Pooped!

As I said before, we made it! But with the two hour time difference and being up until about 3 am our time the night that we arrived, it took all of us a couple of days to get on schedule. But with lots of patience and naps too we are feeling better! Time to play!!!!

Technical Difficulties

So....in case you are wondering where the Jensen's have gone off to, we have made it safely to Boise! And we hit the ground running with lot's of activities and get-to-gethers. Small problem. Of the literally hundreds of things I packed I forgot to pack the battery charger for our camera! Grrrrrr! Nathan and I think that we have a plan that might work but until further notice our camera is down on it's luck. There is nothing left for me to do but get back to ignoring my children and spouse while I tear through Harry Potter before someone blows the ending for me... :)

Fruits of our Labor

This years garden has been a lot of fun because the children have participated and watched with anticipation as it blossomed and grew. I was feeling a little sad because we leave for over 2 months tomorrow and so much of the garden remains too young to be...I guess harvested is the term I am looking for. But I caught the top picture of the butterfly on our Giant Sunflower and ended up doing a photo shoot of the whole garden like a total geek. My favorite by far is the peas; I loved how when the sun shone through the pod you could see each little pea growing inside. We picked a few peas and some snap beans and the pictures of Kohen are him so excited to learn that we can actually eat this stuff!?!!! Now he is a huge fan of the garden. And Kennedy being the ever-clean girl that she is, promptly slid the chair over to the sink so that she could properly wash the snap beans before she tried them. I am so glad the kids got to at least try some of what they grew!

Extreme Home Makeover

For those of you who don't know, Extreme Home Makeover has gone to Idaho. Corey Barton Homes is who is building this house and it just so happens that my little sister Ashley is Corey Barton's personal assistant and so I have a unique insiders view of what really goes on when building a house in literally one week. CBH (Corey Barton Homes) only had 1 months notice that they would in fact be building the house. Needless to say Ashley was not only sworn to secrecy but completely swamped trying to get things in order before the big day. They started work on the house last Wednesday so tomorrow is the 'Move That Bus!' day. Ashley has been running the subs tent all week and enduring the 100+ degree temperatures. My parents have been able to volunteer and work up at the site and so have some of my Aunts, Uncles and cousins. Check out my cousin Sarah's blog for pictures of their experience, pretty fun. Just a few insider scoops to tide you over until I get the full sha-bang: on a typical E.H.M. week they will use 2,000 lbs of ice. Right now out at the site they are using 2,000 lbs of ice a day! It is that hot out there. Also, the family who they are helping have 4 young children who all have an extremely rare autoimmune disease. They are all fed through food tubes and always have been. Instead of sending this family somewhere like Disneyland they sent them to a specialist who is helping their children. My mom told me last night that thanks to this specialist their children are experiencing eating food for the very first time. I think the whole thing is just so cool. CBH's website has all sorts of pictures and information, check it out at www.cbhhomes.com. You can even see my sis Ashley in picture #19 she is in the front row towards the right side with both hands in the air. Then she is the girl in the red t-shirt in picture #72. I found pictures of two of my friends as well in picture # 21 and 28, kind of neat. Anyway I will keep you posted on any other news and air dates etc. Keep it up Ashley! You are almost done!!!

Aly Baby

For the first time Nathan and I have a little climber baby. We have had other friends who have had such children and always wondered what that must be like- and lucky us, now we get to know! She climbed into the lawn chair all by herself and was quite pleased with herself. She climbs up out of her high chair and we have turned around to find her (all mothers brace yourselves) standing on the tray! Thereafter she has been buckled in but she must have apprenticed Houdini in another life because just yesterday I buckled her in and a few minutes later found her standing in her chair, with the straps still buckled laying impotently at her feet. The other quirky thing is that she loves this little purse my mom sent my b-day present in. Whenever she finds it she will hold on to it and even crawl with it in her hands. I find it interesting because this is the first girly thing she has really ever paid attention to, preferring Kohen's cars and trains. Like our other children she has come of age and discovered the kitchen trash. Kennedy and Kohen would haphazardly grab at the lid and shove it off onto the floor in their eagerness to get to the goods but also alerting Nathan and I to what they were up to. Alyssa however, gently lifts the lid and using her mad crouching/standing/balancing skills, gently and quietly sets the lid on the ground. She is then free to dumpster dive (albeit on a smaller scale) until I happen upon her. I'm not gonna lie, it is a little tough on the self-esteem to be outsmarted so regularly by a 1yr old!

