A Warm Welcome!

Mother-Daughter Weekend

2012-01-19T18:23:00.000-08:00

This past weekend, Ashlyn and I headed down to St. George to see our good friend Kiya get married. She is the daughter of one of my favorite high school friends, and I've watched this phenomenal girl grow into a beautiful young woman, and now a young bride. Ashlyn especially loves this family, and so I invited her to share the weekend with me. So much fun! We sang to the top of our lungs to Taylor Swift, listened to a cute book on CD, played with cousins, (even attended a birthday party at a jump house) and helped transform a gym to a beautiful reception.

The St. George Temple is spectacular! It was a beautiful day!

Ashlyn found a friend, as she always does, and they danced the night away in the foyer..clearly the party was out here!

Mother of the bride.

Carrie is an amazing woman, I can't believe she's old enough to have a daughter get married!

Good thing I'm younger than she is...by at least 8 whole months...:)

A New Year!

2012-01-12T16:11:00.000-08:00

I love parties, you know I do. I am generally the first to say, hey, let's have a party for this or that, and before I know it my brain has raced ahead, and a "party to do list" has formed in my head. HOWEVER, I am simply not a New Year's Eve party girl. I get too tired, it's as simple as that. I figure I can celebrate on January 1st all day rather than lose some of that beauty rest... For years, we just secretly sped up the clocks, yelled happy new year, banged a few pots and pans, and called it a night with our little kids. I'm pitiful to many of you I'm sure, but so be it.

I think my past experiences with New Year's Eve parties, sealed the deal for me. I remember one time specifically.
When I was in high school, one of my friends moved to SLC...just minutes from downtown. She invited another friend and I to come spend the night and celebrate New Year's Eve with her. We went to a dance...it wasn't a church dance...uh, yeah.

Anyway, I remember thinking "I spent an hour getting ready for this? I am soooo not in the right place!" As midnight approached, my friend told me that we needed to find someone to kiss at midnight...

uh...I don't think so...

I made her leave right after midnight, after she found her kiss. Not a friend I stayed in contact with, needless to say.   I decided New Year's Eve was an excuse for people to stay up late, drink, and behave badly. Not a fan. Then I married someone who isn't a late night guy, and then we had little ones that too needed their rest, and there you have it. No midnight Jensen parties.
BUT.... I have teenagers now...

They LOVE to stay up late. ALL their friends do!

"EVERYBODY BUT YOU AND DAD DO!"

Then they threw in, that our neighbor (who has hosted all of the New Year's Eve parties for my kids) announced that she was tired this year, and wasn't going to put together a party. What?   Are you SURE? I'll send treats...party hats...whatever is needed!

Ok. Yeah, I guess it is our turn.

So we hosted a lame-o party, went to bed shortly after midnight, and somehow made it up for 9:00am church.

I guess I didn't die.

Ice Fishing

2012-01-03T10:35:00.000-08:00

Parker is the type of kid who LOVES THE OUTDOORS! Rain or shine, cold or heat, he's all over it if we mention heading out somewhere. I love that in him! Yesterday his Grandpa Baxter took him ice fishing at Scofield Reservoir. The kid brought home 4 beautiful trout, cleaned them all by himself, then we cooked them up. (after I watched a "how to cook trout" video on YouTube...:)

Patiently waiting...got that hot chocolate close by...

"Hey little fishies..."

Oh yeah!!

Who's da' man???

2011-12-28T15:45:00.000-08:00

Christmas Miracles...

This past season I've been privy to a few sweet experiences. I am a believer in miracles, and am grateful for God's presence in our lives

Miracle #1: I was in line at the post office...half-hour wait at least, when I saw a girl approach the counter. She was trying to mail something, and found herself $2.00 short. Without hesitation, an older lady in the window next to her handed the girl $2.00. The older woman looked to be on a fixed income, and I'm sure this was no small sacrifice for her. Everyone around me noticed the exchange, and someone voiced, "I guess there really are good people in the world."

Yes, there are.

Miracle #2: I was shopping in a clothing store, when I noticed a young mother struggling with her small son. He had had it, and was letting his mom know he was DONE SHOPPING! A little older, experienced mom noticed the stressed mom and boy, and dug into her purse to produce a small candy cane. She quietly offered the treat to the mom, and asked, "do you think this might help?" The mom looked greatly relieved, and said, "oh, I would LOVE THAT!" The little boy was a happy camper long enough for his mom to finish her shopping.

Miracle #3: Yesterday the kids and I went hiking in the canyon with my parents, some of my siblings and their kids. When we got back to the van, Parker worriedly told me that he had lost his pocket knife somewhere along the way. He had been all over the mountain, up and down the hills, not to mention there were patches of snow. I really didn't have any desire to go look for the knife, feeling it was a needle in a haystack, and tried to tell him we'd just buy another one. He looked so sad, so I gave in, and we set out to retrace our steps. We decided we needed Heavenly Father's help, so we said a prayer first. Following the prayer, Parker said, "I think it may be over by the bridge up ahead." Sure enough, we saw it right by the bridge, lying in the snow.

God loves His children, and he is aware of even the simplest of needs...

whether it be $2.00,

a candy cane, or

finding a pocket knife!

The Bridge...:)

2011-12-28T09:41:00.000-08:00

Ho, Ho, Ho!

A Big Hello to yummy food baking in the oven, wood crackling in the fireplace, Christmas music filling the room with magic,and cozy hugs from family & friends. We were

oh-so-ready for Christmas!

Our annual extended family (my side) Christmas Eve sledding tradition had to be altered since...

WE HAVE NO SNOW!!

BOOO!!

So we put together some plates of goodies, and went caroling to some of our neighbors.

We enjoyed a simple pasta dinner at our home, then dressed the kids up and enjoyed a sweet and simple production of The Nativity.

The kids all gathered in a circle and took turns opening up their cousin gifts to each other, and then the gifts from grandma and grandpa!! They were pretty spoiled, I must say! :)

Christmas morning started at 5:40am. I told the kids it was too early! If you start out early, it's over with too soon, we should just make it last as long as possible..I told them to give it another hour. The kids begged us to start in 1/2 hour...

Parker said, "hey mom, let's do rock, paper, scizzors to decide when we start opening our presents." Feeling confident in my rock, paper, scizzers prowess, I stupidly agreed.

I lost.

So...at 6:10 AM, we had a great time ripping and tearing, and everyone had a fun morning.

Church started at 11:00, no one was too thrilled to get out of new PJ's, into church clothes...one of my kids said, "yeah, the rest of the world only goes to church on Christmas and Easter, and those are the only 2 days we Mormons want to stay home...:) We did go to church, and enjoyed a beautiful Christmas Sacrament Meeting.

Let the games begin!

Back in PJ's, we spent the afternoon playing some new board games.

More than anything, Ashlyn wanted this doughnut maker. She and I came up with a recipe for lemon doughnuts, and boy were they tasty!

Kinda pretty too!

We got a couple new wii games for Christmas, and the boys laughed 'til their guts hurt playing

"Wipe Out"!

Christmas Traditions

2011-12-20T12:12:00.000-08:00

Each year it seems someone at school or at church will ask my kids, what types of Christmas Traditons do you have as a family? They get this blank look, and seem to have a hard time coming up with an answer...so kiddos,

this is for YOU!

Every year we go to Grandma and Grandpa Jensen's home and help them decorate their tree and put up decorations. This is our gift to them, since they need absolutely NOTHING!

We go to The Festival of the Trees.

This year we had Emma with us! 2 of "us" didn't care to meet the real Santa, so we took a picture in front of this alternative..:)

Ashlyn and The Big Guy! (and Gal)

We decorate gingerbread houses. This year, we met at grandma Baxter's house and celebrated Emma's birthday at the same time! So fun!

We put up our Christmas village.
The kids knocked themselves out this year, and did an outstanding job!

Each year we find a way to serve others. This year Connor and some friends hosted a neighborhood gathering, and collected card games, board games, and movies to be distributed to Primary Children's Hospital. This is a pic of the kids at Primary Children's Medical Center.

We visit the lights on Temple Square.

This year we started out at Karl's office and ate pizza, then walked around Temple Square, then returned to his office for hot chocolate. Good thing he works just across the street from Temple Square!

Most of all,

"We talk of Christ,

we rejoice in Christ,

we preach of Christ,

we prophesy of Christ,

and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins."

2 Ne. 25:26

Giving Thanks!

2011-12-20T10:58:00.000-08:00

For family home evening, we got together and created a thankful tree. Nothing too fancy, we just cut out leaves from construction paper, and wrote down all the little things we are grateful for.

LOTS to be thankful for!

Thanksgiving was spent with Karls family. Lee and Lisa hosted a beautiful, and delicious dinner..wish I could dive in again!!

Smart Boys!

2011-12-20T10:51:00.000-08:00

In November I got a call from the school, telling me that both of my boys were going to be honored at an assembly. Parker for his 4.0, and Connor as one of 4 kids of the term!

These are all the kids of the term for 7th, 8th, and 9th grades. Connor was the only boy in 7th who was chosen. Apparently the teachers all get together and decide who they think would be a good canidate, based on grades, and how respectful and kind they are to the other students. I'll take a good and kind boy any day!

Parker is one of the hardest workers I know. He is really aware of when his assignments are due, and frequently stays after school to finish up homework, or get help when he needs it.

Pumpkins and Pickiness!

2011-12-20T10:38:00.000-08:00

Truth be known, I do not enjoy putting my hand in cold, slimy, pumpkin guts, but my kids LOVE IT! So...I take the pics!! We grew these pumpkins all summer, and the kids had their pumpkin picked out in the garden weeks ago. Karl loves to cook the seeds, (another thing I don't enjoy), and the kids love eating them.

How many of you..be honest...like Halloween? I'll tell you why I dread Halloween. It can be summed up with one word...COSTUMES! Not to mention the holiday is all dark, gory, and evil..but back to the costumes. So Taylor told me in July, yes July, that he wanted to be a vampire. We have had his costume ready for months, and I thought to myself, "maybe this year won't be a costume nightmare..", Ooooh how wrong I was! The kid started changing his mind 4 days before Halloween, and was in genuine turmoil over it. All day I'd hear, "I just don't know what to be!"

I'd reply..."a vampire."

Taylor: "no, I don't want to be that anymore."

Me: "but you look so cute as a vampire." ooops...

Taylor: "I don't want to look like a CUTE VAMPIRE!"

Me: "I mean, you look all creepy and everything."

Taylor: "no, I just don't know what to be."

He finally decided he would call on the family for help. At the dinner table he announced that he would be having a contest to see who could pick out the best costume, and to bring it to the family room after dinner. We all obliged, and produced our best ideas from the dress up bins. (and his dresser, which happens to be full of costumes..aaagh!)

This is what we came up with for his approval:

We each took a turn to describe our costume ideas, and to try to convince him to choose something. We had an army man, Spidy, an Indian, a Nephite, a mummy, How to Train your Dragon guy (last years costume), a baker, and I even tried the vampire thing again.

He still went to bed discouraged. I'm embarassed to admit that I caved, and took him to the store. He ended up looking like an...

ALIEN!

Soooo not my first choice, but he paid for 1/2, and I was exhausted!

Alyssa: Lavendar Brown (Harry Potter)

Parker: Harry Potter

Connor: guy in a toga

Ashlyn: rock star

Taylor...well you know!

Fall and Friends

2011-12-20T10:13:00.000-08:00

If I'm remembered for nothing else when I die, I hope children will always know they are welcome in my home. I love my kid's friends, and frequently take them on little outings. We have a policy, "if we can fit ya in the van, you're welcome to join us!". I was anxious to get up into the mountains with the beautiful fall colors, so we packed up some hotdogs and marshmallows, invited whoever we could fit, and headed up the canyon one afternoon after school.

The kids were awesome, and were good sports with their burnt popcorn, and hotdogs!

Great group of kids, so grateful my children have such quality friends!

The Mighty EAGLE!

2011-12-20T09:44:00.000-08:00

An Eagle Project is quite a beast to take on!!

