The Jensen Journey

Our Adorable Cavachon Pups!

2010-12-28T15:38:00.000-08:00

Since my mom seems to have NO time for blogging recently, I will take over (this is Rylee, in case you didn't know that by now). But, she promises to have Thanksgiving and Christmas posts soon. So recently, our dog Quincy had five puppies! They are Cavachons, which is a mix between a Cavalier and a Bichon Frise. There are three girls and two boys, all very healthy and cute. Three of them are white with apricot ears and patches, one of the girls is a tricolor, and the last girl is white with sable ears and bum. The litter was born on December 14 at 2:00-5:45 AM. Mom came upstairs and woke me up at 3:30 and told me the puppies were being born! So that day/night, I STILL went to school that day (because it was almost Christmas break and I couldn't afford to miss any homework). My poor mom stayed up for 48 hours straight, no sleep. We gave each of the puppies Christmas names: Jingle (1st one born), Tinsel (2nd), Chestnut (3rd), Mistletoe (4th), and Olive (5th); but we plan to change them around Valentines Day, which is when they'll be ready to go to their new homes. If you/know anybody that is interested, please let us know!! They are one of the best breeds of dogs ever: they are hypoallergenic, don't shed, don't yap, and they are super mellow and easy to train. It's been really fun raising the puppies over Christmas break and it's been a great experience for all of us as well to be able to take care of and watch the puppies as they grow up.

Ode to a Bunny

2010-11-14T15:25:00.000-08:00

We have lost yet another family pet. All I can say is at this rate Quincy should be having nighmares about her end. Maverik the Holland Lop bunny that came into the Jensen household the day after Christmas. Rylee recieved a cute little lop bunny on Christmas morning. Tears of joy and happiness filled the day. Waking up on December 26th with tears of sadness and terror to find little "Carmel" laying stiff in his cage in her room. Well I was not going to have my daughter crying the day after Christmas when there should be nothing but joy and happiness so I got on KSL.com and went about finding the right look a like bunny to soothe the pain. I called a lady who had a bunny for us. Unfortunately she lived 2 hours from us and we had a blizzard that night so the roads were icey and snow packed. It didn't stop my mission and Rylee and I headed out into the snow. Arriving safely with a few scary moments we came to the lady's house to find a rabbit the size of a cocker spaniel in the living room. She fudged a little on the phone forgetting the say that it was not exactly a Holland Lop like I requested in order to get us to fall in love with this GIANT bunny. Rylee looked at me and whispered that this rabbit would never fit in the cage and that she didn't want one this size. I agreed and was so mad that I had risked our life to drive 2 hours with intent of getting the right bunny. I got in the car and called Steve to have him look up more ads and point us in the direction of another bunny. Luckily we found a guy that happened to be on the way home with a bunny for us. That was how we got Maverik the bunny. He was a really good bunny and our kids had a great experience having a bunny and everyone participated in his care. Our family is sad to loose another beloved pet. My children have learned a lot of lessons about love, loss and life having pets in our home.

Trick or Treat

2010-11-10T18:21:00.001-08:00

Okay so it rained and poured on Halloween. That didn't stop the Jensen's from scoring bags of candy on the 30th. Thats right folks here in Utah Halloween falls on Saturday. Thank goodness the ward has a trunk or treat so that we could get the kids satisfied with pounds of candy in about 20 minutes. We were then off to Grandma Jensen's for chili and breaksticks. As you can see from the pictures we had a variety of costumes. Parker the deadly ninja, Cooper the classic nerd, Charlie the cowboy, I went as a boring mom with a rerun witches hat. Rylee was a gangsta (costume provided by cousin Brad using his real clothes..hahaha) and then I got a text from Brad before he headed to a college costume party as Antoine Dodson from the famous YouTube video, Bedroom intruder. For those who have not seen this please go check it out. You must see the original news cast version first before the song that was made out of it. Needless to say that Bedroom Intruder song is now Brad's ringtone on my phone.

Pumpkin Painting with the Jensen Gang

2010-11-10T17:56:00.000-08:00

Every year we have a family BBQ and paint pumpkins provided by Grandpa and Grandma Jensen. Its just a fun activity to look forward to and we always have fun seeing the creations. Charlie always seems to start out with a nice face on his pumpkin, but his earge to keep painting ends up with a brown goopy pumpkin with layers of paint. Rylee wanted to be a little artist this year and just draw a cartoon on hers. Cooper and Parker gutted and carved theirs. Boys just like to be sticky I decided.

Let's get our FREAK on!

2010-11-10T17:23:00.001-08:00

For the month of September and October my brother and sister in law own and run a professional haunted house in Salt Lake City called Nightmare Mansion. I came down to help take tickets, which was a crazy busy job. Jill told me to bring the kids down to act in the show for a couple weekends during the busiest time in October. Rylee was so excited. We had to get down there early like 5:30pm and ended up getting home at 2:30am. We took a few of Rylee's friends and a couple of mine down to experience the madness. Holden (the burned victim in the the straight jacket) said it was intense and felt a little crazy after acting crazy in a padded cell for 5 hours. I felt bad for him but not as bad as I felt for Rylee after it took 2 hours to clean and comb through her clown hair. When I saw her in full clown makeup, her REAL hair ratted till it felt like cotton candy, I knew we wouldn't just go home and crash. Her favorite night was the night she was a mourner in a funeral room. She was crying over her dead father in a grave and yelled at people and once lay still against the wall, and one man came up and said "I think its fake" right when he was about to touch her she opened her eyes and yelled "Don't touch me!" Cooper was a white ghost kid in a maze of white sheets. As people tried to make their way through he would walk past and look them in the eyes and then disappear into the sheets, definately unnerving. The last night Rylee wanted to be in a scarier room so they put her in a body bag room and gave her a hand saw and a fake bloody arm. Rylee said it was the scariest night of her life. She thought to herself, " Here I am in a room with body bags with a fake arm and a saw...... one girl came in and Rylee banged the hand against a barrel, the girl screamed so loud and freaked out that she scared Rylee more than Rylee scared her. However, the die hard that Rylee is she still wanted more after that night but I was too tired to do another weekend. I guess Im getting old and boring.

Logging in Christmas Meadows

2010-11-10T16:20:00.000-08:00

We are on another adventure at the urging of friends to enjoy an outing in the mountains. We drove to Wyoming on a Saturday morning in early October to cut trees to log for firewood for Grandpa DeLong. We also brought along a 22 for a little target practice. This kind of activity for some reason gets kids all excited. I have never seen such anxious kids to carry logs half their body weight. Even baby James looked every part the lumberjack. I may have posed with the chainsaw butI left that manly activity to Sam and Joe. We loaded a pickup truck and a horse trailer with all the logs that we carefully measured and Steve stacked all the wood. Sam's sister Michelle came with her two girls and we all enjoyed a lovely picnic of sandwiches that Sam's mom packed with brownies and other treats. Overall, perfect weather, perfect friends, hard work and a great lunch. The Jensen's could not have had a better time.

I Love to See the Temple

2010-09-22T15:42:00.000-07:00

We had a very special family home evening and we went to the Ogden Temple. We talked about how scared temples are and how it is important to make it a goal to go inside someday. As many of you know this historic temple will be getting a complete make-over next year. They will be closing it down for two years to build a brand new temple in its place. We wanted to also have our kids remember how old they were and to have pictures taken around the temple so we could remember how and what the Ogden Utah Temple means to us. I love this picture of Steve and I and I am so grateful to be married to him for time and all eternity. We are grateful that we have a forever family and that we will be together through the eternities.

Three down one to go.

2010-09-22T15:06:00.000-07:00

My sweet Parker was baptized on September 4th. He was so excited that for three weeks prior he had come home from school and tried on his baptismal suit everyday and wanted to practice with Dad. He has the sweetest spirit and is striving to do whats right everyday. We had a wonderful get together after with a yummy brunch and family that stayed to visit and we had a great time. I was thrilled that my mom and dad came up from Arizona to enjoy this special day with us. He got new scriptures and a case and felt very grown up on Sunday. It was a special weekend.

Updates on Cooper

2010-09-01T17:29:00.000-07:00

Cooper is my social butterfly, good at everything he tries boy. He is always testing boundries and negotiating his way to a better life for himself. He doesn't blindly listen and obey, he has to know why and if he can do it a better way that works out for him. He is a thinker and a negotiator and even at times a relentless arguer. He knows what he wants and really stops at nothing to get it. Of course this will be a good attribute as an adult but a difficult one to deal with as his parent. He has recently made the All Star Soccer team again this year so we will be doing several games in the fall and into the winter (indoor of course) which our family really loves. He has also started a new school because of his acceptance into the Spectrum program. This program is for gifted and talented students so the teachers can challenge them and hopefully prevent boredom and such frustrations in the education process. I was and still am a little worried how homework will go over. He has not had homework for about 2 years now so he is really put out if he is sitting at the table more than 30 min. "I have a headache from learning so much at school today" or "I need to go play I have been slaving away at school and I need some downtime" All very convincing pleas to a mother who does want her son to be happy. I have to approach every school responsibility very positively with him so he doesn't get discouraged. Cooper has fun no matter what he does. I guess thats an easy thing to do when your good at everything you do. He is super athletic and has a very magnetic personality. He has a cool confidence that is very fun to be around. By far Cooper know how to work me and keep me happy. Now most of the pictures on this post explain him without too much effort but the one of him holding the ball was a picture I took on the last day of school. He did not have a yearbook so he had everyone sign his body, I thought it was so Cooper to do something like that.

