Fun at Grandpa's and Grandma's house

Cory and I were lucky enough to get to go on vacation this holiday season and we went to visit my dad. We left Thursday morning drove all day and night and arrived Friday morning at around 2:30. Emma is such a great traveler she only cried a total of like 15 minutes and that was because she was hungry and we were looking for a place to stop. Some little car adventures we had was I bought her some glow in the dark bracelets and about 45 minutes later she had bent one and it broke and she got purple glow in the dark goo on her blanket, hands, my blanket and my hands! She didn't eat any of it thankfully! One other problem we had in the car was every time I offered her something to eat she would pull out her binki and drop it or throw it and then I would always have the hardest time finding it again!
Friday Emmers and I helped Grandpa feed cows and it was so funny because Julie has two smaller dogs and for the most part are really great around kids but Emma was scared of them but when we got out around the cows she just walked right up to them, without any fear! She is afraid of a five pound dog but not a 1000 pound cow! She enjoyed feeding the chickens and got to pet one thanks to Grandpa and seemed to like them until the roster started crowing and then she got a little nervous.
Saturday morning another group arrived around 3:00 in the morning. Shawn, Steph, Brad and Danielle and they picked up Lindzi and Loryn along the way. Dad had some manual labor he needed done so poor Shawn, Justin and Cory were rounded up to help while the girls, without kids, got to go into town to a craft show thingy. They had some really great baby things and cute bags. Later that day the boys got to do the one thing they all had been waiting to do, have an air-soft BB gun war! It was pretty cold but they didn't mind one bit! When Kyle got home from work he came out and they played in the dark. The worst injuries that were reported was Shawn got shot on the nose and it kind of bled and Cory ran into the trailer ball on the back of my dads pickup! Shawn healed quickly and Cory didn't even bruise!
Sunday was nice. Church started at 11 so we got to get ready slowly and everyone was on time! It is nice to visit and see lots of people you've known all your life.
Monday night we were all invited to Kyle and Julies for FHE and dinner. It was really good, both FHE and dinner! And then we played some games. The rest of the weeks activities included more work for the boys so Dad could get ready for the other house to get moved over. We ate at Denny's, a funny tradition we have kind of started every time we come to Cortez. We swam at the rec center. The girls even got to go to see the movie New Moon at the theater. Of course there were tons of air-soft gun wars and almost every night we played games! One of the best things we did was Steph brought fun crafts for us to do. We painted and used vinyl and made watch bands with beads, it was great fun!
Finally early Wed morning Jack, Alyssa and Hadlee showed up. The girls had school until Tuesday so the came later. Thanksgiving day was great! We all had something we wanted to make, everything smelled yummy and Kyle and Julie and the boys came out to eat with us. Of course we watched a little football and later played some games.
Friday was when Cory and I decided we would leave so we could have time to recover and I could teach my primary class on Sunday. We got up and packed our car and were getting ready to go into town to Kyles house to eat lunch when my dad decides to start cutting down this old big tree with his chainsaw. He was in the tree about half way up, like 20 feet or so and I was watching from the open window of the bathroom when there was a big crack and a big limb fell off the tree. Just after it landed Shawn who was close by starts shouting up at my Dad, are you alright, are you alright!! Dad didn't say anything, which is a bad sign, but kept on cutting another limb out of the tree. I thought things must be fine because he kept on working but I also know that if my dad gets hurt really bad he doesn't say anything. Eventually he got down and limped inside. Julie had heard something might be wrong so she came over to him and he lifted up his pant leg to show us where the tree limb had cut off then scraped his shin and calf muscle all the way from his knee to his ankle about 4 or 5 inches wide. It was already bruising and he had some scrapes but they weren't bleeding. It looked pretty bad and he said that once he knew that he probably hadn't broken his leg he finished the last limb on the tree. Poor dad! He got bandaged up and still came into to town with us to have lunch at Kyle and Julies.
We left around 3 or so and got back into Waco at around 8:30 on Saturday. Emma slept a good bit of the time and was a good girl the time she was awake. It was so fun to be able to visit. I love to stay up and play fun games and just hang out with my wonderful family! Love you all!!

I can't believe I brought my camera and didn't take a single picture! Oh well maybe next time!

Silly girl!

I think the first part of this video is hilarious! She comes at you like she is attacking you or something!

She's fun to have around thats for sure!