Luckily Parker was one of those rare kids who was independently motivated, (with occasional reminders from mom and dad..:). He really wanted to help the people in Japan following their tsunami, since we've been lucky to get to know a couple Japanese students, but the Church Humanitarian Center doesn't directly ship supplies to Japan. After touring the inspiring Humanitarian Center, Parker turned to me and said, "I don't care where our donations go, anywhere the Lord needs them is fine by me." He decided to hold a yard sale, and use the proceeds to buy school kit supplies. He had a goal of 50 kits, but ended up making 137 kits due to the generous donations of our ward members, and of the sucessful yard sale. It was a great experience for our whole family!

We set up all the yard sale items the day before, so Parker decided to sleep outside to protect the stuff.

We had soooo much stuff come in, it barely fit on our driveway!

The bench the kids are sitting in, was the hot item! We had bought it from the old Manila church that had been sold. We realized the bench wasn't what we wanted in our basement, and EVERYONE wanted it! We should have charged more for it...who knew???

All the Teachers came over and helped assemble the kits in our basement. Many hands make light work for sure!

We delivered all of our supplies to the Humanitarian Center and felt a great sense of accomplishment..and exhaustion! Parker was barely 14 yrs. old when he completed everything, so proud of a kid so young!

At the end of October, Parker had his Board of Review, and passed with flying colors! Thank goodness, because after all of that work, Karl and I may have gone balistic!

Now to plan a Court of Honor in January!

Where to Next?

2011-12-20T09:04:00.000-08:00

I had a chance to travel a little bit the past couple of months, which is really rare for me, since I'm such a home body! Boy was I glad I got to get away though, lots of great memories, and time spent with family.

Lee and Lisa (the lovely folks behind us..) and Karl and I decided to try out the Provo to Denver direct flight. New this year! We spent 2 days just romping around Denver and Boulder CO. I laughed the ENTIRE weekend! We ate great food, stayed in a beautiful hotel, and enjoyed the strange, liberal town of Boulder...:)

Downtown Denver.
Our feet are starting to kill us after walking all day...so fun though!

We knew there was a "blue bear" somewhere in the city, but couldn't seem to find it until...we turned THIS corner...yeah, our jaws pretty much dropped open!

Probably the funnest part of our trip for me, was hiking in Boulder. We saw lots of rock climbers, and enjoyed the gorgeous flatirons!

I agreed to pose for about 2 secs, then quickly got off that ledge...SO afraid of heights!!

Karl and Lee...NOT afraid of heights!!

How cool is this rock!! So cozy!

Next stop...warm and sunny ARIZONA! My sister had her second baby, little Isaiah! I wanted to help her out with her newborn, so Adrienne and I flew out for a week and helped out as best we could, but mostly played with those cute kids!!

Have you ever seen so much hair? DEFINITELY NOT a Jensen baby! Bald 'til they're 2!

We sisters get along perfectly, and LOVE each other so much!

Swimming in the pool..that's Arizona for ya in October!!

Darling Emma kept us smiling all week long!

Birthdays...

2011-12-20T08:28:00.000-08:00

Fall is full of parties...of the birthday kind! Everyone but Ashlyn has a birthday in the late summer/fall seasons, so we party a little extra during those months!

Sept: Karl says his best gifts are his awesome kids!

We held a birthday party for Karl on a beautiful fall, Sunday afternoon. Perfect weather!

Karl took me to my favorite restaurant for dinner for my birthday!

King Parker, 14yrs. old!

Alyssa brought Parker a shake from Purple Turtle, and I made him a cloak for night games with the neighborhood kids...you'd have to see it to believe it, but night games are not taken lightly around here!

The kids were really great to each use their own money to buy something for Alyssa.

17 yrs. old!

A new iTouch..lucky girl!

Taylor's birthday is the day after Halloween, so it was an extra fun weekend!

7 yrs. old!

We took Taylor and his friends to Classic Skating for a party...they mostly used their scooters..:)

Soccer and Shakespeare

2011-10-18T12:37:00.000-07:00

September was a busy month with kids and their activities. Connor, Ashlyn and Taylor all had soccer games each week, plus practices, which had Karl and I dividing and conquoring much of our Saturday. I have to admit however, that I adore soccer and can't get enough of watching my kids play!

Alyssa is in drama this year, and the kids performed acts from Shakespeare for the parents at a Renaissance dinner. It was a fun evening where we couldn't use utensils and enjoyed the talents of our kids. I was immediately taken back to 1987 when I was doing the same thing...in the same building...weird!!

Proud of my kids!

AAA Arsenal Soccer Team Fall 2011

Alyssa had to kiss this guy in the play...ask me if I'm ok with that????

You'd think...

2011-09-16T16:36:00.000-07:00

You'd think that since all my kiddos are in school full time now and since I'm a "stay at home mommy" that...
1. My house would be clean..
2. Oh..not just clean, but deep-cleaned, top to bottom!!
3. I had time to exercise everyday!
4. I had finished at least one book this month.
5. Yummy nutritious dinners were ready to go each night.
6. My goal of weekly temple attendance was realized..aagh!
7. and I had updated this blog way more often...

Au Contraire! I am more behind than ever! WHAT IS THAT ABOUT?

I need serious help!!

Oh, and it's my birthday...:)

guess I'll start fresh again next week!

20 Years and 2 months...and counting!

2011-08-30T09:56:00.000-07:00

I remember when I was newly married and someone in my ward asked me how long I had been married, I think I said something like,

"oh we've been married for a while, I think it's been about a year and a half..."

The person smiled, and laughed,

"yeah, that's a pretty long time!"

I didn't understand why it wasn't considered a long time, we had friends that had only been married for 3 months or so, and we felt like experts compared to them...

HOWEVER,

now that 20 years have passed, I do feel like I've learned a thing or two!! It's been a wonderful journey and I look forward to the next 20..! :)

We were married on June 28th, 1991, in the Salt Lake Temple. Two young kids, stepping out into the world together, so happy! Such a great time!

Not so young, but still making it in the world, together! 20 years is a big deal, and we wanted to celebrate in style, so we started to plan a trip. Should we go to Europe? How about a cruise? We'd been to Hawaii...love to go again...but then we started thinking, well, Alyssa needs a car, and we have a few things left on the basement to finish...our practical personalities took over so we decided to go to Midway, UT and enjoy a few days in this quaint Swiss town. We had so much fun bee-bopping around on Karl's Vespa scooter and just eating in fun little restaurants, and basically just relaxing.

It was perfect for us!!

So blessed to be married to Karl!!

Camps and Camping

2011-08-30T08:53:00.000-07:00

This summer has been full of

camps and camping.

Parker had his week long Deacon's camp in July, and happened to be at Scofield when another scout (not in our ward) was hit and killed by lightening. Needless to say, I was exceptionally anxious to get my boy home.

Alyssa headed off to Girls Camp at Heber Valley Young Women camp.

Best camp yet, according to her!!

Connor and Parker have 1 1/2 months together as Deacons before Parker moves on to the Teacher's quorum, so they were excited to go on a campout together.

Our Cousin Avery spent a week with us. We took her to Payson Lakes, and played, played, played!

The boys had a blast jumping off the dock...

At first I was a little nervous sending two 8yr. olds out in the keyak on their own, but they proved to be great rowing machines out there!

Connor turned 12yrs. old on Aug. 10th, so we invited two friends to come up and spend the day with us at Payson Lakes. We love Kobe and Chase!

After a day in the water, the kids started to get a little cold and tired, so Alyssa decided to play a game with them. They thought it was great that a cool teenager would sit down and play with them. :)

Of course a campout wouldn't be complete without...S'MORES!

The sweetest picture! My dad and Parker share a love of fishing. They got up early and headed down to the lake...were they successful? Wait and see...

My parents brought up a yummy chocolate cake for Connor. Yummy!

What's that you ask???

Yup, they were successful!

We all enjoyed a couple bites of trout! Soooo good!

Time together always breeds creativity..sometimes this is a good thing, other times...not so much. This time however it was hilarious! The kids tied all their boats together and then made my mom pull them along in the keyak...

Payson Lakes...Such a fun tradition!

Never-ending Projects!

2011-08-01T21:58:00.000-07:00

I married a man that HAS to always have a project going, or he gets antsy.

Pros: stuff gets done around my house, he never leaves things undone, and I know that all I have to do is post something on my "honey-do" list and it's as good as done.

Con's: He gets a little (lot) obsessed until the project is completed, and looses sleep, thinking of ways to do it better.

Take a look at this summer's project. It started as a little covering for our sandpile, and turned into a beautiful, way too nice for a sandpile, pavillion.

Crazy guy! It's a wonder he made it without injury!

Karl always pulls in our kids to help. They have learned everything from how to measure accurately with a measuring tape, to using power tools.

Karl's 82 yr. old dad frequently helps us with projects. He and Karl are 2 of a kind!!

Beautiful isn't it??

Karl created this in his head, and somehow made it a reality, without any construction plans or professional help. Now I get to find some nice patio furniture and make it a perfect reading nook for me!!

Running the HALF!

2011-07-31T22:08:00.000-07:00

Wow. Have you ever done anything really hard?? I mean, REALLY, REALLY, REALLY HARD? This summer my friends and I decided to take on a Half Marathon. Several times we asked ourselves..."What are we thinking? Have we truly lost it this time?" But then we'd push on, and continue to train, secretely hoping the day of the race would never come, but of course it did.

July 30, 2011,

a day I'll never forget. Three of my friends ran this same half marathon on June 25th, and we cheered them on to victory. We thought, "well, they didn't die, maybe we can do it too..."

Peer pressure is a terrible thing!!

No I didn't die, but I think I may have come close...that "light" we're told we walk towards when we die, seemed awfully close on mile 12...:) Truly I had to dig deep for this, glad I did it, but am grateful it's over.

The best part was turning the corner to the High School and seeing my family and friends all cheering us on. My kids made this cute sign. Karl was an unbelievable support to me. He'd text me after every long run while training, and ask how it went, always telling me how proud he is of me. Definitely my biggest fan!!

This is a pic of my friends completing the Half in June. We've all been running together for several years, but just a few miles a few days a week, nothing big until this summer. I love these women, they are truly my sisters!

Our turn. We may be wearing smiles, but really we just want to find the softest space of grass, and die. Would you believe we have 32 children between all of us? Amazing moms!

The 4th Celebrations

2011-07-29T08:29:00.000-07:00

Our summer is going super fast, how about for you? We always look forward to lots of family fun at the 4th of July. Here are some of our highlights:

We had our annual family sleepover at our house, and enjoyed a yummy breakfast.

We set up some games in our back yard, and we adults just watched and relaxed as the kids played.

We rented some huge slip n slides from a home near this park with big hills. It was a total blast, until...Taylor's toe was ripped and we ended up at the Insta Care...never a dull moment!

Ashlyn saved up her money, literally all year, to pay for her ticket to the Stadium of Fire again this year. It's kind of our Mom-daughter annual date night. We liked Carrie Underwood better last year, but Brad Paisley and David Archuleta were awesome too.

Monday morning, my boys, Aaron and I ran in the Freedom run 10K. It was super fun to run with my boys, I couldn't be prouder!

The Provo parade is always tons of fun with cousins. Aaron and his family are moving to Oregon this month, so this will be the last summer we're all together.

After the parade we enjoyed a KFC picnic at the park. All my favorite people in one spot...so fun!!

I love, love, love these little girls! My home has replaced little ones with teenagers, and sometimes I just miss the sweet personalites of little babies and toddlers, so I get my fill in when I can!!

Just Roll With It!

2011-06-06T21:22:00.000-07:00

My brother recently moved into a new home, and this huge corrugated pipe was left behind by the previous owners. Nate was anxious to get rid of it, and my boys begged and begged me to take it home...I finally gave in. Guess what our game was this week for Family Home Evening??

Everyone wrapped themselves in blankets to protect against the impact...Parker had Connor add the turban after his first unfortunate roll down the hill without head protection.

We call it "Piping".

You want one too don't ya!

The kids positioned the tube at the top of the hill and let her go!

I know, right?!

The Last Days...

