The Jensen Family

Easter 2011

2011-05-13T14:24:00.000-07:00


JENSEN BOYS (sadly this is the best photo we could get with all of them:)

A D E L A I D E (her first Easter!)

A D A M

D A V I D

K E L L E R

W E S L E Y

Look at how great that eye looks!

We had a sweet Easter. Wesley went back to church for the first time, it was a beautiful day.

Wesley's Accident

2011-04-25T09:19:00.000-07:00

At the Rexburg ER

His eye was about twice this size (it looks good here because we kept ice on it for quite a while).

On Wednesday evening April 6^th at around 5 I had just finished nursing the Baby when our neighbor Bryce Dobbins (with whom Wesley had been playing basketball outside) came into our house and said: “Your boy is really hurt, I think he’s paralyzed”. I laid baby Adelaide on the floor and ran outside to our back patio to see Wesley lying there. I have never been so afraid as I was at that moment when I first looked at him. . He was screaming out, but unable to speak words. I thought for sure he was a vegetable or had permanent brain damage. One of his eyes was sealed shut and as large as a golf ball. The neighbor reported that Wesley had climbed on a step-latter and jumped up to grab the basketball rim but got snagged and fell on his head. He said that his head made a really loud sound when it hit the cement. Some amazing neighbors the Hansons came over, took the baby, calmed me down and got a blanket on Wesley. A few minutes later Derek arrived. The neighbors offered to stay with the kids while we took Wesley to the emergency room. I asked Derek and Lane Hanson to give Wesley a blessing. Thankfully Wesley had begun to talk and asked over and over where we were going and what had happened. The ER doctor called for an immediate cat scan and we learned that Wesley had fractures in his skull. The doctor explained that the fractures were in a most dangerous location near a major artery in the head and that a famous actress had recently suffered a similar injury and had died from it. Wesley's eye was swollen shut from the impact of the fall and we were also worried that he may lose his sight in that eye. Our small hospital did not have the expertise needed to deal with this sort of injury and the hospital in Idaho Falls did not feel comfortable admitting such a young patient with a fractured skull.

Getting off the first ambulance onto the life-flight

They put us in an ambulance which took us to Idaho Falls and from there on a life flight to Primary Children’s hospital in Salt Lake City. The plane ride was particularly terrifying as I sat behind Wesley in a small space unable to see him. They informed me that they needed him to keep him conscious to ensure that he was ok. I tried to talk to him but struggled to find words or strength to speak. In our rush to decide who should accompany Wesley we determined that I should go and that Derek would follow us to Utah with all the kids but because of the blizzard I called Derek from the ambulance and told him he should probably not drive in the snow so late at night. To make matters worse the blizzard outside, coupled with strong Idaho winds hit against the small plane and caused great turbulence (having issues with both claustrophobia and vertigo I tried so hard to hold it together) . Over and over I prayed for Wesley and that we would not go down in the plane. While the nurse monitored Wesley the medic (who could tell I was crying) was kind enough to talk to me and help me to calm down. Although the plane ride was only 50 minutes long it seemed like an eternity. After arriving at the Salt Lake airport we went from there in another ambulance to Primary Children’s Hospital. The doctors and nurses there were amazing; so competent and so kind. He was checked by several ER doctors who determined that he needed to be seen by the brain trauma specialists and the ophthalmologist. While still in the ER at Primary Children's, one of the trauma Doctors forced Wesley's eye open and asked him if he could see her fingers. I remember the joy that I felt as he said "yes", I was so relieved that he could at least see something with his bad eye. By this time it was past midnight and I asked for a breast pump as I would normally have been at home nursing Adelaide (still recovering from RSV).

This sign was posted all over in the Neuro-trauma unit.

We were admitted into the Nuero-Trama Unit. That night I could hardly sleep. I kept wondering what I could have done differently that day to have avoided the accident. In my mind I saw Wesley lying there and couldn’t get the image of his face out of my mind. I also thought of the irony that I was with Wesley and Derek was at home with the other 4 kids unable to nurse Adelaide. Still I couldn't stop thanking Heavenly Father that Wesley was not worse (still alive, not paralyzed and that he hadn't lost sight in his eye).

The next morning the ophthalmologist dilated and numbed Wesley's eyes so that he could perform vision tests. He said that Wesley had popped a blood vessel behind his eye, and there were 3 fractures in the bones surrounding his eye. After performing the tests he determined that below the bruising and despite the fractures and the punctured blood vessel, he had perfect vision in the bad eye! The major artery that was such a danger did not bleed and there was no permanent brain damage, no other broken bones or even scratches on his body-miraculous! We stayed 2 nights in the hospital until the nurses felt like he was strong enough to leave. Being without a car, Grandpa Jack was kind enough to take us back to Idaho. At home, Derek had held up beautifully, Adelaide still remembered how to nurse and looked great-double miraculous!

We know there are serious risks that Wesley faces. He can't play sports, run, climb, jump, or even blow his nose for several weeks to avoid further bleeding to his eye (which could result in blindness) or a fall (which could cause permanent brain damage on a recovering brain injury. This is torture for Wesley as he is almost never seen without a ball in his hand and was planning to pitch for his little league team this season. But for Mom and Dad we feel it a very small price to pay for all the blessings that have been showered on us. We are so thankful for all the faith and prayers of family and friends and the continued support we feel as Wesley goes through this healing process.

At Easter time I can't help but recognize the scope of the atonement; how it heals both our spiritual and our physical imperfections. Every year on April 6th, we will have a day of remembering, thankfulness, and celebration.

Adelaide's Newborn Photos

2011-02-05T18:58:00.000-08:00

I had my amazingly- talented talented neighbor Chantri Keele take these photos for us. To view the entire photo session go to:

http://chantrikeelephotoproofing.zenfolio.com//p352614594

password: ajensen

Introducing baby Adelaide Joy

2011-01-19T13:51:00.000-08:00

a d e l a i d e j o y j e n s e n

Born: January 2, 2011 (Madison County's New Year's baby)

Weight: 7 lbs 15 oz (our smallest baby)

Length: 19 inches

We are so thrilled to have this sweet little soul join our family.