Updates on Parker

2010-08-31T11:58:00.000-07:00

Parker is by far my most fascinating child. He thinks differently than any child I have met. He is innovative and gets really passionate about things he is interested in. He has recently started 2nd grade. I had the pleasure of chatting with his teacher and she said that she caught Parker day dreaming and here is how that conversation went....

Teacher: Parker I need you to pay attention please.

Parker: Oh sorry teacher I was just thinking about helping others and saving the environment. I am concerned that your recycling garbage can is behind the other one and so many kids are putting recyclables in the regular can. Can you move this one out in front of the other so kids will think about it before they throw things away?

Teacher to me: How can you be upset about that kind of dreaming.

Parker's new obsession is saving the environment from trash that should be recycled. He wears a Wal-Mart grocery sack around his shoulders like a cap as he speeds around the neighborhood collecting plastic bottles and discarded cardboard. He brings this home to show me and is in complete awe that people will not pay attention to the fact they are 1, littering and 2 that they simply wont recycle. You may be thinking that Steve and I are fanatics about recycling but we don't have a city program and are not required to recycle in our city. Parker is really upset about this and gets after me for all sorts of garbage that I throw away that could easily be recycled. So Steve and I decided that we will get bins and start being more green for the sake of our eight year old. He still has his "calling" in church as being the garbage man and after the block of meetings he collects all the garbage's from the rooms into large bags and takes them to the dumpster. He takes great pride in hard work. He absolutely can't wait for it to snow and even interrupted his baptismal interview, no doubt day dreaming about shoveling, to ask if I was going to purchase a certain snow shovel he wants. This boy can shovel for six-seven hours without getting bored or tired. He earned close to $70 last winter in tips from people who have snow blowers and he got to their driveway before they got a chance. He is one boy I am so curious to see what he does with this wonderful, interesting personality. Now to explain a few of the pictures I chose. This pic with Parker and Dallin eating watermelon. Parker thought that it would be easier since Dallin wanted to share that he could suck the juice out. Nice thinking Parker. Parker recently turned eight and he insisted on a pumpkin pie for his birthday cake....like I said Parker is not your traditional kid. Last but certainly not least Parker's prior "rickshaw" on his bike has morphed into the "bullet train". He has taken bungee cords and ropes and connected anything with wheels (including a push broom on the end) to make a bullet train street sweeper. It is incredibly loud and he draws people to their windows as he drives cheerfully around the neighborhood and is happy to give eager kids a ride.

Updates on Charlie

2010-08-31T11:07:00.000-07:00

Charlie is now five! He is my little shadow and I am teaching him preschool this year at home. He is a spitfire of energy and will talk to me NONSTOP! We have a family car game of timing the time in between Charlie's conversations in the car and we have only made it 6 seconds. He is bright and adorable and destructive and annoying at times. I guess that sums up youngest brothers. He is a happy kid who adores his friend Clara. I have never seen him care about anyone as much as her. Its cute to watch and I am grateful that Clara is such a cute friend to him and a good influence because he will do anything and I mean anything she says to do. Charlie also LOVES Quincy! He loves to wrestle her and squish her and love her and that dog deserves gold stars for putting up with that boy.

Updates on Rylee

2010-08-31T10:22:00.001-07:00

Rylee is growing into a wonderful, beautiful, intelligent teenager. She celebrated her 13th birthday earlier this year with a group of friends from school. She ran track and did hurdles and sprinting. She has developed a love for her cell phone and as summer vacation entered our life so did a $735.00 cell phone bill. Little did we know her texting skills had improved with her social life. She is currently paying off her bill by babysitting, working at Raptor Baseball games selling popcorn and icecream and cracker jacks. She does really well and is one of the best sellsman they have *surprise* I also arranged for her to clean the clinic that I work for every Saturday. So she is learning all about money management. She was a lot more picky with her school clothes budget as well, which she also had to provide for. Its is nice to see her learn life lessons now. She has just started 8th grade and is in Geometry and doing well with a great social life and great self esteem. Its all I could ask for as a mother. Jr. High is a killer.

Im back from a long hiatus of blogging

2010-08-30T15:44:00.000-07:00

So sorry about leaving my blogging world for a year....yikes well I guess I will give everyone a quick rundown of our 2010. I will Start with a fantastic cruise Steve and I went on in January to mark our 15 year anniversary. We went with great friends Greg and Tammy Frei and Dru and Brooke Palmer. We could not have had more fun. Our journey began as a Western Carribean Cruise setting off from Orlando. We went to Grand Cayman, Belize, Isla RoatanHonduras and Cozumel Mexico!! We swam with Sting Rays in Grand Cayman on our actual anniversary and snorkeled. We had a fantastic dinner of Lobster and they brought us out a cake with candles to blow out to celebrate that night. We sang kareoke all night...2 am I think?? We could have cared less about time. Our room was pitch black so sleeping in was so easy, well lets put it this way sleeping in is just plain easy without kids around. In Hondoras we played at a beach all day and dug for shells and took a little paddle boat around. Belize was my most fun day. It was full of adventure. We took a bus through the city out to the jungle. There we ziplined through jungle and then took a tube and hiked awhile to some caves. The entire time I could not believe I was hiking through a jungle. We go on our tubes with our lights on our head and floated down the fresh water river through caves. VERY COOL. There are no pictures to document because I was afraid of ruining the camera in the water. Cozumel was FANTASTIC!!! We took some speed boats out to a private island and had a Mexican buffet and total and complete relaxation. There was a trampoline in the water and with four adults jumping it was so hard and I peed my pants laughing and could not even stay on my feet. I felt like a kid. We played volleyball and Tammy and I ran on the beach like models while Greg took our picture. Too fun! Resting on hammocks and enjoying the scenery. I could not believe I was there. It was unreal. I would love to post all 1000 pics but you may never visit the blog again. I will let a few pictures explain the fun.

2009-08-12T09:51:00.000-07:00

Here we go again on another adventure with our good friends the DeLongs. This time we are off to the misty coast of Washington right along the Columbia river. It was so scenic that I could not get over it the whole time. As for you Twilight fans it was just as beautiful as your imagination. It was a long drive but we broke it up by a stay at a hotel on the way up where the kids all went swimming and stayed up late. We also made stops at a salmon ladder at a dam and took a hike to a waterfall. During our time we had many activities that included a hike to a lighthouse where the Columbia river meets the ocean. It is called Cape Disappointment, because of all the shipwrecks that happened at that point because of the current changes due to the river. It was fantastic to wake up to misty ocean air and go out on a beach all to ourselves and hunt for treasures. We had a DeLong against Jensen sand castle building contest and buried kids up to their necks. The kids found over 25 whole sand dollars, beached jelly fish, live crab and star fish and other shells and creatures stuck to the cove walls. We also tied died shirts and made crafts. Of course Melissa created yummy treats and we played games all night. We even had a family talent show for our Sunday activity which included Jensen kids as "chin faces" singing Poker Face by Lady GaGa, and the DeLong Family singing and doing actions to an Irish Folk song about Unicorns. I have never laughed so hard. I have to say we are lucky to have friends that love to go have a great time and love my kids. It made it a fun family trip. It has been so fun to introduce our kids to the world around them.

Kindergarten Graduate

2009-08-11T18:41:00.001-07:00

Okay I may be a very slow blogger but it does not mean I don't care about keeping my family informed. The purpose of this blog was to unite my family that has all scattered to different states and has left me, the horrible letter writer, turned slow blogger, to keep them up to date. So I must now take a step back to the beginning of the summer and recap. Here is my lovely little Parker graduating from Kindergarten again. Never mind the size difference from one of his best friends he is so full of personality and it was the best decision to have him repeat Kindergarten. It never phased him that he was doing the same thing. He was just clearly more ready for it this year. He really enjoyed reading and passed every test with flying colors. I could not be more proud of my sweet sweet boy.

My little Charlie is 4

2009-06-02T15:34:00.000-07:00

I can't believe I am posting on the actual date of an event. Today is Charlie's 4th birthday. This picture I put with this post is his new "look". Anytime we take a picture he does this with his hand now. I guess he takes after his dad (poser). I could go on and on about Charlie. He is a spitfire who has a lot of pride and has to be right. I have often referred to him as my little boy with a huge frustrated warrior for a spirit. It has to be tough for such a big person to be stuck in a little body. That is how I get through the day with him seeing him that way. On the other hand he can be so sweet and loving and smart and he will make a wonderful adult one day with all his great qualities. I will take him one year at a time and enjoy my little boy.

Valley of the Goblins....oooohhhh scary!

2009-06-02T10:48:00.001-07:00

We just spent the weekend in Goblin Valley and it was fantastic!!! It was an amazing natural playground for the kids. They climbed and hiked everyday all day. We played hide and go seek in the valley and explored and had a wonderful 3 days there. We celebrated Cooper's 9th birthday while we were down there. All my kids are so impressive in there hiking. They really pushed theirselves and reached heights without fear.