2011-06-02T12:28:00.000-07:00

Someone once described the month of May as feeling just like December..you go crazy all month trying to attend everyone's end of year programs, recitals, seasonal games etc. Then on top of that, you have tons of tests, papers, reports and assignments to wrap up, maybe a couple fieldtrips thrown in for good measure and of course parties galore! It's enough to throw the Jensen household into a coma!! And Santa doesn't even come at the end of it all, which is a total jip!

On the last day of school, Parker invited a few friends to come and celebrate with his annual "torch the homework" party. He literally saves up his math assignments in his locker all year, then brings them home to burn baby burn! We bought little squirt guns for each of the boys, and they just ran around squirting each other....it's a boy thing.

He deserves a relaxing summer, the kid pulled off a 4.0!

Taylor graduated from KINDERGARTEN!!

I had to swallow back tears the whole day I tell you. I would guess about half of his class were the babies in their families, so we moms have decided to form a support group...not really... though it's sad to see that chapter end, I'm excited to see what having 3 extra hours in my day will be like...hmmm...when does school start again???

Ashlyn's gymnastics class had their end of year performance. They showed off all the cool stuff they can do on each apparatus. Ashlyn was moved to a higher group mid year, and has flourished! She was introduced to the back handspring, and came back the next week perfecting it! Her teacher was

amazed, the kid has no fear.

Connor ended his Arsenal Soccer season.

It was the best thing he's ever done! He's made some fantastic friends, and learned some important life lessons, not to mention, his skill as a soccer player has improved 100% ! The club teams are a whole different ballgame than the city league, and he is so happy! And....we just found out, that after 2 grueling days of tryouts, he made the team again!

Way to go Corner!!!

(his coach calls him "corner" because he plays R. Defense, but also because the guy's from Germany, and it's fun to play with the accent...:)

A Moose, Some Good Music, and May!

2011-06-02T11:57:00.000-07:00

My good friend Shauna and I escaped for a couple precious hours and went to the mountains to hike and talk, and talk, and talk! 'Cause it's been waaaay too long! We had a very relaxing time...for the most part...until we met a new friend...

Mr. Moose!

He/she?? didn't look very big, but we were still quite leary and gladly gave him the trail.

Good Music:

Ashlyn had a solo part in her children's choir. She was an orphan girl and sang one of the songs from the musical "Annie".

Alyssa's Women's Choir at AFHS gave their last performance as well. She had a solo part too, and did awesome!

Go Girls!!

Mom Day

2011-05-10T09:51:00.000-07:00

Did you have a fun Mother's Day?

I hope so, because I sure did! I love all the little handmade notes, the Mother's Day cards good YM leaders give to the boys to fill out in class...(Parker wrote me a darling poem:) the sacrifice of pooling money to buy me a gift, but most of all I enjoy all the extra smiles and hugs I get on Mother's Day.

I'm one blessed mama!

Parker's Deacon's Quorum treated their moms to a delicious dinner date at the church.

Karl and I hosted a Jensen Mother's Day BBQ on Saturday. It was originally scheduled for Sunday evening, but we changed it at the last minute and held it on Saturday. Good thing too, it rained like crazy on Sunday! This is me, Lisa, and Eleanor!

Lucky me to be their mom!

Ashlyn saw this cute key chain that says #1 MOM on it. She priced it out, and worked really hard for a week to earn the money to buy it for me.

So thoughtful!

The kids all pitched in to buy me this great cookbook I've been coveting!!

So excited to try it out! I spent at least an hour perusing it with Alyssa, and we came up with some yummy meal ideas.

Karl treats me like a queen, he put together a beautiful day for me!

Fun cards...Taylor's Kindergarten class filled in a fact sheet on their moms. Did you know I'm 24yrs. old, 41inches tall, and only weigh 31 lbs?? Pretty awesome huh?

At the end of the day, the kids treated me to Paradise Island.

This is one of the best ideas ever to hit the Jensen family! They gather around me, and one kid lotions my feet, another my hands, and someone takes the head for a lovely head massage!

It's heaven!

The Lists

2011-05-02T07:30:00.000-07:00

Do you remember a line in the movie Ratatouille, when the mean turned nice, food critic Aton Ego says the following;

"You know what I'm craving? A little perspective. That's it. I'd like some fresh, clear, well seasoned perspective."

Well, I got a little of that fresh, clear, well sesoned perspective this morning when I went to write out my "To Do" list for the day. (I'm a little/lot OCD about lists, and have been this way since I was little, so there you go...) but anyway, I took a look at my note pad, and tore off my previous list

(Below)

And found the following:

(below)

Good 'ol fashioned PERSPECTIVE!

Happy Spring....?

2011-05-02T06:09:00.000-07:00

I know it shouldn't surprise me to wake up to snow on the last day of April in Utah, but somehow it still does...

It wasn't a lot, just an inch on the ground.

Taylor and I decided it was too good to pass up, so we played in what turned out to be the best packing snow of the season, and made a.....

Hint: Once there was a....

Isn't he cute?

(the snowman's not bad either!)

By the end of the day, Frosty was the only man standing...so we went to a soccer game. Go figure!

Sunday morning was fabuloso, so the kids, Karl and I played outside in our jammies..

(OK, I had already been to 2 meetings by then, so I was in church clothes, but the rest of the gang enjoyed a relaxing morning!)

Two weeks in the life...

2011-04-26T12:28:00.000-07:00

The following is a little from my brag bag, and a written mental/physical stress history,

in case...

I'm committed in the near future.

Just in the last 2 weeks we...

Temple with my kids (could do this every day!)

7th grade campaign posters, speech, assemblies etc.

Jr. Honor Society kid

Alyssa to California for Choir Tour (if you think it's cheap or easy to get a teen ready to travel....think again!!)

Perfecting the back flip on the trampoline

Baby Bro. graduating from BYU...wifeless???

Stake Primary Mtg.

Book Club

Jr. Year class registration (2 Extra-Extra Strength Tylenol after that!)

Making Drama 3 after a stressful audition process! (yeah Alyssa!)

Violin recital rehersal

Piano recital

6 soccer games

Space Exploration Merit Badge Pow Wow

Sick boy with 102 temp. on and off for 5 days...three cheers for the antibiotic

Running a 5K (after taking the winter off..agh!)

Perfecting the double pass jump rope (go Ash!)

Constructing a pavilion over our sandbox...(handyman Karl, and side-kick dad, Reilly.)

Research Papers, reports and posters galore...why does this all come at the end of the year?

Easter baskets, breakfast and family gatherings

ecetera, ecetera, ecetera!

Oh yeah, and we went and saw "The King and I".

In the movie "Charlie" (book by Jack Weyland), there is a scene where Charly is talking to Sam's mom after having an amazing day with Sam's family and she says,

"are all days like this?"

The mom replies in her down to earth, honest way,

"Oh no, this was just a really good day!"

For me this day at the temple was just a

REALLY GOOD DAY!

My mom has been researching family names, and had prepared some names for baptism. To have Alyssa and Parker not only worthy, but thrilled to do baptisms for the dead was like heaven for me! So great to be with my parents as well!

Connor ran for 7th grade officer. There were about 10 kids running and only 3 positions. He didn't win, darn it, but they said the voting was extremely close. I was so proud of my boy! BTW, he gave out stress balls and they were a hit!

Parker was one of 5 presenters at the Jr. Honor Society meeting. He was awesome, and is such a great student!

Connor worked for hours to get his back flip down, and did it!!

We had a family dinner celebrating Jonathan's graduation from BYU, and Adrienne made this poster for him.

The Big Day! He was all smiles, and so were we, so proud of the great man he is!

On to dental school!

Connor and I signed up to run in the school fundraiser 5K. We've had really cold, wet weather, and I haven't been very motivated to prepare, so I was kind of dreading it, but it went really well, and I beat my time!

Connor the speed demon, took 3rd in his age group, and 21st overall out of about 300 runners!

Our church doesn't start until 1:00pm, so we had some time to enjoy a yummy breakfast burrito Easter breakfast.

This year Karl and I let the Easter Bunny know that the kids didn't need very much, and that candy and maybe a DVD would be awesome! He comes on Saturday morning at our home, and it worked like clockwork!

Happy Jensen bunnies!

Ashlyn practiced, and practiced and PRACTICED to get the double jump down. This means the jump rope passed under her feet 2x before her feet hit the ground.

Good going!

California with Choir tour! Beautiful girl!!

Alyssa's friends. Such an awesome group of teens! The blond girl in the middle was the solo cellist at the LDS General YW Mtg. last month...yeah!

Everyone should have a big hairy friend...:)

The guys worked on this all day on Saturday, only to realize the pitch on the roof was way too steep, and they needed to re-do it. So maddening!!

It will be beautiful when it's done though!

Do you have a headache after seeing our craziness??? Yeah, me too!

Come visit when I'm institutionalized.

Family Pics...

2011-04-18T09:42:00.000-07:00

When we were in Californina, I hired my photographer friend to take some family pictures at the beach...it's no doubt a stressful process, (coordinating colors, making sure the hair looks good and teeth are brushed.., holding still and cute smiles etc), but I think they turned out awesome!

We had the kids all posing together for a kids shot, when out of nowhere, a big wave came and splashed over them! Needless to say, that was the end of our photo shoot. It was really funny, but the kids weren't too happy...:) The look on their faces was priceless! We just went back to the van, changed our clothes and enjoyed the beach for the next couple of hours. I got what I wanted and went away a happy mom! It's a great memory, we just look at these pics now and the kids exclaim

"oh remember the WAVE"?

Yup, priceless!

Our little bedlamites...

2011-04-04T11:20:00.000-07:00

Last week Allyson came to UT. to spend a little time with us, and of course brought her little Emma! We had some good extended family time, and she and I had some sister time too as we went out to lunch, shopped at the outlets, attended the temple and enjoyed our children.

Also, remember my Taylor's love of holidays? Well, they broke the mold when they made him. He went all out on April Fools Day! He took a whoopie cushion and a fake chewed wad of gum to school. Apparently his teacher was a really good sport and actually sat on the whoopie cushion, (although he said it wasn't as blown up as he thought he'd left it...I can't help but wonder if she deflated it a little first when he wasn't looking...) He put the gum on her white board eraser and she just said, "oooh, gross! Was this Taylor again??"

Glad I wasn't there.

Taylor, I'm sure, was rolling on the floor!

When I went to use the bathroom that day, I found out (too late mind you), that he had cut off two pieces of clear packaging tape and put it sticky side up on the toilet...uh...yeah. The girls in our family got the "sticky side" of that one!

The kid kills me!

One of the greatest things about being an aunt, is that I get to just snap pics of the common TP obesession, and laugh! Heaven knows I've had my share of kids drawn to the toilet paper magnet!

While at a family dinner, Adrienne pulled up the hilarious youtube movies called "Kid History". Slowly everyone gathered from the 4 corners of the house following the explosive laughter to see what was up, and soon joined in...it was great!

Parker had a Health assignment to put together a creative project outlining the negative effects of smoking, drinking and drugs. What did he do???

Parker's Potter Puppet Pals!!

(try to say that 3 times fast)

I let the kids cut up some white gloves, and use the fingers as puppets. They spent all day Sunday listening to General Conference and using the hot glue gun. Parker then came up with a script and the kids put on a play while I video taped. It was HILARIOUS! The play was about Voldemort giving Harry bad stuff, and Hermione describing the ill effects of each substance. In the end, Voldemort got blown up with a smoke bomb...so...yeah. :)

I hope his Health teacher finds it as funny as we did...

Kindy 500

2011-03-25T12:15:00.000-07:00

This month I felt kind of smug, because we didn't have anyone in cub scouts, that had to make a Pinewood Derby car. I know the boys love it, but I hate the work, and the stress, and I worry about all the boys feeling sad, SO anyway....I was feeling pretty relieved until...the note came home...

"would you please help your child make a car out of a box for the Kindy 500...all you need to do is get a large cardboard box, put large paper plates on it for the wheels, and small paper plates for headlights.

YEAH RIGHT!

There may not be a Derby car to build, but I definetely didn't get off easy!