Adelaide has officially melted the hearts of her 4 older brothers!

*our new camera isn't compatible with our "old" computer,

so we will have to share more pictures when we get a new setup:)

Christmas 2010

2011-01-19T13:20:00.000-08:00

This Christmas we decided to stay in Idaho and take it easy. We had several visitors come our way and we made some sweet memories with our boys.

Baby Girl Shower

2010-12-30T10:03:00.000-08:00

These dear friends threw me a baby shower.

They decorated everything so beautifully.

I was so overwhelmed by the generosity of all those who came!

So many sweet girly gifts!

Even though I had protested having a baby shower for a 5th baby, I was so touched and grateful for the sweet memory of that evening and of all the support of my neighbors and friends.

Halloween and Anniversary Celebrations

2010-11-04T13:55:00.000-07:00

This year for Halloween Wesley was a Padres baseball player, Adam was Elmo, Keller was Batman and David Was a football player (in total he played for 3 teams on 3 separate days).

The week of Halloween was really busy; on Thursday I hosted a preschool Halloween party at our house for Keller's Class, on Friday I volunteered in Wesley and David's classes for their class parties and later that evening we went to a Halloween party at the church (dressed as BYU football fans), the next evening we took the kids trick-or-treating.


For our anniversary this year the kids surprised us by decorating the house with little hearts while we were out to dinner. It was such a sweet surprise. It was so fun to see their little faces as we came home watching for our reaction to their surprise.

Happy Birthday to Baby Adam!

2010-11-04T13:04:00.000-07:00

Adam Celebrated his 2nd birthday on September 7th. What a dear little soul he is turning into. Now that he can talk, he says such charming things (and of course a few very naughty things too). He is very thankful and never misses a chance to say "thank you", I then say "you're welcome" to which he responds: "you're welcome". When he is in a really good mood it seems the answer to every question is (in a sweet tone): "Yes". The answer to everything is "no" when he's missed a nap, or feeling grumpy. He is adored by his older brothers who teach him how to make forts in the basement, play football and be "tough". Little Adam is such a sweet little prince and so much fun to be around!

Here is a picture of Adam with the one present he got (with funds donated by both sets of Grandparents and Mom and Dad)

Some of Adam's hobbies include drawing.....

Helping to clean up.....

And hanging out with Mom (I am hoping he does ok with the new baby coming in January!)

Back to school

2010-11-04T12:50:00.000-07:00

I always have mixed emotions on the first day of school...I know that being in a structured learning environment is beneficial, and I know how much my kids love learning and seeing their friends, but I still cry every time they get on the bus for that first day...

Wesley Started 3rd grade this year and is still enrolled in the gifted program, which he is enjoying.

David started first grade which means ALL day school. As a last minute change, he was put into a different class than the one we went to visit for the open house just before school, this was pretty emotional for a little person who had friends in the other class, but we all survived the emotions and he is now feeling great about his class and teacher:)

Keller is doing his second year of preschool before he starts kindergarten
I
I am loving that I still have these little guys at home with me for a while. They are a joy to spend time with (well, mostly!).

A Review of Summer

2010-09-23T13:25:00.000-07:00

Since I was so sick this Summer with this pregnancy, I wasn't that great at keeping up with our blog. I decided to do a post highlighting our Summer activities.

To start things off David graduated from kindergarten. Each child wrote a story for their "Author's Corner" presentations. Most kids wrote about a favorite toy or a trip they had been on. David wrote the sweetest story about Derek called "My awesome Dad", watching him recite it in from of all the parents was priceless!

I cut about 5 inches off of my hair and got some layers:)

Keller went to a birthday party that took a tour of the fire station. He got to meet some real firemen and try on their cool uniforms.
The kids had a blast playing organized and neighborhood sports. Wesley played on a Baseball team this year and got some home runs and a grand slam. David Played Soccer and score all 13 of his teams goals in one of their games.

The kids got a kick out of watching the cement trucks and the workers as they laid the cement on our back patio.
We added a sandbox in the back for the kids to get dirty in, it has also been a hit with the neighbor kids.
We bought a trampoline which the kids loved to play on (especially little Adam), until one day when the wind picked it up and carried it away. When we found it in the field behind our house it was completely crumpled!

We enjoyed a visit from one of my former students Ernst and his wife Helga from Switzerland (the kids enjoyed the Swiss Army knives they brought as gifts!)
I helped decorate a for a friend's daughter's wedding and had fun realizing I can make something that is not exactly my style and have fun doing it. For more photos of this wedding go to: http://interiordesignbysara.blogspot.com/2010/08/summer-wedding.html
I had another wonderful year at Stake Girl's camp (where I am in charge of the music). After camp we were able to attend the baptism of Angelica, one of the girls who attended camp with our stake.
Our family went on a little outing to Idaho Falls to see the display of some amazing photos taken by the Hubble Telescope. The Idaho Falls visitor's center was second in the world to get the display after D.C.
Wesley and David Celebrated their birthdays in July. Wesley turned 8 and David turned 6. While I was in Utah fixing up our house, Derek ran David's entire birthday party by himself (what a champ!). The Summer's highlight was witnessing Wesley's baptism on July 3, 2010 performed by Derek. What a special day that was (see post below for more photos of that day).

The second greatest highlight, was being able to be with our extended family at the Keller Family reunion. I was put in charge this year which was quite a lot of work, but a very cool experience for sure (see below for more photos of our week at Bear Lake).

The kids and I went on an outing with some neighbors to the Idaho Falls Zoo. It's nothing like the San Diego Zoo where we had taken Wesley as a baby....but it was great and the kids loves seeing all those wild animals close up!

And.....it's.......

2010-08-19T19:49:00.000-07:00

A Girl!

