WONDERFUL FAMILY HOLIDAY!

Hailey and Vanessa were so happy with their Ipods. This seemed to be a very "high tech" Christmas. Everything seems to be high tech now days, but I'm glad I'm kind of into it myself, it will help me keep up with my grandkids as they get older. Just don't ask me about the hand-held games, I'm not into those.

We were listening to Thriller . . . okay, I know, but it's still a great song even if Michael Jackson is a weirdo now.....

Vanessa and Hailey in their matching American Girl outfits.

Hailey got jammies for herself and her Itty Bitty Baby doll. She also a house for her "little bobble-head pets". She has been collecting them for a while, so now she has somewhere to put them.

Hailey was jamming with her Ipod when I got there to see what Santa brought.

Vanessa was so thrilled with her Ipod shuffle - I caught this darling picture of her - she's about as cute as they come, if I do say so myself.

Darling Kelsee, she was so excited for Christmas - I had trouble communicating what I wanted her to do for her picture . . . this is her "shy" look.

Cedes got a really cute jewelry box - and rings and earrings. She was happy about that. Did not get her two front teeth, however, as you can clearly see. . . . . .

Kelsee and Cedes having a mid morning "tea party".

Ian and an excited Kelsee.

Emily helping Cameron "make bugs" with his strange easy bake oven thingy - Cool for boys though. Camie doesn't look as if he appreciates his mom's help.

Camie got this portable DVD player. Notice the picture in the background. I gave the girls pictures of them and their daughters in "the Kingergarten dress". It turned out cute. If we can save the dress for another 15 years, maybe THEIR daughters can get their picture in it as well when they are in kindergarten. FUN.

Cameron was so proud of his Wrestling Champion belt, he tried it on for me immediately. He's going to kill me over this one when he gets older. Great blackmail picture.....

Ethie was asleep when I went over on Christmas morning to see what Santa brought. He is just the sweetest thing. It won't be long until he gets rid of the HEAVY helmut - His head is looking really good.

Grammy can handle the Ipods and figure them out fine, but these hand-held games are a complete mystery to me.

Here are just a few of the wonderful gifts Bailey and Logan got. The "snake" pillow is a speaker for his Ipod.

Bailey was SO EXCITED to get her Ipod. What a great gift. And check out the cool and beautiful T-shirt!

Logan with his PSP game thingy (hahaha - don't have a clue) and his new Eagles Jersey.

Happy Holidays! We had a wonderful Christmas and we were all spoiled. Especially grammy, as usual, the kids always spend too much money on me. They gave me a clock radio/I-Home for my Ipod. It's just SO cool - I can plug my Ipod into it to charge it, to wake me up in the morning, or to play it outloud. The sound is wonderful (better than some of the other devices I've heard for Ipods), and it charges my Ipod, which is almost constantly in use, without having to plug it into the computer. They also gave me some cool Jack Sparrow stuff (Jack Sparrow Doll, Davey Jones doll, POTC Chess Set). They gave me some Nike running shoes that are really light and I don't trip while walking in them, hahahaha. There are many more pictures but I couldn't post them all. Make sure you check out Stef's blog at nielsenstef.blogspot.com.

I hope you all had as wonderful a Christmas as we did. We spent lots of time together and laughed a lot (which of course is lots more important than any presents). I love and miss you all. Love, Helen xoxoxoxoxoxoxox

Welcome Home!

They are finally home after completing their mission in Palmyra. We are happy to see them and their talks were very inspiring. I think they influenced a lot of people to go on a mission in the audience. I enjoyed both of their talks very much.

Linnea and Russell - they are having another grandchild next year (Claudia). That will be 18 or 19 for them, I'm not sure. NOT FAIR.

I could not get a good picture of Bob - he's going to kill me for posting this, but it's the best one of the day (really). Steph is beautiful enough to take the focus off of him (hahahaha).

Here's three people who are having a hard time "fitting" in the picture. Kay had sunglasses on, but I made him take them off. (Rock star)

Chelsea and Julie - BEAUTIFUL - both of them. Chelsea is a camera buff and has taken some really cool pictures herself. I'll have to post some of them sometime. She's really artistic.

Michael almost escaped and Tyler, Melanie, and Toby DID escape before I could get my batteries recharged to take some pictures.

Ben and Kerri and their darling little boys, Milt and James.

Here's the whole gang, Kay and I took turns taking the picture, so I'm in this one and he's in the next. Still too dark to see well.

Here's the whole gang with Kay - My camera does not do "inside" pictures well. Sorry. I think I'm gonna switch back to my old camera...it's a longer wait between pictures, but much better quality.


Ben, Linnea, and Kerri. Not the best picture of Kerri, she'll probably kill me.

This is James (Ben and Kerri's little guy). He LOVES Pirates of the Caribbean (a man after my own heart). He went down to the "Norm Hammond Memorial Theater" and watched Pirates, happy as a clam to be down there all by himself. What a little cutie.

Tiffany dumped her boyfriend, and is now free to "date" new people. She's so beautiful, (and looks like her dad) it shouldn't be hard to find one.

Well, I finally got a minute to post these pictures from the Welcome Home. Doug and Delores both really did a great job with their talks, very inspiring and their testimonies were impressive. I enjoyed the meeting and I know everyone else did. It's nice to have them home, but I think I communicated more with them while they were on their mission, hahahaha. True of Andrea and Jeff as well, hahahaha. Oh well, I love the blogs, just for keeping up.

Ethan had emergency surgery on Monday, but is home now and all is well. He had a bowel obstruction but it's all fixed. I'm feeling better (still) but not quite right about it, ya know. I feel like my medicine must not be working if I'm not upchucking, hahahaha. Guess I'll see for sure at my next check-up.

Gotta run pick up Vanessa from school. Love to you all. Leave your comments. xoxoxoxoxoxox