My Christmas Tree!

Every year on the day after Thanksgiving, I pull my Christmas Tree out from the basement and become frustrated with how to decorate it! This year I gave up! I called my creative, talented and amazing neighbor (yes, you Ceryl) and forced her into using her wonderful talents to help me decorate the best tree ever! She was nice enough to meet me at Walmart and help me to pick out ribbon, grapvine, bulbs, berry garland and the cutest snowflakes (from Dollar Tree)! I watched her throw this Amazing tree together, it turned out so cute! I Love it! I just hope that next I'll be able to re-create it! Here are some pictures, they don't really do the tree justice but at least you can get an idea...Thanks again Ceryl!

Troy

Yesterday Troy was ordained an Elder in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. It was such a great day! It has been amazing to see the changes and growth that have taken place in our family over the past year. Life seems more simple and meaningful than it used to. Our journey has not always been an easy one but at the end of the day it is so worth it. I am so proud of Troy and all he has accomplished. He is an amazing husband and father. He is a great example for me and my kids and I look forward to the day we become an eternal family. I would like to thank our family and friends for all your help and support over the past eleven years, we love you guys!

Peach Days

A few weeks ago we went to Peach days in Brigham City. It was a good day. We started off at the Car Show, there were sooo many cars, Troy had a hayday walking around! The kids and I enjoyed Icee's and Peach Pie! There were carnival rides, shops, food and sooo many people! There was this one ride that was a big loop that takes you upside down, Troy and Kenzie went on it and when it went upside down "stuff" started falling from the sky...they were keys, falling from Troy's pockets! Here are some pictures...

Baby Elephant!

Last week was UEA so the kids all had Thursday and Friday off of school. We took the chance to finally make it to the Hogle Zoo to see the New Baby Elephant. She is sooo cute! The zoo was really busy that day, but all the animals were out AND they were being loud and noisy (especially the monkeys) it was GREAT! Here are some pictures...

NAUVOO!

Last week Troy and I had the opportunity to drive to Nauvoo. We started our journey Thursday morning around 10:00 am (an hour later than intended, I call this Helgesen time)We drove through Wyoming on I-80 and came upon a traffic stop (not jamb, it was stopped) We were stuck there for 2 hours, which was fine we just got out of the car and visited with the truckers and travelers around us. When we were finally able to move again we saw that the delay was caused by a semi that had caught on fire and they had to just let it burn itself out. Finally back on the road (three hours behind schedule) we continued into Nebraska. If any of you have taken this route you will know that there REALLY is NOTHING to see! We didn't reserve a room for Thursday night because we weren't sure how far we would drive, so around 2:30am we finally pulled over into a rest stop just outside of Omaha to get some sleep. I couldn't sleep for very long. Once I was able to stop thinking that we were going to be murdered at a rest stop in Omaha I did fall asleep, but then the cold hit me, I tried to wrap up in a shirt, but it didn't help I was SO COLD! I woke Troy up and we continued on around 5 am. We then stopped in Iowa at a diner for Breakfast. Can you say REDNECK country. Neither Troy or I had been through Iowa so we waited for the sun to come up so we could see what it looked like. It was as I thought, CORN! We did however find the little white gothic house that is in that painting with the farmer holding a pitchfork with his wife! We reached Nauvoo around 11am Friday morning and yes we were both pretty stinky and tired. I talked the Hotel into letting us check in early so I could shower and clean up before we went site seeing. We started out at the Visitor Center, watched a film on the history of Joseph Smith and Nauvoo and then decided to go to the Carthage Jail. As with most tours this also started out with a short film, I thought it was interesting that the jail was actually more like a house. People had actually been living in it until the church bought it in the 1940's. The bullet holes are still there for you to see and the missionaries do a great job at explaining just how the event unfolded. You can actually imagine how chaotic that evening must have been for the four men and the family of the jail keeper. Because everything closes around 5 we decided it was time to get dinner. We ate at a Buffet in the Hotel Nauvoo! It was a Mormon buffet, I'm talking green bean casserole, cheesy potato buffet. They did not have green jello though (Troy pointed this out) It was pretty good! After dinner we decided to go see the sites that never close such as the temple grounds, the point on the Mississippi where the exodus took place, the cemetary, memorials and the Trail of Hope. This is a trail of plaques that have memories of pioneers engraved on them. It puts into perspective just how much they gave up for their religious freedom. I think it was more of a trail of tears, but they call it hope so...! We woke up the next morning and spent the whole day walking from site to site in Nauvoo. We actually started with the Joseph Smith homes. These are all owned by the Community of Christ church. The tour guides are very nice and polite, but lack something in their visitors center. It's not real inviting or informational, it pretty much is a desk with a gift shop, a big difference from the LDS visitors center. This tour went through the Homestead, the Mansion, the Nauvoo House and ended in the Red Brick Store where many important events took place. We then went to the Blacksmith shop where we found out about a little play called Rendevous. Part of the fun of Nauvoo are the older couple missionaries. They are so excited to be there and really enjoy telling you about Nauvoo. They put on a musical comedy called Rendevous every night, its pretty funny, if you're there I highly recommend it! At the end of the day we had visited about 30 historic buildings and loved every one of them. Its amazing what these people were able to just leave behind and WALK to the SLC valley. We left sunday and headed into Missouri. We stopped at the Liberty Jail and ended our trip in Topeka to visit with Kurt and Melissa. I made it in time for the Fantasy Draft, was able to see Kurt's school and Troy even became friends with Elle and Kohl ( they were afraid of him when we first got there) He had to sew up one of her princess costumes before they could be friends, I can't wait until they move back to Utah, actually until ALL my family is back in the same state, I really miss everyone! We had an excellent vacation and are already wanting to make plans to take our kids back so they can see and feel the history of Nauvoo. Here are some pictures!