I am trying to recover from the shock. I didn't put down my own prediction, but I really thought it was going to be another boy. I am thrilled to think that there will be a little girl coming into our lives and a little nervous; will I know what to do with her after all this boy training? When the midwife told us it was a girl I laughed and then cried and then smiled for a long time as I saw her sweet, healthy little body on the screen. Later I went to Walmart and wandered past the baby clothes, I immediately looked at the little boy things, then realized I could finally pick out something pink, so I did! Then I glanced over at the teenage girl things and realized that I was in for way more than just switching newborn pajama colors, and planning a totally sweet, feminine nursery; I would someday have a little girl who would become a young woman, who (I hope) would become a mother and grandmother. There is so much to learn. Derek does such a fantastic job of teaching our boys how to be the model father. Will I be able to do the same for our little one? It's not too shameful that I am horrible at football and baseball because moms get points just for trying, but will I be able to teach my daughter how to cook and organize, sew and budget and more importantly, will I be the kind of role model she needs me to be? Will she say someday as I say so often "I learned it by watching my Mom". Will she want to become a mother someday because she sees in me all the joy that comes with motherhood? Will she want to hold fast to her testimony because she knew that her mother held fast to hers? Will she want to know the Savior because her mother sought to know Him? I can only do my best, take things one day at a time and pray that I can be all those things I think a little girl deserves in a mother.

p.s. here is the breakdown of the votes:

Girl predictions: 13
Boy predictions:11 (12 if you count my own)
Neutral: 4

Five little boys or a little sister?

2010-08-15T16:14:00.000-07:00

Yes! For those of you who don't know we will be welcoming a new member of the Jensen Family into our home in early January 2011. This little one was a delightful surprise for us and we are sure that the timing of this baby is meant to be. This has been my hardest pregnancy by far, but fortunately I think the worst is behind me. The big question is...will the baby be a boy or a girl? I am not sure if I am more intimidated by the idea of having 5 boys or of having a girl after having all boy babies.

This Thursday I will get my ultrasound! Anyone who wishes to
make a guess as to the gender, comment below, I'll make
sure to post the ultrasound results!

Wesley's Baptism

2010-08-15T15:09:00.000-07:00

Wesley was baptized on July 3, 2010,
just one day after his 8th birthday.
It was such a beautiful day!

Those who attended the Baptism included: Derek, Sara, David, Keller and Adam Jensen, Grandpa Ivan Keller, Nini (Grandma Judy Keller), Grandpa Jack Jensen, Uncle Burke Jensen, Aunt Debbie and cousins Jasmine, Garrison and Victor Paquette, Aunts Becky, and Chrissy Keller, Aunt Stacey and Cousins Abby and Spencer Thompson, Vaughn and Liz Stephensen, Teresa, Kylie, Hallie, Ester and Miriam Moldenhauer and Sister Erica Hill from the Primary presidency and Brother Andy Johnson from the Bishopbric.

Uncle Nate (who was in Europe) asked us to record an interview of Wesley telling us his thoughts about baptism. I was so glad to hear his sweet testimony about why he had made this important
decision and of the importance of baptism.

Because it was the fourth of July weekend, we had fun celebrating the holiday by going to the parade, eating out at Wesley's favorite pizza place and setting off some fireworks.

Some of our guests traveled very far to come and others came despite extremely busy schedules and car trouble. We felt so loved and blessed by each one who sacrificed to be there.

Keller Family reunion 2010

2010-08-15T13:57:00.000-07:00

This year was our extended Family reunion At Bear Lake, sadly since I was in charge of planning it I kept so busy trying to make sure all was going smoothly that I did not take one photo of the event with my own camera. Fortunately we had many great photographers who captured some of our sweetest moments...

Each evening we gathered together and shared faith promoting stories about our ancestors.

The cousins got to know one another by participating in
structured (and not so structured) activities together.

We spent a full day at North Beach boating and playing in the sand.
One of our days was dedicated largely to mini-classes taught by family members who were willing to share their talents, one highlight was watching kids and adults participating in Andrew Ning's Taekwando class!
The first arrivals treated themselves to a pizza dinner at the local pizza place. Between the three families we had nine boy cousins (and no girl cousins) sitting at our large table!

It was a beautiful week!

100 Great Films

2010-05-19T21:03:00.000-07:00

Many people have asked Derek for a list of his favorite films. We have spent the last 10 years watching great and not-so-great movies. Here are some (100) of our favorites. Derek says (paraphrasing Roger Ebert) a great film is one worth watching over and over again. If you have a favorite film, let us know.

100 Great Films (in chronological order)

City Lights (1931)

The Thin Man (1934) first in a series

Modern Times (1936)

Gone with the Wind (1939)

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)

Stagecoach (1939)

Brigham Young (1940)

The Grapes of Wrath (1941)

Citizen Kane (1941)

How Green Was My Valley (1941)

The Maltese Falcon (1941)

Sergeant York (1941)

Casablanca (1942)

Pride of the Yankees (1942)

The Human Comedy (1943)

Going My Way (1944)

Laura (1944)

Meet Me in St. Louis (1944)

The Bells of St. Mary’s (1945)

It’s A Wonderful Life (1946)

The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)

The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946)

The Stranger (1946)

Notorious (1946)

Gentleman’s Agreement (1947)

Adam’s Rib (1949)

A Letter to Three Wives (1949)

The Stratton Story (1949)

The Third Man (1949)

The African Queen (1951)

High Noon (1952)

Singin’ in the Rain (1952)

I Confess (1953)

Stalag 17 (1953)

Dial M for Murder (1954)

Rear Window (1954)

Marty (1955)

Oklahoma! (1955)

To Catch a Thief (1955)

The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956)

12 Angry Men (1957)

Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)

Witness for the Prosecution (1957)

Defiant Ones (1958)

Vertigo (1958)

Ben-Hur (1959)

The FBI Story (1959)

North by Northwest (1959)

The Magnificent Seven (1960)

Lawrence of Arabia (1962)

To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)

Charade (1963)

The Great Escape (1963)

Lilies of the Field (1963)

My Fair Lady (1964)

Sound of Music (1965)

A Man for All Seasons (1966)

To Sir, with Love (1967)

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968)

Fiddler on the Roof (1971)

The Sting (1973)

Rocky (1976)

Star Wars (1977)

The Black Stallion (1979)

The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

Chariots of Fire (1981)

The Scarlet Pimpernel (1982)

The Man from Snowy River (1982)

The Scarlet and the Black (1983)

The Mission (1986)

Babette’s Feast (1987)

Empire of the Sun (1987)

The Princess Bride (1987)