Taylor was so excited, he could hardly stand it! He had it all figured out to the smallest detail.

"Mom, I want a Polar Express train!"

I think I sat a just stared at the empty cardboard box for 1/2 hour, not sure if I should cry or scream! I am NOT good at art, and this kind of a project can be overwhelming for me, but Taylor pulled me through, and just started cutting holes, gathering supplies, and we went to work. One by one my other kids would come in and check our progress and make an awesome suggestion on something we could do to make it better, and..well...what do you think?

We had some candy cane striped ribbon that we used for straps. The back box was labeled "COAL", and we put some real coal in it. The spokes were with some heavy glitter paper, so they were really sparkly! Don't you love the Santa hat?

Taylor really wanted a light in the front, so we used a miners head light. He also insisted we have a bell, that could be rung by pulling a string. Thank goodness for Christmas ornaments!

After the activity, Taylor came home and put on his PJ's and his Polar Express robe that he got for Christmas! :)

The teachers set up the gym as a track with historical stops along the way. My job was to teach the kids about the Liberty Bell. We gave them some leftover chocolate Christmas bells, and a little dye cut picture of the Liberty Bell as a bumper sticker. Each of the cars were so creative and darling!

After all was said and done, it really was a fun project, and I loved working with Taylor! He is such a creative boy, I love the way his mind works!

Rockin 'out and gettin' old

2011-03-22T08:11:00.000-07:00

The other day Connor and I were in the car together, and a Culture Club song came on.
I exclaimed, "Oh this was popular when I was a teenager!" and I began to sing along at the top of my lungs and do my "hand motions while you drive dance"...my kids love it when I do that!! :)
Anyway, when I stopped, Connor looked at me and shook his head, then said,
"so do you think they're dead now?"
Oh, son...who I clothe, take to soccer, give money to, clean for, and feed...

HOW OLD DO YOU THINK I AM???

Then yesterday I went into my room...did you get that..MY ROOM, and Ashyln and Taylor were laying in MY BED, watching MY TV...(get the point?) Anyway, I walked in singing along to the Cat in the Hat theme song, (so maybe I was dancing a little..), and they both looked at me, and Taylor says to me,
"mom, this is a quiet zone."
"Oh? "
Then Ashlyn looks at Taylor,
"well, maybe she could sing a little, if she's quiet".
Taylor slowly shakes his head back and forth. "I don't think so."

Ashlyn gives me the "sorry, I tried look", and they resume watching their TV show.

Hmmm, what do I do with that??

The week after...

2011-03-20T21:07:00.000-07:00

A peek at our post-vacation week...

The kids had Monday off (we got back on Sun.)

My friends all said, "boy, that's great timing, now you can just relax for a day before they go back to school..."

"Relax? Um...not really...what I wouldn't have given to send them all to school first thing Monday morning...:)

Don't you just love the week after a vacation? 8 loads later, I finally reached the bottom of this post-vacation pile, only to find that the clothes kept coming in! I thought it would be great to get a before and after shot of the laundry, you know, a total mess to spic and span laundry room, but after a week I've decided it's never going to happen as long as people in my house keep wearing clothes! I'm not sure the people on Clean House (don't you love that show??) would have wanted to tackle this one! AAAgh!

Deep Yoga breath..:)

He believes...in Leprechauns! Like no other. Taylor spent hours putting together a house for the Leprechaun, and making traps...so cute!

Trap #1. There was actually a book proped up to the window. The idea is that the Leprechaun would peek in, looking for gold, fall in and not be able to get out.

The kleenex is a trap. He reaches for the gold colored lincoln log and the kleenex falls into the hole, trapping him. The ladder helps him make it to the top.

The house. Gotta love the big gold rock inviting the Leprechaun to come in.

Lucky wrote Taylor a note...

Other than some green pancakes, I wasn't too creative this year with St. Patricks Day.

Crime Prevention Merit badge field trip. I'll tell ya, these merit badges are taking a ton of MY time! But aren't those boys cute?!

most of the time...

It's Spring, and at the Jensen household, this means new chicks.

Alyssa said, "they start out so cute! Too bad they get so ugly!"

So true!

Califor..nigh...ay!

2011-03-13T22:13:00.000-07:00

Well, we did it! We survived 30+ hours in the car together, and had a great time in the sunshine state! This was a nice change from the major blizzard we passed through in central Utah...oh and can I add that we were stuck in traffic due to an accident, for...get this folks...3 hours near Beaver??? Yes, it wasn't looking so great for a while there, and I knew the kid's morale was waning, when Taylor asked Parker to tell him a story, and he began,

"this is a story about Furious George, and the man with the yellow shoulder pads..."

our trip didn't quite start out as we had planned, but we finally made it out of there, and on to much better weather!

We stayed the first night at Karl's brother Doug's house in Nevada. Behind us are 20 acres of land we own...Doug chose to build a home on his land.

One of the first rides of the day. We went to California Adventure on Wed. This is before we got all wet!

Connor's first purchase was this Goofy hat. The kids each saved money for the trip and were able to decide how to spend their hard-earned money.

Gawrsh!

On Thurs. we hit Disneyland. Ashlyn and Connor were chosen out of the audience to participate in Jedi Training.

This was right before the light show at California Adventure...incredible!!

Some kids thought Connor was a Disney Character! They'd say to their parents, "there's Goofy!" and Connor would go up to them and shake their hand, and give them all high 5's, low 5's and everything inbetween! He was great!

I drove with this chick, and let's just say I'm grateful 16 is 8 years away!!

I said, "boy that was some ride!"

Ashlyn replied, "Oh, I would be much better on a real road..."

We'll try it again in 8 years!

On Friday, we travelled down to San Diego. Karl get's so excited to be in his home town! We ate some lunch at a beautiful park near Old Town.

The Mormon Battalion museum was amazing, a must see if you go to Cali! We even ran into some old friends who are currently serving a mission there!

We drove by Karl's old neighborhood. This is where he put his footprints, signed his initials and dated the cement. As the story goes, the workmen were none to happy that he ruined their sidewalk!! We think it's great!

LaJolla Cove! Gorgeous!!

It must be time for lunch, huh Alyssa??

The kids had a blast collecting shells in the ocean. The water was a little too cold to actually swim in, but perfect for wading and playing on the shore. Heaven on Earth!

It all went way too fast!

Check, check!

2011-03-06T10:40:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow, tomorrow, we love ya, tomorrow!!!

1. New flip flops and painted toes
2. Clean van
3. Travel treats
4. Pepto chewable tablets
5. Google maps
6. Suit cases packed and ready
7. DVD's and books galore
8. Camera batteries all charged up
9. New haircuts for all

and....of course...Disneyland Tickets!!!

Wanna Come??

Flopped teaching moments...

2011-03-01T08:46:00.000-08:00

On Sunday morning, Taylor got burned by some hot glue...(I believe he was putting glue on the end of a broken plastic hanger to make a wand...). The tip of his little finger just swelled right up with a nice big blister. He was pretty miserable for the next few hours, and in an effort to capture a teaching moment,

I said, "Boy, can you imagine how Abinidi felt?"

Taylor quickly responded, "Oh, yeah! And Darth Vader too!"...

"Uh...yeah...I guess so".

End of teaching moment.

Share the Love!

2011-02-15T09:48:00.000-08:00

My Valentine! Karl and I celebrated Valentine's Day Saturday night by going out to eat. He surprised me with a dozen yellow roses (my favorite!). We had a great time just being alone together. Love my man!

Sunday evening we met as a family for an extended Family Home Evening. My mom invited all the grandkids to shape, bake and decorate sugar cookies. MMMmm!

The bakers in charge of the oven...my sister-in-law Stephanie is due April 1st with her 4th baby...go Steph!!

Our works of art were placed on cute plates, and delivered to families in my parents ward as a service.

Getting in the car to go deliver the goods! The families were so gracious, and treated our children with such kindness.

Following the deliveries, we gathered together for Nathan's lesson on testimonies. He is an outstanding teacher, and knows how to relate to kids. He put together this awesome object lesson and combined it with President Monson's Conference Address entiltled, Deadly Maka-Fekes.

We topped off our evening by celebrating Melissa's birthday. She is a Valentine's Day baby, and a tremendous blessing to our family!

Steer Clear of Ordinary!

2011-02-15T08:57:00.000-08:00

We enjoyed a gorgeous, I mean GORRRRGEOUS day at Solitude Ski Resort on Saturday! This was the resort that my dad broke his leg on last year, so I was a little leary of returning, but all went well!

Parker, Connor, Rachael and I met up with my brother Ryan, and my mom. We got there around noon, and decided to start with lunch. Peanut butter and banana sandwiches...YUM!

As we packed up our stuff and got ready to head to the slopes, I heard Connor say,

"Let's go take down this mountain!"

That's my boy!

OK, so this picture is significant! I had been skiing some pretty benign slopes, and then... my mom took me on a different lift, where I found myself standing at the top of what looked like a cliff to me!

"Shall I just get on my bum and slide down? I'm in major TROUBLE!!" I thought.

But inch by inch, I traversed the mountain and finally made it to the bottom! I know it doesn't look like much, but it was steep, I promise! Sooo darn proud of myself!!

The kids skied with Ryan most of the day, but finally we saw them towards the end. I love, love, love to watch my kids ski and snowboard! They are so good!

Grandma and Connor. This was our last run, and I was feeling quite confident. (remember the big hill?) Connor and Rachael were going down this last run with us, and I decided to show off a little. I don't like the steep runs, but I like speed, so I decided to go fast and pass up the kids. I knew I needed to turn as I neared the edge of the groomed trail, but didn't, and found myself hitting a small branch in the snow, and flipping over. Connor came quickly to my rescue:

"Are you alright mom? Wow, you were hauling!"

While flat on my back, skiis and poles everywhere, I squeeked out, "did it look awesome?"

"oh, yeah! You're really good!"

Mission accomplished!

On our way home we saw this tag line on the side of a shuttle bus. It's my new motto:

Steer Clear of Ordinary!

I added, "and any branches in your path!"

Gymnastics and Futsol

2011-02-14T10:43:00.000-08:00

All winter Connor has been playing Futsol, and has learned some great foot work. Can't wait for Spring Soccer!!

Ashlyn was in a gymnastics/dance performance on Friday. She is one of the little red riding hoods...they combined their gymnastics stunts with some cute dance moves.

Sundance

2011-02-11T06:12:00.000-08:00

Great day on the slopes! My mom and I went to Sundance Ski Resort and enjoyed beautiful weather...the sun really does just dance on the mountain...spectacular!! There were lots of people just learning how to ski or snowboard, so I felt among friends. The cute little kids were my favorite to watch, I just wanted to yell from the lift, "you're doing so great, way to go!"

Looking forward to going with my boys on Saturday!!!

We took a break and ate at the Foundry Grill. Yummy food, great company and rustic Sundance ambiance!

There is this beautiful mural that just takes your breath away in the restaurant. Amazing!

Kindred Spirits...

2011-02-09T12:48:00.000-08:00

I love C.S. Lewis, I think we could have been friends. He often can articulate what I'm feeling, and is a master with words. I ran across a quote that I can relate to...

"We are not necessarily doubting that God will do the best for us; we are wondering how painful the best will turn out to be."

— C.S. Lewis

Baptism Day!

2011-02-06T20:53:00.000-08:00

Our sweet girl was baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints on Saturday, February 5th, 2011. It was a beautiful winter day with a few snow flurries. She was baptized by her dad, and we had great support from our wonderful family. Here are the highlights:

All dressed up. My good friend Stephanie McBride took her on a photo shoot. Steph is amazing!

Just following her baptism.

Proud parents of a wonderful daughter!

We celebrated with a luncheon at our home following the baptism. I decorated with lime green balloons on light yellow table cloths, with a picture of Ashlyn as a center piece. They were her colors, and turned out really cute.

The food was delicious! We put together a Cafe Rio burrito bar, and had everything you could imagine. Many hands make light work for sure! Karl and I have the best families!

For dessert, Karl dipped some chocolate strawberries, and we had valentine sugar cookies, and key lime pie.