Jensen Back yard Camp out

2009-06-02T10:16:00.000-07:00

Every year we have a back yard campout in Steve's parents backyard on Memorial Weekend. It is a fun time to reconnect with family and catch up on what everyone is doing. Gregg and Jess came up with their kids from Las Vegas so it was so fun to see them. We had a great campfire with smores and an annual ghost story from Uncle Steven. We had great food including 6 foot subs and breakfast burritos and creamy italian chicken with rice. All in all it was a fabulous time that ends in a wicked water fight that gets everyone soaked and I mean hosed down soaked. (pictured Tiffany getting things started with a water balloon) Next year I won't wear jeans they are super heavy when drenched. We brought our puppy Quincy and she curled up in the car and napped through the water fight smart dog. There was even a baseball game the kids started (pictured Kaylee my cute 12 year old niece)

Sisters

2009-06-02T10:10:00.001-07:00

I was so happy to host a shower with Natalie for our sister Stephanie. She was down in Utah from Pullman Washington for her annual cancer screening at Huntsman and we decided it would be a great time to throw her a shower and invite friends and family. Steph looked great and is having a little girl. They hope to name her Lindsay Christine Wright. She had a lot of friends from school that drove a long way to come and they got to stay and talk and I was happy to see them reconnect after so long. I was also so grateful for my inlaws that came to support my sister. My mother in law and both sister in laws came and gave her gifts. We had a great time and some great snacks a la chocolate fountain yummy.

Fun Family Hike

2009-06-02T09:55:00.001-07:00

We took a day hike to Timanogos Cave and had such a great time. We of course were asked by the DeLongs our spontaneous friends and I am glad we went along. I called Steve up at work and said "We are coming to pick you up at 2:00 to go hiking and I am bringing you a change of clothes so get ready. All the kids agreed that the cave was worth the hike up there. We hiked straight up the mountain and I had to hold Charlie on my shoulders 2/3 of the way up and all the way down. So lets say that Angie got the biggest work out. We did strap on the bear backpack leash on Charlie due to the cliffs and it proved to let us breathe a little easier. I was amazed by the energy my kids had. Parker and Cooper could practically run to catch up and run back to tell us something and then run back up to the front. It was so beautiful and I recommend it to anyone who wants some great family time.

Spring has Sprung

2009-04-29T17:28:00.000-07:00

Help

2009-04-29T17:24:00.001-07:00

Blogger says I have no more storage for pictures. How can that be. I don't want to have to pay to blog....what do you all do out there to remedy this situation?

Spontaneous getaway

2009-04-29T16:45:00.000-07:00

We got away for the weekend to a little cottage in Zion's National Park. It was a gorgeous weekend and we had blast, sleeping in, canoeing, hiking, kareoke, games, eating great food, did I say sleeping in!!! We got away with our good friends the DeLong's who are spontaneous and adventureous and are trying to convert us to these ways. The cottage was on 1500 acres and had 3 lakes. I had never been in a canoe so it was so fun for me. It was fun to hike these trails without kids one time, but it does make me miss them because we always hike with our kids. We had so much fun and look forward to many more excursions to just get away and catch up on relaxation. I hope you enjoy the picture of "big hair kareoke night".

Quincy our new puppy.

2009-03-18T14:49:00.000-07:00

Okay so my maternal heart was beating and I just needed a baby to hold and cuddle and the human kind of baby is a really big commitment at this point. I really feel like all my kids are here and there are no more human babies in my future but I guess that does not stop the desire to mother a baby. Steve was all about letting me have a puppy rather than a baby so here she is. She is a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. I have wanted a smaller dog because another big one just my do in my yard. This way Indy has a friend and he loves her and I have a dog to cuddle at night while I watch TV. She is very sweet and does not cry at night so bonus!!!

The Rabbit Habitat

2009-03-18T14:43:00.000-07:00

Since the basement was cleaned and there was all this room we decided to make a giant rabbit habitat for Maverick the bunny. He is the happiest little bunny ever. Rylee bought him some toys a tunnel and other fun things with her babysitting money. I LOVE that she has her own money and can buy what she wants and can't whine to me anymore about silly purchases. So all of you out there with little kids give her a call and keep her in the green. By the way the bunny is potty trained to a litter pan so there is really no mess to clean except the poop which sweeps up nicely with a dust pan.

Before and After

2009-03-18T14:10:00.001-07:00

The kids most favorite thing for me to say is "Lets clean up the basement" (not really) I had had enough! All winter long the kids through stuff down there because it is too cold to play and so it just piles up. Last Saturday we put our coats on and went down there to clean. I though I would post a before and after (for my mom's sake) because it was definately note worthy.

Rylee turns 12!!!!

2009-03-18T13:50:00.000-07:00

Alright I am back on the blogging wagon. I guess I have found little time for myself lately and I am just going to catch up a little (not by any pressure from my family living out of state) and show what the Jensen's have been up to. First off my little girl is now a young woman. She has turned 12 and insisted that we throw here a huge celebration and spoil her rotten. Well when you are the oldest and the only girl you just about get your way with anything I am afraid. So we had a cozy party of 22... 12 year olds!!! I know it sounds scary but it was really a lot of fun. We started at 5:00 pm and played pictionary, catch phrase, a little geography triva (most of Rylee's class was there so they ate all that up) We also played Sing Star on Play station and Mario Kart on Wii. Everything was a hit and after 8 boxes of pizza, 6, 2 liter bottles of soda, a Costco size bag of M&Ms, a big ole birthday cake and ice cream we sent everyone home about 9:30pm. There was some really cute kids and it was great to see everyone out of "class" and church and see how there really is a different kind of Rylee. The one we see and the one her friends see. It was fun because she actually is really funny and cute with her friends and is "one of the guys" so to speak. **** For all you that read this in my neighborhood notice the kid in the red plaid shirt. He was a spitting image of Chad Jex....personality and looks I thought.

Getting sympathy from Grandma.

2009-02-12T17:05:00.000-08:00

Grandma Jensen picked up Parker from school today and he gets in the car and says to her... "A 37 year old and a 32 year old yelling at a 6 year old can you believe it.... I did not even get any breakfast!" Steve and I were riding him this morning to get out the door for school and he just leisurely ate his cereal one piece at a time. So there was some yelling I am afraid. I am glad Steve's mom knows we are not abusive parents, it made me a little sad that he had to remember that all morning :( I guess we will have to be a little more patient. He really is such a loving boy. I just love everything about him and sometimes I forget he has gotten sensitive in his years. This is a picture he took of himself.

No more diapers

2009-02-12T16:59:00.000-08:00

I guess you can see I have not had any inspiring things to write lately. I so enjoy Julie's blog and her kids are always saying cute things and they have funny things happen. So I am going to be looking for those moments around here because with a house full of kids we are bound to have some humor during the week. So I will start with great news.....I have officially potty trained Charlie. Yes it clicked and he has given in to it becoming a habit now. No accidents (pretty much) and he even cleans off the seat when he is done so is far better than is older brothers. I would post a picture but he is not my biggest show off and Steve hates the idea. This does end the era of the diaper. I have been buying diapers for 12 years! I still carry a diaper bag in the van in case of an accident but we have not needed it so far.

I got you babe!

2009-01-21T19:32:00.001-08:00

Okay we are quickly approaching our 14th year anniversary on Monday and if I am organized enough this weekend I will get some vintage pics of our life together up on this blog. I was sitting here reflecting on the past and how lucky I am to have this incredible father and husband by my side. Steve and I are so compatible and he is so strong in all my weaknesses and visa versa. One of his great strengths is patience and I could not live without that quality for one day. He always has time for me and the kids and we always feel like a priority. He has learned over the course of 4 kids just when I am at breaking point and rescues me before I hit rock bottom. I most respect his knowledge and love for the gospel which makes him someone I look up to and who lifts me and creates a great spirit in our home. He is a good provider and works to make sure we have all of our needs. He also supports me in my desires to work the 2 days a week I do, and when I want to serve my friends and have "girls nights". Steve never gives me a guilt trip about anything and lets me be my "total" self, even if that means singing in the car all the way to Vegas. He truly is my best friend and I am thrilled to be on this life's adventure with him.

My sweet unfortunate Father

2009-01-10T18:53:00.000-08:00

My dad means the world to me and lives tooooooo far away in Arizona. He has always suffered many health problems and most recently his Parkinson's disease has been getting more difficult to control. My mom called on Christmas Eve and did not have cheering Christmas greeting for me. She explained that dad was at work and tripped on a cord and fell. He hit his head on the wall so hard that he broke his neck in four places and injuring his shoulder. He had bleeding on his brain with a huge hematoma on his head. Luckily his co-worker was with him and could call an ambulance because my dad could not move his head. He was taken to the ICU and was stabilized and watched carefully. I was frantic and got to my knees for a prayer. My dad recieved a blessing and we waited for test results and scans. I just know that the Lord watches over my Dad. The scans came back that he would not need surgery, that he had no spinal cord damage and that the bleeding on the brain was not a concern. He was still in bad shape but I was just relieved to have him. That was not the last obstacle to overcome and not the last prayer to be heard. He had an allergic reaction to muscle relaxers and medications were not helping him with swelling in his airway so they had to intabate him. The next news that came was that he may need a tracheostomy because they were unsure what other reactions he could be having to medications and they could not re-intabate him again because of the damage that it could cause. I just prayed that he would not need a trach because I know my dad and waking up with a trach would be about the most depressing thing to deal with a broken neck. Luckily, that too was not necessary as the swelling continued to decrease and they were able to remove the tube and wake him up. He is now in a inpatient rehab for physical and occupational therapy and is doing better everyday. Jay and Sheena will be there next week and hopefully he will be able to go home next week if all goes well. My poor mom has done so much. She has worked 12 hour shifts, gone to the hospital, handled my dad's business while he was in a coma, and kept all the frantic children up to date. I love her and admire her strength when times are tough. She has been held up by prayers and continues to hold our family all together. I love my parents so much and it is difficult to be away from them and feel helpless to help them in this time. I hope you can keep them in your prayers.

