The Hunt

On Easter we went to my parent's house for dinner and an egg hunt. Someone forgot to bring the baskets so we had to improvise, but I don't think the kids minded too much.

And they're off!

This Time I Really Am Back....Maybe

I have a ton of pictures that I want to post, but I am going to start out slowly. January (yes, that is how long it has been) was all about birthdays and basketball. We celebrated Ryan's birthday with our families. I made him a Snickers cake. Sounds really good doesn't it? Well it wasn't. I couldn't even choke it down. I felt really bad for everyone who was trying to eat it, and compliment me on how good it was. Liars. I really love and appreciate everyone for trying to spare my feelings. It was a good time and we really appreciate everyone who came to celebrate my sweet husband's birthday!

This was Rece's second year playing basketball and he loved it! This is such a fun way to spend a Saturday. He was really sad to see his games end. Good job Rece!

I'm Back!

I haven't had a computer for almost three weeks! The power cord went bad, and we had to order another one. I don't spend tons of time on the computer, but I really missed it. I didn't realize how much I have come to depend on it until it was gone, so now I need to get busy and post some pictures that I have been neglecting. Probably not today though...the house is a mess.

Sick

I am so ready for winter to be over. I'm ready for spring to get here and fresh air, and getting outside with my kids. I'm ready for my kids to not be sick anymore. Honestly, someone in my house is always sick. Yesterday, I stayed home from church (again) with Zach and Meg. Meg has pink eye (again), and Zach was running a fever all day. Last week Rece had some kind of stomach bug, but it didn't hit him until Sunday night. I have been washing sheets every day, wiping everything down with Clorox wipes, opening windows in an effort to get some fresh air circulating, and constantly washing and sanitizing little hands. Anyone else experiencing this kind of fun?

Out of the Mouth of Zach

Zach says things every day that either make me laugh out loud or just make me smile. Ryan keeps after me to write them down, but I haven't been very good at that. Why is it so hard to get out a piece of paper and a pen? Am I the only one seriously lacking in this area? Anyway, here are a few things that he has said in just the last few days that I thought were fun.

Zach: "Mom? Do you know where Grandma and Grandpa Jensen live?

Me: "Yes. Do you?"

Zach: "Yes! At Chuck E. Cheese's!"


Me: "Zach, how would you like to go do something fun with your dad tomorrow night?"

Zach: "Yeah! We could go get ice cream, and he could get buttercream and I will get chocolate and he can count the red cars and I will count the blue cars just like on the movie Up!


Me: Singing 'Teach Me To Walk In The Light'.

Zach: "Mom! Stop singing!"

Me: "Why? Do I sound bad?"

Zach: "No. Just a little bad."


Me: "Zach, do you love me?"

Zach: "Yes."

Me: "Do you love daddy?"

Zach: "Yes."

Me: "Do you love Rece?"

Zach: "Yes."

Me: "Do you love Megyn?"

Zach: "No."

Me: "Oh. Why not?"

Zach: "She just bugs me."

Worth Mentioning.

I realized last night as Ryan and I were discussing our date night plans for tonight, that this is the tenth anniversary of our first date! How ironic is it that we are even doing the same thing we did ten years ago! Dinner and a movie. Is that ironic or just predictable?

Christmas Vacation

We have had an excellent Christmas vacation. Ryan has been off work since Christmas Eve, and doesn't have to go back until January 4th. We went to my parent's on Christmas Eve and had an awesome dinner with them and my grandma. My dad loves to experiment with his cooking, and that night made a roast that he stuffed with pancetta and veggies and served with a yummy mushroom gravy. It was so good. We stayed at their house only until about seven and then went home and got our kids to bed. It was a really relaxing way to spend Christmas Eve. It was actually good that we got home so early the night before, because our kids were up at 6 a.m. on Christmas Day. All three of them came bursting into our room together. The boys, of course, understood the whole concept of Santa bringing gifts, but Meg was so confused. She kept saying, "Mama...pink baby?" She could not understand where it came from, and to add to it we had been telling her for at least a month not to touch the packages under the tree and then all of a sudden we were ripping all of them open. The Christmas spirit has definitely stuck though, she has been going around the house shouting, "Ho, Ho, Ho, Merry Christmas!". Here are some pics from our holiday.

