Christmas Info and Requested Information

Ok, so after a great BBQ over the weekend. The sisters got together to discuss Christmas for this year. Hear's the plan:

By 9/31 - Please let me know if you and your family is in or out of the drawing for Christmas Names this year. I will attempt to contact you if I don't hear from you by that time. I will then assign everyone who is in the drawing a number.

By 10/31 (if not earlier) - Please post a number choice for each person in you family. Example: Nikki choose 5, Mackenzie choose 15. Also, please post sizes and wish lists on the blog.

As soon as I get everyone's number choices I will post the list of who got who. Also, new this year as agreed upon by the siblings, Godchildren/Godparents are no longer exchanging gifts if the Godchild is married. I hope this makes sense...

Christmas will be held on 1/1/11 I think maybe at Grandparent's house if not otherwise noted. Christmas dinner will again be made by the Grandchildren, there is a small menu below, please choose (if you would like) a dish to make and let me know what you will be making. I believe the dinner will be held around 2ish not sure of the location yet.

Menu:
Fried Turkey - Bryan
Baked Ham - Laurie
Potato Dish of some kind
2 Veggie dishes
Appetizer
Salad
2 Dessert dishes
Rolls/Bread - Brady
Pretzel Jello Thing - Nikki

Hope this makes sense to everyone! Love you all!!! Laurie

Graduation and Vacation

Since this is our first try at posting pictures, we hope it works! We all had a grand time as we filled the car with our luggage and went off to celebrate Sarah's graduation and then take a little time off for a vacation!
The pictures below show Sarah walking in to the center. Chris an Skyler joined her afterwards for a family "photo."
The next group is of the cabin that we rented in Sevierville, Tennessee where ALL of us (yes, Grandma and Grandpa, too) enjoyed the Great Smokey Mountains. The picture of Grandma and Grandpa outdoors was taken the day we took a motor tour of the Great Smokey Mountain National Park. We took a drive up the tallest point found in the eastern US and toured the Visitors Center.
The last picture is that of Grandma and Aunt Verna. On our way home, we stopped so that Mom could have lunch with her sister.
All in all the trip was wonderful and enjoyed by all. I can't tell you how thrilled we all were that Grandma and Grandpa could be part of it, too!
We've got other pictures to post, too--more of this trip and then, some of Dad's visit with Sharon Kathy, and Vickie, this summer. We'll try to do that later this week.
Have a good week and our love to all!

I say we had a great time! What do you

think?

Cyclones & Cycles

As summer vacation draws to a close, we'll recap some of the excitement at the Helds. We kicked off with Brady making it to the State Track meet in the 4X100 relay. He's #10.

As Laurie reported, his Little League team won the tournmament and he was thrilled to make the 9 year old All Star Team which did well in district playoffs. He and his buddies formed an AAU baseball team this year called the Indianola Lightning and it was great fun to watch this group of talented boys play together. Mom, you would've loved it.

Both kids did swim lessons and Kenzie finished her final level and will tell you she is done forever. Brady has one more level to go next year. Brady hit every sports camp imaginable while Kenzie "relaxed."

July brought on storms and two tornados to our fair town. Mackenzie rode out the storm at a neighbor's while Mom & Brady spent 90 minutes in the locker room at Simpson with the men's basketball team. (Brady used the time to schmooze and was asked to be their ball boy this season. I have no idea where he learned how to do this.) Laurie was in her basement. Meanwhile, Eric watched it pass by from our drive way. This picture is from our drive with Laurie's old apartment in the foreground.

The end of July was the Register's Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa (RAGBRAI) and Leslie's initiation into this cult-ish community of 10,000 riders making their way across the state. Simpson had a team for the second year which grew to 60. Always part of the planning, I was coerced to be one of two support staff for the first half of this year's ride. It involved me swearing off make up and morning showers, living in a tent which I put up and took down daily (no instructions), driving a van of supplies and loading & unloading a moving truck of gear twice a day with my boss. I discovered just how much I can really lift and how much I can sweat. A real bathroom was heaven even when you share it with 50 people and, when you are desperate, a hose suffices for a shower. The week started at another small college in Sioux City which graciously allowed us to camp on their softball fields. Unfortunately, they lied when they told us that the sprinklers were off and we started our week with a 2:30 am pelting by their sprinklers (which they couldn't figure out how to turn off for the 60 minute duration). Note the first head up was directly under the president's tent. Second up, the chairman of the board. Luckily, they kept their sense of humor ... and we kept our jobs.


The county fair & balloon festival is over. We'll wrap up the weekend at the state fair. School starts next Wednesday as Brady will be in 5th and big man on campus and Kenzie tries her hand at Middle School for 6th grade. Supplies are bought, fees are paid & new outfits are in the closet ready for Day 1.

Hope your summers were equally lively!

Vacation...

At the hotel.... can't wait for the vacation to start in Pigeon Forge! Onward and Upward!!! =o))))

Happy 4th of July!

We spent a fabulous Friday night to Monday at the cabin for the 4th. Hope you all had fun at whatever you did. It was a great weekend for wildlife. Buck and doe in the driveway and then a momma moose with twin babies by the stream. They were still fuzzy, very cute. They ate and frolicked in the stream and thickets. Dave was wondering why the hornets were bothering him and no one else when Hannah casually mentioned that she thought there might be a nest under his deck chair. Yup. He had been sitting on top of the nest for two days. And the whole time we just thought they liked his aftershave!

Pretzel Jell-O

2 C pretzels
1 C + 2 tbs sugar
3/4 C melted butter
1 med size cool whip
1 8 oz cream cheese
1 6 ox. strawberry jello
1 sm. can (8 oz) crushed pinapple
2 (10 oz) cut up strawberries (frozen bags work best)

1st layer: 2 C finely crushed pretzels, 2 tbs sugar, 3/4 cup melted butter. Mix together and spread onto 9 x 13 pan. Bake at 350 in preheated oven for 7 minutes.

2nd layer: 1 cup sugar, 1 med size cool whip, 1 8 ox cream cheese. Soften cheese, mix sugar and cream cheese together... fold in cool whip, spread on cooled first layer.

3rd layer: 6 oz package strawberry jell-p, 1 small can 8 oz. crushed pineapple (drained) 2 cups boiling water 10 oz packages of frozen cut up strawberries...

Dissolve jello-o in boiling water. Add drained pineapple and frozen strawberries. Stir and cool until set. (not hard, but thick...) pour gently over second layer -- refrigerate overnight.

I personally used 1 14 oz bag of frozen strawberries when I made it... also I recommend making layer 1 first... making layer 3 second.. and while 3 is almost a gelled consistency I begin layer 2, spread that on.. and layer 3 is ready to be poured on.

And there you have it... the NOT so low cal/low fat Pretzel Jell-O!!! =o) Hope you enjoy!

Love,

Nikki

Congrats to the Royals and Lighting!!!

Congrats to Brady on the great season with both the Royals in Minor League and the Lighting in the AAU league. The Royals finished 3rd during the regular season and won the Tournament. Brady pitched an excellent game Saturday night and made the 9 yr old All-Star team. The lighting placed 3rd in the Tournament on Sunday during an excellent game. I've posted a couple of the pictures from both games, the one where he is in Purple is the AAU team and the Blue is the Indianola league. Notice the big smile when he found out he made All-Stars (Leslie, Eric & I knew, but it was a total shock to him).