Little Dorrit (1988; 2008 version is also great)

Driving Miss Daisy (1989)

Age of Innocence (1993)

Middlemarch (1994)

Pride and Prejudice (1995)

Sense and Sensibility (1995)

Evita (1996)

Hamlet (1996)

Horatio Hornblower (1998-2003)

Our Mutual Friend (1998)

The Road Home (1999)

Wives and Daugters (1999)

David Copperfield (2000)

Joseph, King of Dreams (2000)

Lord of the Rings (2001-2003)

Copenhagen (2002)

Daniel Deronda (2002)

The Importance of Being Earnest (2002)

Nicholas Nickleby (2002)

Master and Commander (2003)

Love Comes Softly (2003)

North and South (2004)

Bleak House (2005)

Cranford (2007)

The 39 Steps (2008)

Australia (2008)

UP (2009)

Top ten reasons I love the birthday boy:

2010-05-13T14:40:00.000-07:00

1. Derek is a genius, but you don't ever feel intimidated by him.
2. Derek is calm and consistent in character (opposites attract!)
3. Derek is a hard worker and when he starts a job, he follows through.
4. Derek loves to have fun when the work is done.
5. Derek is the most devoted Cougar fan I know (he has been driving to Provo each year for the football games since we moved to Rexburg).
6. According to rateyourprofessor.com, Derek is "ridiculously attractive", I couldn't agree more!
7. Derek is completely loyal. I begged him to go one some dates while I was a missionary, I think he went on two or three the whole 18 months.
8. Derek excels at everything he does: sports, academics, music etc.
9. Derek supports me in all my dreams. with out his love and support, I would be able to do half of what I do. I can not thank him enough for his love and support.
10. Derek is stalwart, obedient, righteous and true. The perfect example to 4 little boys who adore him almost as much as I do!

Happy B-day Derek!

Family Fun and the Rubber Band

2010-05-03T14:02:00.000-07:00

Monday night is family night at the Jensen's and Friday night is Family Fun night (my sister used to do this with her family I'm not sure if they still do.) The kids look forward to family fun night because we get to have pizza for dinner (homemade or carryout) and watch a movie together. Derek tries to find the perfect movie and he talks it up to the kids all week.

Last Friday we got tickets for the whole family (except for baby Adam) to go see Ryan Shupe and the Rubber Band. Our boys are huge fans of the Rubber band and since Uncle Nate, Adam, Dave and Aunt Chrissy are friends with the band members we were able to get their favorite song dedicated to them at the concert. It was really funny because Uncle Nate sent a text to Ryan's phone which he pulled out during the concert. I thought to myself: "that is super funny that he is checking his phone right in the middle of a concert!" Little did I know that he was retrieving the names of our kids so that he could sing them their favorite song! The kids were in heaven!
David was dying to get on stage as they invited audience participants during one of the songs. I am not as daring as I used to be and really didn't want to go up with him. He started to cry real tears and even Derek gave me a sad look...I was so sad that I hadn't just gone up there with him, I said a little prayer that I could make it up to him somehow since he was so crushed. At the end of the concert (on the encore: banjo boy, another favorite of theirs), tons of people got on stage and started dancing, this was my chance to redeem myself! David and I went on the staged and jammed to Banjo Boy! What a crazy, wonderful night it was!

to watch the music video of Banjo Boy go to:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-YXYPCmSDA\

I hope the boys will still think it's cool to hang out with their parents in a few more years when they get older...for now we are loving the ages they are in and the magic of these sweet moments together.

Venice is pure magic!

2010-04-15T10:34:00.000-07:00

Derek presented a paper in Venice for the Renaissance Society of America on Kepler's musical background and how it affected his views on Astronomy.

Highlights of our trip include:

Being in a place with no cars/traffic (how amazing to go everywhere on foot or by boat!)

The history, the churches, the beauty....

The art...and the music(we were able to attend a performance of
Vivaldi's [who was from Venice] 4 seasons in the most beautiful church)...

the food....and the sunshine....

....and our layovers in Spain (see post below) and Chicago.

But the very highlight for me (besides being with Derek in the most beautiful and romantic city in the world) was the people. Alessandra (our Italian exchange student 07-08) and her parents flew to Venice from Calgiari, (in Sardinia) to spend the week with us. I fell in love with her parents. They are such dear people; they treated us to amazing Italian food and accompanied us on excursions always insisting on covering the bill. Alessandra's Dad doesn't speak any English and we don't speak Italian...it was so fun trying to communicate with him!!

It was so great to see Alessandra all grown up!

Even though we had had such an amazing week, I was so excited to get back to our boys and (oddly) to get back to Rexburg and our routine. How thankful I am to all of the family members who helped with the kids while we were gone!

p.s. of the hundreds of photos I took 98% of them were of the beauty of the city (architectural elements etc.) to see more check out my design blog.

