Larson Reunion

Thanks to Windows 7 we now have the pictures and videos from our trip to Yellowstone with the Larsons last July. Here are a few:

All the Larson and Jensen boys by the petrified tree.

How to . . .

How To Eat A Sugar Cookie

leave the cookie

• go straight for the frosting

Halloween

Halloween 2009: Darth Vador, a girrafe, and a Vampire. Jack and Jonas loved their costumes. Wore them around the house all week. Cache . . . not so much. The businesses on mainstreet did trick or treating on Friday after school and I couldn't even attempt to put the costume on without screams- so we went without. I also forgot I only had two pumpkin buckets so he ended up with an ice cream bucket and no costume. I should of told people he was "the neglected child" for Halloween. Delwyn managed to get him dressed for trunk or treat. And as if the kids didn't have enough candy the older two went trick or treating around the neighborhood after that. Their buckets were full and they were very generous with their parents (and their parents took full advantage).

We're done (sigh)

The wood is finally split and stacked! Delwyn had to do most of the heavy work [because of my "delicate condition" =)]but we all helped with the stacking. We worked those boys hard! And this is what we did once we were done. And I, quite literally, could hardly walk afterwards but hey, who needs to walk when you can sit next to a roaring fire and blog?

Robots in Disguise

Jonas: "I wonder what Jazz is going to be for Halloween"

He's hard to recognize with the whiskers don't you think?

In case you hadn't heard . . .

IT'S A BOY!!!! Yep, that makes four. Have we got this thing down or what? Or maybe Heavenly Father keeps sending us boys hoping we'll get it right one of these days. What's his name going to be??? Don't ask- we don't know. We're just hoping it'll come to us when we see him but there is a chance he will be known as "baby boy Jensen" for some time to come. My doctor told me our sonographer has had a rash of mis-gendering lately but always calling boys girls not the other way around so we'll see. Wouldn't that be a shocker! It definitely looked like a boy to us. Here he is waving to his brothers. Due date is Feb. 9th, his measurements put him at Feb. 3rd (I like this date better). Everything looked good, he seems active and healthy.

I Hate Maternity Pants

In my opinion, maternity pants are a necessary evil. They come in all styles and I dislike them all. They never stay up. The mid-rise cuts your belly in half - very unflattering on an already large protrusion. The full panel ones seem to stay up better but when they do slip down (and they will) trying to pull them up discreetly is impossible! In fact, there aren't a whole lot of things I do like about pregnancy. Feels wrong to say but being pregnant is like going through every bad stage in life in 9 months. I have to be fed every 2 hours or I'm grumpy. I need bathroom breaks several times a day. I can't fit into any of my clothes. I have the mood swings and skin imperfections of a pubescent. The internal plumbing of an 80 yr old. (ahem) Sneezing can be dangerous these days. A stomach flu that last for at least 3 months, (for most) but in my case closer to 6 months and even then it makes periodic comebacks. Add on to all of that the constant fatigue, heartburn, headaches, backaches, weight gain, stretch marks, and another human being kicking your guts from the inside and you've got the miracle that is pregnancy. Birth is the only cure and it too does not come easy. But after all is said and done you get the greatest gift in the world and I do LOVE my babies. As for the pants, maybe I'll invent "suspenders for the preggars."

George, Jr.

Something about Jonas has always reminded me of Goofy's son from the old Disney shorts. Especially after I give him a haircut. Maybe it's his big eyes. Check out this old cartoon and let me know what you think-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ym8u94MitRc

Pretend I wrote this in June

Jonas took this picture. Not bad, eh? I don't have a lot of pictures from June but most of it was spent here . . .

at baseball games. Jack played coach pitch this year. They had a great year, only lost 2 games. This was a rare sunny game, most of the games we watched from inside the car because it was too cold. And when the weather was nice we were outside working on our landscaping. It's really looking nice, I'll have to get some pictures one of these days.

We went to Utah for a wedding reception one weekend and stopped by Kennecott. It was cold but the kids loved the huge trucks. We were with Grandma and Grandpa Jensen and Grandpa Jensen worked there in the 60's so it was fun to hear how things have changed.

We also had swim camp this month, which I didn't take any pictures of. And Delwyn took the boys to a Father's and Son's outing- no pictures. Yep, we're pretty lazy.

Answered Prayers:

I had to give a talk in church on Father's Day which is terrifying for me. I've developed this "condition" over the years where I cry when I have to speak in front of large groups. It's horrifying. And I don't know why it started but I get so nervous I just weep. And now I get so nervous about crying that it only makes me more nervous. It's a vicious cycle. So my only prayers that week were that I would not ball in front of everyone and despite a very shaky voice I made it through! Prayers are answered.

Just pretend it's May too

May 17th, Jonas turned 4 years old! A self-portrait for the occasion. Very abstract.

He decorated his own cake. Again, very abstract. I can dig it.

