Settler's Park

This is an awesome park that has a chlorinated sprinkler play area in it too. We met a few cousins and friends over there the other day and let the kids run wild.

Crazy Eye Kenna

Let me start off by saying that these pictures don't even begin to do this look justice. Lately when I launch in to one of my "kind but firm" scoldings Kennedy starts giving me this goofy smile while she turns her left eye all the way in- and I honestly cannot even keep talking I just end up laughing. It is this look like 'you are talking to me like I am an idiot so now I am going to act like one'. How does she even do that!? And where did she come up with it? And most importantly, how did she know just when to use it!?!

p.s.- I asked her to do it for me so these faces she was concentrating and not doing the 'duh-her'-smile she usually does with it.

A Bust

My parents went up to a time share that my dad has access to through Winco last week. They called the next day and said that it was this beautiful new house and I had to come up. So I stopped folding all of the laundry from our last camp trip and packed it back up. The next morning I loaded us all up by myself and headed for McCall. I've got all three car seats smooshed in the back seat and the children seem extra close to my ears sometimes but otherwise our drive up was great. The house was amazing. The yard was fun too. There was a no fire order out because of all of the forest fires and so Papa John helped the kids make smores on the bbq. The other funny thing was that the kids had peanuts they were setting out on the rocks for the squirrels to eat and I found Kennedy sitting out there with a chair pulled up staring at the tree waiting for that darn squirrel to eat the nuts. It never failed, as soon as she would walk away and come back the peanuts would be gone!
The problem came when no one was sleeping properly or napping. The next day I got fed up and packed everyone up and drove back home! Here are just two things the kids were melting down over for your reading enjoyment: I am getting ready and start pulling my hair up into a ponytail and Kennedy starts bawling saying "I don't like your hair up like thaaaaat! I like it the other waaaaaay!" What other way? I only have one way!! Then in the car on the way home I was listening to Simon and Garfunkel and out of no where Kohen starts crying and eventually screaming "I don't like dis song! I don't like dis song!" Eventually the song changed but his mood didn't. My kids seemed beyond help as you can tell. I think I made the right choice to get home and get them back on a schedule. It must've worked because my hair is in a ponytail and I am sitting here listening to S&G and no one is crying...

Harry Potter wannabe

If you hadn't heard, Kohen lives in a closet. That is right. In the nursery there is a 'walk in closet' and we fit a toddler bed in there back in January and that is where Kohen sleeps. But with his newest scrape on his forehead I am starting to think he is taking this Harry Potter thing too far...

Baby Talk

Over the last week or so Alyssa has gotten her 'sea legs' and started walking without being all wobbly and looking like a miniature drunken sailor. Just to show off she has decided to start talking. Technically her first word was 'hi.' and it is sweet because she says it at the appropriate times and real softly. Then the other night I held up the phone to her ear so Nathan could talk to her for a minute and let her hear his voice and clear as a bell she said 'Dah-dee'! Nathan was so touched and I was a tiny bit jealous, but the moment was sweet so I let it go. The last word isn't exactly a word that could be found in Webster's but when Kennedy was first speaking when she said 'love you' she said it like 'buhboo' and our family has kind of adopted it and it has become a special little way we have of telling each other we love each other. Anyway, I said it to Aly tonight and she said it right back to me! I couldn't believe it! I am willing to admit she might have just been repeating sounds but I don't care she said 'buhboo' to me and my heart melted. I have to enjoy the little stuff cuz we all know that someday in the not too far future the things coming out of Aly's mouth might not be as sweet! :)

Family Pics 2007

Nathan's sister Tara took our family pictures again this year and here are some of the results. Of course nothing can ever go too smoothly and this time Alyssa was not in the mood for a photo shoot- and with a sinus infection and teething I can't say I blame her. Against all odds Tara got some good shots. I would love opinions on which family pic and which one of the 3 kids anyone likes best. And I have a new found respect for anyone who can get children ages almost 5, almost 3 and 1 to all even look at the camera at the same time!!! Nice work Tara!

Reality Bites

Take a close look at these pics and you can enjoy some of the reality of family pictures with us. Ahh, good times...

Jensen Reunion 2007

This year we stayed at a big cabin on Cascade Lake for the Jensen Family Reunion. Our kids were so excited to play with their cousins- it went on non-stop! Both Kohen and Kennedy caught their first fish ever. We had crafts and bubble gum blowing contests and water skiing and jet skiing. Last year at not quite 2 years old Kohen was obsessed with jet skiing and this summer he was just as enthralled with it if not more so. He would laugh and shout while riding and he would seriously cry when his turn was over...don't feel bad, he had lots of turns.

More Reunion Pics

Nathan's sister Tara's kids are all super tall for their ages. Check out the pic where Laynie has her arm around Kennedy. These two are often connected at the hip...or more like hip to mid-thigh. Laynie is a year younger than Kenna and about 2-3 inches taller. The bottom picture is Abigail, Lyssa (the blond baby) and then Alyssa. Long story about the 2 girl cousins born 5 weeks apart named Lyssa and Alyssa...

Even More Reunion Pics

Kennedy couldn't have been more happy to have gum whenever she wanted. I don't know where she would have gotten that from...And the bottom pic happened when we were cleaning and Aly found this duster and it was the perfect size cane for her. She strutted around all proud of herself for at least 5 min! :)

A Week In Review

We have been crazy busy trying to get all of our visiting in! We started out with the Idaho River Stampede Saturday night with our favorite babysitter Maddie (our neice) taking care of our ecstatic kids. The rodeo was a blast as usual- though the security lady who found Harry Potter in my purse was like, "You aren't gonna be reading that at the rodeo are you?" ummm, yes?! But I didn't really read that much. Too busy enjoying one of the great traditions of the West. Monday Kohen 'worked' out in the yard with Papa John and later we had a BBQ with our dear friends the Whitworths, Kirkhams, and Jensens (Nathan's brother Taylor and Kysa) who we used to do a dinner group with for well over a year. Between all of us there are now 14 kids and they were all excited to get back together and play. Wed. we went to a work BBQ with the Furni and the girls got their faces painted and Kohen was thrilled to find that there was candy. And finally we had a nice dinner with my Mom and Dad, and Ashley and her fiance Shayn at the Cheesecake Factory. What is the common thread of all of our fun so far? As always, food.

Brace Face No More!

This was Nathan in August of 2005 after he had surgery to break and expand his palate in preparations for getting braces on for the second time. His first surgery wasn't 100% successful so he actually had to endure a 2nd one that was successful- as seen in picture #2. After almost two years he finally got his braces off this week!!!! He was so excited to eat corn on the cob for the first time in years he could hardly stand it! The braces weren't for cosmetic reasons- he has always had a nice smile (at least I thought!) but he looks and feels great which is what matters right? A quick shout-out to Gold Orthodontics in Meridian Idaho! Mike Gold is an AWESOME orthodontist and we are grateful he was able to fix Nathan up. Congrats Honey!!!!

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!!!