The Jensen Family

Christmas 2008

2009-01-04T20:22:00.000-08:00

We had such a great Christmas this year. All three boys really got into the whole experience. As with all little kids, it's hard to get them to think about anything but the presents Santa will give them. As a family, we decided to collect old hats, coats, gloves, etc.. and donated them to the local women's shelter and homeless shelter. They really enjoyed this and they got a taste of the giving part of Christmas.

If you notice in one of the pictures, only Carter and Landan would sit on Santa's lap. Kaleb decided this year that he was too big to do that sort of thing. I think his exact words were, "he's only Santa's helper so why should I even bother." Charming right.

On Christmas Eve Kaleb thinks he fell asleep somewhere around 1am and then woke up at 5:15am. We made him lay back down until 6:15am but by that time they were all awake so we began the madness. By 6:30am, we were all done. Isn't it amazing how fast little kids can open their presents. I think my favorite part was watching them get so excited over every little thing, even clothes. Now I just have to gear up for next year.

Our Lives for the Last Two Months

2008-11-21T08:06:00.000-08:00

First off, I promised my little sister that I would add the comments back onto our blog. Your Welcome Keri! This is going to be a random selection of pictures from the last couple of months. I'm trying really hard to stay on top of life but when you're pregnant (yes, it's true!) I can hardly get my children fed most of the time.

We took the kids bowling and I can't even remember when because I think it's been awhile. Anyway, they loved it and yes, Landan was with us but he wouldn't hold still to take a picture of him

Here are some pictures of Kaleb and his flag football team. This was his first year playing and he absolutely loved it. He says it's his favorite sport so far.

This is Carter on his first day of preschool. He started about two weeks after Kaleb so he was very anxious to go. He loves it. His teacher this year is Mrs. Karen and she's wonderful. I guess that's why she has a two year waiting list to get in.

These ones are an entire post in itself so I'll be brief. Carter decided to teach Landan how to ride the garage door (hanging onto the bottom as it moves up). He got to the very top, panicked and let go. Here we are at the doctors to get an x-ray of his leg because he was limping really bad. Luckily, it was just a sprain. I'm truly surprised this child has not broken any bones yet. I guess there's still time for that.

Some random snip-its: We went to St. George over UEA and we took the boys to a fair thing, we also went to Thanksgiving Point with some friends before Halloween and last, we took the boys to Gardiner Village to see the witches (a yearly tradition).

Finally. . . Halloween pictures. All the boys decided to be characters from Star War. Seriously, how cute does Landan look in that Yoda costume. Kaleb was Obi-Wan and Carter was a Clone Trooper. The last picture is Carter with his best friend McKay. At least McKay has his eyes open.

THE END!!!

Family Pictures 2008

2008-10-24T07:49:00.001-07:00

We had our friend, Lindsey Danley, take our family pictures this year. The first time around, the actual family ones didn't turn out as well because our cute 2 year old would not hold still for even 2 seconds. Luckily, we have a few where everyone is looking at the camera. We don't even require smiles because it's impossible to ask of 3 energetic little boys. I actually like the last family one because it shows what really went on during the process. By the way, we have the cutest boys!

Go Cougs!

2008-08-31T21:29:00.000-07:00

BYU football season is here! We only have two tickets per game but we were lucky enough to score 4 extra tickets for the first game of the year. On top of that, we were right on the 50 yard line, west side (which is shaded) about 20 rows up. It was great. The cougars didn't play their best but they did enough to win and we look forward to many more, and better games this year. I don't think Jake loves this picture of himself but hey, he shouldn't have made that weird face in the first place.

My First Half Marathon

2008-08-29T07:32:00.000-07:00

I ran my first 1/2 marathon a couple of weeks ago. I wasn't sure if I would be ready, but I had a great time. I'm not going to say the last 2 miles were very fun but once you cross that finish line, it's all worth it. Keri (my little sister) was waiting at the the end to take pictures and her batteries died in her camera. So, no pictures! Oh well, this will definitely not be my last 1/2.

Kaleb's First Day of 2nd Grade

2008-08-28T20:00:00.000-07:00

I don't know who was more excited for Kaleb's first day of school, me or him. It's such a comforting feeling to have a child that loves school because you know he's thrilled to be there and learn. The only thing that freaks me out is that he's already in 2nd grade. Where has the time gone?

