Thrill Seeking

For Nathan and Taylor's July Birthdays Kysa and I surprised them by taking them up to Horshoebend area to a really cool Zip Line course. It was so much fun. A series of 6 different zip lines, one of them being the longest in the Northwest.
The last zip was a race (below), so I got a head start and then Nathan took off after me on a line running parallel to mine. In a classic move our camera fell out of his pocket shortly after take off - I saw it fall down, down, down. Our guide went part way down the hill and looked for about 10 minutes and unbelievably, found our camera. We were told people aren't usually so lucky. If you're wondering, Nathan still won our race. So maybe he's just lucky.
Non-interesting fact about me- I know, hard to believe there is such a thing- the day before I was leaving for college 11 years ago I was scheduled to go skydiving. It was canceled due to weather- and then off I went to college.

Fast forward to five years ago when all of our family went to watch my SIL Tara go skydiving for her birthday. My MIL Bonnie mentioned that she thought it would be cool to go some day too. Have I mentioned that she is a double amputee?
Present Day: So for her birthday this year all of her kids surprised her by taking her skydiving! We all showed up to cheer her on and Tara went with again and Taylor and Kysa were scheduled to go too. Bonnie and Tara were first. In case you were wondering she did not wear her prosthetic legs to skydive- apparently anything that could come off -be it shoe, watch, arm or leg- is best to leave safely on the ground. I think Bonnie was a little nervous to dive but Tara was the pro and apmped to go.
A few of the grandkids watching the plane take off, they all think their Grandma is so cool. She is.
Believe it or not there is a Grandma under those layers of grandchildren. Bonnie was engulfed in a scrum (that's for you Furni) of grandchildren the moment she landed. She thought the experience was amazing and she can't wait to go again.

So guess what else happened that day? Nathan and I spontaneously decided to go skydiving as well. I am still surprised we decided to go. I had literally rolled out of bed, threw on the last of my clean clothes - I didn't even have proper foot attire so a shout out to my niece Rylee for lending me her lace up shoes :)
Nathan and I flew up together with the guys we were jumping tandem with. The little Cessna plane certainly didn't instill much confidence in it's ability to get us safely up to 10,000 feet. It had all these bare wires showing and ripped upholstery on the only seat in the tin can, the pilots. I may or may not have had thoughts like, if this is the upkeep on the plane... what about the parachutes??? For whatever reason I still got in. It was a beautiful flight getting up to altitude- the Treasure Valley was gorgeous from above.

Before I knew it the door was open and I was free falling, trying to catch my breath. It was amazing. AMAZING!
Though I went out first Nathan had a smaller chute so he landed first. Look at that handsome face, thankfully still in one piece. He doesn't usually wear Daisy Dukes, but the harness rides up in a way you won't soon forget.
My take: Stepping out of the plane you have a few last thoughts seriously reviewing your sanity but in an instant you are free falling, a freight train in your ears, hardly able to catch a breath trying to take it all in even though you are on sensory overload- and then, too soon, a big jerk as the parachute explodes open and tears you away from the greedy grasp of gravity. And then quiet. The float to the ground was so calm after the free fall. It was a bit like what I imagined, actually. Except for the insane adrenaline rush. Hard to imagine that.
Don't judge. I warned you I didn't dress (read: shower) for the occasion.

I was happy I didn't die. I love my husband, I love my children, and most days, I love my life....

But I still loved skydiving.

**Statistically speaking there is more risk each time we get in our car than going skydiving. Like by a lot. (okay, that wasn't exactly "statistically speaking" but you get what I mean) I just wanted to say that for my friends/fam (*cough* DAD!) who think we were crazy. :)

Crashin @ the Crowley's

When we moved into Mike and Amber's house, it was another perfectly decorated and clean house with one major difference. It's kid proofed! Not to mention there were cousins plus the bonus of toys, a swing set, and even a bunny who -poor thing- would run for his life for about 20 minutes every morning in the backyard, trailing a gaggle of kids.

