Jensen Family Reunion 2010

48 hours before the Jensen Clan was to converge on "our" 4-H camp up near Tamarack, a violent storm ripped through Donnelly Idaho and left it looking like a war zone. Downed trees and power lines were everywhere and power remained out for thousands of residents. It quickly became clear that our Lake Cascade reunion was not going to happen at Lake Cascade.

The nice thing about Idaho is that it has many beautiful lakes, so in true Jensen fashion, a meeting was called and a new schedule was put into place last minute. The new plan had us staying in the Boise area but we still spent several days out on the lake. The downside to the new plan was that we were now scattered all over the valley instead of in one central location so wherever we went we had to pack in and pack out each day which exhausted me and many of the other parents. It was also a bummer not to be able to put the kids down in the cabins and have our usual adult nights playing games and visiting.

I feel like overall I was able to participate less and it took a lot more effort to do the activities... if that makes sense. It was a bit of a let down, I really look forward to visiting with these people! Nevertheless, the impromptu nature of it all turned out to be fun and worked out well, all things considered. Jensens' have fun no matter where they are!

Top of the list this summer was that Nathan took our older 3 wakeboarding. Kohen especially couldn't get enough and I am sure his Gpa Norm will have him skiing next summer. I was super nervous for Nathan to try it with our kids- knowing from experience how bad it hurts when you bite it wakeboarding- but I should've given Nathan's skills a little more credit. Kohen's first time up, after about 30 seconds he says, "So, you think we should jump?!" referring to the wake. Oh boy...
Enjoying each others company waiting patiently for turns out on the boat or on the jet skis.

One disappointment for Nathan and I and our kids was that we were moving from my sisters house to Nathan's sisters house the morning of the most awesome breakfast at Jeremy and Polly's house -or "Germany and Paul's" as my kids thought they overheard. Luckily we made it in time to still eat because it was insanely good. Like, Last Meal kind of good.

One of the best days was the Olympics. We full on took over Settlers park in Meridian this gorgeous day. Tons of competitions disguised as "games"- I had no idea the competitive family I was marrying into- no, more than that. We are the most competitive family I know, seeing as we are competitive about being competitive. Anyway! Here we have the starting line up for the water balloon toss.
And here Aly and Kim are trying out a new trick taught to them by the newest member of the fam, Kathy was actually in the circus so she had all sorts of cool gymnastic tricks- very fun!
The Tug of War was a favorite. Here we have our BYU football star against, what was it? 18 children? That is impressive, no?

My personal favorite Tug o War line up was women against men. We knew we had no chance so as soon as it started all of us women simply let go and landed all the guys on the ground. It was pretty funny, actually, really funny.
A little flag football...
Ander and Marianne- seeing the Bells was a highlight of the reunion for our little fam.
The kids with their marshmallow guns, seconds before they pelted all of their respective Grandpa's at pretty much point zero range.

Classic. CLASSIC!

The finale was a party in one of the nearby church gym's. Catered food- yum! Ginormous blow up obstacle courses, bouncy houses and slides, basketball, card games, crafts, backwards charades, bubble gum blowing contests, Minute to Win it games, and a rousing tournament of Dodgeball -remember that competitive spirit I mentioned? The above picture is 1. Proof that I played 2. Proof that I played fast and hard and 3. Proof that I am a liar, my camera sucks and the slightest motion causes blur... though hey- it can't be ruled out that I am not moving lightening fast while dodging a ball with perfectly split legs in what isn't pictured in this picture.
I wasn't joking about the Ginormous bouncy things. My kids must've played what? 5, 6 hours in those things? Check out the rats nest that was Kennedy's hair after rolling around in them all night. Thank goodness for detangler!

It was a great night. And though it wasn't ideal to be spread all over Ada/Canyon counties, we still had an amazing time.