I turned 28. Check out Delwyns creative wrapping. He used his desk calendar. What a guy!

At the end of the month we went to Bear World with Jacks class. This is the chicken Cache was so gently petting . . . at first. Then he started hitting it and I was sure he was going to get his eyes pecked out. Who puts chickens in a petting zoo?? Seriously, not nice creatures. Later, we went back through the chicken coop (why???) and there was a lovely chicken sleeping in the window sill . . . at first. Then Cache pushed him out of the window. Cruel, I know, but if you could have seen the feathers flying and the noise that thing made as it flew out the window- you'd be laughing right now. Again, I was positive my kid would be the first kid in petting zoo history to get his eyes pecked out.

This is the deer I could not get Jonas to pet for nearly 15 min. He'd pet the big ugly pig, but the cute baby deer- wouldn't have it.

The baby bears. I just threw them in because they were so adorable. They kept wrestling too.

This is one of the kiddie rides. I was so thankful Jonas has such a nice big brother who would take him on the rides. But what I forgot is the youngest brother who has to do EVERYTHING the older ones are doing. And, unfortunately, Cache was too little to go on by himself so I had to go on all the kiddie rides with him. I was the only parent on any of the rides and I thought for sure I was going to break them. AND, I happened to know one of the people controlling the rides. Yep, fond memories. What I won't do for my kids. Actually, it's more like what I won't do to prevent my 2 year old from throwing a massive fit in public. Desperate times . . .

This is "Baloo the bear" from the people version of Jungle Book. Livin' up his retirement in Idaho. It's a good place to be.

Cache

Cache \kash\noun:

1. a hiding place especially for concealing and preserving provisions or implements.

Apparently, Delwyn was inspired to name our third born Cache. All this time I was convinced he just thought it sounded cool or maybe it had to do with him being a banker or perhaps even his love for the great Johnny Cash. But, alas, the name fits him to a "T".

Cache is a "cacher". Over the last several months we have found things hidden around the house. Cache's stash. In shoes, in cupboards, in the trunk of his pedal car. But more impressively, and unfortunately more commonly, the heating vents. There's a vent next to the desk in the kitchen that's full of stuff he's not supposed to play with. So when I leave the room he quickly grabs the scissors, the glue sticks, the markers etc. and stuffs them down the hole! We've caught him in the act in our room, Jack's room, but never his own room. We've pulled out papers, golf balls, toy cars, you name it. But who knows what else is down there?

We arrived late at church one Sunday (shocker) and were waiting out in the foyer when we saw Cache go over to a heater, open the little maintenance door on it and pull out a sippy cup we thought was long gone. Well, if that weren't enough- he reached back in and pulled yet another one out! How long has he been doing this??? Is he aware of some impending milk shortage? (Sorry, no picture for this one, but we were at church! Who brings a camera to church?)

The schools here have a winter sports program where the kids learn to ski or do other "wintery" things and on the last day of skiing they do a race. So Cache and I got all bundled and trekked up the mountain to watch him. Despite my exhaustion from climbing up the steep hill in the sideways snow and dense fog with a baby on my hip (did I mention it was up hill both ways?) it was a lot of fun and those kids are REALLY good! The fastest three times in each grade get a trophy and, wouldn't you know it, Jack got third place! He couldn't be happier. Good job, Jack!!!

The Jensens: An introduction

A little bit about us . . .

This is where we live- Teton Valley, Idaho. Pretty, isn't it? I know a lot of you picture us out in the country with the cows and potatoes but we actually live in a subdivision. Neighbors, fences . . . well we don't actually have a fence but I've seen them around.

This is Jack- the oldest. When he was younger he was obsessed with having super powers which makes sense because he loves to be the best at everything. He was convinced for years that he was "super" fast and had two speeds - "blur" and "no blur". "No blur" meant he was so fast you couldn't see him at all. Delwyn and I may be partly to blame for that.

This is Jonas. He would eat cold cereal for every meal of the day if I let him (or granola bars). His favorite things to do are to snuggle and wrestle which actually describes his personality pretty well, he's very sweet and stubborn. I kinda like the combo. Most people know him as the "shy one" because he rarely speaks in public but we can't get him to stop talking at home- you'll just have to trust us on that one.

This is Cache. You may look at this picture and think "Oh what a cute little boy enjoying a cookie" but the horror of it is he got himself up on that counter, stabbed his way through the plastic wrap and then snatched that poor unsuspecting cookie. And that's the look he gave me when I caught him. His presonality is sure to get him far in life. And on the upside he's very self-sufficient and can the mother of three small children really complain about a child who is self-sufficient???

I don't have any good pictures of Delwyn and I but Delwyn is a Commercial Lender at a local bank and on the Planning and Zoning Committee (you may call him Commisioner Jensen if you like) and I stay at home with the rugrats am a Cub Scout Leader and I make gameboard clocks- wanna buy one??