"Rylee you are giving away all your secrets!"

2009-01-10T18:41:00.000-08:00

Okay maybe Rylee should take over the blog because she is an amazing writer and loves to journal. She loves to sit down to the computer and just write out all the thoughts that turn into volumes of stories and power point presentations. So Steve was on the computer one day and came across a document labeled "How to Bug your Parents" naturally as a parent you are going to read this duh.... I had to post it not because it puts our parenting in a good light but it is well written and an insight into the sweet innocent girl who really does know what she is doing. (Steve confronted her and said, "Rylee you are giving us all of your secrets, now what",she never completed it so here is what we have left.

Rylee’s Guide On…
HOW TO BUG YOUR PARENTS

Step 1
Tattle-telling

This is actually a very good tactic. From experience, I’ve learned that if you tattle-tell constantly, they get so sick and tired of it that they eventually ground the next person to tattle-tell. In other words, once your mom is really fed up with it, hit your sibling in the gut so he/she will run up to your parent and “tell” on you. He/she will get grounded, you only get a little chastisement that you can just ignore, and you’re not locked up in your room for the rest of the day.

Step 2

Procrastination is really creative because you can choose what you want to put off whether it’s homework, chores, piano lessons, or even just “forgetting” to set the table. If you put homework off long enough, you don’t have to do any work for that day and you can just play video games until dinner. If you decide to procrastinate chores, try to shoot for a good day when your parents aren’t home. For example, if you have a big chore like cleaning your room, just stuff your clothes into the closet and call it a day. Your parents will never find out and we’re all happy. When doing a small chore like setting the table or feeding the dog, don’t do it at all. Eventually, your parents will choose someone else to do it.

Step 3
Begging

If your parents ever say they will simply NOT give you something you desperately want, just start to beg. When you’re in a waiting room or in the car with one of your parents, start a conversation and start to beg with what you want. Keep in mind though that begging can go on for weeks, even months. Sooner or later your parents will get the hint that that is one thing that you want for your birthday/Christmas. If you don’t get it for your birthday/Christmas, don’t panic. If you don’t give up on the begging, your parents will just eventually have to give in.

My Christmas Bunny by Rylee Jensen

2009-01-10T18:23:00.000-08:00

Rylee will do this next post about her cute adorable bunny her parents gave her for Christmas. Yes folks we wanted to see our daughter cry with happiness on Christmas morning, so enjoy the story in Rylee's own words.

In case you guys didn't get the full story, here is how I got Maverick, my bunny:

What I got for Christmas was a rabbit (named Caramel, Mel for short) that my mom's friends had been supposedly "babysitting for a person at his clinic." I went over to see him again and again and said, "Wow, this person must be so lucky to have this rabbit!" Little did I know that they were actually babysitting Mel for me! So on Christmas, I found him in the living room with a big red ribbon over his cage! I was so happy I cried.
That night, I found him sleeping on his side with his paws and feet stretched out.
The next the morning, he didn't look like he was breathing so I went to tell my dad. When he moved Mel, Mel didn't actually change his position: he was stiff. I knew that my poor bunny was dead. I cried most of that morning, so my Mom looked on www.ksl.com to look for more Holland Lops (keep in mind, those are the smallest breed of loppy-eared rabbits) for sale. We found a lady called Kim that lived clear in Pleasant Grove! So my mom called her and asked, "My daughter's rabbit just died so we're looking for a new Holland Lop. Do you have any?" And Kim said "Oh, yes, we have the sweetest little lops here. Come down here and look at them!" So, my mom and I drove 3 WHOLE HOURS down to Pleasant Grove to see the bunnies. When we finally got there, Kim said, "They may be a little bigger than you expected." When we went to see them, they were huge! Mom asked, "Are these Holland Lops?" But Kim said, "No, these are French Lops," I held the one that we saw on the www.ksl.com blog and she was the sweetest bunny I have ever seen or held. She let my put her on her back and rub her belly like a dog. Mom, however, was boiling up, but she didn't show it. "When I called you on the phone, I asked for Holland Lops and you said that you had some." Kim casually responded, "Nope, I didn't say anything like that. These are French Lops." Right, she said LOPS not Holland or French. So then Kim went to go get the mother of the baby bunnies. When she brought her out, Mom and I just burst out laughing because she was just so ENORMOUS! Kim had to hold her with both ARMS on her back. I held the mom and her entire body took up my lap! At that point, I knew that either Kim was a smart liar or she really didn't know the difference between the small and cuddly Holland Lop to the big and enormous French Lop. It was like driving to Idaho and saying you wanted a Chihuahua but you went to look at Great Danes. Eventually, I just said that they were too big for me to handle. But Kim - Oh, no! She wouldn't take no for an answer! She said, "Oh, get these instead! They're like house rabbits and you won't have to worry about tripping on them!" At that point, we just decided to leave.
Mom was completely letting out her anger in the car. She called my Dad and told him to look on www.ksl.com again for another rabbitry (a place that sells rabbits). He found a man in West Valley called Don that sold Holland Lops, Lionheads, and other sorts of rabbits. So we drove there and he actually had Holland Lops! I found a really adorable dark orange one with gray partly on his belly and sides and also with white on the main part of his belly and under his neck. We decided to buy him. When we drove home, I decided to call him Maverick. Today, he his still living and is just the calmest bunny ever! When you put his nose close to yours, he licks it!

Well, that's what I got for Christmas!
Rylee

2008 - A YeAr iN ReViEw

2008-12-20T14:04:00.001-08:00

Okay well I have not blogged in awhile. This year is closing up and I am busier than ever. I wanted to send out a family newsletter with my christmas cards this year and well that idea got overwhelming as you can see because I barely have time to blog. So I thought I would do my year in review on this blog and my family and friends can view it.
Steve is hanging in there at Orbit. He was just transfered to the South American accounts because of his spanish. He hopes he may get a chance to travel there. He is the ward welfare specialist along with teaching the high priests. If you know Steve you know he loves to teach. Angie is going on one year as the primary president and loves being involved with the kids and the teachers she gets to work with. She is working with Dr. Gordon still and started working for Summit Hand Therapy in May. Summit Hand Therapy is a new practice run by one of our best friends. She enjoys doing billing for both practices. Angie's sister Natalie and her husband Kevin welcomed twin identical boys so that was very eventful on the Ahlmer side of things. On the Jensen side we had a couple of firsts. The first grandkids to..... Brittney had a baby boy Jaxon and Gavin left on a mission to Pusan Korea. Those are the oldest grandkids and Charlie is one of the youngest so we will be experiencing a lot of events as everyone grows up. We have been busy this year taking trips which included places we have never been. We went to San Francisco, Grand Canyon, Surprise Arizona, Midway, St. George. It was beyond fun to get the chance to visit Angie's parents for Thanksgiving this year because they have been living in Arizona for almost 4 years now and we have never been there. We got to help them set up for Christmas and enjoy a wonderful relaxing time going out to eat and seeing movies. We also visited a local zoo which by the way had Meerkats so Rylee was in heaven, but when is Rylee not in heaven at a Zoo. Angie's parents were so generous and Spencer's was up from UofAZ so it was fun to hear about college life.

Rylee won first place in the Reflections contest at school in Theatre and Art and got a honorable mention in her poetry. She was the only girl to enter 4 categories. She is growing up fast. There is a picture I posted of her texting on a cell phone wearing sunglasses. She had Parker take the picture and she showed me how mature she is getting. I offered to give her our old cell phone (which is not a dinosaur yet) and she said no thank you I will just wait until I can get a razor thin one that takes picutres. Oh boy I am in for it. That little comment prompted a entire FHE on gratitude and apprecaition. Kids these days. Cooper has turned out to have quite an athletic ability. We enjoyed watching Soccer and baseball and we are looking forward to basket ball games starting in January. He is doing so well in school and I sometimes fear he is not being challenged. He is really good at Math and is a social butterfly (can you call boys butterflies?) He comes in the house with a group of boys they eat a ton of snacks then leave to anothers house. He is the peacemaker in the family and is a wonderful brother and caretaker. Parker is by far the most interesting boy I know. I did a post about him awhile back so I will not go on and on but one of his newest interests is the weather channel. He is facinated by weather. He also came home from school the other day with his friend and decided to shovel all the neighbors driveways and sidewalks. It took him about 4 or so hours and he never quit. He is still into Transformers and is doing so well in Kindergarten. He loves to read and is making wonderful progress. Charlie.............well he is three and challenges my patience everyday. He is a daddy's boy. Steve can do no wrong in Charlie's eyes. He is a little tease and will run by his brothers and slap them and keep running. He has taken some brutal punishments from his brothers but that does not stop him. Even with all his little three year old ways he is darling and says really cute things. We were sitting in the car after church waiting for Parker to finish with the garbage and Charlie looked at me and said," I want Jesus to give me a hug right now. I want him to come in his car right now and get out and give me a big hug and love me." So I know there is a tender loving spirit in that little spitfire. What I can say through reflecting on my year is I love my family. They are beautiful, healthy, smart, interesting people who we have the privilege to raise and get back to their Heavenly Father. We have had good times this year and we hope this continues. What is most important in our life is the Gospel of Jesus Christ and our testimonies are strong and we hope our children grow to make this important in their lives and follow the wonderful examples of our many friends and family who we love to be around and learn from. We are so grateful for our friends and family that do so much for us and give us a very fulfilling life with great adventures and heart to heart talks. We love being apart of your lives and want to wish you a very Merry Christmas and a happy 2009.