College Roomies Reunion

2008-08-28T19:33:00.000-07:00

It has been 10 years since the "Gates of Hell" existed. For all of those in the dark, we lived in Gates Hall at BYU and this just happened to be our nickname. It's a little deceiving because we were such a great, fun group of girls. Anyway, we had a great time seeing each other after such a long time. Everyone was married and had a anywhere from 1-4 kids. We're planning another get together in five years and then, New York 2018!!! Thanks girls for such a memorable weekend.

Kaleb Gets His Purple/White Belt

2008-08-01T11:46:00.000-07:00

Kaleb has now earned his purple/white belt in Karate. He's got such wonderful discipline that he just whizzes through all of his skills. He's especially thrilled this time because he can now start sparring. Congrats Kaleb!

Our Fun Family Trip to Florida

2008-07-14T21:13:00.000-07:00

We took our family vacation this summer to sunny Orlando, Florida. Despite it being a little warm, we had such a great time. The best part was that Grandma and Grandpa Evans joined us so their were 4 adults and 3 kids. The odds were definitely in our favor. Unfortunately, even with those odds, we still lost Carter at Disney Hollywood Studios. If any of you parents out there have lost a child, you can vouch that it is the most frightening experience anyone can have. Thank you to the employee that took Carter aside to wait for his parents to find him! Thank you Grandma and Grandpa Evans for joining us. We are grateful to have such quality and quantity time with you. Here are the highlights from our trip:

Disney Animal Kingdom

The awesome pools and fountains at our hotel

Disney Hollywood Studios- The boys got to meet the Power Rangers, watch a live stunt show, see an Indiana Jones show, train to be young Jedi Masters and then we went on a ride called the tower of terror. Well, Carter was barely big enough to go on this ride and I was getting funny looks taking this little kid on it. He loved it, which is funny because I heard a few older kids crying after they got off of it.

GATORLAND- let me explain. This is a place where you get to look at and touch real live alligators and crocodiles. Grandpa Evans even has a picture of the boys and I sitting on a live alligator. I'll try to post it when he emails me his pictures. All I can say is that for little boys, this place is just as great as Disney World

Disney Magic Kingdom- I'm not going to lie, the best part about this day is that we left little Landan (a.k.a.- Mr. Mischievous and that's putting it nicely) at the hotel with Grandma Evans. We were able to go on every ride we wanted and the other two boys had such a great time.

Kaleb's "Harry Potter" 7th Birthday Party

2008-06-13T15:00:00.000-07:00

Kaleb decided he wanted a "Harry Potter" birthday party this year. I thought it would be fun to hold our own tri-wizard tournament. I split them up in two teams and gave them disposable cameras. For the scavenger hunt, every new clue had a different picture to go along with it. The first picture of Tanner is the only one from that group to even have a person in it. I guess that's what you get when 7 year olds are taking the pictures. I actually took the pictures for the other team, so theirs turned out a little better. They also won the scavenger hunt but the other team ended up winning the overall tournament. They had such a great time. My favorite is the last picture because it has most of the kids in it and Carter is throwing a fit. This he did the entire first half of the party because he couldn't "keep up" with the big kids and it really frustrated him.

2008-06-13T14:17:00.000-07:00

After our tri-wizard tournament, we had the kids make their own potions to drink. They mixed different flavors of kool-aid together with names like sleeping potion, and dragons blood and then they added pop rocks to make it fiz and pop. This was a big hit. We sang happy birthday, Kaleb blew out the candles on his cupcakes and they enjoyed the treats. Opening presents was next and last at Kaleb's fun-filled birthday party. Before he could open a present he had to give that person a wish. It was really cute to hear some of the wishes he gave them. My favorite was his wish to Trevor. He said, "I wish we can be best buddies forever." Trevor responded, "We are best buddies and we always will be, so the wish came true." This year he invited Tanner Ritchie, Trevor Bond, Logan Kennard, Evan Hyde, Jake Lively, Caitlin McNaughton and Faith Fitzgerald. He truly has the cutest friends.

My First Triathalon

2008-05-18T21:51:00.001-07:00

I did my first triathalon this weekend, and it was so fun! This first picture is of Keri (my little sister) and I before this race. It was about 6:30 in my morning so I think our faces were still trying to wake up.