http://interiordesignbysara.blogspot.com/

Moms lunch never tasted so great; our crazy day in Spain

2010-04-08T01:45:00.000-07:00

I have always felt like there is no better way to say "I love you" than with a homemade lunch. When I was little, my mom would sometimes even write a little love note and put it in with my lunch at school. Yesterday Derek and I started off for a long journey to Venice where he will be speaking this week at a conference. Since we flew out of Salt Lake, we took advantage of the opportunity to stay with our parents for conference before leaving. Being the wonderful hostess that she is, my Mom packed some food for our journey; 2 sandwiches with Dads famous bread, a yogurt, , 2 apples and 2 oranges. Since Derek had eaten, I had both sandwiches, the yogurt and an apple on the way to the airport. We had planned a long layover in Spain so that we could visit the Prado and see some of Derek's favorite pieces there. Due to bad weather we didn´t have as much time there as we had hoped. Another problem was that the ATMs there did not accept our visa debit card which was our only way to buy anything. Fortunately Derek had some cash but only about 30 dollars which gave us a full 23 Euros for a day in Spain. Knowing that our priority was to see the Prado we went straight there as we had already lost time trying to pull out money. Resurrecting my Spanish skills I explained that Derek is a professor which gave him free admission, my ticket inside was 8 Euros. The Prado was awesome. their crowning piece is "Las Meninas" by Velazquez. After the Prado we rushed back to the airport where we used 2 more Euros to send an e-mail to our bank telling them of our predicament. We had a few Euros left but didn't dare buy any food in case we would need our last Euros in Venice (should the card not work there). I pulled my Mom's sack from my bag and ate one of the oranges, half of a granola bar and some crackers from the plane, offering the other orange and 1/2 of granola bar to Derek. I'm not sure what I would have done without that food. I was looking forward to the plane where I could at least get something to drink. As it turned out that airline charged for everything even the drinks, we would not be getting any this time. When we landed in Italy we were thrilled to find that our Visa worked in their ATMs, but we were in such a rush to get to our boat to Venice that we didn't take time to eat. After missing our boat by only 5 minutes we had to stay at the dock and wait for the next one to come which took a very long time. Once again I thankfully turned to the final apple in the sack lovingly gifted to me 3 countries and many hours before. Derek and I split the apple which sustained us until we reached Venice (where incidentally everything was closed....but that is another story). At the beginning of the day, I nearly declined the food offered by my Mom imagining a smashed banana at the bottom of my bag after a long journey. How often do we take for granted the simple gifts that are offered us or forget to give due gratitude for the service rendered to us by those we love? Thanks for feeding me Mom physically, spiritually and emotionally!

p.s. Venice is the most amazing place. we are loving every moment here....stay tuned for our travel update!

Happiest Conference Easter

2010-04-05T20:18:00.000-07:00

What a wonderful Conference!!!! What a wonderful Easter day! We spent the weekend with our families in Utah. It couldn't have been more dreamy!

David's Many Adventures

2010-03-12T12:30:00.000-08:00

Having four active, little boys is an adventure.
One of our most adventurous spirits is David. He is five years old,
loves people, learning, music, art and sports and never
stops moving. Recently he has developed a love for
designing things. He loves to get involved in my latest crafty idea.
Recently when I was doing a project he asked what he could do.
I tossed him some scrapbooking supplies and
this is what he came up with all by himself:

I love this!
The "S" is for Sara and the "D" is for David. On the project
below I helped him only with the stitching on these letters.

David loves people, so I was surprised when he put up a huge fight
to go to the rest home to sing songs to old people for playgroup.
Fortunately, when we got there he fell in love with some precious
old ladies who were thrilled to have a sweet little kindergartner
telling them all about his class, sharing his artwork with them and
even giving them a hug and a kiss before he left. He has been
begging us to go back to the rest home ever since, especially
since I explained to him that those people there won't be
alive for too much longer. ( I wish so bad I had taken
my camera with me there).
David is so active, I get tired just watching him sometimes.
He is the guy to send on an errand in the neighborhood or to fetch
things for you around the house. A few weeks ago he wanted me to
take some "action shots" of him in his homemade BYU football jersey.

Last Friday David Broke a bone between his foot and leg.
It happened as he was trying to retrieve a basketball from
a two-tiered chair holder at the church. No one that was there
that night could believe he had broken a bone; he was completely
calm about the whole thing. The only real sign that he was in pain
is that he didn't want to walk on that leg.
He chose a Blue cast to show his cougar pride.

All day Saturday after he got his cast put on he couldn't put
pressure on that leg without collapsing. By the next day he was
walking on it and now he runs on it. Despite the awkward angle of the
cast, he has even figured out how to ride a bike! Today he asked me if he
could skateboard to a friend's house-not wanting another broken leg,
that is where I drew the line.

Now that David has a bad leg and a missing tooth
(that was taken out after an accident when he was a baby),
he is looking more and more like "Tiny Tim".
Stay tuned, I am sure that we will have many
more adventures to come with this one.

Happy Birthday Keller!

2010-02-17T12:47:00.001-08:00

Our Little Keller Turned 4 on Tuesday February 16!

He has had a very eventful year.....

He endured poking and pricking, visits to 9 doctors,
an MRI, a fine needle aspirator test, medication, anesthesia
and 2 hospital trips to Primary Childrens' to remove
highly inflamed lymph nodes from his face.
His facial nerves suffered extreme trauma and
His little smile is subsequently uniquely his own.
He started preschool where he is the only boy
with 4 wonderful (and emotional) little girls He taught himself to ride a bike, started Primary and
is learning how to draw wonderful pictures.

He is a great photographer and takes pictures of everything
and everyone (most of the photos that are of Mom
were taken by Keller.) He is kind, loving,
extremely thankful and tender-hearted.

We love you so much Keller! We are so lucky to have you in our family!

Simple Changes

2010-01-30T07:44:00.001-08:00

After putting away all the Christmas decor I decided it was a good time for a change (January is a good time for changing things, making goals and becoming better).

So I took everything off of my cream walls and decided to spruce things up in the living room. (having a one-year old baby, I was confined to working during his one-hour nap, or in the evening)

After I had finished painting one wall, I realized the color was not going to work for me (the undertones were fighting with the decor in the room. So I decided to alter the undertones by adding an antique wash.

The tones were now going well with the decor, but it was altogether too dark, I knew I needed to lightening things up a bit or I would feel like I was living in a cave...so I started all over......

Once I had found a color that was more dramatic than the cream, didn't fight with the other tones in the room and wasn't too dark I got even more ambitious and started moving everything around. I drug a table from my front entry into the living room and took this wall-hanging from the master bedroom. By then the room was so altered that my previous decor looked out of place....SO......
I put everything back exactly how it had been previously with the exception of the lovely new paint color. What did I learn?

Change is good. But sometimes we get so excited about improving ourselves that we try to do a complete makeover on our lives not realizing that sometimes simple changes can be way more powerful. How many times do we set unrealistic goals and then become discouraged at the pain of those unrealized expectations? If we make one simple change in our lives at a time (like becoming a better friend, reading scriptures more earnestly, praying more sincerely, serving more often or loving more deeply), we can feel the joy and beauty of that change without feeling completely overwhelmed by the pressure of taking it all on at once. So my resolve is to make simple changes more often and let the joy of that simple change fuel me to do better in more and more areas.