I was able to fit in 4 banquet tables and feed about 35 people.

The Par-taay!

2011-02-01T07:28:00.000-08:00

Saturday was Ashlyn's big friend party day! It was quite the event. I know it seems really crazy to have 20 kids over, but it's just what I like to do. Ashlyn has a lot of great friends in the ward, and super nice girls at school, and...well...how do you limit it? When my kids turn 10, they don't get a big bash anymore, and just invite 1 or 2 friends to the movie or an activity. So the end is in sight..:)

So sad for me.

Here's what she did:

We had a few circle games in the house, then came outside (nice weather actually...) and hit a pinata.

So the cheapo pinata only made it through 1/2 the kids, and had to be duck taped part way through. It started out as a cute yellow cake, and ended up as a rocket ship....:)

We then went to the basement for some skits. The girls divided up into 3 groups and were given a bag of props. They acted them out for each other, while Connor video taped them, then they watched themselves on our big screen TV. It was hilarious! I believe they are all ready for girls camp now.

Finally, they each decorated jumbo cupcakes with all kinds of frosting, and candies. The cupcakes didn't look very edible when they were done, but they had a blast!

Our basement is getting closer to being finished, and I'm loving all the room. We can put up 4 banquet tables in our "cultural hall" and comfortably accommodate 20 kids. Can't wait until it's all done!

It's Great to be 8!!

2011-01-28T09:16:00.000-08:00

Our sweet Ashlyn turned 8yrs. old yesterday! She was so happy, and woke up at 6:30am, ready for her big day! She said all week her friends at school have been so fun, and have carried her around at recess...to and from the bathroom and to their class.

My mom and dad brought a cake on our snowshoeing outing, and we found a little pavillion and enjoyed a yummy treat.

Last night Ashlyn opened presents

We gave her a scrapbook kit with cute paper, and embellishments. I printed off about 20 cute pics of Ashlyn and her friends and cousins to get her started.

Parker bought Ashlyn a month Club Penguin membership, and Karl and I gave her a set of scriptures with her name engraved.

I took doughnuts to her class, and had extra that got eaten after school, so she opted out of a cake, and we just put 8 candles in a couple scoops of icecream.

Snowshoeing and Scouts!

2011-01-28T08:47:00.000-08:00

We went showshoeing up AF Canyon...it's so wonderful to have the mountains so close, and to be able to just throw a few things together, and 20 mins. later, be sledding, or walking on a beautiful trail!

Parker was our Abominable Snowman!!

Just a little chat time on the fence.

Can't go snowshoeing without a snack or two...feeding my little chicks!

Taking a break...

Taking another break!

And another....

Thanks for going with us mom and dad!

We had a Court of Honor, and the boys got a few Merit Badges, and rank advancements. Parker is ready to work on his Eagle now, and Connor has his Tenderfoot!!

Axis and Allies

2011-01-28T07:22:00.000-08:00

At Christmas, my 5 brothers (and honorary friend) experienced a blast from the past, by challenging each other to an Axis and Allies game. This is a highly competitive, world dominance, strategy game that turns them into crazy men! After 6 hours of play (ended at 4am..) the winning team was declared, and all went to bed, happy...OK, so losing team wasn't so happy..) It was like watching 5 teenagers going at it! We girls didn't sit around and watch of course, that would have been tourture, but I did catch a pic of the action.

Midnight...just getting good!

My sisters...this is what we think of world dominance!

Kids + Christmas + Party = CRAZY FUN!

2011-01-18T16:09:00.000-08:00

Each year we get together with all the cousins, and hold a kid Christmas party. This year we held it the Monday after Christmas, so that Sean and his family could join us. We went sledding up AF Canyon (perfect sledding day!) Then came back to my home, where we ate grilled cheese sandwiches, and tomato soup and drank hot chocolate!

Tenley and Alyssa!

So Emma, what do you think of your constricting snow suit, the cold snow, and being pulled fast in a sled? Fun isn't it!!

Aunt Adrienne, Ashlyn and Taylor...herrrre weeeee goooo!

Parker and Connor walked across the frozen (thankgoodness) lake to "the bowl", where they enjoyed some older kid sledding.

Go grandma!

King of the...snow pile!

Maille and Taylor going at it with air-hockey! Tenley is our cute referee.

mmmmm....

We gathered all the cousins in a circle, and they opened gifts they had gotten for each other, then grandma and grandpa gave the kids presents. Oh, the squeals of delight...let me re-phrase..the SCREAMS! They would chant each other's name when it was their turn to open a gift...really fun post-Christmas day!

Gag!

2011-01-18T15:47:00.000-08:00

Growing up in a family of 8 children wasn't always easy as a kid, especially since I was the oldest, :) (no one obeyed me...), however PAYDAY is in full swing now! I cannot get enough of my brothers and sisters! They are the funniest, craziest, kindest, lovliest people you would ever care to meet! And they all scored with some amazing spouses! Each year we hold an "adult only" party, where we exchange gag gifts! Being a little on the competetive side, we tend to take it really seriously! The gifts are gut-wrenching, fall off your chair funny, and we can hardly wait for the next year!

This year Matt and Ally took charge of the event, and we began our evening on a tractor hayride!

We then gathered in Matt's dads barn and Matt and Ally provided a wonderful, spiritual video and message about Christ. We also ate some great food!

We all draw names each year, and I have to say, that Nathan's gift was stellar! He gave Adrienne a homemade "reverse coupon book". In it, he listed a coupon for something Adrienne could do to serve each of her siblings. I'm looking forward to my great foot rub, following one of my runs!

Christmas Morning...Finally!

2011-01-18T15:01:00.000-08:00

I learned a lot this Christmas. Unfortunately, this included making mistakes I won't repeat next year. Overindulgence! Yup, I fell into the deep, unfullfilling, empty trap of buying too much for children who began the Christmas season needing absolutely nothing! As Karl and I saw all that was waiting for our children early Christmas morning, we both felt heart-sick, and vowed to be better next year. I found myself in tears on Christmas day, worried we had taken Christ out of Christmas, by focusing too much on the fleeting thrills of the season, and not the things that matter most. Any ideas would be appreciated...:)

Here's to turning a new holly leaf!!

Santa's loot...

Sometimes I'm compelled to be humble. One such opportunity came on a nice evening I had planned entertaining my in-laws with a beautiful pre-Christmas dinner. The kids were playing around the tree, and subsequently knocked it over. When we tried to put it back up, we realized it was bent, and the only way to potentially fix it, was to completely un-decorate it, and take it apart. I WAS NOT about to do that, so one week before my company came, and my big kid Christmas party was to take place, our beautiful, perfectly decorated Christmas tree was destined to be crooked...can you tell in this picture? Just cock your head a little to the right, now isn't that better??

We had our cousins from Washington with us for Christmas morning. That was really fun! This is the "I got robes, slippers or new PJ's for Christmas" club!

The kids all got Wii accessories for Christmas, and were instructed to open it together. :)

Karl sent me a link of some headphones he wanted, I was needing an idea, so I immediately ordered them online, and the confirmation was directly sent to his e-mail since his e-mail was on our Amazon Acct...Surprise Karl!!

Cute Sean and Melissa! Thanks for sharing Christmas with us!

Cozy PJ bottoms!!

I got this awesome, warm, really fuzzy blanket! Love it!

Taylor got a remote control truck. He was sad to not have fresh snow for Christmas, until, he realized he could play with his new toy outside!

Christmas Eve with the Jensen's!

2011-01-18T14:45:00.000-08:00

Christmas Eve has to be my favorite day of the year! You are at the pinnicle of anticipation for Christmas, and get to party all day with family! We spent Christmas Eve at Karl's parents home, eating, playing games, and opening presents with his family. I have to say however, that the funnest part for me was when Karl, me, Lee and Lisa snuck away to their house to retro back to our dancin' days with several rounds of Dance Revolution on their Wii! It was awesome!

We simplified this year, and thanks to Costco, had a wonderful pasta bar!

We all came prepared with a white elephant gift to exchange. Everyone was a great sport, and we had some great "gut laughs!"

Taylor was thrilled with his BYU socks! However they ended up with Connor...trading is the name of the game!!

Grandparents and grandkids!

Christmas Programs and Performances

2011-01-18T14:00:00.000-08:00

Early in December, I sent an e-mail to the grandparents to let them know of performances our kids would be involved in, incase they wanted to attend, and was surprised at how busy just 5 little children can be!

Alyssa performed in her HS Choir.

Taylor and his class performed for a nearby rest home.

Two cute girls and a beautiful photo-op!

Ashlyn is involved with our school children's choir, and they performed at the Joseph Smith Memorial Bld.

Ashlyn had a violin recital at the Alpine Tabernacle.

Traditions

2011-01-18T13:45:00.000-08:00

I don't know about you, but sometimes I find myself with the belief, that if I don't maintain certain Christmas traditions, then my children will grow up scarred and dysfunctional, and it will all be traced back to the "year we didn't make sugar cookies..." etc. OK, so I really don't believe this, however my kids seem to think that Christmas really won't be as good without the following...

Gingerbread houses. My sisters generously donated their leftover supplies to us!

Ash and Taylor! You wouldn't believe this, (OK, so maybe you veterans would..) but these works of art took about 2 hours of our evening! 2 LONG HOURS...

This is my baby...I love my Christmas village! Taylor helped me put everything up, and we just let our imaginations go as we turned out all the lights and stared at our magical village!

The tree is up, and decorated, now we just count, arrange, and re-arrange our presents every day!

Arranging and re-arranging...

Lights...I am dysfunctional without lights on the house! Hey wait, is that my 13yr. old on the highest pitch of our roof! I just have to close my eyes!!

OK, so this was HILARIOUS! I was asked to provide a game for Taylor's Kindergarten party, so I decided to put a spin on "The Limbo", by dressing up each group as Santa, and making them limbo with fat tummies and red shirts! It became the hit game of the party!

Birthday Season

2011-01-07T19:07:00.000-08:00

Six of our seven birthdays are in the Fall, which makes for a busy birthday season. I guess technically Connor is summer with a mid-Aug. b-day, but then the non-stop party begins with Karl's birthday early in Sept. and doesn't end until Nov. 1st. Karl celebrated his birthday in Texas watching Parker achieve his black belt. He said that was the best present ever! I turned the big 4-0, and...well...let's just say I survived. Truthfully it was just bad timing, and celebrating a birthday wasn't our priority at the time, so it came and went. I figure I've had 39 fantastic birthdays, so what if one of them wasn't the bash of the century. Life is good.

The fun news is that Alyssa turned 16! I'm baffled as to why more pics weren't taken, because we really did have a great time. We took her out to dinner, had a fun family party, then treated her and 4 of her closest friends to spend an entire day at Lagoon. I also took her to a Jon Schmidt concert, and I even got a CD signed (this showed up as a surprise under the Christmas tree...she loved it!) Parker turned 13, and Taylor turned 6 yrs.

Alyssa just read her official invite to the Jon Schmidt concert!

Alyssa's friend brought her a brownie cake! Now that's my kind of cake!

Taylor's pinata! Alyssa took him all by herself (new driver and all...) and they picked it out together!

The kids each searched their rooms for a present for Alyssa...Ashlyn gave her a stuffed animal..:)

Connor made and decorated Taylor's cake all by himself!

Alyssa got an iLive to listen to and charge her iPod.

Our Lethal Weapon

2011-01-04T13:52:00.000-08:00

My Parker boy has been in Karate since he was about 8yrs. old, and achieved his black belt last September! He has worked REALLY hard, and we couldn't be prouder! He and Karl traveled to Texas (Parker's first time traveling on an airplane!) where he tested in front of the Grand Master.

Right before the test...still has on his "oreo" belt.

Houston Space Center

After 4 hours of grueling testing, and unbelievable endurance drills, Parker is handed the well-deserved BLACK BELT!

The black belt canidates from American Fork, standing with the Grand Master.

Welcome home Parker! You totally rock!

Kazu and Halloween

2011-01-03T15:39:00.000-08:00

We invited another Japanese student to come and stay with us for a week in October, and boy did we have a fab time! He was the nicest kid, and so fun to be with. The week went by quickly, we all wished we had another week with him!

