Wait Till Helen Comes...

Okay -that's the name of a creepy kid's ghost story - a must read - if only for the creepy cheesiness of it.  However, my actual friend, Helen, is neither creepy or a ghost. ;)  I couldn't WAIT for her to come to visit all the way from England!  She came with her brother who had just finished his mission in Ogden and parents to see General Conference.  I got to snag a day with her which was fabulous.  We talked like no time had passed...even though our random close friendship started on my mission and her a mom of three.  She would come out and do lessons with us, and I found such an amazing friendship from all the time spent with her.  She is one of the funniest Brits I've ever met and always has such amazing spiritual insight.  Now, seven years later, she's got 5 kids, I married and had two, and it was SO good to catch up in person.  The time went too fast, but I loved every minute of it.  It was nice not to be mocked for any of my British lingo that hangs around still, and to get to use some more of it normally. :)  I miss the fabulous accent, the humor, EVERYTHING.  The best was having my friend here though.

We went to the historic Wheeler Farm for my kids and had fun seeing the animals and especially feeding the ducks.  Ross, who usually takes quite a while warming up to new people, automatically loved her, and wanted to constantly sit on her shoulders wherever we went.  Ruby loved being her little friend too.  It was so fun to have her meet them.  

He was so proud he made it to the top. :)

Wood chip piles take a lot of concentration

Hanging with the ducks

Buds

Really wanting to get to those ducks...

A face off.  Who's going to win?

Ross would have stayed on this loader all day if I would have let him!

The sweet awesome playground. ;)

I think he would have gone home with her!

The ducks and geese at the farm were in no way afraid of people.  My kids weren't afraid of them either.  Ross kept chasing them and Ruby would walk right up to them with her face in their beak.  We took a wagon ride and got some duck food to feed to the ducks.  We all got quite a bit of sun too.  

Then we headed down to BYU to show off a little of Provo.  I drove her past the Provo Tabernacle Temple being built, the MTC, and stopped for a quick pic at the Provo temple while the kids slept in the car.  Then we had to stop at the Creamery on 9th for some ice cream and for Helen to stock up on some of their chocolate milk she fell in love with. :) We walked over to BYU campus and check out the bookstore where I found these babies for my babies. :)
 

She is a sassy girl isn't she?  And ADORABLE.

We got some more candy and enjoyed the weather some more before heading back to pick up Steve, drop the kids off, and take Helen to the long awaited Cafe Rio I had been telling her about since my mission.  It was an immediate win and now I have something else beside PF Chang's lettuce wraps to try and lure her back here to Utah sooner rather than later.
 

If you're in Utah you've got to see the Salt Lake AND the Provo Temple. :)

Helen's two scoops...more like four!  Ruby was all about the chocolate.

Nothing like scaling the walls!

Trying to figure out how to get that candy out of the bag.

We talked for a long while, having some amazing conversation that I love having with her, and then all of the sudden our day was over.  It stinks sometimes having great friends that live thousands of miles away.  Especially after you have a great visit and love hanging out while you're together only for the distance to get thrown back in to place.  BLAH.  Oh how I love my Helen though.  She is an amazing woman.  I'm so grateful she made some time in her crazy busy schedule for me.  It was a brilliant day! :)  Cheers!