Honoring Ivan and Judy Keller on their 40 years of marriage

2010-01-21T19:49:00.000-08:00

On December 29, 1969 Ivan and Judy Keller were married in the Logan, Utah Temple. 40 years, 10 children and 24 grandchildren later, they are still an amazing team. We love you and honor you for all you have sacrificed for us over the years.

Congratulations from your posterity, may you have many more wonderful years together:

The John and Stacey Thompson family (Preston not pictured here)
Nathan Keller

The Robert and Alison Williams family

The Jon and Tanya Keller family (Will and Leo pictured below)

The Derek and Sara Jensen family

Adam and Brittani Keller

The Andrew and Kim Ning Family (baby Tyler not pictured)Becky Keller

Dave and Micahleen Keller

and Christina Keller (on the right) serving a mission in Ft. Lauderdale, FL

What We Love about Christmas

2009-12-25T19:59:00.000-08:00

We hope you had a very merry Season!

Here are some reasons we love Christmas time:

making homemade gifts
(even if they are not perfect!)

my friend taught me how to make these gifts for Adam...so fun!

The music
(the Sacred as well as the fun Christmas music, hearing the choir singing so beautifully [especially when you are the director and you know they had heavenly help]).

we went to this concert this month...even though we didn't know any of his music, it was so fun-what a sweet little guy he is! Now we love his Christmas Album.

Hearing from family and Friends

Sending off care packages to missionaries
and other loved ones... (I actually only love this when it's done,
I always stress about getting it there on time etc....:)

Nativities

Making paper snowflakes

Seeing your kids turn their hearts to each other
(making or buying gifts for each other with their own money).
this is a "blanket" made by David for Adam

Decorating

see the link (above)to my decorating blog for the complete Christmas home tour:)

Bundling up the babies to go outside

Making Christmas cards and crafts

kits for the craft I was in charge of for Wesley's class party

Seeing the magic of the faces on Christmas morning,(hearing things like wow thanks Mom and Dad...I can't choose a favorite, they are all my favorite...)

The mayhem

Having opportunities to serve others and think about
and remember the Savior all month long He is the reason we celebrate.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2009-11-27T20:06:00.001-08:00

"And he who receiveth all things with thankfulness shall be made glorious:
and the things of this earth shall be added unto him,
even an hundredfold, yea, more."
Here are some of the things we are grateful for:
our faith
our families
good health
our heritage
kind neighbors
dear friends
our boys:

Wesley Samuel age 7

David Logan age 5

Keller Lukas age 3

Adam William age 1

Wedding Bliss

2009-11-03T09:17:00.000-08:00

Adam and Brittani were married in the Salt Lake Temple (on September 19....I'm really late posting this one!). The ceremony was so amazing, I cried so many tears of joy! Adam and Brittani are so well matched and are so happy together. I look forward to getting to know Brittani better and to seeing the great things the two of them will accomplish together!

This picture is with Jon and Will at the reception. Because I was in charge of decorating the lunchoeon, I was too worried about everything to take pictures. I'm sad I don't have photos of my family at the luncheon where we were all together. My kids didn't go to the reception; Wesley and David went to the BYU game and the two little ones only made it past the family photos, I then took them back to Grandma's.

Everyone looked so beautiful in their black and white attire!

The luncheon was held at UVU. Here is (a poor) picture of a sign I made for the luncheon I also decorated 16 tables and made a display table for the entrance. I was so thankful to have Tanya's help setting everything up; she's such a decorating genius! I began working on the decorations in June-it was so fun to see it all come together. They used many of the decorations at the reception, which was at the White Willow reception center. What a beautiful day it was!!!

One week later I was able to fly to St. Loius to be at the wedding of my cousin Joe Wittwer and his beautiful bride Katy. I traveled from Rexburg to Orem, slept at my parents, then went with them to Salt Late, flew to St. Louis, stayed there for about 15 hours and flew back...It was a very long journey and well worth the effort! It was great to be with the Wittwer and Keller families and to see Joe so happy. Katy, a darling girl and wonderful addition to the family, was beaming through the whole ceremony(which was held at a lovely old Unitarian church in downtown St. Loius). Unfortunately, my camera was lost so I was not able to take my own photos!

What a wonderful month for marriages!!!!

A Star Wars Halloween

2009-10-27T20:41:00.000-07:00

This year for our ward Halloween party
we decided to be a Star Wars Family.
What an adventure!The cutest of all was
our tiniest ewok (Baby Adam).
On Halloween night David and Adam Changed their costumes.

Wesley "the Sand Trooper"

David "The BYU Football Player" (helmet not shown in photo)

Keller "Darth Vader"

Adam "the Teddy Bear" a quick change from "the Ewok"

Happy Anniversary-10 years together!

2009-10-20T09:58:00.000-07:00

Happy 10th anniversary to my dear husband! We have been through many adventures together, moved to many new places and joined some amazing children to our lives. After all we've shared, I have realized that where ever you are, is where I want to be because with you I am home.

Here is an excerpt from a letter written to my Grandma Aldora and my Aunt Sara Ann just after my wedding ceremony.

…..It was a beautiful day. It went by so quickly and was so wonderful, I felt like it was a dream. The ceremony was so special. What an overwhelming sight to see people you love in one room to be a part of the joy that comes from being sealed for all eternity. The reception was more beautiful than I could have ever wanted it to be. We had banana splits and listened to many wonderful friends perform musical numbers including Jon’s band Mighty Mahogany. The wedding activities were certainly wonderful, but the greatest joy is knowing that long after the cake is gone and the festivities are over, the reason for the celebration will never die, because it’s truly eternal.

Happy Late Birthday to Baby Adam!

2009-10-14T13:37:00.000-07:00

Things have been so busy around here that I have not had a chance to blog about any of the events that have taken place lately! To make things worse, I lost my camera with so many precious photos on it! I can hardly believe that little Adam is already one year old! His birth was definitely my hardest and he has probably been the most challenging of all the children (his acid reflux was more severe than the others'...I never thought that was possible after David!), but what a JOY!!! here are a few fun facts about Adam:

His nickname is Boozie: there is sort of a long etymology behind his name, but it fits, especially since he loves drinking bottles!

He has a very mature taste for food: he loves garden tomatoes, corn (yes on the cob- he can eat up to 3 in one sitting!), and pickles to name just a few.