This is the month for birthdays! Kaleb my nephew kicked the month off, followed by Hadlee my niece and then Cory. Next came Bradley and Danielle my other niece and nephew. At the end of the month comes the birthday of a very special person Landon, who would be 4, I think. Or is it 5! Oh I am not sure!

We are proud of Cory because he is finally 25 and our car insurance can go down! And he is also doing very well in school. Emma is so cute! Her next big goal is to run! She can walk really fast, go backwards and spin in circles so her next thing will defiantly be running! She can say uh-oh when she drops something and she says hi to complete strangers all the time in the store!! Its cute now but what about later, she wont fear anyone new! She says mommy and daddy and can point to her nose. We are working on eye and ear. She loves to wear shoes and even though you cant see it her hair is growing!! I am feeling a lot better food wise but can still get tired over stupid stuff like sweeping the floor or standing for too long while doing the dishes! I can feel the baby move sometimes and that is also very fun!

This was Emma's actual birthday and so we went out to celebrate! She loves french fries so we ordered her some of her very own and she loved it!! I'm not sure if its noticeable but she made a pretty good dent in that pile of fries.

This is the cake I made for her. Lindzi told me about fondant and so I tried it and this is how it turned out. Its a lady bug.
At first Emma just poked the cake so I had to peel off some of the fondant so she could see the cake and icing that was underneath.

Then she got the hang of it and ate some. She is not a very messy eater, which is good most of the time but today would have been fun to see her get it all over her self!

She got some books and clothes. And a cute soft bunny from build a bear workshop and a few other toys. Thanks everyone! We had a great time!

This was our family trip to Luna, minus two, (we missed Steph and Danielle) where we celebrated the 24th of July! In the pictures we have the Helgesens, Jack, Lindzi, Alyssa, Hadlee, and Loryn. The Gropps, Cory, me and Emma. The Derricks, Grandma and Grandpa along with Shawn, Brad and also Justin!

We celebrated some early birthdays, Emma and Justin. Both born on Aug 5th, crazy huh?

They both got a cup cake with a candle and we sang happy birthday!

This is a small look at the nice cabin we all stayed at. It had 3 bed rooms, 2 bath and 2 sort a family rooms with pull out couches and kitchen and laundry room.

This is a picture of us at the rodeo. They announced there was only about 5 thousand people there. We were participating in the egg toss! Cory and Shawn were a team. Then Jack and Loryn. Hadlee and Alyssa and then Lindzi and I. Brad was suppose to be with Jack after he and Loryn broke their egg but he tossed it and broke it before Jack was there to catch it! Oops!

At the Church they had a bar B Q with games for the little kids. Someone brought a dunk tank! Alyssa and Hadlee both did it and Brad was a pro at throwing the ball and dunking people! I never got a picture of him doing it but saw him dunk at least 5 other kids. I did get a picture of Loryn dunking Hadlee! Classic!

We also did Grandpa's favorite thing to do, go rock hunting on Saddle Mountain. All the kids cried on the way up, saying it was too hard and that the bushes were poky. Once we actually got to the top of the mountain and started hunting they all seemed to be enjoying themselves. Julie found the biggest rock, called bitenite and had the biggest spill coming off the mountain! So much for rocks being a firm foundation, hu Julie! These are the happy no cuts or scraps before pictures. We were so out a shape getting back to the car was our biggest goal so there is no after picture.

On Sunday we went to the reunion. We ate some good food and then started the auction. One of the first things to sell was a nice CD player. It only took a couple seconds for Justin to realize it was his CD player and had to fight to buy it back! Grandpa bought a lot of stuff and then it started to rain. It was about this time that a baby doll was being sold. It was Emma's!! She saw it and reached both hands out for it so her daddy kindly bought it back for 4 dollars! Lindzi and Jack bought some stuff, Lindzi was waiting for the pickles I brought that I had canned and she did end up getting them. Its kind of a tradition to sell something of the newest additions to the family's stuff as a kind of welcome to the family joke! It was fun and then Cory and I had to leave so we could drive a few hours and have time to set up our campsite before it got dark.

We went to the Gila National Park a couple hours away and in a light rain and fading light set up our new tent that we didn't know how to set up. You all know how that probably went but we got it up and the inside was not that wet! We spent that whole night listening and seeing the thunder and lightning and hoping that our tent didn't get rained out!

