Wednesday, September 25, 2013

California here we come!!

We are moving to California!
The Campbell family is going Active Duty Air Force and are being stationed to Beale Air Force Base in the beginning of January!
We are so excited!
This may come as a shock to many of you so let me give you a little background.   
Brenner has been in real estate here in Waco for over a decade now.  He started right out of Baylor developing houses, subdivisions and more.  While he has loved doing this, and will continue to do so in the future, he has also been called to do something else.  


Brenner felt God calling him to go to seminary back in 2008 when the economy was starting to take a down turn and he knew the things for his real estate business was going to change.  
I kind of thought that it was crazy but God's plans have never been the same as our plans and His have always worked out a lot better!
Brenner began seminary and joined the Air Force Reserves as a chaplain and has been serving in that capacity ever since.  He has still maintained a real estate business but has been a reservist serving periodically throughout the year at different bases around the country.  
About a year and a half ago, one of Brenner's supervisors mentioned to Brenner that he should consider going full time, Active duty Air Force.  We talked about it a little but then we basically got back to our lives and forgot about it.  


Then this past January, Brenner was in South Carolina for 7 weeks and it was brought up to him again.  This time, it was for real:  do we want to go active duty Air Force.  
We talked about it a lot and after A LOT of praying, we said yes!  



That was back in April. 
In July we received our official acceptance papers and have been waiting to find out our destination and report date. 
Well, last Friday we got word that we are going to Northern California, Beale AFB.  
It is about 1 hour north of Sacramento.  
Ya'll, we are SO excited!  
We will know more soon, but we will be packing up and leaving Waco sometime in early January.  
We are committing right now to one tour, which should be 3-4 years.  
Then, we will just have to wait and see what God tells us to do.


Here is a little description of the base and the area that we will be that we pulled off the website. 

"A fine example of what you make out of it. This base is tucked in the east-side of the Sacramento Valley. Located 45 minutes north of Sacramento, 2 hours west of Reno/Tahoe, 2 hours east of San Francisco and 2 1/2 hours north of Yosemite. The base has expanded its footprint by building a new shoppette in housing, expanded the food court in the BX and is completing a new CDC. The school on base is one of the best in the area. The housing on base has been attempting to get privatized for several years and appears to be on track to get moving this year. This base's facilities are getting better every year after being forgotten about for too long. The people who do complain are those who do not get out and enjoy what the area has to offer: 330+ days of sun, little humidity, hot dry summers, excellent farmers markets, hiking, fishing, gold panning, water sports, skiing and snowboarding just 90 minutes away, a large mall just 30 minutes away, easy airport access to SMF, museums, wine tours, the local Peach Festival, Reno Air Races, Old Sacramento, golf, tennis, a stable on base, a public 250 yard+ range just off base, hunting (deer, turkey and duck on base--boar, bear, and more off). If you don't like going outside or driving more than 15 minutes, I'd not recommend this place. But if you are the type that likes to get off your you know what and do something, you'll be impressed with what there is to do."

Please follow us and our journey here and on Instagram (@wacocampbells).

Seriously, we are so excited!  


Monday, September 9, 2013

time with my boy.

this boy brings me so much joy!
he is so silly and loving and his love languages are quality time and physical touch.  he loves to be held, to hold my hand, to sit in our laps.  he loves time with us to play games, read books, and just hang out with us.  we got to spend some time good time with him this week and it is so sweet! 

he went hunting for the first time with brenner
(i was not as excited about this as the boys were!) 

and we took him to see his first movie in the theater, Planes, which of course he loved! 
it was so special for us to spend time with just Cole!  



Friday, September 6, 2013

a little sisterly love.

elise was reading a book


clara wanted to read it too.


elise got mad.


she took it back. 


and then read it over the edge of the chair to avoid sister. 


no more pictures mom. 

don't worry, clara got to read it later. 


Tuesday, September 3, 2013

another trip to the o.k.



we just got back from another trip to the family ranch in oklahoma.  we wanted to go back for fun but brenner also had some work to do up there so it was a perfect chance for us to sneak up there for a little more family time before life gets crazy this fall.

we had so much fun, as always.  we caught turtles, fish and frogs.  Rode horses, herded cattle and stayed clear of the rattlesnake that Jake found.  We hiked, swam, and dug in lots of dirt.  We fellowshipped with friends and spent hours outside playing as a family.  We rode for miles on the 4-wheeler and dug for shells int he creek.  We ate a lot of beef, salsa and Dr. Pepper.  And as usual, all 7 of us cried when we left our little place in Shattuck Oklahoma.