He is a genuine Mama's boy: unless he's otherwise occupied, he gets really anxious when I walk away from him even a few steps. As I type this he is in my arms trying to sabotage my operation by hitting the keys.

He loves attention: (what one-year old doesn't?), he has only now started walking and every time he takes a few steps we all chant his name over and over until he reaches the safety of his target destination. Watching his face at our approval is almost more fun than seeing him walk.

We love you baby Adam! Happy Late Birthday!

First Day of School

2009-08-31T15:07:00.000-07:00

David Started kindergarten, he is in heaven being able to hang out with his friends all morning! The kids are going to a brand new school built just a few blocks away.

This year Wesley Started 2nd grade. He is one of 2 kids in his elementary that were selected to join a gifted program- he is looking forward to that.

The first day of school is always an emotional one for me. After I put my little guys on the bus, I walked back home quickly so that the other parents wouldn't see me getting teary-eyed. I know that they are so thrilled to be going to school, but I kept asking myself if I had done enough to prepare them for all of the stuff they would encounter in their new environment and hoped that they would be strong enough to choose right choices without any parental influences nearby; I'm sure that our Heavenly Parents felt the same way as they sent us off to this "school"of life. I know that I need to put all the care I can into making home a haven no matter what happens to them anywhere else.

More San Diego Photos

2009-08-14T09:18:00.000-07:00

San Diego Temple (where I was a receptionist for 1 yr. and 1/2)
At Wicked
With "Glinda the good witch" from Wicked

With Nina and Vladimir at the Padres game. They beat the Mets 8 to 3.

Visiting the Connell family

San Diego Trip

2009-08-08T12:19:00.000-07:00

Derek and I are celebrating our 10-year anniversary in October. To celebrate we planned a trip to San Diego (where we lived for 4 years while going to graduate school) here are some highlights of our trip:

Wicked:We have been wanting to see wicked for a long time...it was worth the wait! the cast was awesome! The girl who played Elphaba had been young Cossett in the origional cast of Les Mes-she was great. After the show I met the actress who played Galinda, she was so sweet!

Padres game: Nina (a former student of mine and dear friend) and Vladimir took us to the Padres game with tickets to the owner's suite and to the dugout; we were feet away from home plate! Our only regret was that we had eaten dinner before we got there-they had SO much delicious food! After the game I got an autograph from Kuzmonoff (one of the locals' favorite players) and Vladimir gave Derek a ball signed by Tony Gwin (a beloved former Padre and hall of famer)!

Visiting old friends: We had so much fun visiting with Nina and her family and also seeing the Connell family some of our dear friends from the 13th ward.

We are so grateful to my sis Becky for staying at home with our boys. We called her so often wondering how they were doing. After a wonderful week we have realized that although it's so great to get away and relax, life for us would be so empty without our little guys that we missed all week long.

Introducing...Leo Sheffield Keller

2009-07-17T19:42:00.000-07:00

Leo is the cutest little guy! He is the product of thousands of prayers and a whole lot of faith on the part of his parents (Jon and Tanya Keller). We are thrilled to have this sweet little addition to our family!

I'm getting a new sister (in Law)!!!!

2009-07-16T21:10:00.000-07:00

I am so thrilled to be getting such an amazing new sister-in-law. We met Brittani for the first time at a shower that we had for her at Ali's house. She is so wonderful! She is smart, kind, beautiful, and best of all she adores Adam (just as much as he adores her), they are both service oriented and great missionaries, they are perfect for each other!!!! We had such a great time getting to know her and her sweet family at the shower!

Crazy is good right?

2009-07-16T21:07:00.000-07:00

Today was a crazy day for me... in the morning Wesley hurt Keller for messing up a lego construction he had been working on for a long time. After scolding Wesley for hurting Keller, Wesley announced that since I was so rude and terrible that he was running away. He said he would stay on the street forever. He thought he would either get hit by a car, or starve to death. Fortunately, just then I got a phone call, so I was occupied during all of his drama so I didn't respond in the way he wanted me to. Later I took the kids to the Summer movie, but because we couldn't find our passes we were super late. After only a few minutes Keller decided he didn't like the show, I also remembered that he didn't have a diaper on, so I was back and forth between the movie and the bathroom several times. During one bathroom trip my hair dipped into the toilet as I was trying to help Keller pull down his pants. Then Keller lost one of his shoes, and David refilled his drink with out paying and yelled out that I had told him he could (when I had really told him he could fill it with water). After the show I was carrying Keller who had only one shoe and David ran so far ahead and was almost hit by a car. A kind onlooker helped get him back to me. We then went to the park where our credit union was having their annual family picnic with games and food. After parking both cars (Derek met us there), we were told by a bitter Salon owner that we needed to move our cars or be towed. It was very close to closing time for them and it was obvious there were only a couple of customers there anyway, but Derek moved both cars while I got in an incredibly long line for dinner. We had scarcely eaten when David and I had to head to his soccer game. He was unable to claim his ice cream desert or do any of the activities I had been getting them excited about. Halfway through David's game Wesley came to the field with Keller so that he and Derek could go to his soccer game with Baby Adam which they had to be on time for since Derek is the coach. I then met Derek at the other field to watch Wesley's team, but spent most of my time at the nearby splash park where Keller and David ended up (Keller getting lost for a while which was another scare!) My really close friend who has 11 children told me that you should never make important decisions (about your family) on bad days. This is such Wisdom! There were moments today when I was sure there would never be another Jensen child born to our family. Now that we are home from our crazy day and the kids are in bed, I am realizing that there were so many sweet gems about today as well that just melted my heart like seeing David's little thumb pop up in pride when his team scored a goal, or seeing how crazy excited Keller got to be in the splash park even though it was getting cold by the time they got over there. I also loved watching Derek with his clipboard getting so excited about the plays Wesley's team mates made and hearing them call him "coach". I need to remember that even on the crazy days, life is wonderful and we are so blessed to have for amazing little guys in our life. How I cherish them....especially when they are asleep!

Our brave little boy!