This next photo is of the transition area.

Here I am at the finish line holding my darling signs the boys made for me. They said things like, "Mom, you rock" and "You're hot!" They were all so supportive of me. It took a lot of time training for this so I'm giving Jake a personal thanks for the many Saturdays he spent with the boys so I could train.
The last photo is of Keri and I right after I finished. She, of course, finished before me so she probably looks a little more rested than I do. I'm very proud of her because she took first in her age division. I guess everyone that knows her doesn't take that as a surprise. She's amazing. This is just the beginning of me and triathalons!

Kaleb's 1st Grade Program

2008-05-13T11:55:00.000-07:00

The 1st grade at Kaleb's school put on a darling program last week. The theme was "I'm free to be me." They had the kids show different things they could be when they grow-up. Kaleb had a long speaking part and as soon as I figure out my new video camera, I'll upload it. He was also a cowboy in one of the songs. He did a great job!

Spring Break at Sand Hallow

2008-04-15T21:43:00.001-07:00

We went to Sand Hallow in Hurricane, UT (about 10 minutes from St. George) for our spring break. This was the first time taking out the trailer and I would definitely say it was a success. We had a blast! Kaleb got to drive the 4-wheeler by himself (I road with him). Landan would stick on his huge helmet and keep it on forever. It was really cute. Here are our highlights: Eating lots of junk food, playing Uno every night, swimming at the aquatic center, going to a movie and Landan surviving the entire thing, major wind storms that kept us awake at night, 4-wheeling, playing on the beach, making smores and having a great time together!

2008-04-15T21:18:00.000-07:00

The boys favorite day by far, was the day at the lake. We drove the 4-wheeler and motorcycle down and then hung out the rest of the day. Kaleb decided that he was going to get as gross and dirty as possible, and I think he did a pretty good job. Carter tried as well and did great for a 4-year-old. Landan was in heaven because he's my child that would sleep outside if I let him. Even in the dead of winter, he wants to be outside. Our only casualty was Landan's burn on his face. Opps!

2008-04-15T21:07:00.000-07:00

For some reason, every night at our camp ground it was blowing so hard that we couldn't make a fire. Finally, on the last night, our boys got the camp fire they so badly wanted. They had a great time helping Jake make the fire, especially Landan. I think he carried around a piece of wood all night. Then he decided to give the wood away so he shared some with the people camping next to us and with Kayla (our white lab). Carter doesn't love smores like Kaleb but he had fun making them and then burning them in the fire. I think Kaleb had about 5 or 6 smores. It was the perfect end to a fun camping trip.

Kaleb Getting His Orange Belt

2008-04-15T20:54:00.000-07:00

Getting his orange belt was a crowning moment in Kaleb's life. He worked really hard and I've never seen him take to something as much as he has to Karate. Behind him is his sensi, Mani. His goal is to make it all the way to black belt, and he is such a disciplined kid, he just might make it.

The Natural History Museum

2008-04-15T20:42:00.000-07:00

Kaleb had another day off of school so we decided to go to the Natural History Museum at the UofU. They found this footprint of a dinosaur and wanted to see how big they were compared to it. Notice the orange belt, Kaleb will only take it off when he has to. He's so proud, and we are of him as well, but I hope the novelty wears off soon. They also found this hut that has a secret passage-way in and out. Needless to say, we spent a lot of time going in and out of it.

Easter

2008-03-30T19:30:00.000-07:00

We had a great Easter this year. When the boys woke up the Easter Bunny had left a lot of eggs around the house for them to find. After they found the eggs, they went through their Easter baskets to see what goodies they had. We went to church and after we went to Andrea and Dan's house for some Jensen festivities. We had dinner and then the little kids had another Easter egg hunt in the backyard. Needless to say, they received a lot of candy that day and I think Carter ate his all by the next day.

Landan's idea of cleaning

2008-03-29T21:27:00.000-07:00

We were doing our usual Saturday cleaning, and Landan wanted to use the 409 that Carter was using. I nicely told him that he couldn't and that was that. I few minutes later I noticed him squirting the chair with something. He had gone into our shower and taken out the shower cleaner to clean with. He is a very resourceful and smart child!

Landan's favorite thing!