It was a bit crowded and loud at times, and my older two kept waking up their cousins every morning - my frustration was superseded only by their aunts, I am sure- and we did manage to pass around some lovely colds/coughs but otherwise things were fairly smooth considering. And we did have a few super sweet moments like this:

Michael and Kohen practicing their archery skills thanks to an outing with Uncle Mike to the sporting goods store.
Davis loved Kennedy and would climb up in her lap and want to be with her and pretty much had Kenna wrapped around his finger. It's hard not give a kid with such big beautiful blue eyes anything he wants! But don't be entirely fooled. This sweetheart is also a whirlwind of an 18ish month old. Just one of many examples, one morning I found him like this:
His big grin shows you he's not stressin- the sink is running and about to overflow as he marinates his pajama clad feet all while rotating 3 different toothbrushes through his mouth. Just another day with Davis, keepin the adults on their toes.

There's room for at least one more.

Another benefit of staying with Mike and Amber was that Amber would line up babysitters and we could all go out at night. That was actually a huge plus. This night we went to the Shakespeare Festival with Nathan's parents and siblings. It had been a hot day but turned into a beautiful night with great company.

Thanks again Crowley's for letting us move in this summer! We miss you guys already!

Wilcox Fun

We had a great time with my side of the family too. My parents recently moved about 5 hours north of Boise so my mom came down for a few weeks while we were in town. My sisters and my mom entertained the kids on more than one occasion. They took them to Rafiki one day and I have to say the place was amazing, I really wish we had something so nice, clean, open and air conditioned here in TianMu.

Another afternoon everyone met down by the river- no vans were involved- and we had a picnic lunch and a brave few played in the frigid river. Uncle Shayn was nice enough to get in and that enabled the kids to do the rope swing too which about gave me a heart attack but since nothing happened it's just "a fun memory". Enjoy.

July 3rd & 4th

From the time that Nathan arrived back in Boise it was pretty much like someone pushed the Fast Forward button. We just ran from one fun activity to the next. We don't want to miss out on anything so it makes for a pretty hectic schedule. Please note this is not a complaint. At least not a full one, because really we wouldn't have it any other way.

We didn't skip a beat from the moment the Family reunion was over. The next morning Nathan and men from his side of the family spent some quality time golfing. Above is Nathan, his brother Taylor and his dad, Norm.
Later Nathan and I joined my parents, sisters, and BILs for dinner at a nice restaurant downtown to celebrate Ashley's Birthday. It was a fun dinner and the food was yummy. Just a friendly warning: it is possible to eat too much Macaroni and Cheese if it has truffle sauce in it... sad but true.

The whole gang (minus Justin)

Happy Birthday Leetle!

Next we have the 4th of July. We were excited to have my sister Natalie and BIL Robert in town for a few weeks and the fourth was the first time the kids really got to see their "Aunt Madalie" as Aly calls her.
Pixie, hanging out with Ander- he's a busy one these days
I will absolutely be framing this picture.^

The Menfolk + Kennedy


The highlight of the 4th was the dessert table by my sister Ashley. She is the owner of Eye Candy which specializes in dessert displays and event design. The whole neighborhood was swarming and hovering and she barely got it all put together before everyone pounced.
And yes, it was as good as it looks. You can check out more of her work here on Facebook- she is amazing. If you would like more information on her work and availability you can find it there.

mmm.......

~It was a great 4th of July~

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.

Kohen and His Bow And Arrow

::::::: We interrupt the "Summer" posts to bring you this video::::::

If you know Kohen, you will love this. He's teaching us all about Bow and Arrow safety and use with his new Compound Bow which he loves. It's 1.5 min and believe me, your time will be well spent... not to build it up or anything. (if you don't want to listen to his lesson skip to 40 seconds)

Click here if you have trouble viewing the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhLScuhf9CA

Swap O' the Pearly Whites

Out with the old!

In with the new!

I give you the only two examples in life where toothlessness is not alarming/creepy/white trash. We have certainly had our fair share of teeth coming and going in the last month. Ander went to work straight away biting everything he could- but was forgiven since he is so dang cute. I really fear for what is about to emerge from Kennedy's bare gums, however. Those big ol' adult teeth always look freaky for a while. Should be interesting!