Bowling with Kazu was fun, he was a great sport!

We took Kazu to Temple Square, were blessed to run into a Japanese sister on her way home, and she was kind enough to talk to Kazu in his native tongue about the gospel. A miracle for sure.

We had a fun dinner with the other host families at BYU, then the exchange students performed for us.

Kazu's first Halloween! I wanted to make him scarier, but he said that was good enough..:) He liked the Dracula idea! (not to mention all the American candy to take home to his family!)

Speaking of American candy...holy cow Parker!

I took the kids to Tible Fork lake and let them explore...we were hoping there was still some snow, but no luck, so we just walked around in the MUD!

Fall Highlights

2011-01-03T15:20:00.000-08:00

I haven't figured out if it's just me, or if time really is going by in the blink of an eye...my mother said this would happen...hmmm...not likin' it! We had a great fall, and have had a super winter. The kids are healthy and happy...unless it's time for Saturday chores...and I have no major complaints...except when I need to turn into the dictator for Sat. chores..but I digress. Really things have gone well the past few months, here are a few Fall highlights:

Our darling Alyssa received her YW Medallion this past October. Soooo proud!

For his birthday, Parker wanted to go camping. This is a stupendous idea...in the summer, but a late Sept. birthday it was a little cold! Karl granted his wish however, and took him and 2 friends. They had a blast!

Our perfect little Emma came to visit us, and we loved her as our own!

Connor is going to be one amazing dad someday!

So get this...some friends of a friend...you know how it is...gave us free tickets to a BYU game, AND passes to the hospitality tent! Do you know what this is? An all you can eat buffet for VIP BYU fans, who I guess, give lots of money to the football booster program. Needless to say, we felt very special and privileged for a time. :)

Fall clean-up at the Jensen farm...we took at least 3 of these loads to the dump!

1st day of school....such a GREAT DAY!

Thanks-Giving

2010-11-23T22:06:00.000-08:00

I know, I know, it's been a couple months since I've updated, believe me, a TON has happened, I'll catch up this weekend...promise. In the meantime, I've been thinking a lot about what I'm grateful for this Thanksgiving Season. I've written a list, if you care to indulge me...:)

I've decided to dedicate this year's grateful list to motherhood...it's shaped every part of my being:

I’m grateful my children demand I talk to them when I don’t feel like talking, feed them when I’m not hungry, and make me get up at all hours of the night to comfort, feed , and sometimes clean up throw-up or wet beds. I don’t think I’d discover the world outside my own needs without them.

I’m grateful my children haven’t learned how to hold back their tears when they’re sad, laughter when they’re happy, or screams when they’re frightened. They constantly remind me that emotions are for sharing.

I’m grateful my children have great imaginations that test my sense of decor' to the max. (we all have room numbers taped by our doors). They’ve taught me that things aren’t important, but people are.

I’m grateful my children start out small and helpless so they don’t become aware of my incompetence until they’re teenagers. By then, we’ve both grown so accustomed to each other, we somehow manage to make it through the rest of life together.

I’m grateful my children get into trouble in Primary, throw tantrums at the grocery store, and quarrel in public so I’ll never be able to get too arrogant, proper, or judgmental of other people’s children.

I’m grateful my children occasionally miss the bus at the precise moment I’ve stepped out of the shower, forget their lunch or gym clothes, need an emergency permission slip filled out...the list goes on...why you ask? Because it helps me remember that life happens, and that's ok. Schedules need to be somewhat flexible, or I would feel frustrated all the time.

I’m grateful my children always need new shoes, piano books, prescriptions, haircuts, fieldtrip money, food, toothpaste (not the minty kind), and socks. That way, I don’t have to waste my time thinking about a new wood floor. It’s difficult to get wealthy and think about luxuries when you have to buy toilet paper and milk by the truckload each week.

I’m grateful my children know how to play. My six-year-old asked me to play Candyland. I nodded, but made him put it up on the counter while I made rolls. He was very patient, and even moved my guy, when I wasn't keeping up to speed. Thanks for playing Taylor. Next time, I'll get on the floor with you!

I'm grateful my children question my every command and giggle when I get angry. It’s difficult to feel too powerful or self-righteous with kids around to remind you of how funny you look when you’re pointing your finger, or trying to count backwards from 10.

I’m grateful my children sqeeze me tight with each hug. I love the leg hugs, the linked arms while walking in the store, holding hands everywhere, and the occasional whispered "I love you mom" with a big neck squeeze at night when I tuck them into bed. It reminds me how important physical affection is for each of us.

I’m grateful each of my children seem to easily say "let's pray" when we need help with ANYTHING! They don't just hope for heaven's help, they expect it, and you know what? It always comes.

And lastly, I’m grateful for the gift of children in my life. I enjoy each random thought they express, each act of unconditional kindness, and each expression of testimony and faith. They teach me way more than I'll ever teach them!!

Happy Thanks-Giving! (thanks Heavenly Father for "giving" me children!)

Goodbye Summer, Hello Fall!!

2010-09-25T21:18:00.000-07:00

You know you've had a complete summer when you've done the following:
1. Sold Kool-aid on the corner..we added in Otter Pops...mmm.
2. Enjoyed a few camping trips.
3. Family BBQ's galore.
4. S'more roast off in the backyard.
5. Night games with the neighborhood kids.
6. Lots of sleepouts in the backyard.
7. And even a bout with Giardia from playing in a nearby creek! (not so fun for my Ashlyn girl...:)

Here are a few more of our summertime highlights.

Beauty Parlor anyone?

Come get your nails (fingers and toes of course) and hair done for free!!

Connor got this huge soccer net for his 11th birthday. It's been a GREAT investment and gets used all the time!

Connor and I went to a REAL (pronounced ree-al) soccer game. They were MLS champs last year btw... It was our first professional soccer game to watch in person, and oh, can I say I'm hooked?! (Except for all the beer everywhere we looked...:(

We went swimming as a family at a nearby aquatic center, and the boys had a blast on the wave runner...until they crashed...we laughed every time!

Gimme a s'more!

The "Giardia" creekbed!!

Parker went to scout camp for an entire week! I asked him if he got homesick, because I REALLY missed him...trying to read between the lines, he replied..."uh, yeah, I guess so". I said, "not really, huh?" He came clean and said, "not really, sorry mom". I just laughed and told him I was glad he had such a great time, and I wouldn't have it any other way. :)

Jensen Energizer Bunnies!

2010-07-06T09:38:00.000-07:00

"If Cousins are the right kind, they're best of all. Kinder than sisters and brothers and closer than friends."

Gone Away Lake ,Elizabeth Enright

Huge YAWN! Oh what a whirlwind weekend, but ooooh sooo fun! We could not have fit anything else in! The masses gathered at the Jensen pad on Friday evening around dinnertime. (This is after a long day/week of cleaning, trimming and weeding from top to bottom, and front to back.) We enjoyed a BBQ, badmitten, games, snowcones, fireworks, and having our first anual family sleepover. Yes... 12 little children, and 11 adults all spread out!

Saturday, we braved the Provo River in our canoes and boats. Later on that night, Ashlyn and I had a blast at the Stadium of Fire!

On Monday, we cheered all the floats and bands and everyone in the Provo Parade. Aaron and Melissa then treated us to a delicious taco bar at their home.

Relaxing after a yummy dinner.
That's gotta hurt!

Come play hide-n-seek and tag! Thanks Aaron for playing with us!

A party crasher...

All the adults, dead to the world, after a VERY late night, trying to keep little ones in their beds:)

The tramp sleepers...

Our own tent city!

Anyone for breakfast burritos? Cook Karl was on duty, while some of us ran/walked a Stake organized 5K

Off to the river!!

More white water!

Karl had 4 of our kids in our canoe, and I had Ashlyn and 2 cousins in our raft floating down together.
The canoe got caught up in the side bushes, and I watched in horror as they all tipped over! Taylor was pulled under the boat, and quick as lightning, my superman hubby, grabbed him and pulled him to safety.

It was the scariest thing ever!

Before the tip..

My precious cargo.

Ashlyn won 2 tickets to the Stadium of Fire in Provo. Cotton candy anyone?

They handed out these 3D glasses, and we had fun watching the fireworks explode in a multitude of colors!

Miss Carrie! AMAZING!

All American Girls! :)

After the concert, Ashlyn and I met up with Allyson and Adrienne and their friends.

It's been a long night! Gotta love the glow necklaces and braclets...and the sucker still stuck in her mouth. Great night with my girl!

If you're excited to be at the parade, raise your hands!!

My kiddos.

Guess what/who got the biggest response from the crowd?

LDS Missionaries! The kids lined the streets and gave them high 5's! I'm sure those elders and sisters had some fun things to write home about!

Only in Utah!
Curious George was a hit with the little ones!

Emma and Grandma! Such cute girls!

We are sooo stuffed! Time for a nap!

Payson Lakes

2010-07-01T08:19:00.001-07:00

This past week my mom and I took 4 of my kids up to Payson Lakes to do a little camping. Our husbands had other committments, and Alyssa had her Chemistry class, so we just took who we could, and headed to the mountains. It was really fun; perfect weather, beautiful surroundings, and awesome kids! Other than the sunburns (despite my attempt to keep my kids lathered up..) we all came home with big smiles.

Connor summed it up by saying, "you know mom, you can tell we all had a great time by just looking at the pictures!" Enjoy our pics!

Karl and I took a Sunday scooter ride. Love to ride with him!

In case you haven't met, this is Nessy. We think she is a relative of the Loch Ness Monster...
Aaron and Melissa joined us for dinner and boating on Monday night, so fun!

Walking around the lake, searching for fishing hooks...yuck!

The kids begged me to ride in the back of the van from the lake to our site...good thing the speed limit was only 10 mph! :)

The boys brought their own tent, then ended up in our big tent at the last minute...could it have been Connor's "sort of scary" campfire story??

We found this awesome hike called the Grotto. It was an extrememly kid friendly hike, and soooo beautiful! We had a light rain on our way back down the trail, and just sang all of the rain songs we could think of.

Perfect ending to a great couple of days!

Sum, sum, summa-time!

2010-06-29T22:56:00.000-07:00

Since every day has been crazy busy with something or other, I've decided I can either be stressed all the time, or embrace this new season of life. Embrace I will! (with some adjustments...can't do it all, right?)

The month of June started out with the boys having a "yeah, school's out" party with their friends. Then Alyssa started a Chemistry class, had Driver's Ed., and girl's camp all in the same week...don't even ask...
Connor made a AAA competition soccer club, and had soccer camp everyday for a week...20 mins. away in Lehi. We're down to 3x/wk, and have shortened our route to 17mins...thank goodness for books on CD! I need to get scriptures on CD...:) I enrolled the kids in the Library summer reading program, and pulled off a fun Primary Quarterly Activity (with lot's of help of course)!

We even managed to have a garage sale, which paid for my new treadmill...the old one broke:(

Oh yeah, did I mention we are finishing our basement? I've painted my heart out, installed tile and wood flooring, (Ok, Karl installed it...), I then hired a cabinet guy, looked at stone for the fireplace and will look at carpet soon. I'm glad I don't do this for a living! (I'd have a breakdown!) I'll put together a post of our basement start to finish when it's all ready.

What do boys like? Water balloons, kickball, and lots of food!
We had a family reunion at Mutual Dell. The zipline was a hit!
Cousins at the reunion.

Happy Dad Day!!

Our KING!

Karl and I celebrated our 19th anniversary with a little get-away in Park City. We had SO much fun! We had an awesome hotel, with a jacuzzi off of our deck! We had no plans but to relax, read and eat!! We did manage to hit the outlets though...you would too, and you know it!

Our "big" pool! Yeah, really big...good thing the kids thought so. We're the hit of the neighborhood. They were jumping off the plaything in the background...swimming just isn't enough of a rush I guess!

Connor received his Arrow of Light.

Yeah Connor!

Last Week of School!!

2010-06-29T22:39:00.000-07:00

OK, so it's almost July, but just take a peek into my world, and you'll know why I've been slacking off...