The Three Musketeers

The first picture I happened to catch after Kennedy started playing princess after finding the tiara she wore at her Aunt Natalie's wedding. We had to have an impromptu crown-making session so that Kohen would have something to wear too. He didn't seem to mind being called 'King Kohen'; I guess it does have kind of a ring to it. Anyway I found them both smothering Aly and to my surprise they were smothering her with tickles and kisses and she was squealing with delight...not frustration, which was a nice change!
It is amazing how difficult it is to get a picture with even 2 of these 3 looking at the camera so I thought these were worthy of sharing.

Happy 34 Nathan!!!

July is a very busy birthday month for our family and friends but most important to me is July 9th, Nathan's birthday! This year he is a whopping 34 years old. And yes, he is older and wiser...at least than me :) The Bell's and a couple of friends came over to help Nathan celebrate and have some cake and ice cream. Both Kennedy and Kohen waited all day for that last part! Happy Birthday Nathan!!!! Buhboo.

What Do These 2 Have In Common?

What do Smeagol and Alyssa have in common in the top pics other than their respective loin cloths? Their hair. When parents refuse to cut their babies hair, even when it grows in all unevenly and you start having really long pieces, Nathan and I call those long hairs "Smeagols". Now, Aly may not have much hair but as you can see in the first picture she was starting to get some stragglers and as much as I love her sweet baby hair I cannot support the growth of 'smeagols'. So we sat Aly down for her first haircut and trimmed the back (where she was well on her way to a baby mullet) and the top just a bit to even it out. All things considered she sat fairly still and was a good sport about it. And I think the end result turned out quite nice. Hmm...do you think it would be misleading if I add 'Smeagol Slayer' to my resume?

For The Ladies

So. This video is for all you single ladies. Nathan and I shot this in Central Park and unabashedly laughed our heads off. I haven't been able to post videos lately so you will have to click on right here to see it. Trust me it is worth it. Don't miss the finale at the very end...

After our BBQ we loaded up our children and headed downtown to see fireworks in the Nation's Capitol. It was supposed to storm, there was a tornado watch (huh?), supposed to be hordes of people etc., so we felt like we were really rolling the dice on this excursion. Against all odds we were able to find a good parking place after only a few minutes of searching. As soon as we parked the skies opened up and the storm began. Undeterred we put on a video for the kids (a rare treat), Nathan took a nap and I read a book in the van. 45 min later the storm had passed and we headed down to the National Mall with about a million other people. It was still hot out even though it had rained and it felt exactly like we were in a giant outdoor sauna. I thought of my brother and cousin who are both serving in Asia and deal with this regularly...ugh. Anyway, the second pic is of all of the people, look closely around the base of the Washington Monument, those are all people- can you believe it?! We were right next to the Reflecting Pool and the Lincoln Memorial and by the end of the evening there were crushes of people all around us too. We had a fun time though; ate pb&j for dinner and hung out together. I love the picture of Aly playing with my phone, she looks like she is texting or something. A real baby of the 21st century lol! As usual it was surreal to be in D.C. for the 4th of July watching fireworks explode above the Washington Memorial and Capitol Building. You can't help but feel patriotic and extremely grateful when surrounded by all of these memorials designed specifically to help us remember our countries past. It was not only a good reminder of the past but also to be grateful for the present. Happy Independence Day!

BBQ on the 4th

This 4th of July we had some of our friends come over for a BBQ. In the first picture from left to right are Joe, John, Ari, and Nathan. And in the second picture it is Betsy (Joe's wife), Kelly (who brought her friend John), and yours truly. Joe, Ari, and Kelly are some of our most favorite people and we were so glad to get together again with everyone. The food was great- the boys thought they were funny 'surprising' Betsy and I with a 'Salsa-off' which meant that both of us made ours and the boys declared it a competition at the BBQ. Betsy and I weren't fazed seeing as they were both quite different types of salsa and therefore it would be like comparing apples and oranges...good try boys. Then we put our kids down for naps and hung around chatting. Eventually the temptation to jump from our deck to the trampoline proved to be too strong and the trampoline got quite a work out for a little while before we decided to break for dessert. I always break for that....