The next day we drove to Carlsbad Caverns and took a 2 1/2 hour hike down the natural cave entrance into the massive 14 football field length cave. It was really cold and wet down there. Cory took some pictures on our phone so someday I might try to get those off but until then just use your imaginations! It was really pretty and fun to make the hike. Emma did pretty good but once she really started crying loud and hard and Cory and I were pretty embarrassed because before we started down the park ranger told us that our voices travel far and so we need whisper when we talked to each other and so I am sure everyone in the caverns heard her when she cried!! But later we did run into a family that had a loud baby too so we felt a little better after that!

After the Caverns we spent the last night of our trip in the Guadalupe National Park. There I decided on a campsite that was about 2 miles from the car (at least Cory thought so) and camped there for the night. It was the best site despite the long travel to get to it because it had soft gravel and dirt on it unlike the rest of the sites that were packed so hard they felt like you were sleeping on one big rock. Before we went to bed Cory noticed 2 deer about 20 yards from the tent and Emma proceeded to talk to them in "baby talk" and tried to get them to come on over for a visit. After a "goodnight sleep", yeah right, we drove rest of the way to Waco.

All in all it was a fun and successful trip. Thanks for reading about our little family trip. Love to all.

Its pretty funny, all the adults have a chair and now Emma is big enough to sit in the little red chair and can rock just like us! She loves it!

This is her birthday present from Cory and I. I know its a couple weeks early but its suppose to help her walk and she is ready to learn now, so we busted it open! She doesnt care if its not on her birthday anyway! She loves it and is so proud of her self when she walks!

When I went to Salt Lake last month I took a couple of random pictures. And here are some of them. Cory was really sweet when I got home, at 3 in the morning, I found those balloons, card and candy on the floor in our room! He missed me! We missed him too. When he would call I would put the phone on speaker phone and he would talk to Emma. When she heard his voice she would grin so big and then start to talk back to him, it was cute!

This is what the out back looked like before......

And this is a little bit later..

its suppose to be done in a few more weeks.

She is getting so big! Looks like she will be walking by her first birthday! Its so weird how fast they grow up. Its hard to remember to live in the moment but its worth it to try. It doesn't seem that long ago when we were so excited that her grin was real and not just gas and then how amazed we were when she first rolled over and now she can stand!

Look out MORE trouble here she comes!

This is just a quick up date on how the garden looks now!

We got some peas, peppers, and some cucumbers.



We also have some pumpkins, corn, lettuce and carrots.

And this is Emmers at full speed!

This was Easter morning and her first Easter dress courtesy of Aunt Nae. The Easter bunny just left her some toys in her basket.

I am so thankful for my Savior and the gift of the Resurrection, and a chance for the world to celebrate it.

We went to the zoo again and it was a little overcast, humid and cold. But great fun was had by all and she fell asleep the last 15 minutes of the trip. I don't know how she keep her head right there and still slept but she did!

This was our trip to Cortez and here are some pictures of her and grandpa. She had a love, hate relationship with that dog. She would be scared when the dog came around too close and fast but she always wanted to see it and touch it, well touch it sometimes!

She's a goofy girl! But we love her, and she's a keeper!

She is about to crawl long distances. She has been able to go backwards for a month or more but just this week has done more than just go forward, lay on her stomach and stretch for things but has stayed on her knees and moved them forward! Oh boy things are about to change!

Being Mom

Since being in college and in the "real world" I have occasionally written or called my parents, especially my mom to thank them for putting up with me while I was growing up, not giving up on me, and loving me no matter what.
I was thinking last night before I went to bed of all the things mothers go through, or at least what I have experienced so far and it goes a little something like this........