I know these pictures are random so if you don't know who some of them are let me enlighten you. Gavin is flexing his muscles, Parker climbing the light pole on our street (did I say raising 3 boys poses challenging) Brittney with baby Jaxon, Natalie's family with the new twins. Angie's dad with the boys, Parker "helping" decorate Angie's parents house, Angie's mom being her fun self.

I left my heart in San Francisco

2008-10-29T16:30:00.000-07:00

We had the best time in San Francisco! It was beautiful weather and the kids hardly complained about all the walking. We saw all we could in one day. The one thing I wanted to do was ride a trolley and Parker through a fit when I told him it was not going to happen. He stopped crying when I told him we would ride "Front Runner" when we got home. Wow! I wish I was satisfied that easily. We went to Pier 39 to see the sea lions and take some nice shots of Alcatraz. We saw one sea lion and the kids were freaking out, then we turned to corner and there was literally 150 or more. Parker's exact words at that moment were "holy sh@*t". I want to say that was not a proud parenting moment. I want you all to know that must have come from a movie that Steve let him see that I was against. We had clam chowder at the Wharf and ice cream at Ghirardehli. We just had the best time with our friends and all 7 kids that we had with us.

The Family Roadtrip begins

2008-10-29T14:58:00.000-07:00

YEAH!!!!!! We are on our way!!!! We took a pretty spontaneous trip with good friends Sam and Melissa DeLong to Northern California from Oct 15th-19th.

So first off we started off on our 10 hour caravan to Northern California to stay with Sam's sister Lisa. Gary and Lisa were so kind and welcoming. After a little while I really felt like I was staying at one of my own family's house. She cooked for us and was the best hostess. The boys got to watch a BYU game. The house was spacious and you could hardly tell the kids were around. They were having a rock wall put into the side of their property so lets say Parker was done right there. I love the picture below I took of him as he saw the excavator arrive. They had wild turkey's in their yard and a pet rabbit, 2 dogs, 2 cats. Rylee said she never wanted to go back home. The boys all played basketball and we played games and ate treats all night. Some of our excursions were going to the Folsom Zoo and driving through the most amazing canyon and stopping at Sutter's Mill the first place they found gold in California on our way to Apple Hill. Apple Hill is about a hundred orchards with a farmer's market atmosphere. We treated ourselves to apple cider donuts, carmel apples, fudge and boxes of apples and asian pears. I also brought home pure apple juice which I think fermented on the drive home and had a carbonated appeal. Steve loved it and so did the kids. Next adventure was a drive to SanFrancisco, but we stopped at the Jelly Belly factory for a tour of the bean making factory and of course bought a bag O' beans for the drive. Juicy Pear is my fav. Steve loves the Orange Crush flavor, does that surprise anyone???? The picture of Ronald Reagan is made completely of Jelly Beans. They had a whole art gallery of different pictures. It was pretty amazing. After that tour I will never eat a jelly bean the same way.
We were able to stop at the Sacramento Temple on the way back from Apple Hill and take a couple of pictures.

5 things about me tag

2008-10-24T14:13:00.000-07:00

My cousin Sarah tagged me so here it goes!

What I was doing 10 years ago:

1. Married 3 1/2 years

2. Living in a Basement Apartment

3. Working Part time for Dr. Gordon

4. Dressing my 18month old daughter up as a lion

5. Showing Dalmatians

Things on my to-do list:

1. Box up summer clothes for the kids

2. Do final draft of Primary Program

3. Take my kids to the pumpkin patch, then carve all night

4. Edit the billing slip for Summit Hand Therapy!

5. Kiss my husband

Snacks that I enjoy:

1. Asian Pears

2. Nachos!!!!!

3. Sushi rolls

4. Dried Mango (from Costco)

5. Peanut M&Ms

5 Things I would do if I were a millionaire:

1. Buy a vacation house to share with all I love.

2. Travel so many places and pay for my friends to go with me.

3. Dress well

4. Set up my kids education

5. Pay tithing

5 places I've lived:

1. North Ogden, Utah

2. Layton, Utah

3. Clearfield, Utah

4. Clinton, Utah

5. The End

Jobs I've had:

1. Ahlmer Construction and Development

2. Matrixx Marketing

3. Ronald Gordon, M.D. (current)

4. Fancy Pants Designs

5. Summit Hand Therapy (current)

Parker 's thoughts on Mom.

2008-10-22T19:18:00.000-07:00

1. What is something that mom always says to you?

You are the best.

2. What makes mom happy?

Saying thank you for the dinner.

3. What makes mom sad?

That I hate you.

4. How does your mom make you laugh?

Tells me a funny story.

5. What was your mom like as a child?

Nice to her parents

6. How old is your mom?

7. How tall is your mom?

8. What is her favorite thing to do?

Take me to bed?

9. What does your mom do when you’re not around?

Whatever she wants.

10. If your mom becomes famous what will it be for?

Decorating for Halloween.

11. What is Mom really good at?

Cooking.

12. What is mom not very good at?

Doing tricks.

13. What does mom do for her job?

Talk to people.

14. What is your mom’s favorite food?

Pizza.

15. What makes you proud of mom?

That she is the President at church.

16. If mom was a cartoon character who would she be?

Sandy on Spongebob.

17. What do you and mom do together?

Play fun stuff.

18. How are you and mom the same?

We share with each other and love each other.

19. How are you and mom different?

She is a girl and I am a boy.

20. How do you know mom loves you?

She hugs me and kisses me.

21. What does mom like most about dad?

That he talks to her.

22. Where is mom’s favorite place to go?

Sea World

Indy, the subject of reflection

2008-10-22T19:07:00.000-07:00

Rylee is practicing her photography. She entered this picture she took of Indy for her reflections contest this year. Last year she did a poem and a drawing and won in both categories. The school had no idea what this did for her motivation to win again. Generally you only enter one entry because to many children this is a optional homework assignment. No not my Rylee, amongst all her other homework assignments, piano, activity days, chores ect. She has this burning desire to win again. She entered in 4 categories this year. She wrote a story, did photography, drew a picture and did a poem. I bet your wondering what was common in all those entries. You guessed it ANIMALS. I have a girl with a one track mind.

The Missionary Experience ala Primary

2008-10-22T18:38:00.000-07:00

Okay I have not blogged for awhile.....been a little busy. I wanted to post our Primary party that we had in September because I was really proud of how it turned out. We started out by giving the children all personal mission calls that resembled real mission calls. They were called to report at the MTC aka the church at 9:00 a.m. on Sept 19, 2008. You can see the picture of Parker on the left. They got their badges and a colored circle that would indicate the country they would be serving their mission. We had members from our ward teach about the country the served and about being a missionary. First up we gathered to play some games in the gym. They had a "pack your suitcase" relay. That was really fun to watch. They had to open the suitcase and put on a suit or dress and carry their scriptures across the gym then run back and take it off for the next person.

Then there was a companion game. Where they had to link arms and go around chairs without letting go of arms. (Truth be know Steve made up this game last minute while we astalled to stay on time.)
Bishop Child and Brother Jones were the pilot and co-pilot. They cracked me up and totally played the part to the "T" We are so lucky to have them. I am having a hard time arranging these pictures so bear with me. I was the flight attendant with my counselors and we served juice and crackers on a rolling tray while they sat on the plane. I also showed them the exits and asked them to buckle up. The airplane would land in different countries and the kids would exit the plane according to their colored stickers. Steve did Argentina and served Dulce de Leche with apples and animal crackers. He loved talking about his mission. We also had Austria, Chile and Korea. We had a pretty good turn out about 50 kids and I hope all the kids got excited about serving missions and I loved seeing them in their sunday clothes with missionary tags on.

Pooping Paradox

2008-09-19T18:54:00.000-07:00

Okay so potty training is not going well. It could be the stubborn little guy that we are trying to tell what to do that is the problem. I just know this is not going to work until it is completley his idea. Anyway I thought I would share a funny story that happened at Grandma's house today. Grandma Jensen is my biggest supporter of the potty training (maybe its because she is sick of changing poopy pants) so she keeps me from giving up. Story begins as Grandma put Charlie in underwear today and told him:

Grandma: Okay Charlie tell me when you have to go and we will go in the toliet.

Charlie: Okay I have to go.

Grandma: Good job! Now don't pee or poop in your pants or on the blanket or on the floor, just tell me and we will go in the potty.

LATER ON

Grandma: Charlie do you have to go?

Charlie ( pointing) No Grandma I went pee here. I went poop there but don't worry I scooped it up and put it in the toliet already.