Phantom of the Opera

If you haven't already read the first two blogs under this one, you need to because there is an important disclaimer/warning you need to read that will explain what all of this is about. Friday night after dinner we went and walked around in Times Square. There were just crushes of people everywhere and I had as much fun looking at the people as the bright lights! On Saturday we headed to Central Park where Nathan got his hiney whooped by an internationally ranked chess player (the guy was really cool, he teaches chess too so he kind of gave Nathan some pointers as they went- like, 'Um, I wouldn't do that if I were you.' :) ) and then Nathan rowed me around this little lake, which I was all excited about and tempted to act out the scene from Anne of Green Gables where she is pretending to be the dead girl in the row boat and then the row boat starts sinking- I love that part. As we left the dock the lake was kind of crowded with row boats and as we slowly tried to maneuver through the traffic jam Nathan assured me with, "Don't worry honey, I will get up to ramming speed!" which had me laughing picturing what that would look like. We spent a little time walking around SoHo before going back to the hotel to get ready for the finale of the trip. We were going to see Phantom of the Opera!!!!! I had never seen it before but have always wanted to and so I was, and am, so grateful that he would take me to see it. It was of course, unbelievable.

One If By Land...

...Two If By Sea is the name of the restaurant we ate at Friday night. It was the most romantic place I have ever eaten by far. There were red roses on every small, intimate table and a single candle lit, setting a soft glow on your loved one...I swear it was so romantic that the whole place kind of seemed hazy like you were looking through a lens that had fogged over. It was very nice but not pretentious. We didn't feel uncomfortable or out of place though I did have a small moment of panic when I first sat down and saw 3 different sized forks lined up next to one another by my plate. I felt a little bit like Goldilocks with so many choices and thinking, 'that middle fork looks juuust right!'. Don't worry, I know you just use the silverware from the outside in. Anyway, there was live piano music playing love songs softly and we had a corner table right next to a window that looked out on this little area where there were vines and flowers covering the walls of the building next door. The building itself, The Carriage House at 17 Barrow Street, has history enough for a book. A few of the highlights? In the 1700's this original carriage house is where George Washington housed his horse for a time. Then it was purchased by Aaron Burr (who killed Alexander Hamilton in a duel), it has a tunnel underneath it that helped slaves escaping via the underground railway. Later it was turned into a house of 'ill-repute' among other things before becoming a restaurant. The name of the restaurant is 'One if by Land, Two if by Sea' referring to Paul Revere's Ride, if you remember Longfellow's poem:

He said to his friend, "If the British march

By land or sea from the town to-night

Hang a lantern aloft in the belfry arch

Of the North Church tower as a signal light,

One if by land, and two if by sea;

And I on the opposite shore will be,

Ready to ride and spread the alarm

Through every Middlesex village and farm,

For the country folk to be up and to arm...

What a clever and classy name I thought! Anyway, the food was unbelievable. Probably some of the best I have ever had. The kind where you take a bite and there are layers of flavors...so unlike my tuna noodle casserole...it was all amazing. Though the company was by far the best part. It was such a treat to have Nathan all to myself! We had conversations without interruption which is unprecedented at this phase of our lives, and we enjoyed reminiscing over the past 7 years together. One of my top dates with Nathan to be sure...Picture 1-dinner. Picture 2- Our hotel lobby.

7 Years Already?

Okay. I am just going to be straight with you. If you don't want to hear about what Nathan did to surprise me for our 7th Anniversary and all about what a great husband he is etc., etc. please feel free to stop reading now. My feelings won't be hurt and I would rather have you stop reading now than read it and send me hate mail...Yeah. It's that good.