2009-07-09T18:52:00.000-07:00

When Keller was about 18 months old he developed a lump under his chin. The pediatrician said it was a hematoma (a bruise) which would go away in time. Instead of going away, it broke up into two smaller lumps, which became inflamed and one day burst open. The next time the doctor saw Keller, he immediately put him on a strong antibiotic and made an appointment with a dermatologyst. The antibiotics didn't have any effect (except for making him weak and giving him severe diareah).
The dermatologyst was baffled by the large red bumps on Keller's face. She poked them open, extracted a sample of the fluid inside and shot some steroids into the wound. She also wanted to put him on an antibiotic, but I asked her if there was any way that we could forego more medication, since it had only had an adverse effect before. She agreed if I would promise to change the dressings and keep out any infection. We went to see the dermatologyst a few more times. Once she asked Keller to be the subject of a "Jounrnal night" where other dermatologysts gathered to examine rare skin cases. The others were equally baffled by his condition.

We later took Keller to see a family doctor who said that whatever Keller's problem was, it needed to be taken care of urgently so as not to become worse. Our dermatologyst had connections with a physician at Primary Children's Hospital, and she agreed to make arraingements for us to visit with a pediatric plastic surgeon see if we could remove the bumps surgically.
Upon visiting with the plastic surgeon, he said he could not remove the lumps unless he knew what they were. He then ordered an MRI. Keller got the MRI at our hospital here in Rexburg and the results were sent to Priomary Chilren's Hospital. The plastic surgeon's office informed us that the lumps were enlarged lymph nodes and that they would need to be biopsied before they could be removed and before the scar revision could be done. He said that he would need to be seen by an Ear Nose and Throat specialist.
I got the information for the Ear Nose and Throat specialist and began calling to make an appointment. They had an outdated answering machine (telling me they were out of the office for the Thanksgiving Holdiay in December), which then hung up. I tried calling various other numbers only to be transferred to other extensions and left a message (which they said would be returned within 24 hours) and didn't hear back from them for several days. When I finally reached a human voice I was thrilled, only they refused to make an appointment for me with out a referral. I told them the name of the doctor who had referred me, but they needed written proof. I then called back the surgeon's office who promised to send the referral. The referral did not get sent that day. This went on for weeks. We finally scheduled a double surgery; removal of the lymph nodes and scar revision. Only when we got down there the ENT had not been given a copy of the MRI results and didn't want to perform the surgery since the lymph nodes were dangerously close to some major facial nerves. Long story somewhat shorter, the ENT decided to put him under and do a fine needle aspirator test on him to do a biopsy. Several weeks later he determinded that the surgery had to be done anyway. With a lot of fasting and prayer, we took him in knowing that his face could be paralyzed by removing the lymph nodes. Fortunatley with special process called "nerve mapping" the ENT was able to disect his nerve for the procedure with out severing it. For now his smile is crooked due to the trauma on his nerve, but we are hopeful that his nerves will fully recover and that his wounds will also heal properly. this ordeal has been an adventure (almost 2 years long)! To date Keller has been seen by a pediatrician, our family practitioner, 3 dermatologists, a plastic surgeon, an Ear Nose and Throat specialist, and a Neurologist. He has been put under for an MRI and a fine needle aspirator test as well as a 3-hour opperationin his short life time (he turned 3 in February). We love you Keller!!!!!

EASTER SUNDAY

2009-04-18T19:30:00.000-07:00

EASTER SUNDAY was wonderful an crazy. I led the choir (for 2 numbers), and Derek and I gave the opening and closing prayers. I also brought 2 vases of flowers and a large picture of Christ from home to decorate with. During 3rd hour I led the music for a gal who had just had a baby. During sacrament (which was othrewise wonderful), Wesley and David broke out in a full-blow fight, hitting and screaming at each other. Derek was trying to feed the baby some cereal (we had to get to church early to warm up the choir and hadn't fed him breakfast), and keep things calm while I was saying the opening prayer. For the rest of the meeting, Derek was out in the hall with one or more of the children (until of course the closing prayer which he made an appearance for). The wonderful part of Easter was getting each of the kids a "Jesus" present which was meaningful and not just fun (thanks to grandma and grandpa Keller for their generosity in helping us buy the gifts!). Wesley got a childrens' book about kids going back to the time of Jesus, David got a bible coloring book, and Keller got a figurine of Lehi from the book of Mormon. I got the book "reflections of Christ" which is so amazing; it is full of photographs of the Savior's life. The photographer was the AP in my mission, Mark Mabry. The children seem to really be affected by the photos as I had just told them the Easter story. Derek got the Tabernacle Choir's newest CD called "come thou Fount" its wonderful. Despite the craziness, Easter turned out to be a beautiful day after all! How grateful we are for the emtpy tomb on that Easter morning, for the hope that the resurrection brings and for the ways in which Christ's atonement influences our lives each day.

The Jensen "Dudes"

2009-04-01T14:16:00.000-07:00

Thanksgiving 2008

The boys!

2009-04-01T14:02:00.000-07:00

We love our boys!!!!!

Adam William Jensen

2009-04-01T13:49:00.000-07:00

Adam William Jensen (a.k.a. gubernator) age: 6 months * favorite food: Mama milk * favorite activity: being doted on by his big brothers *best traits: happy, patient, enduring, fun

Keller Lukas Jensen

2009-03-12T14:19:00.000-07:00

Keller Lukas Jensen (a.k.a Beans)
age: 3 * favorite food: mac and cheese * favorite past time: taking a bath with Baby Adam *best traits: grateful, passionate, brave, loving

David Logan Jensen

2009-03-12T13:57:00.000-07:00

David Logan Jensen (a.k.a. Daje)
age: 4 * grade: preschool *favorite food: spaghetti *favorite activity: coloring pictures for other people * best trait: compassionate, energetic, linguistic, imaginative

Wesley Samuel Jensen a.k.a. Bubba

2009-03-12T13:45:00.001-07:00

Wesley Samuel Jensen (a.k.a. Bubba)

*age: 6 * grade:1st * favorite food: pizza

*favorite activity: playing sports and reading chapter books

*best traits: helpful, brilliant, caring, determined

2009-03-11T23:44:00.001-07:00

Baby makes 6!

2009-02-20T19:55:00.000-08:00