Sure enough evidence was there on him and the carpet. YUCK- Grandma I love you!!!!! Thanks for loving my boy too!

At least he cleaned up right????

Utah State Fair

2008-09-15T10:45:00.001-07:00

We ventured off to the State Fair spontaneously as our friends the Jones's called and said lets go, lets go right now. We are currently watching our friends kids while they soak up the sun in Florida. (their cruise got cancelled because of the hurricane) So we took everyone (a little risky) and went to the fair.

They had the cutest interactive little farm. The kids got baskets and did a different activity at each station. Then we went down this big slide on potato sacks. I went down with the kids while Steve took Rylee to a Tiger show. So sorry no pictures of us going down.

Here is the group. Yes.......that is a lot of kids and it was a little stressful keeping track of where everyone was, but the kids had fun because of course, they have no worries ever.

Here is Nicole and I digging into a deep fried PB&J. It was all the hype and we waited in line forever to get that and the deep fried Oreos. Okay so everyone must know that I have a thing for the deep fried anything. Not that it is good for the buttocks (see the pig) but you gotta try it once.

Paintball Terrorists

2008-09-15T10:14:00.000-07:00

These pictures actually look a little scary. Can you tell I'm smiling?? Ha ha. We went up into the wilderness to shoot and scheme aganist our goood friends. For our friend Kevin Jones's birthday he wanted all his friends to go paintballing. Just some friendly fire right well as you will see below the men are much more aggressive and they are the ones with the injuries. I did get a welt on my shoulder and an on my radial nerve which gave me an electric shock when it hit. It was all very fun and a such a rush. I would be laying down in the brush like I was hunting (brings back memories dad) being quiet thinking to myself, I am going to have to get shot to get out of this game. Then I would get bored because I could not see anything moving so I would army crawl to a new place. Of course eventually I would get risky and that of course results in multiple shots in my direction. I wanted to thank Kevin for all the work that went into getting this put together and all the clean up he had to do afterward to the guns (I had no idea or I would have helped) Enjoy our pictures.

Here is the girl team, Jen, Holly, Nicole, Melissa, ME.
OUCH!!!!!!!!
Yes that is Steve's gut. For a more flattering pic go to Holly and Brett's blog

We really enjoyed sitting around and eating and visiting and watching the wounded return to base. The picture above is Nicole and her twin sister Cami. They had fun friends too.

Neighborhood Rickshaw

2008-08-29T10:30:00.001-07:00

There goes my Parker using his noggin again. He loves to pull things behind his bike. He took my bike trailer and fashioned it to his bike and took his little brother and the Jex girls around the block. They loved it. Last night Cooper pulled the wagon behind his bike and Parker had the bike trailer and I had him make some deliveries for me. Like a bag of clothes to DeLong's and some garbage bags to the garbage can. He also just took our camping chairs for a neighborhood jaunt. So if your kids are bored and you see the Rickshaw out and about stop him and ask for a ride he would love it.

Rylee finally starts school!

2008-08-29T10:20:00.000-07:00

Rylee could not wait for school to start. She has been so excited it has been hard for her to contain. She got up at 6:00 a.m. (never happens any other day, she is starting to sleep in till 10am so I know those teenage hormones are brewing) and cleaned her roon (another rarity) had a shower, ate breakfast and waited until 8:30am. Needless to say after school she crashed and took a nap (also never happens) So I am bewildered with my new girl. I know it will only be like this until the routine gets old and school is not as exciting but I will take it for now.

She has the same teacher as last year. They moved her up to 6th grade so we are over the moon. Mrs. Orton loves that class and she knows their strengths and weaknesses and how they all think so it will be a head start already. As many of you know Rylee is in a gifted class and this year they have a pilot math program from the College of William and Mary. She will be doing rational numbers and Alegbra mostly this year. She has a wonderful class full of sweet kids and so many involved parents. It has been a wonderful experience having her in Spectrum. I get nervous to feed her to the wolves in Jr. High so I will not wish away this next year and enjoy my daughter's wonderful innocent take on life.

Just the right Size

2008-08-28T07:03:00.000-07:00

I just have to post a thank you to Steve's parents. I just love them and all they do for me. They watch my boys once a week while I work and my boys could not be more excited to wake up on that day. They are always met with kisses and hugs. Charlie walks in and asks for eggs because he loves to help or watch Grandma or Grandpa make them. Even if he has already eaten breakfast for the day. Today, while eating his cereal Parker looked at me and said,

Parker : "Mom, I am really lucky to have Grandma Jensen hah. "

Me: "Yes you are"

Parker: " She is a good size for a Grandma"

Me: "What do you mean?"

Parker: " I am just saying she is a good size and a good color"

He is so in love with Grandma Jensen and just respects Grandpa, because he knows Grandpa can fix anything. He always lets my boys go out to watch him or let them help him with a project and it makes me thankful that my boys get to have that special time with Grandpa. My boys are so loved when they go over and always tell me the interesting things they did that day, like pick a bucket of apricots while climbing the apricot tree. I guess I am just contemplating on how thankful I am for the loving Grandparents they are to my kids.

I'm the Mom!

2008-08-27T19:48:00.001-07:00

This picture (taken at San Diego Zoo) explains it all. I love my children first off. They all have very strong personalities for sure. All fighting endlessly for the alpha position in our family. Charlie sometimes fighting till near death. I sometimes look at Charlie and think what kind of Spirit General lives in that tiny little frame, frustrated by his place in the family. Trying to rule and direct our lives. I frequently give myself pep talks telling myself that "You are the Mom and are much stronger and bigger than him, don't let him get away with that." Just saying this out loud (on this blog) for the world to read makes me feel weak, but I am sure you all have similar battles you fight some better than others. I want to direct him in a positive way with patience and love and I try everyday. I do want to say that I am taking a step towards this. Charlie asked for a fruit snack, I hate to buy these because all it leads to is addiction and crying and my friends know because he knows where in your pantry you keep them (Lindsey, Kristie). So I gave him one and immediatley he asks for two. I say no just one and he throws himself on the floor and kicks my leg and screams for another one. I told him to stop he was not getting another one. He continues and I took the one I gave him away and told him if he could not be happy with one then he gets none. I dealt with the screaming and crying for awhile longer ignoring him and he gave up. I felt so good for not giving him a chance to bargin for a better attitude I gave him a short painful lesson and it was over. The next day we repeated this event with an OREO and again I stopped at only one. Today there was success as he asked for his afternoon treat and said Thank you for getting only one. YEAH I felt the power of being MOM! I am in charge. I have started being short and sweet with my directions sticking to it with all the kids. Its not that I am a push over I am just a sucker for a sweet deal my kids give me. Like, Mom if you let me have one more I'll.. do this or that, or I will get that chore done after I play with my friends....I have worked so hard in school today and I just want some fun". Somehow that chore doesn't seem to get done in the chaos of the bedtime schedule. Then I have all of these bargins falling through and I am out of energy to insist they are all completed at the end of the day. So for now I am sticking to: Do this for me then we will talk about whats in it for you, no exceptions, no guilt trip. Cooper for sure would be an amazing lawyer he has endless deals and bargins for him to gain more time or things for himself, and debates his point of view with me until I end of giving into his promises. He many times follows through so I do listen to his sugar coating, but its the times that he does'nt that makes me think I need to be more consistent as to not create people that don't live up to their word. Parker has it down, " Mom can you get me a drink....I'll call you beautiful if you do." Teaching my kids to do things indepentantly instead of me running around being a slave is a whole other story. Boy being a parent is so complicated, we have to always be thinking of how our actions will raise future grown ups. So I send this post out mostly for my own therapy.

Bald can be Beautiful!

2008-08-17T18:18:00.001-07:00

I don't even know where to start..... I was cutting Steve's hair like I normally do and I had to run upstairs to stop kids from a death match. I set the razor down and headed up the stairs. Steve picked up the razor and said to me as I ran up the stairs. " I am just going to get the parts you always miss. He does this sometimes because he thinks I don't get up high enough on one side. NORMALLY the guard is still on the razor but because I was in the middle of changing them to a new size when the fight broke out I just left it there for my return. Rylee looked up from the computer and said "Dad what are you doing! You are shaving your head!" Steve you really should not cut your own hair without a mirror. I came down and could not believe my eyes. How would I fix all his beautiful curly locks??? How would I blend this disaster????? We tried but in the end just shaved it all off while I bawled my head off ( that really annoyed Steve that I was crying).

This morning heading off to church with his new bald head. I never thought I would ever get a chance to say this but he has a nice looking scalp.

Backyard Campout 2008

2008-08-17T17:57:00.001-07:00

This is our annual Backyard Campout. All of Steve's brothers and sisters come for family time in the backyard of Steve's parents house. We set up tent's and trailers and have dutch oven dinner and scary stories by the fire while we roast marshmellows. This year it was minus the fire due to high winds. But Steve still told an amazing ghost story garanteed to have kids wet their sleepbags. We were warm and comfy but due to the wind blowing our tent around we did not sleep at all. The next day we had a pinata and water balloon games with the 15 grandkids that were able to come. We sure missed Darin and Donna and Nicole and Curtis's families and we hope they will be able to come next year.