These events were all in one week, and it hasn't let up yet!

Ashlyn had her "end of season" gymnastics competition. So sad it doesn't go through the summer! Gives us time to get those splits down though...:)
Karl's brother Lee, turned 40...so glad I'M NOT 40...YET!

Ashlyn's 1st grade class had a little program the last week of school. This is Brady, Ashlyn's friend. He is a darling boy with Down's Syndrome, that the class absolutely LOVED! They each took turns being part of the "lunch bunch" where they were able to sit by Brady and play with him at recess. Ashlyn has a real soft spot for him.

I chaperoned the 9th graders at Lagoon...these are our "fake scared faces.."

Little man graduated from Pre-school. OK, so I shed a tear or two...

Jam-packed May

2010-05-18T08:38:00.000-07:00

These past few weeks have been jam-packed with something almost every day! I would be nieve to say that summer will be relaxing, because it never is, but certainly the tightness of our schedules loosen up, and I'm looking forward to that!! Connor and I ran a 5K together. Connor took 4th!
Connor participated in the Hope of America program.
It is absolutely inspiring!!

Connor and his friend following Hope of America.

Alyssa participated in a Renaissance Festival at school. It really was amazing!

We had the pleasure of having Sean and Melissa's kids stay with us for a few days. Love those kids!!

Sean and Parker "rolled" this thing all over our back yard with the kids trying to stay upright in side! I've never heard more giggles! Funny side note: our home teacher gave this to us for free, his kids were older, and I accepted it to be nice however, secretly plotting to take it straight to the dump. 5 years later, it is something my kids have used over and over and OVER! Who knew! Ashlyn participated in a children's choir this past Spring, and they had a darling concert!

I don't know if you can tell, but Ashlyn has the pink poka dot headband. (to the left of the director). They were all supposed to wear just black and white, which was extremely stressful for Ashlyn. So I agreed to let her stick in that headband....funny girl!

Love Being a MOM!

2010-05-10T08:11:00.000-07:00

Happy Mother's Day!! I had a wonderful weekend, did you?

In fact, the Mother's Day love came extra early when my Parker boy treated me to a wonderful dinner with his Deacon's Quorum on Wednesday. The boys had spent their previous weekday activity reviewing proper etiquette, so they were prepared to treat their moms with all the respect and love they deserve. Around 6:40pm (started at 7:00pm) I was in the bathroom finishing my hair and makeup. When I sprayed that last burst of hairspray, Parker smiled with a slight nod of his head and said, "lookin' good!"

Smiling, I thanked him and returned the compliment. He then took my arm and escorted me out of the bathroom and around the house as I gathered my keys and coat so we could head to the church.

He opened all the doors, pulled the chair, placed my napkin on my lap, and engaged me in a nice conversation, "so mom, how was your day?" We had a delicious dinner, and each of the moms had the privilege of sharing something we love about our sons. It was one of the funnest evenings ever!

So proud of the young man Parker is growing up to be!

We took home a red rose and a small box of chocolates. :)

We had Karl's family over on Saturday for an early Mother's Day celebration.

(Me, Karl's wonderful mom, Eleanor, and Lisa, Karl's brother's wife...love her too!)

Mother's Day morning in bed! Taylor wrapped my presents 2 days prior, and was simply tortured that he had to wait for Sunday for me to open them.

The kids and Karl treated me to a delicious breakfast out on our patio. Beautiful morning!

We quickly opened presents before church. I got a bunch of gum, sour patch kids, 'cause I love them! (no wonder Taylor was anxious for me to open my gifts...) A really NICE pillow that I needed, and an armband to hold my iTouch for when I run.

Parker ran home from church and had a big plate of fruit waiting for me for lunch! After church, while the kids were playing in the backyard, Karl and I went for a very relaxing scooter ride through Alpine. It was sweet to see all the families gathered in their backyards, celebrating their moms!

On Sunday I hosted my family for dinner and dessert. We girls didn't lift a finger! I assigned my brothers and dad various food items to bring, and they came through with flying colors! We provided some rice and Italian Chicken and it all worked out.

(L-R Melissa (Sean), me, mom, Stephanie (Nathan), and Melissa (Aaron)

More Zion...

2010-05-04T13:55:00.001-07:00

Here are some Zion pics from Karl's camera. He always takes pictures that make my kids look like they're on the edge of something, just to scare me. However on the hike to Angel's Landing, they REALLY were on the edge, for most of the hike! I did it once, probably never again...:)

"I...can't...hold...on..much...longer...!"

Spring Break in Zion!

2010-04-19T12:16:00.000-07:00

We decided to take a last minute trip to St. George and to also hike in Zion National Park. It was well worth the trip! The kids did great hiking, Karl took the 3 oldest (need to download his camera...) and they hiked Angel's Landing. I took the 2 younger ones, and we hiked some smaller hikes. We loved Emerald Pools! Ashlyn and Taylor LOVED riding the shuttle bus...really? They told me they just wanted to ride the bus all day! NOT A CHANCE! Super fun week!

In front of the Lodge, ready to set out on an adventure, up the mountain!
Emerald Pools. It was super crowded, and we heard lots of languages. We even ran into one of our neighbors!

Alyssa drove part of the way...yes, we all started out holding our breath, but she did awesome, and we made it without incident!

Easter Extravaganza!

2010-04-04T21:17:00.000-07:00

Welcome EASTER and GENERAL CONFERENCE! One of my favorite times of the year! We had a great past two weekends with family gatherings, spiritual uplift, and of course LOTS of candy! Today while watching General Conference, Taylor came bounding up to me and gave me a great big hug, while exclaiming..."He's resurrected!" All week we've been reading from the New Testament, depicting the final days of Christ's life, and detailing what happened each day. Apparently it dawned on him, that TODAY was Easter, and Christ was resurrected! He was genuinely thrilled!

So am I!

The Cousin's Easter Egg Hunt! Every year we get together and hide a bunch of eggs for the kids to find. Of course they had a blast!

Thanks Adrienne and Alyssa for planning it all!
Little bunny Emma and Mommy Rabbit Ally! They were here to visit! Yeah!

Just a cute couple pic!!

We celebrate the Easter Bunny on Saturday, so Friday night Ashlyn and Taylor decided to sleep on the couch...just a few feet away from the table. I woke up around 4:00am and looked at the time, then thought, "Oh, they won't be up until 7am or so, but then I kid you not...a strong thought came, "You better do the baskets NOW!" So I did, and around 4:50am, those little sneaks, woke up and got into their baskets!! WHEW!

OK, this is cute. I was on the computer, printing off Conference Bingo, when I heard General Conference starting. When I walked into my room, this is what I found. Now I know it's a bit irreverant to take a picture of someone praying, but seeing those 3 boys all with bowed heads for the duration of what ended up to be quite a LONG prayer, was too great to pass up.

Here they are, all snug in their blankets and pillows with their Conference worksheets and fun games.

Sunbeams!

2010-03-22T14:02:00.000-07:00

I've figured it out! I'm addicted to those darling little sunbeams in Primary! I practically find myself rushing from sacrament meeting...be honest...who doesn't? After over an hour of sitting still?? Yes. I thought so. Anyway, I digress. I practically speed walk, (no running at church), to greet those darling seven little 3yr. old girls. Yup, we have all girls! They all march in with their frilly little dresses, and big smiles, and hoist themselves up on our "big" chairs (they like the big chairs..). Yesterday one of the little girls gave the opening prayer for her first time and one of her friends clapped for her when she was done. So cute! A couple weeks ago I was giving a lesson on the Atonement and as I described Jesus' death, a little 3yr. old cried out in a loud gasp..."Jesus died?" She then turned to her friend to make sure she heard it too..."did you hear that? Jesus died!" I quickly skipped to the resurrection, so she could feel some relief. When one of my counselors was doing a matching game, a little sunbeam was victorious in finding the match, and she quickly threw her fists in the air and gave her fellow classmates all a high 5!

Yup...TOTALLY addicted!

March Madness

2010-03-22T12:37:00.001-07:00

Ridin' the scoot! Finally, after a long, cold winter!
Now that's a SMILE boys!

This is what happens when 5 kids go unsupervised for an hour in the basement! They basically got out a bunch of our Christmas decorations out from my nicely packed and labeled boxes...and created their own little "show" about waking up Christmas morning.

First baseball game of the season!

Playing "dead man". Josh is holding his own, good job!

Not all ski days are created equal...

2010-03-10T10:23:00.001-08:00

Last Saturday we went skiing with my parents. As you can see with the above picture, it did not go well! We started out with Parker throwing up on the way up the canyon from car sickness (luckily he at least got his head out the window...) then it took forever to find a place to park. The Solitude guys told me to park on the street...* then we went down a couple runs, got separated from my dad, wondered what was taking him so long to get down the mountain, and found out he had crashed and hurt his leg. The ski patrol got him down the mountain and to the satellite hosp. on site, x-rayed the leg, and found he had a SEVERE tib/fib break! Long story short, no one in UT. County would touch the leg, and they sent us up to the U of U Trauma center for surgery. After a couple days in the hospital, he is now home and recovering.

*A side note: while my dad was being looked at, at the ski resort, I went back to my van to retrieve our lunches and saw a hwy. patrol vehicle giving tickets to everyone on the road. He hadn't gotten to my van, so I was able to re-park and save myself a ticket! Boy what a day!! Poooor Dad!! 10 wks on crutches ahead of him!

Sadness and the Savior

2010-03-01T09:08:00.000-08:00

I relate to these parents. All they desire is for the

Savior to love and bless their children

and to make them whole. Just the essentials.

It's amazing how much life can change in an instant, how much can get packed into a couple of weeks, and how difficult, meaningless and hopeless it would all be without the gospel of Jesus Christ. Last week a friend of mine, a darling new mother, was in a terrible car accident. She is doing well, considering the head trauma she incurred, and is a miracle. My beautiful sister in law Stephanie lost her baby 1/2 way through her pregnancy, and she and Nate have had to mourn the loss of this little one, as we have mourned with her. We've just had a terrible earthquake in Chile, and wonder what the devastation will bring to that area of the world, mourning for those people as well. However through these tragedies, we have comfort available to us through the atonement. It was always a nice principle of the gospel growing up, but one I haven't really understood until I've gotten older, and experienced more of life. Now I cling to it with everything I've got. I guess all I can say is that I simply love the Savior and desperately need Him every day.

Family Home Evening with the cousins!

2010-03-01T08:29:00.000-08:00

We had a family gathering at our home last night. It was in honor of my sister Allyson and Matt coming to visit from AZ and bringing their darling Emma! We had a yummy "create your own burrito" buffet, and a family home evening prepared by Nathan and Stephanie. The kids went on a search through my house for "clues" of Christ's ressurection. It was darling and the kids had a great time.

Nate lined up all the kids to hand out their clues.

Waiting for FHE to start

Family!

Ashlyn reading her clue with the help of Nathan and grandma.

Making a table hut with blankets. These messes are always worth it! I don't know how many times my brothers and I created huge huts in our basement growing up!!

Holding sweet Emma. Isn't Alyssa a natural??
Connor loves kids so much and couldn't wait to hold her!
Nate and Steph live in Ogden, so it's easier to put PJ's on the kids prior to leaving for home. Stephanie dressed her girls, and soon after, Ashlyn came running in..."mom, where is my Tiana night gown?? I REALLY need it!"

Imagine the girls' happiness to discover that they all had matching Princess Tiana night gowns!!

Valentine's Day

2010-02-17T17:31:00.001-08:00

Love Day!!

Oh, how I love my family, and especially my PERFECT hubby! No, actually neither of us are perfect, but that's what makes us so great together, we love each other just the way we are. I am extremely blessed to have someone who adores me and who I can count on for anything!! My heart aches when he's away...

For our family Valentine's Day dinner, I put hearts on everyone's plate and wrote something I love about them. Karl filled mine in...see how wonderful he is?
Love Notes.

My boys like to write poems, and will leave little notes for me...here are their Valentine poems...

Our love dinner, complete with red dishes, a red drink, love notes, and candle light.