So Nathan used to blow me away with his thoughtful and nice gifts. But- as in many relationships you get going in life and focused on parenting and work and it had been a while since either of us had done something for the other that was over the top. I guess I thought maybe that phase of things was over. But about a week ago Nathan told me he had something for our anniversary planned. He had been planning it for months and had taken care of every detail including the overnight babysitters (the Bells who will here after be referred to as 'the Saints'!). About 24 hours before we were to leave he informed me we would be flying to New York for the weekend! I could not believe it- I thought it was mean of him to joke in this manner...he wasn't joking. By Friday morning at 8am we were driving into Manhattan to the Hyatt Hotel which is literally right next to Grand Central Station. I was such a tourist with my nose pressed to the glass of the cab trying to take in all of the sky scrapers and the hustle and bustle of the Big Apple. Let's see...The cabbies. Let's start there. Driving in D.C. is more aggressive than Boise to be sure. But even that could only prepare me so much for driving in N.Y.C. First of all- everyone honks ALL the time. If the horn on your car is broken the car would be worthless. I had a hard time figuring out the rules of honking because they didn't seem to be consistent. For example: When the light turns green you don't even have a chance to move your foot from the brake to the gas before 5 cars behind you are honking at you to get moving. But if you are in the left hand lane and you decide to turn to the right - across the guy sitting in the right hand lane next to you, this does not get you honked at...so puzzling. And staying in your lane? What does that mean?! Those little white lines on the road seemed to be more of a suggestion of lane boundaries than a hard fast rule. A practice that tested the strength of my antiperspirant on more than one occasion.

First off we met our old friends from Provo who now live in New York -Alan and Malene- for brunch at a really yummy restaurant. That was great because we got the real scoop of big city life and I was completely fascinated by it. Then Nathan and I spent the day walking around the city. We saw Ground Zero (pic. 2) which in a word was sobering. We saw Trump Towers (pic.1) where couldn't resist pursing our lips together like a duck and saying ' Your Fired!' while shooting our hands forward like an attacking snake. We saw lots of shops and sights and when our feet had had enough we took the subway (and oh my goodness, I thought the metros in D.C. were less than savory!!! The D.C. metros are spotless compared to N.Y.-I guess it is all relative) back to our hotel and got ready for dinner.

New Running Shoes

I was at Target today trying desperately to find Kennedy a pair of shoes that would fit her and the cute shoes have been out of stock in her size for a month now. I decided she couldn't wait any longer. I pulled down the little running shoes they have for $9.99 and put them on her. The obvious draw back is that they have laces, not Velcro but desperate times call for desperate measures. So I say, 'Great. They fit let's get 'em.' And I throw her and the shoes in the cart to move along and she says excitedly, 'You mean I can have them? I can have shoes for running just like dad?!' Having no idea she would be excited about this I spent the next half hour listening to Kennedy chatter about how she was gonna go running with her dad...she can run fast like her dad...she loves to exercise...and on and on. I thought it was cute but that her exuberance would fade with the day- but no. As soon as Nathan walked in the door she proudly showed him her shoes and announced that after dinner they would be going running. I guess Kenna's excitement was contagious because pretty soon Kohen had his shoes on and was ready to go too. Nathan took them 'running' which meant a 5 second sprint that tapered off into a gentle stroll around the block. I guess the kids take after me.

Twighlight Festival

Saturday evening Nathan ran in the Twilight Festival 4-Miler. It was nice because they looped around and we were able to see him run by and cheer him on several times. The middle picture is Nathan crossing the finish line. His official time was 29:59 according to the chip that each runner wears. Sub-30 min, nice job Nathan! I honestly don't know how he does it. He has been so busy with work and church that he hasn't been able to run very much. I think he ran one morning to prepare for this...that is unbelievable to me- I huff and puff chasing a 1 yr old up the stairs. Anyway, it was a fun evening to take the children and go and cheer on their dad. Way to go Nathan!

Alyssa was cracking us up as she showed off her new love of spitting. She would spit so hard that she looked like she might pass out from the effort. This was funny when she had an audience to egg her on...not so funny when I am trying to feed her squash and I don't feel like wearing it! :)

Aly's 1st Birthday ~ June 20, 2007

Alyssa has been on the verge of walking for a couple of weeks now and so her new walker was just the gift for her 1st Birthday. As you can see she marched around the kitchen thinking she was pretty hot stuff. She went after her cake and there are actually some really great pictures of her just covered in frosting but Rosie has them on her camera because ours might have run out of battery...just a sec, waiting for the steam to finish coming out of my ears...so these pics will have to do. In the end Aly was so thoroughly covered in frosting that she recieved an impromptu bath in the kitchen sink. Afterwards she was playing on the floor with Rose, Peter, Katie, Nathan and I and next thing you know Rosie is trying to get my attention without distracting Alyssa because she apparently decided her first birthday party would be the perfect time to start walking!!!!! I am starting to get a little nervous at how determined my little sweety is...but for now we will still applaud Aly's first steps.