Here is a cute pic of the dutch oven dinner with the cousins. Here is a picture of Steve's sister Sheri and her daughter Brittney and Brittney's son Jaxon. The family gets bigger every year. When I married into Steve's family she was just 6! Boy time flies.
Rylee was asking for it. Don't cross the grown ups in a water fight they are stronger and bigger than you. - Just a little advice for the kids in the next water fight

Ahhh the good ole donut eating race. Powdered donuts on a string, tastiest race for kids and the adults.

Good Food and Fun! That is what a family campout means to us.

The Smell of Freshly Sharpened Pencils is in the air.

2008-08-17T17:43:00.000-07:00

Ahhh the school year begins and back on schedule the Jensen's become. The end of a crazy summer and on to routine and focus. My boys started school Aug 11 because they are in year round and that means Rylee gets a few weeks of piece and quiet without them before she starts on Aug 25th. Parker is in Kindergarten and Cooper is in third grade. Cooper is in Mr. B's class and he will be making all new friends because there is not one person from any of his previous classes in there. But no worries making friends is not one of Cooper's weaknesses. He is having a great time.
Kindergarten is the best grade ever. Paint, beads and teachers who talk like they are as innocent as the children what could be better. Mrs. Shaw is excited to have Parker and he did really well on his assessement. I sat accross the room while she tested him and she asked him to count and stopped him at 50 because that was impressive enough for the assessement. I had to wipe an unexpected tear off my face because he struggled to count past 10 last year. He is much more ready for Kindergarten this year.

He also had to show everyone his "Transformer" shirt that he wore for the first day of school and told Mrs. Shaw all about them, and she knew all about Optimus Prime, I am really going to love her and so is Parker.

I've been Tagged!

2008-08-11T10:38:00.000-07:00

A.ATTACHED OR SINGLE? Attached for 13.5 years now!
B. BEST FRIEND? Steve, I could be around him 24/7 and still love him.
C. CAKE OR PIE? Pie but is has to be a cream pie.
D. DAY OF THE WEEK? Saturday - Steves home and we get stuff done or just have fun.
E. ESSENTIAL ITEM? Victoria Secret lip gloss
F. FAVORITE COLOR? Green its clean and its nature
G. GUMMY BEARS OR WORMS? Ewww not a gummy kinda girl...pass
H. HOMETOWN? North Ogden Utah
I. INDULGENCE? Nachos - don't get me started

J. JANUARY OR JULY? July because it just a party month. Busy and warm (I love warm)
K. KIDS? Cooper (8), Parker (6), Charlie (3), and Rylee (11)
L. LIFE ISN'T COMPLETE WITHOUT? Kids, Friends, Family
M. MARRIAGE DATE? January 26, 1995 (anniversary of our first date).
N. NUMBER OF BROTHERS AND SISTERS? 2 sisters 2 brothers
O. ORANGES OR APPLES? Oranges
P. PHOBIAS OR FEARS? Losing a child or Steve. Driving next to Semi truck/trailers.
Q. QUOTE? "Ive' had it I'm going to bed"
R. REASONS TO SMILE? Paychecks, Charlie in a good mood, Steve coming in the door after work
S. SUPERMAN OR WONDERWOMAN? Superman- I would go fly with a muscley man who would'nt!
T. TAG 5 PEOPLE? Mom, Nicole Jensen, Melanie, Kristie, Michele F., Steph W. & Sheena - okay thats more than 5
U. UNKNOWN FACT ABOUT ME? I am a open book so there is nothing unknown about me - as you all know!
V. VEGETABLES? Broccoli salad - I could eat the whole bowl
W. WORST HABIT? Having too much to do and then doing nothing because I'm overwhelmed.
X. X-RAY OR ULTRASOUND? Ultrasound but only if it is negative for anymore babies!
Y. YOUR FAVORITE FOOD? I love everything with lots of flavor - I love to go out to eat!!!!
Z. ZODIAC SIGN? Leo

Catching My Breathe

2008-08-10T18:48:00.001-07:00

What a summer, what an August! We just got back from St. George on Monday, I worked Tues and Weds and then Wednesday night while talking to my Mom on the phone feeling tired and missing her like crazy the door knocked frantically and in my PJ's I could not imagine who this could be this late. I told my mom to hold on someone is at my door I run downstairs to find my parents on my doorstep. What a fabulous surprise!!! They flew in for the blessing of the twins and my cousins wedding. What is more amazing is that my mom kept that a secret from me. Thursday we spent the whole day at Lagoon. So Friday I got to spend time with with my parents, clean up the house and pack up to leave for the ward campout. Too tired and enjoying the company of friends I forgot to take pictures of that, I hate when I do that. Sunday we headed off to the blessing of the twins. My sister is amazing. She bakes her own bread makes apricot jam and takes her kids to the library and works out and reads books! She does this all with a 5 yr old, 3 yr old and TWINS!!!!!! What I love most about Natalie is her spirit. She is genuine and she loves the gospel. She is raising her family so well. I would do anything for her and her family. Here is a picture of us holding those cute little twins Dallin and Dawson. They are getting more and more identical everytime I see them. I just have to look for the double chin of Dallin to tell them apart, but that will change pretty soon.

All is well in Zion

2008-08-10T18:19:00.000-07:00

Zion's National Park! What a day we had there. We love to hike and there are so many trails and places to go there we just have the best time. Of course this is Rylee's heaven...."Mom look a lizard", "Dad is that where the deer drink?", "Mom look at the eagle", " Dad Dad Dad Dad look a wild turkey" Oh we love that girl and the things we do to make her happy. We took a horse back ride this time and words do not describe Rylee's bliss. It was really fun and we took Kaylee our niece/cousin for the ride as well.
We had a picnic in the welcome shade. Parker collected so many rocks and made me take pictures of every one. To spare you all I am only posting one.

Rylee rode on "Freckles the horse and we got to cross the Virgin river.It seems funny to me that I have to take pictures of myself to prove I went on vacation with this family. I guess that is the life of the mom with the camera around her neck.
Cooper rode "Jana" the mule, he got to hold a little whip to make her mind. This was his first ride on a horse or mule. Parker and Charlie could not go so Steve took them on the bus ride and bought them ice cream cones.

Fun in the Hot Sweltering Sun

2008-08-10T17:44:00.001-07:00

We took a family vacation to spend some time with the Jensen clan in sunny St. George. Yes it was hot but we stayed cool in the pool. As family vacations go with kids we ate and swam and ate and swam. My boys played a lot of ping pong and pool. There are so many cousins to play with and so little time. Our condo was right next to the game room and the swimming pool so it was nice to have older kids this trip, they just really ran around having fun with all the family. We went to Tuachan and saw the Sound of Music with Rylee and Cooper and they loved it. We also went to see the movie Walle and Parker was in movie heaven. A show where the world is now garbage and Walle cleans up the garbage......uhhhh perfect. We also headed to Zions and I will do another post of that.Here I am working on a tan while my family swims and plays in the pool.Parker has the best swimming suit! It is a life jacket swimming suit so I never had to worry about him. He loved swimming in the deep end and playing in the waterfall.
What is a Jensen party without endless card games that go on all night. We had two groups going at once.(Above) Nicole, Angie, Gavin (Below) Darin, Donna (On the table) Sean ,Gregg, Steve, Jess

We had so much fun and bonded with everyone again. We can't wait to see you all again soon.

In Parker's Head?

2008-07-29T14:35:00.000-07:00

Recently a friend said to me how interesting it would be to take a look in Parker's head. It's true he is probably unlike any child out there. Parker for one is the hardest worker I have ever met. He loves to have tasks and if you can't give him a challenge he creates one himself. For example he loves the garbage and most of my friends know this. His calling given to him by the Bishop is to empty the garbage after church. He gets the big can on wheels and goes from room to room with the sound effects of a garbage truck. Then he takes them out with the help of Dad to the dumpster. Yes this keeps us at church for a little while but he has never tired of it for the past 11 weeks or so. He empties our garbages at home without being asked sometimes twice a day. He loves to hand wash the kitchen floor, clean up dog poop wash the sliding glass door and vacuum and he has told me he can't decide which one he likes more. When our friend Melissa watches him while I work he loves to sort her laundry into coloreds and whites. The other day he decided to cut the grass with a pair of sissors and got most of the front lawn done or at least edged around all the curbing and 1/2 the lawn. He woke up the other day at 7:00am and came into my room and said to me with gardening gloves "I am going to get the weeding done on the flowers and then I'll have my breakfast." Later on, I was spreading bark around the flower beds and Parker joined me. He was struggling due to a blistered back (his bad mom failed to sunblock him one day as he played without his shirt on) . I told him to stop helping and just watch because I did not want him in pain. He kept struggling and said "Mom stop worring about my pain and just let me help". I don't know what life has in store for him but it is going to make his future employer happy. Parker loves Primary and his best friend Jack DeLong. He thinks that Transformers are real and that they had something to do with the creation. I hope a few more Family Home Evenings can repair the damage. I love his unique spirit and hope I can keep his creative workaholic juices flowing for years to come.

Scouting Triumphs!

2008-07-29T14:23:00.000-07:00

Cooper is doing well in Scouts. He came in on May 28th and already has earned his Bobcat and several arrows. Here he is at the raingutter regata pack meeting getting his Bobcat and arrows. Zac McBride the cubmaster is doing a great job keeping everything together. I appreciate this being the Primary President. I am happy to be invovled in Scouts due to my calling and having Cooper in it is so much fun.We did not win the Raingutter regatta this year but we definately took notes. Thanks for taking the pictures for us McBrides.