Emma and Skiing

2010-02-11T07:47:00.001-08:00

I don't think there truly is anything better than welcoming a new little one into the world! My little niece Emma was born in Dec. and I had the privilege of going to AZ to see her blessed. She is absolutely the cutest thing ever, and Matt and Ally are stellar parents!

I went skiing for the first time in 20 years! I know, I know, I was super proud of myself! I actually didn't do so bad, like getting back on a bike right? I took my boys and their friends, and my parents came as well. Trying to keep up with my mom and dad was a feat, but I managed...when do we go again??? (sure wish it wasn't so expensive!)

Testimony Meeting

2010-02-08T15:03:00.000-08:00

Yesterday Parker bore his testimony in Sacrament Meeting. He just got up, surprising us all, and went to the pulpit. Here is his testimony as I remember it. He began by saying,

"So, yesterday I had the great opportunity of cleaning out the chicken coop."

hmmm, we all anxiously wondered...where is he going with this?

"It is a really stinky job and not very fun. And I began thinking about how it can be compared to life. We start out in Heaven, all warm and happy, just like I was in my house, then we come to earth, where it can be cold and dirty. We have lot's of challenges, but we have a job to do on earth. We need to spread the gospel, just like I had to spread around new hay. It makes things less smelly, and we're happier and others are too."

He continued by bearing a sweet testimony of the things he knows to be true.

That's my little Aaronic Priesthood holder!

Happy Birthday Ashlyn!

2010-02-04T08:53:00.001-08:00

7 yrs old!! Yipee!!

Call me crazy (wouldn't be the first time...) but I invited 16 kids to Ashlyn's birthday party. (15 girls, and 1 boy, who was a twin to one of the girls and plays with Ashlyn..:) Anyway, it was quite the event, and we had a great time making bakers' hats, creating individual pizzas, playing games, breaking a pinata and having cupcakes. The decibel level was quite high, and it was nice to send them home one at a time...very fun though, such cute kids!
Rollin' out the dough

Karl and I took Ashlyn to a restaurant for her birthday present. Having just had Christmas, and with 16 new presents, she didn't need anything, so we just suggested we have a fun date night for her birthday, and she was all for it!

Odds and Ends

2010-02-01T20:46:00.000-08:00

Ashlyn's gymnastics class put together a darling program! Her class did a dance/gymnastics routine to "Doll on a Music Box".

Absolutely darling!

Rachael, Connor and Parker went skiing/snowboarding at Sundance and had a blast!
Up, up and away!!
We visited some ice castles in Midway, that were beautiful!
They were HUGE!

Random

2010-01-29T20:05:00.000-08:00

This month has been full of a bunch of

random funny stuff.

Here is a re-cap:

We took the kids snowshoeing, and before long, Taylor convinced me to carry him...sucker!

The beauty of the mountains is unsurpassed! We just sat and took it all in!

Ashlyn and I decided to snowshoe a little farther. We ran into an ice fisherman up ahead, very cool.

I'm not sure of the story behind this, but Alyssa was in the same position moments before this pic was taken...random...

One of the 6th grade teachers brought in a cardboard castle into Parker's class, showing off his cool creation. Parker took that as a challenge! He came home and spent the next couple of hours collecting every empty TP roll he could find and created this, then ran it back to the school on his unicycle...REALLY RANDOM! (but awesome!)

The castle up close.

I put together a Luau for Connor's 5th grade class. We had the kids do the limbo...and wouldn't you know it, Connor tied for first with a girl in his class! (I did NOT even judge it!)

Bowling for family home evening.

Karl creamed us all, his only retort was that he loved his bowling class at BYU and got good at it...hmmm.

"Holy Cow! That bubble is bigger than my bowling ball!"

Holding up the wall. Nice matching shoes guys!

Now the following clip of Taylor bowling, happened over and over. The kid got several strikes with this technique! Gotta love the twirl at the end! :)

HOWEVER....

The winner of this months random contest goes to Mr. Spidey, seen climbing up our garbage can...

2010-01-25T17:56:00.000-08:00

Family Christmas Card

Christmas 2009!!

Since we were going sledding on Christmas Eve, we decided to let Connor open the "first gift of Christmas!" A NEW SNOWBOARD! It's one he can just use in the mountains when sledding. He was excited!

Ashlyn wrote a note to Santa and said the only thing she really wanted was a doll that you can feed and change her diaper (which she got...) and a bell from his sleigh. Santa put it in a great little box with a special note just for Ashlyn. And guess what? We could ALL hear it ring!

Do you believe?

Parker gave Taylor a REAL tool box to put in his REAL drill, and his REAL other tool stuff! He was way excited!
Karl got lots of little things like new bits for his drill, new work gloves etc. He is always so appreciative, despite my lack of cool gift giving creativity.

Parker received a...can you tell what it is? Yup! A gumball machine, which currently has a bunch of jelly bellies! Don't think they're for free...'cause their not! In fact a sign on Parker's bedroom door, says, "you come in...you buy a gumball!" (he's making a fortune off of all the 5 yr. olds in the neighborhood).

I was spoiled (as usual), oh the guilt! Every year Karl gets me some awesome present that I haven't thought of, but end up loving! This year he bought me an iTouch.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE IT!
(And so does Alyssa! Hands off girlfriend!)

Alyssa got this stylin' new hat (Santa has such fine taste!) and a bunch of other fun things. But her big gift was her first cell phone, with lots of minutes and texting. Of course there are some stipulations, which she is adhering to nicely.

Christmas dinner. We decided to have the tradition of not going ANYWHERE on Christmas day. All of our family celebrations are held prior to Christmas, since we simply love our jammies too much to get out of them! Oh, not to mention the yummy stocking candy we eat all day and the great presents we just want to play with UNINTERRUPTED!

Fun holiday, that went WAY TOO FAST!

Turning a new leaf

2010-01-20T15:40:00.000-08:00

So today at lunch, I was kindly reprimended by my dear friend...you know who you are... that I was neglecting my blog. Really?! Someone reads it? Cool!

Truthfully my intent in keeping up with a blog was to count my family history in a fun way, and try to let my kids know how awesome they are by posting fun times with them. HOWEVER, I love to share our lives with people I love, so YEAY, someone is reading the blog!! The next few entries are an attempt to capture our fun adventures in the past month and 1/2, and catch up.

Parties and Programs

I volunteered to host both the Jensen and Baxter Christmas parties this year. They ended up back to back (23rd and 24th) but I figure if my house is already clean...why not?

This is the Jensen Christmas Brunch!

We had delicious quiche, fruit, and cinnamon rolls! MMmm!

We swapped white elephant gifts. Check out Karl's face in the background as his mom opens up a gift from me...it wasn't that bad...just an old metal sign I'll never use. Reilly said he'd make it into a weather vane???

Alyssa and Grandpa :)

I was on the ward party committee, and helped put together a Christmas breakfast with Santa. It was really fun. Here are the kids waiting in line to see Santa.

Taylor was an inn keeper in his preschool version of the Nativity. He was a good sport (you can't tell though by the look on his face...:)

The kids all participated in a school Christmas sing. Ashlyn was set on wearing her pinkest outfit instead of the traditional red or green...such an Ashlyn thing to do. I suppose wearing tan and navy every day with their uniforms gets old...when given the chance

WEAR PINK!

Parker's class sang "The Grinch" song. He took the liberty to add actions, and facial expressions, (he was the only one), and was the funniest one there, I had tears in my eyes from laughing.
Connor was sweet to look for us and immediately pulled Taylor in to sit by him with his class. Taylor felt really cool as all the 5th grade girls ooed and awed at how cute he is...

not a bad ploy Connor...

The Baxter Christmas Eve Party kicked off with some sledding up AF Canyon. However, we had just had a storm, and the snow wasn't packed down. Really hard to sled in, plus it was REALLY cold, so we ended a little early.

At my house we let the kids put together some gingerbread houses, which had a hard time staying up. Stephanie was VERY patient repairing everyones house 5 times!

The adults joined in some board games and just ate snacks and vegged.

Of course what's a Baxter party without the Nativity? The kids were great this year (you never know who is going to boycott...) and all participated.

We then opened our cousin presents and gifts from Grandma and Grandpa. Everything was a hit, no tears thankgoodness! I've pretty much threatened my kids if they are ungrateful in the least, they are doomed.. with Christmas morning only hours away, they took me seriously. :)

Now...you may wonder how dinner went? Well, would you believe my luck: I put 2 pre-cooked hams in the oven to warm for 2 hours, then about an hour 1/2 into it, I thought, "I'm not smelling anything..." My top oven had broken!! It wasn't heating at all! AAAGH! The rolls were ready to be cooked and so we just cooked them up in the bottom oven, cut the ham off the bone, put it in a turkey bag and stuck it in the oven for an hour to heat. We also hand heated slices in a skillet. Switched the Nativity and presents with dinner, then ate around 7:00pm. We were starving by then needless to say! Whew! It all worked out, but was stressful and frustrating. I had to pay $200.00 to have the oven fixed!

Overall, our Christmas Parties were really fun, and I'm glad we've created such fun family traditions!

Happy Birthday Avery!

2010-01-14T10:12:00.001-08:00

Our "not so little" niece Avery, turns 7 today! We don't get to see her very often because she lives in Washington, but when she does come to visit, we love it!

We hope you have the best day ever Avery!!

I Love Primary!

2009-12-21T06:56:00.001-08:00

Big news...for me anyway! :) I was called to serve as the Primary President of our ward the week before Thanksgiving. I can't say I was surprised, I started getting Primary ideas about 3 months earlier that didn't have to do with my music calling. I'm somewhat of an idea person anyway (need to work on the organization part...) so I put them out of my mind, but started to wonder if I was being prepared. I've been blessed with the most amazing presidency, hand picked for me for sure!

Yesterday was our first day in Primary together as a presidency. It went really well! I kind of wore 2 hats since my new music leader was in charge of sharing time with her little class, but it all worked out, and I was on cloud 9! I'm going to LOVE this calling! Music stressed me out. (I actually felt relief when I was called as the President..;-) I loved being with the kids, and playing song review games, but truthfully, I wasn't very good at teaching them songs. I learned some valuable lessons through that experience however, and am grateful that I had the opportunity to serve as the music leader.

I don't know a whole lot about Primary, since the majority of my service in the church has been with the YW, but I'm learning, and I couldn't love those kids more! Went to bed with a big smile on my face, and didn't even know it. Karl just started smiling at me, and I looked at him like.."what?" he said, "you're smiling!"

I guess I'm just happy!!

FALL FUN!

2009-12-16T05:55:00.000-08:00

I love Fall, and wish it could last 2 more months! We had about 3 weeks of gorgeous, cute jacket wearing weather, then it dropped to the teens! What was that all about? We did have some fun adventures however, here is a recap...

I took the kids on a photo shoot...man they're a good lookin' bunch!!

Alyssa celebrated her 15th, (did I just say 15th??) birthday on Oct. 14th. We went out to dinner, and to a movie. She's awesome. Oh yeah, and I picked up the Drivers Test Manual....aaah!

Little man turned 5!! Having a birthday the day after Halloween is a bit tricky. He didn't go for the veggie tray suggestion instead of chocolate cake and ice cream...

The week before Halloween we always go to Pumpkinland at the Vinyard Nursery. They have a fun corn maze, and blow up stuff for the kids to play on. We all like to dress up, even though sometimes we're the only ones...who cares right?
The fam-
Following Vinyard, we go to my parents house and Allyson and Adrienne put on a Halloween treasure hunt. We ate some yummy chili and hotdogs.

Parker and Ashlyn, dressed up for Halloween....the wig was itchy, in case you were wondering...Parker is his own person, and wore that awesome getup to school doin' the strut thing and everything. Hilarious!

On Thanksgiving day we went hiking up Provo Canyon. There was a little snow, but the trail was packed down, and we had a great time!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Karl's brother got married the day before, so he was in San Diego, and joined us for pie later that night. Funny side note, Taylor was a little wet from the snow after hiking, so he changed into his PJ's (we slept at my parents house the night before), and wore them the rest of the day...it truly was relaxing!