Talking while Shopping!

I went to the store the other day and noticed how impersonal the girl at the checkout was. She seemed almost annoyed that I was checking out. I began to observe the other checkers and noticed they too seemed to just do their jobs, no small talk, no smile, same greeting (did you find everything ok)and no good bye, they just moved on to the next customer. I can only blame this phenomenon on, yep you guessed it, CELL PHONES! While observing the checkers I also noticed that 3 out of the 4 customers where either talking or texting on their cell phones. Its no wonder that our society is becoming more selfish, more dis-respectful and less social! I've decided that its time to rejoin society, I am going to hang up before I get to the check out, go out of my way to create small talk with the checker and make it a goal to get a smile out of the person standing in front of me. Have we really come to this? We can't take the time to respect people we don't know? I would have missed out on a lot of frienships with people I met at Gymboree if they didn't give me opportunity to get to know them, I would have been annoyed if someone stood in front of me and talked to someone else while I was trying to help them. I learned a lot about social cues from my many jobs behind a counter ringing people up. I learned how to respond politely, create small talk with strangers, how to politely laugh and act interested, I was able to learn peoples emotions and moods(this comes in handy, you don't want to mess with someone having a BAD day), I use these tools everyday in my life, by ignoring checkers and continuing to talk on my phone I am doing society a disservice. If we don't allow the younger generation to learn these same social cues, our society will continue to become more selfish, and come on beside all that its just RUDE!

SICK over Spring Break!

So I can't decide if I am really lucky or really un-lucky! It is my spring break, I have been looking forward to this week for a long time. I had so many things I wanted to get done and started, I was going to do "spring cleaning", start Tyson's scrapbook, scan in all my pictures and put them on disks, clean out the garage, take down the trampoline, do some weeding, and get the garden ready to plant in. How much did I actually get done...NONE of it! I ended up getting sick! I spent four days in my warm bed watching Law and Order marathons or NCIS marathons. I took naps, played on my computer, made a budget (the only productive thing I did), coughed, blew my nose and napped again! I'm looking back on my week and thinking how unproductive it was....but I SURE DID GET TO DO NOTHING! I know you are thinking it sounds like heaven...well....IT WAS!

My Eternal Family

Saturday, February 20, my family had the opportunity to go to the Salt Lake city Temple and become an Eternal family! It was one of the best days of our lives! I had many different feelings and emotions that day, so did Troy, but I think our kids can say it best. The temple gave each of our kids a page to journal on. It asks who was there, what they did in the youth center and then about their thoughts and feelings about this sacred experience. I'm going to start with Tyson. He wrote

" At first I felt a little scared then I saw my mom and dad and gave them a big hug. I remember shaking the hand of the guy, then kneeling with my family and holding their hands. I was still nervous, but after it was over I got hugs from all the people that came to see us. Corbin teased me because I was crying a little."

Corbin's really made me laugh! He says..

"I felt like the luckiest 8 year old in the world, not every 8 year old gets to see inside the temple at my age. When I saw my mom and dad I thought they looked funny! I almost cried because everyone else was crying. It felt good to put all of our hands together and be sealed. I really liked seeing the temple for the first time."

Makenzie, being a little older (11), had more to say..

" When I walked in everyone was crying and it made me feel happy and excited that we had come so far from being people that never went to church to people that went every sunday and were able to be sealed. I felt so excited when we kneeled around the alter and held hands in the middle. This is my eterity. When the lady was bringing us to the sealing room (from the youth center) I got shakey and when we sat outside the door I looked at my brothers and thought these are MY brothers forever and this is the family I want to be with for eternity because I love them so much. When I saw my mom and dad I thought why are they wearing that? Then I thought it doesn't matter, they look nice anyway"

Like Makenzie, this is the family that I want for Eternity. I loved my kids so much before this, but it is so much better knowing that they are MINE, not just in this life, but also in the next! I am very lucky that Troy is who he is, a great husband, dad and my best friend. We are also very lucky to have as much family as we do who love us and support us! I am thankful for My Heavenly Father and the plan of salvation that makes it possible to have my family with me ALWAYS! This was truly one of the most amazing and peaceful experiences!

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!

BOLT

Troy's dad came to town a few weeks ago and we took the kids to see Bolt! I thought it was a cute movie, which surprised me because most of the reviews it recieved were bad ones. Yeah, Miley Cyrus doesn't have a cute voice, but luckily she doesn't have that many parts! If you haven't taken your kids, this is a cute, fun family movie, you should take them! After the movie we took the kids for pizza at Este's pizza in SLC. it was really good, Lisa taught the kids to make turkeys with napkins, they thought it was pretty cool! Here's some pictures!

Laser Tag!

Since it's a Holiday weekend, and the kids were out of school on Wednesday, we decided to go play laser tag! I let them each invite friends, Makenzie of course couldn't only invite 1, so there ended up being 11 of us total. My friend Chersty was nice enough to come play with us! All day long, about every 15 min, my kids would ask if it was time to go. I'm not sure if they just don't understand time or if they just like asking over and over but I told them all "it doesn't open until 4pm" the closer it got to 4 the more excited they all became. It finally was the magic hour so we all piled into the cars and drove over and guess what....it actually opens at "5"!!!
We decided to go get Little Caesars and take it to a park to kill some time, so here we are the end of November, having a picnic in the park! It was cold, but thank goodness there is not any snow yet!
We did eventually make it to play laser tag, and the kids had a blast! Corbin, Tyson, their friend Jeremy, me and Chersty were all on one team, the girls were all on the other! When the game ended they all wanted to play again, so now they are planning the next trip!

