark and Robyn and their new son Caleb in Rapid City, S.D.. This was the first time that Ben had been to the mid-west and D.D. so we got the chance to show him the sights as well as just enjoy hanging out with friends, playing with the baby and relaxing.

Some of the highlights from our week include: a visit to Mount Rushmore, seeing the Crazy Horse Memorial (this might be done in another 50 years since not much progress has been made since the last time I was there over 10 years ago), a drive through the badlands where Ben got to see the Buffalo and Mountain Goats in action and playing with Caleb. You can view the rest of the pictures on our flicker site.

While we were there Mark, who is in the Air force and flies on the B-1 was able to secure a busy taxi for Ben which he truly enjoyed since he got to sit in the plane and watch the guys get ready for their flight.

The last highlight of the trip came the morning that we left when Mark and Ben decided to break out the potato gun that Mark built. They had fun shooting potatoes though the dogs didn't enjoy the noise and ended up hiding while the boys played.

Mount Rushmore

Crazy Hourse Memorial

The Badlands

Ben actually held Caleb- this was a first for him since he usually won't hold a baby

happy baby- Caleb Kekoa Wass

Vacation Season has begun

It's that time again for us as we head into what we call the vacation season portion of our summer.

First up were headed to Rapid City, S.D. to visit some of our best friends and their new little one for a week. Since this will be Ben's first time to Rapid City and really the mid-west in the summer we have fun in store for him. Were planning on taking him to the Mt. Rushmore, the Corn Palace, Wall Drug Store and much more. Look forward to pictures and more about this adventure once we get back.

Then a mere 3 weeks later were off again. This time were headed to Portugal and Spain for 12 days. We'll start our trip in Lisbon, then off to Madrid, then Seville and finish in Barcelona. While were there we also get to see a Real Madrid Football (soccer) game while in Madrid which I'm sure will turn out to be one of the trip highlights for Ben. Pictures and details to come in mid-October when we return.

Camping

This weekend we joined some our neighbors (Heather and Dan and their 3 boys; Jessie and Aaron and their son Parker and Scott and Erin and their son Nolan) and went camping at Dash Point State Park. This was also a new adventure for us since the last time we went camping it was just the two of us and this time we had Odin with us which meant we needed a bigger tent so that Odin could join us in the tent.

The weekend was spent with the usual camping fun- sitting around the camp fire, making smores, going to the beach and best of all getting to spend the weekend enjoying the sunshine. Since this trip was a success we will have to plan another camping trip soon so that we can enjoy the last of the summer in the Northwest.

It's a girl!

On Saturday I had the pleasure of spending time with one of my good friends to celebrate that she is expecting her first -a little girl in November. Everyone got into the spirit and enjoyed and razzed McKenzie about the joys of motherhood.

Here are a few pictures from the day.

The bassinet cake and some of the decorations all in pink of course

Mckenzie holding baby Payton
McKenzie with her mom, aunt, mother-in-law and sis-in-law

6 years later

Sunday marked our 6th anniversary, not sure where all the time has gone but looking back it has been a good 6 years. We decided not to play it low key this year and went out to Ray's Boathouse for dinner to celebrate since the weather was sunny.

Congratulations!

Congratulations to our good friends Mark and Robyn as they welcomed their first child into the world on Monday, July 7th. Caleb weighed in at 7lbs 5oz, 19 1/4" and both mommy and baby are doing great.

Summer Fun- The Brittany Club Picnic

Summer time always keeps us busy and this summer is no exception. We decided to attend the annual Washington Brittany Club's summer picnic with Odin so that he could meet some other Brittany's as well as check out what bird hunting and field trials are all about. Here are a few pics from the day including the highlight- fetching hot dogs from the kiddie pool.

Bath Time

After a day of playing and digging we decided that Odin needed a bath. Were not sure he was too excited to take the bath as much as getting dirty but oh well he can't have his way all the time :)

Day at the dog park

This past weekend we took Odin to Luther Burbank Park so that we could check out the off-leash area as well as play in the water. Since this was his first time to the dog park and there were quite a few larger dogs already playing we decided to keep him on his leash, maybe next time he'll be ready to play with the other dogs. While we were there Ben decided that they should also check out the water which Odin really likes.

Day at the lake

Odin decided to prove that he truly is a water dog and went swimming in Hicks lake when we visited the Brook's on Memorial Day. The water was nice and everyone (Mike, Pam, Ben and I) all had fun being entertained by Odin's antics as well as a nice boat ride around the lake.

Sun and Fun

It was a warm and sunny Saturday with temperatures in the high 80s, so we decided to take Odin to Marymoor Park for some fun. On the way home we decided that since since it was hot it would be a good opportunity to introduce him to playing in the water since we've been told Brittany's are "water dogs" so we picked up a kiddie pool for Odin to play in until he's a little bigger.

Exploring Outside

Odin likes to be outside, especially playing in the bark and while he has a rather large dog house that he'll have to grow into since my 12 year old sister and him can fit in it he has decided that he doesn't want to use it currently so we will have to work on that with him since I'm sure he would perfer to be outside during the day when we are at work instead of being in his crate.

Let the training begin

Ben decided that this weekend would be a good time to introduce Odin to a pheasant wing. Odin took to pointing and trying to flush the "bird" like a natural bid dog would. With a little more practice and time I'm sure he'll get it.

New Toy

Since Odin loves to chew on everything and actually puts everything in his mouth we decided to get him some new chew toys. Here he is with one of them which he seems to really enjoy.

Meet Odin

Our new Brittany puppy Odin came home Friday, May 2nd just in time for Ben's 31st birthday today. He is 7 1/2 weeks old and full of energy and has completely changed our routine as we were not as prepared as we thought. He spent his first weekend with us exploring his new home and yard and sleeping a lot and even took a few naps with Ben.