2008-03-29T21:18:00.000-07:00

I'm not kidding when I say that Landan's favorite thing to do is shovel snow. He could go for hours if I let him. He's very protective of "his" shovel and if his brothers touch it, he'll take them down.

Sledding at Soldier Hollow

2008-03-29T21:09:00.001-07:00

Every year Heber/Midway have a community sledding night. This was probably our 4th time sledding this year. Kaleb was having too much fun with friends that he wouldn't stop for a picture. The other boys would and how cute are they?

Landan in True Character

2008-03-19T14:54:00.000-07:00

I never take pictures of my kids bums but this was so funny I had to. I had just changed Landan's diaper and he decided to go outside to pee. Well, his idea of peeing is standing and making a "pussst" sound with his mouth. Of course he had to put in his cowboy boots because he can't go out in the freezing cold without them. I guess his bum can handle the cold weather better than his feet.

Dinosaur Museum at Thanksgiving Point

2008-03-19T14:48:00.000-07:00

Kaleb had a day off of school, so we decided to go to the dinosaur museum at Thanksgiving Point. If you have never been there I would say it's a must see. They had so much fun. They also have these great 3-D movies and all three boys were mesmerized (that's saying a lot because Landan hardly holds still for anything).

Ahoy! Carter turned 4!

2008-03-19T14:37:00.000-07:00

Carter decided that he wanted a pirate party this year. First, we made these fun invitations and rolled them up and put them in root beer bottles. It really turned out cute. He wanted cupcakes instead of a cake, so we made a tower of pirate cupcakes. When the kids first arrived we had them make telescopes to use on a treasure hunt. The treasure hunt was a hit and at the end they got a great "booty" of candy and toys (Kaleb read all the clues since he's the only that can read). They ate their cupcakes, Carter opened his presents and the rest of the time they played with all their fun new stuff. I have to admit, I even had fun. His friends that came were: Mckay Ritchie, Lauren Hall, Cecily Rowland, Annie Willey, Bo Lively, Luke Lundberg and Sage Danley.

"Jack and Jill"

2008-03-17T12:33:00.000-07:00

In December, Carter had nursery rhyme day at preschool. He and his friend Annie (whom he says he is going to marry) went as Jack and Jill. He also memorized "Jack jumped over the candlestick."

Beautiful Maui

2008-03-17T12:15:00.000-07:00

Here are some random pictures showing the true beauty of Maui. I especially love the picture of Jake taking a picture because he spent a lot of time behind that camera lens.

Maui- The Road to Hana

2008-03-16T21:48:00.000-07:00

The road to Hana is one of the best (and most tiring) attractions in Maui. It takes 3 hours each way and it's curve after curve the whole way. There are many beautiful waterfalls on the way and we took advantage of that. The first one we found, we (Keri, Taylor and I) decided we'd jump off it. It was really fun. Once we got near the top, we were so tired that the three of us took a nap on the black sand beach while Jake took pictures of us and our surrounding landscape. The seven sacred pools are at the top of the road and they are spectacular. Keri decided to take a picture of a man in a speedo and right when she took it, Jake put his arm in the picture. So, he is wearing a speedo although the photo makes if look like we're censoring him.

Maui February 2008

2008-03-15T17:25:00.000-07:00

Jake and I had the wonderful opportunity of going to Maui without the boys. We missed them tons, but we also got to do a lot of fun adult things. Keri (my little sister) and her husband, Taylor, joined us and we had a great time. This was the day we biked Haleakala, a volcano. We woke up at 2:30 am so we could get to the top to see the sun rise. Unfortunately, we were there one of eight days during the year that it's too cloudy to see the sun rise. We still had a blast biking down. During the last 5 miles it started to POUR rain and at the end we were soaking wet. I loved it.

Family Pictures October 2007

2008-03-15T09:23:00.001-07:00

I guess the best way to start a blog is with our current family pictures. Our good friend Heather Carr took these for us while we were visiting Sacramento in October. She does such a great job. Here's a brief synopsis of the Heber Jensens: Jake is currently working on the MTC project, Kim is boy chasing everyday, Kaleb loves 1st grade and he almost has his orange belt in Karate, Carter enjoys preschool and loves that he just turned 4, Landan has no idea that he just turned 2 but he loves to act like he's older than that. We're happy and grateful!