We had to hang him upside down to put on his pin then once he does a good service for another at home or school he can turn it right side up. It did not take him long Cooper is very thoughtful helpful boy. Scouting is so fun for him.

Wet and Wild Neighborhood Breakfast

2008-07-19T11:46:00.000-07:00

Here I am bright and early this morning after going to a 10:30 showing last night of the Dark Knight, by the way the Dark Knight is 3 hours long if anyone is planning to go. I got home and to bed at 2:00 a.m. so here I am to get this party started. The Primary in conjuction with the Activities Committee joined forces to put on a neighborhood breakfast and children's parade. The kids showed up with their bikes decorated and ready for a party. Huge thanks to Lindsey Anderson and her committee who took care of food. Lindsey and Natalie worked so hard at her house coming back and forth with eggs and pancake batter ect. I am sure she did not get to eat or enjoy the party...sorry Linds I appreciate all your hard work. We will make sure that does not happen next year.....right. Also thanks to Kevin, Targhee, Corey, Keith, Steve A. Karl, Chad, T.J. and everyone else who stepped into to cook and serve. Steve Jensen.... thanks for being the vice president of Primary I appreciate all your help. Lets get this show on the road, literally.
Keith Nielsen was more than happy I am sure to honk that new horn on his "bike" and lead the way around a few blocks of our neighborhood.

Charlie stands guard over the 800 water balloons we filled up the night before. A lot of people put their fingers on the line for this.
Olivia and Charlotte show off their decorated bikes.
Definately not a good sign when the Bishop shows up in his swimsuit :)

Let the games begin! We had water relays and water volleyball. Then of course that turns into a water fight which was all part of the plan according to the bishop.

Here is a pic after the Bishop hunted me down. But that is nothing compared to how I left the party with my hair soaked and completley drenched head to toe. Thanks to Wayne and Steve!
Its a showdown between the 5 gallon buckets. Rylee is garanteed to lose this one.
Holly takes Lauri for her appointment with the Bishop.

Here is safe ground with the baby club. However, Lindsey did not stay dry for long. We had a great time and I look forward to the other blogs which I am sure will post pictures. Thanks to everyone who came to have a great time. And if there is someone out there that is saying to themselves....."Angie needs to learn how to put a slideshow on the blog so it not so long" please speak up and tell me your tricks.

Day at Dino Park

2008-07-19T11:18:00.000-07:00

Steve and I recently took the kids to Dinosaur Park for a little KFC picnic and some fun. We had a great time and got a few good pictures we thought we would share. Below is a picture of the "World's Most Dangerous Creatures" and we are not kidding about this. Notice Rylee got into full character as usual with some rabid drool......ewwww! When we first got there Charlie was really scared and had a nervous cry because they have speakers in the bushes that play the sounds of dinosaurs. It is pretty realistic. So Charlie had his arms firmly around Steve's neck and would not let go until we did some "posing" with some of these scary creatures and I think he started to realize they were just statues like we were telling him.

Notice that Charlie in this picture still is unsure if that dinosaur is really going to get them.

Rylee is sure growing up and is such a big help to us. She is a wonderful helpful sister.

Christmas in July

2008-07-11T18:03:00.001-07:00

All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth! Well Christmas has come early to the Jensen's. Cooper had a couple of wiggly teeth and spent the day with is cousin Jared. They were swimming in Jared's pool and there was jumping and diving and swimming and then then there were two front teeth floating to the bottom of the pool. So they are both out at the same time which we think is just adorable, don't you think. Cooper is a tongue thruster by nature so he sounds just as cute as he looks.

It is what the Founding Father's would have wanted!

2008-07-11T17:08:00.000-07:00

Oh yes isn't that what the fourth of July brings to mind.....hmmmm how many BBQ's can we get to in one day. Well we had a great time the whole day. We started off with the ever tradional Clearfield parade, I don't think we have missed a year. I am such a cynic when it comes to parades. I really don't enjoy them but my family does. Clearfield's parade is especially annoying to me because everyone stands 20 feet out in the road waiting for all the hard taffy. So I am sure every driver of floats or trucks pulling trailers of cheerleaders are worried about hitting some eager 3 year old diving for a tootsie roll. Plus what is the point of them throwing candy for the kids they can basically just reach out and put it in their bags. Oh well I am going to get a lecture from the more festive side of my family about this bah humbug approach to the start of our holiday. Next, we headed north to my side of the family in North Ogden and visited with long lost cousins, aunts and uncles I have not seen in 3 years. Everyone had new toddlers and babies that we had never met. So below are pictures of the day with the Ahlmer's. I post these pictures for my family all across the country who did not get the opportunity to spend the holiday with us.

Uncle Rex got a new grill and was happy to cook all the meat up that was so nice, he did a great job.

Here is Uncle Rex and Uncle Brent having a humerous chat no doubt, I have always liked to listen to their funny take on life it always makes everyone laugh. (Below) Jayme holding McKenzie and Aunt Margene holding Morgan (Dave and Kristie's twins).
Rylee got a little batting practice in while waiting patiently for her lunch.

Here is Dave with one of his twin girls Morgan.

This is Darin with his little boy Jake. Jake seemed to be all boy into all sorts of things. He was a really curious kid. Karla and Darin have a cute little family now.

This is my cousin Chad with his little girl Darcy. I hope I spelled it right. She will be one year old next month. He is really cute with her, he reminds me of my brother Jay with Maddie.

Kristie is one of my favs I could talk to her all day. She is such a funny girl and she is doing great with twin girls. Her and Dave seem to have a lot of fun with their cute family.There are so many little boys in the family right now. You can see Ryan's little boy in the red shirt his name is Josh and the one jumping out of the pool behind him is Ryan's oldest boy Jack.

Feed us mom we might just waste away!......Next year we are going to bump it up to 3 BBQs just to put some meat on their bones. ha

We finished off the day with another BBQ with friends (food is the first pic of this post) and went to fireworks in Clearfield. Now Clearfield's fireworks are worth it they put on a good show. However, to escape the traditional traffic jam where we usually sit behind Clfd high by the shop we opted for Thai Pan Trading parking lot and missed our usual 1 1/2 hour jam to get to the freeway to get home. Rylee needless to say was beside herself with this change in "tradtion" and pouted for a good hour until we distracted her with a fun game of 20 questions - about animals of course and she forgot her woes in time for the show. So we didn't completely ruin her 2nd favorite holiday.

Weekend of Relaxation

2008-06-29T22:14:00.000-07:00

Okay we had the most enjoyable weekend ever getting away with great friends for a little R&R in Midway, Utah. Pictured below are our friends Sam and Melissa and Nicole and Kevin. We stayed at the fabulous "vacation home" of Sam's sister. Game room with billards, big screen TVs for games and movies. Wonderful kitchen which Melissa took full advantage of cooking us great meals, she is a fabulous cook. I have put a few pictures of our activities but of course we enjoyed ourselves so much and did'nt get a pic of everything we did. We played Singing star, a playstation kareoke game which was so fun......of course singing is fun especially when you are silly in the middle of the night. We went on a bike ride, went to

Park City for shopping and to ride the Alpine Slide and the new Coaster. Alright, if you have not been on the coaster I highly recommend it! You can not fall out and it is like riding the Jet Star at Lagoon down a mountain in your own individual car. SOOOOOOOOOOO fun!! We layed by the pool (sorry no pictures hah) The boys played basketball at the indoor basketball court at the neighborhood clubhouse. We played tennis and also tennis on the Wii. Of course I would not go to bed before 2:30am everynight to fully take advantage of it all. Because we could sleep in without kids poking us and asking for breakfast, that really was the best part. So anyway I will put more pictures on so you can see what a great time we had. Its funny now that I have this blog that I keep thinking....Oh I want to get a picture of that for my blog...... you all know what I am talking about. What a great way to share with everyone the fun adventures we are having at the moment.

ME Melissa Nicole Steve Sam Kevin

I don't know how to arrange pictures on my blog like all you pros do. So bare with me as I learn the ropes at least I am trying. But I have to comment on the above pictures It was definately late at night and Melissa was impressing us with her ability to put as many grapes in her mouth as possible. Sorry Melis I had to put them on.

Above are pics of Park city and Kevin on the coaster and ....well that is me pretending that I know how to play pool. I beat Steve in one game .... but I think he let me win. Well back home to reality. I want to give a big THANKS to my Grandma and Steve's sister Sheri for taking great care of our kids so we could get away and relax. Love ya, Angie

Here Goes Blogging

2008-06-24T14:38:00.001-07:00

Here is our beautiful family, yes we just got pictures taken by our good friend Melissa DeLong so, as you can see, I put up a lot. I am going to learn this blogging thing through a lot of trial and error so things may change as my knowledge improves. I have so much family out of state that blogging is the most efficient way for everyone to know what is happening to us when we are to busy (or lazy) to call or email them. As for friends, well I love to read everyone's blogs and I have friends that are hard to keep in touch with so I really hope this helps. For everyone's enjoyment Steve should might do most of the posting. He has a funny way of putting things and I get creative cramps. Rylee even wants to make some posts of her thoughts and pics so this blog will be pretty random. We will have to sign our names at the end so everyone will know who is writing. So I will get some more stuff going and pictures of recent Jensen Fun!

Ang