First you get pregnant and that could have been a fun time...... or not! The next couple of months go by and you start to wake up at like 5:30 in the morning because you stomach feels hollow, it rumbles and you feel like you are going to throw up. This experience then continues throughout the day and you soon find out it is much better to eat something all the time even though your previous life experience has told you not to eat anything when you feel that way! You bring crackers and granola bars to church and feel sort of mean when you bust them out on fast Sunday but that is only after the wave of nausea subsides. Next you notice your pants feel a little snug, ha know like after Thanksgiving dinner and all you really need is to just unbutton the top button! It’s about this time that you sort of want those around you to know that you are pregnant so YOU don’t think that they think you are putting on a little extra weight.
Time rolls on and the 5:30 snack time is replace with going to the restroom. This seems better for a while because you feel better and haven't spent anytime with your head hanging over the toilet seat and having to blow your nose and brush your teeth several times a day and all the while your husband is in the background either asking you if you are ok, which is silly cus, come on look at you, or he is pacing back and forth breathing deeply and making rumbly noises saying "your making ME want to throw up!"
Gradually there is no mistaking the fact that you are prego, because you are wearing shirts shaped like tents and pants that you constantly have to hike up because they keep sliding down from where you want them to be, but put to much pressure on your belly if they sit higher up. The once and a while nightly trudge to the bathroom now becomes a predictable almost hourly occurrence and you no longer turn the light on because you know the lonely march by heart. While you were dating or maybe even newly married your sweetheart told you how much he loved you and how when you were carrying his child he would be so willing to rub your back or feet as often as you would like, and you believed him!! Ha ha! Now when you want to hold him to it, because after walking for a less than 15 minutes both ach and you have to sit down and take a breather just from walking from the parking lot into the store, he suddenly thinks feet are gross and magically, because he used to be good, only rubs in the same spot either too hard or not hard enough!! Then once you make into the store and walking around you walk by a perfume stand or in my case it was Christmas time and cinnamon was in the air and that throwing up problem that has gone away rears its ugly head and you can’t go back to that area of the store, ever!
Those doctors visits that used to be tolerable, because you have finally gotten used to the fact that multiple people are going to be looking and touching that part of your body that you have tried so hard to hide all your life, your belly, and in my case my happy trail went from being a trail to a four lane interstate, now they move lower and once and a while use cold metal spreader things!! But after all the trauma, which you endured all by yourself, you walk away having heard your baby’s heart beat and during the really bad ones might even be holding a picture of a blob they told you had eyes and legs and arms and stuff.
Then comes the puffiness. It ranges from your feet, even your little toe doubles in size, to your face, and all the while your husband, who should say this and friends, loved ones and strangers all smile and say you are glowing, and that you look good. It’s about this time that your belly starts to look like a little sun, with sunrays (stretch marks) radiating brightly out and around your bellybutton! About this time you realize you need to get things prepared and as you start to buy a stroller and car seat or re-arrange furniture and you are sweating and panting and trying not to over exert yourself you think, why did I wait this long!

As the time draws near soon all your other mother friends start walking with you, all the time, so you can jumpstart your labor. You might even get desperate and when you are a week over due you might take caser oil, remind your husband that he will have to wait at least 6 weeks for…… anything he might be thinking of now, or let him talk you, like mine did, into jumping on a trampoline! Which worked!
Then it starts. Lightly at first, then gets worse, the pain. First you’re excited because it has started, this experience you have been thinking about for at least 7 months and then after a while it gets annoying and then you start to worry about things like, when was I suppose to go to the hospital? How far apart are they suppose to be? Finally you go to the hospital. For some it goes by quickly, for some much slower but it all ends the same. Pressure, pain and then a little pink, wrinkled old man, even if it’s a little girl, because all babies look like old men without any teeth, and they put them on your chest and then its really here, and yours.
Now you have this little thing that looks so breakable. And they make noise, lots of noise, but luckily it’s not very loud, yet! Once you get home it’s hard to get up and move around but an amazing thing happens and you can hold your pee for hours again, and you want to because of all that goes along with all that! Because of the hourly bathroom runs you are getting about the same amount of rest as before but now you have someone who is awake with you. I think it’s in the middle of the night when you truly fall in love with your brand new baby. Even though you are tired, sore and maybe a bit overwhelmed at the moment there is nothing else you would rather be doing than taking care of your beautiful, helpless, tiny baby.
At times it feels like it has flown by and other times its like time is standing still but they get bigger, everyday. The sleepless nights get better as they grow and the gas bubble smiles soon turn into true smiles and those times when you leave the room and then re-enter and they wiggle and giggle and are so excited because its you makes your heart melt.
When they get sick or hurt you are in pain with them, wishing you could do anything to make them feel better. This is what mothers do. I want to tell my mom how much I love, respect and miss her. And that I am still growing up and learning just how blessed I have been to grow up in the family that I did. I am finally feeling the unconditional love that a mother feels for her child.
To all you mothers who might read this, the road may be tough and long but someday your little rug-rats will truly appreciate all that you have done for them!! And for all you soon to be mothers, it’s all worth it!!

SO I thought I would up date our blog cuz the last one is a little sad.