This is Christmas Eve. Those are vampire teeth in Zach's mouth. He always has to be a little different!

Both of the boys got a Nintendo DS from Santa. Definitely a hit!

Look at those faces, Santa must have got it right!

Megyn digging into her stocking.

She's still not sure it's okay to touch. All she heard since the tree went up was "Don't Touch!". Poor Meg. It's so hard to be little.

This was by far my favorite moment. Zach's preschool teacher gave all her students a Christmas gift. He was very excited about this particular gift until he opened it. The picture says it all...he was not impressed.

Even on Christmas this kid still manages that sad little puppy dog look!

Not this guy, he was all smiles all day long. Ryan's parents gave both boys a monogrammed towel. I think they are so cute...they match their bathroom perfectly!

Still smilin'!

The aftermath. Merry Christmas!

Personal Preferences

What I prefer.

What she prefers (diaper optional...pink fluffy princess slippers a must).

Enough said.

Busy, busy, busy....

Once again, I have been a little bit flakey about the whole blog thing. Computer time is kind of at the low end of my priority list, so at the end of the day it is the one thing that I usually haven't found time for. It seems like the last couple of months have flown by. We have been out of town a lot. Ryan bought us season tickets for the BYU home games this year, so we have been to Utah quite a bit. Saturday is the last game. I didn't realize how addictive this can become. I honestly love it. So much better than watching it at home on TV (although I don't mind that either).

We have been to Washington twice since September. In July, Ryan's parents moved to the tri-city area and at the end of September his grandpa (who lived in Vancouver) passed away so we travelled to Kennewick for the funeral. Ryan, along with his sister and several cousins spoke at the funeral, and they all did such a great job. It was exactly the right balance of spiritual and fond memories of a great life.

Then we travelled there again at the end of October for Halloween. We had a really good time. We went to Disney on Ice which was fabulous! I would definitely pay good money to see that again...my kids loved it! Meg was absolutely beside herself when Tinkerbell made her appearance...she would cheer and throw her hands up in the air. So funny. We went on a tour of the farm where Ryan's dad works. Unbelievable. I have never seen so many cows. Seriously...it was mind boggling. The area where they kept the baby calves went on forever. We would like to go on another tour when we have more time. We didn't get to see everything that we wanted to. After we left there, we drove to Hood River to meet my brother, Garon, and my sister-in-law, Kati. They drove from Salem to meet us for dinner. We chatted with them for a couple of hours and it was fun and so nice to see them again so soon! On Halloween, Ryan's mom threw a fabulous party with lots of yummy and scary food. We took the kids to a trunk or treat and did a little neighborhood trick-or-treating. Waaaay to much candy. It was a fun trip, and our kids are getting to be really good travellers. I'm so thankful to be alive when we have so many modern conveniences. I don't know how we would survive without DVD players in the car. Here are a few pictures from our trip. I am a little disappointed that I didn't get better pictures of my kids, but Zach had been sick before we left and I think all of the travelling was hard on him. He was a grouch and wouldn't really cooperate.

This is actually before our trip. I took the kids to my parent's house so they could see their costumes.

Any guesses where we had lunch one day?

Group photo at Chuck E. Cheese's.

Disney on Ice!

Here we are in Hood River. More pizza!

I wish I had a better Halloween picture of Meg. She was Pinkalicious (if you haven't read the book it is about a little girl who eats too many pink cupcakes and turns pink...it's a really fun story and one of Meg's favorites). I made her a really cute tutu and this is the only picture I have of her in it.

Remember how I said Zach was being a grouch? Have you ever seen such a sad face? Zach was dressed as Ben Ten, Rece was Harry Potter, and Meg was Pinkalicious. This picture was taken right before we left to go trick or treating.

Cookies Anyone?

Zach actually wanted to help me make cookies today. Usually, when I ask if he wants to help me, he says "No, I'll just eat them." He didn't want to just help, he wanted to do everything. So I let him. The most exciting part was when I added the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and he turned the mixer to high. We had flour and cocoa powder everywhere. He thought it was hilarious.

He did a great job! Thanks Zach!