Iowa Hawkeye '87 Ford Ranger

The battery in my '87 Ford Ranger died today. It didn't help that I left the lights on all day. I tried popping the clutch but that didn't work. I ended up using one of the church busses to "jump" it. I had to let it charge up for a while but it finally accumulated enough juice to start. I've had that truck for about two years now and it has run like a champ the entire time.

Today, it became the "Iowa Hawkeye" mobile. I put an Iowa Hawkeye license plate on the front and an Iowa Hawkeye decal on the back window.

Paintball

Today, I had the opportunity to play paintball for the very first time. We had planned a youth activity around paintballing but, due to everyone's plans, only three of us went. The two teens that I went with, Jon & Tim Griffeth, had their own equipment and had been many times before. We spent several hours battling it out! I am sore and have a beautiful blood blister/bruise on my leg to show for it.

Christmas, 2006 in Iowa

We just arrived home from our "every 3 years in Iowa" Christmas. With 4 children, we decided to fly instead of drive. All the children did a wonderful job on the flights. (Having a DVD player definetely helped.)

It was great to see my family. Brenda, my youngest/older sister, suprised us by driving up with her husband and youngest son so that they could go eat with us at Zeno's Pizza. Brenda had originally told us that she wouldn't be able to make it this year, which disappointed all of us. It was quite a suprise when they walked into the house.

There are three things that I always accomplish when I visit home. Eat at Zeno's Pizza and Maid-Rite and devour some AE Party Dip. I accomlished all three! Zeno's serves the best pizza in the world! Maid-Rite makes only one thing - a loose meat hamburger sandwich with mustard, onions and pickles. You order it this way, "I'll take a wet one with everything." (I know that a loose meat hamburger sandwich doesn't sound that great but you just have to try one. Check them out at www.maidrite.com) AE Party Dip is what you eat chips with.

Silas, due to the change in weather and humidity, developed quite a bit of drainage and a cough. It hasn't gone to his chest. We're praying that it will clear up now that we are at home.

While at home, I saw a friend of mine that I had grown up with and that I hadn't seen for almost 20 years. His name is Richard Keller. My dad has an old Ford Escort sitting by the barn that has a "For Sale" sign on it. Richard just happened to be driving by and stopped to look at it. When he got out of his car, I said, "You're Richard Keller!" He replied, "And your Joseph Campbell." We spent a few minutes catching up on 20 years. I had Stephenie take our picture and then Richard was on his way. It may be another 20 years before we see each other again.

It's amazing that although I am 34 years old I still feel as though I am in high school. 20 years only seems to have been a few days.

I will be posting our Christmas photos on our family website at www.familyofcampbells.com. Check them out.