This is Troy standing in the stopped traffic


This is Iowa...its pretty compared to Wyoming and Nebraska!

This is the American Gothic House!

This is outside of the Visitors Center in Nauvoo


This is at Carthage Jail

This is one of the many rooms the four men were kept in at Carthage


This is the room where Joseph and Hyrum were killed, the window at the left of the bed is where Joseph fell out.

This is the point of the Exodus on the Mississippi river


This is the cemetary where Joseph, Emma and Hyrum are burried

This is the printshop were Troy's ancestor worked with John Taylor for the Times and Seasons newpaper

This is us at the Browning Home in Nauvoo


We looked up were Troy's ancestor lived and when we drove to that location this is what was left. I'm thinking they may be in the process of restoring it.

This is our hotel the Mercantile

And of course the Nauvoo Temple!

Time to play Catch up!

Ok, so it has been a while since I have posted and for that I am sorry, so here we go its time to catch you all up on what has gone down over the last couple months. School ended and summer began, Makenzie went to Kansas with My side of the family to visit Kurt, Melissa, Elle, Kohl, but mainly Kylie. Before she left Katy gave her a perm, she looked really cute with her first perm ever. While she was gone the boys and I went to the pet store and bought fish for our aquarium. It has been fun for them to have fish and it really doesn't stink, I thought it would. We spent the first part of the summer stuck inside because it was raining. I kept thinking they should have gone to school for another month, summer is no fun when you can't go outside. The fourth of July we spent in Kaysville, the kids and I were in the water parade and loved every minute of it. We have gone camping a couple times and the kids are getting really good at shooting their BB guns. This summer was pretty low key, there were no vacations, we did get to spend a lot of time with family and of course the traditional wednesday swim day! NOW school has started again for all of us (except Troy). Makenzie is in sixth grade, she has lots of friends in her class and is loving her teacher. Corbin is in third grade, his teacher called the other day to let me know she gave him a pretest in math (on stuff they will learn THIS year) she said she has never had anyone score as high as he did. My little math genius! Tyson is in first grade (ALL DAY SCHOOL, mom is so excited) He has a lot of friends and makes more every day. The boys are playing soccer and Makenzie has just joined the sixth grade orchestra (she's learning the Viola). I am back in school and seem to be having a hard time finding the drive to want to do my work. I think its because the kids are gone ALL DAY and I don't think homework sounds as fun as enjoying my time alone! Troy is still working everyday (except Sunday)he doesn't get summer break! I'll try and be better at posting and remembering to take pictures!