Jamie's Cabin

A while back we went to Jamie's Cabin, I took pictures, I told her I would post them so that everyone in Michigan can see how great the cabin turned out! My kids think it was the coolest place, Corbin wouldn't stop climbing the dirt hills! It was a fun afternoon! Thanks Jamie!!!

Obama or Bust!

Those who know my family won't be surprised that we up and decided to drive to Las Vegas and see Barrack Obama at a rally! It was my Dad and Mom's idea, they both went, my brothers Mark and Todd, me and my three kids! We arrived in Vegas late, but I wanted to take the kids down to see the strip at night! We have been to Vegas several times, but we just never managed to get the kids to the strip at night before. So we started at Planet Hollywood, we saw the indoor thunderstorm, ate ice cream, then decided to venture outside! OOPS, this may not have been the best idea. I forgot how NOT kid friendly the strip is! We walked from Planet Hollywood all the way to Treasure Island, we wanted to see the pirates. This was a tricky walk, I kept pointing out other things to my kids when we would walk past a building that had open sides and ladies on poles, Corbin said Tyson look down, I immediately shouted NO, look at each other. The ground was covered in cards of Naked ladies, so the only safe place for them to look was straight or at each other. When we reached Treasure Island, the cool pirate show was replaced with a bad, barely dressed, production of a "Pussycat Dolls" show(these are also bad, so I guess this would have been an even worse one)! Then we had to walk all the way back to our car-It was so far and so LATE(3am Utah time) The next day we dropped the kids off to Kevin(my father-in-law) and went to the Rally! It was really fun, there were so many people and everyone was so nice and friendly, except the guy who wouldn't let us sit on the ground. We had to stand for about 5 hours! Obama did a good job, he didn't really say anything we hadn't already heard but, it was good. I won't go into my political opinion, but it was a great experience and now I can say I saw the Pres. Elect! We picked the kids up and drove straight home, it was a fast trip and also a very memorable one! I did learn that the strip at night is definitely not a place for kids!!!

Troy's Luck!

The many of you who know my husbands past with buying me gifts will find this funny! Troy called me the other day, he was so excited because he had just come up with the most perfect gift for me, and he still had 3 weeks until my birthday, he thought he was the coolest husband and this would prove it(Troy's "M O" is to pick me up a gift either the day of or the night before, but NEVER has he gotten something this early) I was impressed too! Well today I got an E-mail thanking me for my subscription to Psychology Today magazine. Now this is a thoughful gift and something I would really like, HAD I NOT ORDERED IT ALREADY! What makes this so funny is that I had a conversation with him(which he now remembers) and I told him how I had just gotten sucked into subscribing to this magazine! I found it funny! He says that it's not fair because the thing that was supposed to show how great and thoughtful he is actually backfired and shows how much he doesn't listen. I'm betting his days of ever getting me something ahead of time are over! Thanks anyway Troy, at least you know it's something I liked!!!

My Daughter "The TREE!"

Makenzie had the opportunity to try out for her school play, she was so excited she couldn't sleep for days! When audition day came she and her friend Kesli (who was almost as excited for Makenzie and Makenzie was) stayed after school to audition. The next day, Kenzie was called back in for a second audition! She had to sing, and recite lines in both auditions. Two more days passed, and they finally posted the casting, and yep, my daughter was on the list! She was cast as a tree!!!! She is sooo excited because she gets to be on stage at all times, sing all the songs- except for the solos, wear a costume that includes some serious make-up (she's trying to come up with a signature move so that we can tell her apart from the other trees) and several of her good friends are trees with her. The musical is called "Into the Woods" they get to go on a fieldtrip to Salt Lake to see a real production of "Into the Woods". So I guess the only thing left to say is "Makenzie Break-a-leg!

FALL!!!

I am so excited for fall this year! Not only will there be new shows such as the Office, Grays Anatomy, Desperate Housewives, House and lets not forget the start of a new Football Season etc...(I'm really looking forward to the Office will Jim and Pam get married, and who finds Dwight and Angela? and what shinanagans will Micheal come up with this year?) but the leaves will change, I won't have to mow the lawn anymore, my kids and there friends will stop leaving garbage all over the yard and I can start using my pumpkin scented wallflower! I also love the clothing that the fall allows us to wear....Sweaters and long sleeve shirts....I don't know why but I don't love summer. I like summer activities, but the HEAT gets to me(especially because my air conditioning isn't working right) I love the feel of fall! :) It also is the start of the Holiday season with Halloween as the first-Yeah-I love watching my kids get excited for the school parade, deciding what they want to dress up like, discussing costumes with their friends and welcoming them back with a nice cup of hot chocolate when they get home from a night of trick-or-treating with their dad. I love this time of year!

Todds Face!!!

Todd got into a fight with a softball the other day! I think he lost! He has six stitches under his eye and a small fracture on the bone below his eye (Melissa might know what this is officially called). His team LOST by a landslide that night, someone should let Todd know that there are easier ways to get out of a loosing game, that doesn't require spending several hours in the Hospital!

Discovery Gateway!

We all went to the Discovery Gateway Museum to get out of the rain on Labor Day! It was a lot of fun, but very crowded! I would like to go back and spend more time explaining what each experiment does to my kids,it was just so busy there was no way!