Cory has begged and begged for me to let him get a X box 360 and when we got our taxes back and after a lot of promises, I let him get one. He promised that if I said he had been playing it too much then he would stop and spend some time hanging out with us and he promised that if was ever too big a problem and taking too much of his time we would sell it! So this is happy Cory playing his basketball game. So far he hasn't gone overboard with it like I thought he would. I imagined him playing it until 2 or 3 in the morning!



I realized after a while that all the pictures I took usually had only Emma and Cory in them so I decided to take some of the two of us every once and a while, poof that I was around while she was growing up!

We met up with Doug, Lynnae and their family and spend the weekend doing a little fishing. When we were driving we saw some of these bluebonnets and Lynnae and I tried to take some pictures. When I set her down she looked around her, got scared and just cried!

The flowers went up to her shoulders. It was too sad to be that funny but it still kind of was!

She really does have her own personality. She likes to smile at the people that are on the TV! I wonder if it will ever hurt her feelings that they wont smile back or anything.

This is the new way Emma talks. It used to me daddada but now its more of a song.

Crazy how time flies. It was just a year ago today that I was sitting on our bed, 6 months pregnant doing my homework, Cory was cooking something in the kitchen and there was a knock on the door. Bradley ran in and said hey An-nrea and then proceeded to run in to every room to see what he could get into. Then Shawn came in looking a little stiff and red faced with Cory right behind him. We had been home for almost two whole days from our trip to Cortez to visit my parents and celebrate my dads retirement. I smiled up at him and said hey whats up? Then he said, I got a call from home and Mom passed away. Its kind of hard to describe what it feels like when you hear something like that. It doesn't seem real. I do however have a lot of things to be grateful for.
When my dad decided to retire some wonderful ladies he worked with wanted to throw a party for him and so they asked my parents when would be a good time that would fit into all our schedules to have it. I really didn't have a good time because of school and finals was about a month away so I needed to keep up with all that I had been learning but I said anytime they picked if I had some warning I could probably make work. So they told us later the date they picked and it just so happened that it was on a weekend when on Thursday my group was presenting and then on Friday the other groups were presenting and we weren't required to go to class on the day we weren't presenting. I was excited because that meant that we could leave Thursday right after I got out of school and everything would work out great! Well the Monday of that week at that class our teacher started talking about some people wanting to change the presentation order because of course everyone in class wanted the three day weekend. I got nervous because it would change all our plans if I had to present on Friday instead. And I started thinking that if it was going to be so hard we might just stay home and not go. After class I talked to my teacher and told him the plans that were made and how it was because of the original schedule and he said he would try to help me out. On Tuesday there was a big discussion and some students were a little upset and even in my group we had some disagreements because another one of our members' wife had just been scheduled for a C-section on Thursday. Well the teacher kept his word to me and helped out my group member who was having the baby, so Cory and I left as planned.
I am really grateful that a way was made for me to go home that weekend because it was like I said earlier just a few days later that my mom died. We could have easily not have gone. And it was also strange that every spouse was also able to go. Just another blessing we see now looking back. While we were there was when my mom let it slip to someone that she was having surgery on Monday. She had been having problems with her knee for a couple years and was always in pain. Lindzi talked to Jack and she was able to stay and help out for a while after the surgery. It was a blessing for her to be there to help my mom and then my dad and make it so he wasn't alone. Jack was also a huge help with all the financial, insurance crazy paper work stuff.
It was and is still hard. I can see a lot of good that has come from it though. She isn't in pain any more, my dad has found a special lady that he is extremely happy with and a 16 year old step-son to play with and teach all the things he knows!
I know that I will get to see my mom again and I get to feel Gods love through the comfort he sends me whenever I might start to feel sad. I want to publicly thank everyone who has helped me this past year through this and with little Emma, answering all my questions and giving me advice. I have the best family and friends, love you all!!

Green or Brown?

So this is the Beginning of the garden story. This is how the garden spot looked when the neighbor prepared the soil.






This is what it looked like a few weeks ago. I need to update my pictures! I have planted 5 watermelons in those mounds but they dont seem to like me very much and they are not doing so good :(

Those rows are corn!

And here I planted some strawberries and one is already about a inch long! And next to the strawberries are some cantalope.


It has been difficult at times because of fire ants but now they are more under control so I feel safe to sit on the ground and pull weeds! Emma has been a trooper and will have to continue to be. She sits in her stroller and watches everything that is going on around her. I give her a toy and she is usually just fine unless she gets cold or drops that toy or if she can't see me!