SPRING BREAK!!!

Last week was spring break! The kids were out of school for 9 DAYS...I know, do they ever go to school!!? So on day 3 I decided I was going to take the kids on a vacation, we jumped in the car and headed to the Grand Canyon! It was really fun! The kids thought it was AMAZING...they were in aawww at the size of the canyon! We went to the Four Corners next and then on to the Mesa Verda Cliffdwellings! It was a fun trip, fast, but fun. We were able to stop by little Clints grave and put flowers on it, we came home just in time for Easter! Here are some pictures...ENJOY(the paper Kenzie is holding is a drawn picture of Troy "Flat Dad")

Makenzie's Play

I know you've all been waiting to see what Makenzie looks like as a tree so here it is....The play was amazing! The songs were so cute and the sets were darling. I was amazed at the talent of these elementary aged kids. Makenzie was the best tree, the leaves and branches on her head are made of tights stuffed with pringles cans-oh the things people think of! I'm hoping for a dvd if I get one I'll try and post a little of it so you can see the talent of these kids. It was the best experience for Kenzie. She practiced for about 4 months, three days a week! It took a lot of dedication to see this through to the end. I am so proud of Makenzie for sticking to it and being a great tree!

The end of another exciting week!

I am so glad this week is over! The kids had parent teacher conferences this week, so they were home every day by 1:30, except for Kenzie she had play practice every night until 5:30pm. It made for a long week! Corbin is working on his animal report, he chose the exciting world of the Cheetah! Kenzie is getting ready for their play NEXT WEEK, and Tyson just wants soccer to start. I am enjoying the fascinating world of the Brain (my biopsychology class), and Troy is still doing what Troy does, EVERYDAY! My mom did call this week to see if we would be able to go to Kansas over Spring Break, I hope that all works out, it would be so much fun! Oh yeah and I may be loosing the old piece of scrap parked on the side of my house, Corbin guilted Troy into either working on the Porche or else getting rid of it, NO he's not getting rid of it (I'm not that lucky) but he is taking it to the hot rod shop next to his door shop so they can do some work on it, either way it'll be out of my hair!

My Catch up Post!

Lots has happened since my last post! We have celebrated holidays, returned back to school, gotten over bad colds, visited with family, said good-bye to family and buried Grandpa Helgesen and Great Grandma Jensen. It's amazing that only a month has passed since my last post and so much has happened. Christmas was fun, my whole family came to town. It was so much fun to see everyone and spend time together. My kids were so sad to see their cousins return home to Michigan and Kansas! Kenzie and Kylie spent many nights sleeping over, Makenzie really misses Kylie! For New Years eve we spent the night at my moms, all the grandkids spend the night, they love it! I love that there are so many cousins for them to play with, think of all the memories they make together. Then on New Years Day we stay at my moms and watch a marathon of movies, this year it was "Karate Kid" we watched parts I,II,III and IV! It's a bit chaotic, there's a lot of noise and kids running everywhere, so it's kinda hard to watch the movies, but its still a fun tradition! School has started again! For me and the kids, Kenzie loves her teacher, but she just had a baby so now they have a sub, she likes the sub too, but it's not the same! Tyson is learning to read, and Corbin is busy getting his toys taken by the teacher, I wonder how many he'll have to loose before he stops taking toys to school? I usually search his pockets and backpack before he leaves, but somehow he still manages to sneak them out! I am liking this semester. I am taking Biopsychology, Art, Literature, Family Management and yep, I'm still in Math! We have had to say good-bye to Grandpa Helgesen, he passed away on Nov. 16 and Great Grandma Jensen who passed away on Jan. 13, she was 102. The funerals were nice, It will be wierd celebrating holidays and birthday's without having them here with us. I am grateful for the chance my kids had to meet them! Makenzie's play is in about two weeks, she's pretty excited! I'll take pictures and post them so those who are not able to come can see her in all her glory! My new years resolution is going to be to update this blog more, we'll see how long I keep that goal!