Zach singing "The Very Best Part of Christmas Time"

This is a song Zach learned in Preschool for their Christmas program.

Christmas Fun

Gavin's first Christmas! He liked Santa. The Kids had fun dressing up in nativity gear and singing primary songs for a family dinner. I thought these pictures turned out really cute. We visited Santa at the mall the next day.

Merry Christmas 2007

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Merry Christmas everyone!

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Tanner's report card

Tanner received his report card today. They don't receive actual grades but he received all Y's! You can get a Y for Yes-on target, a P for partial mastery, or an N for needs to improve. He is doing really well. He is good at math, spelling and his journaling(writing) is really nice too. He is also getting so good at reading, that Mom is not going to be able to spell out words to Dad anymore! I guess I better be more careful about the Christmas list I keep on the computer too. I remember my mom used to keep hers in shorthand. Now I see why!!!

All about Gavin at 6 months

He is a happy boy! We have had people ask us if he is “always this happy”, and he is generally pretty happy!

He loves his Dad so much, that when Dad comes home from work he practically leaps out of Mom’s arms to get to him. He loves for him to carry him around so he can look at all the happenings in the house and still be safe! That is important in our home!

He had two little teeth just shy of 4 months old, and they are as cute as can be. It looks as if he may get some more pretty soon.

He is getting more and more hair. And it is…brown! It looks like Megan’s hair. She is quite proud of this.

He started crawling in the last week or so, really well. He pulls himself up to the couch and stairs and it is rather frightening. After he pulls himself up, he doesn’t seem to know what to do. So he either eventually cries or falls! Ouch!

He still does his little pose where he sits on his side and leans on his elbow and just sort of hangs out!

He loves to jump in his Jumperoo.

He loves solid food. When he bit off too big of a piece of cracker, when Mom took it he let it be known that he was not happy!

He is loved so much that sometimes it is too much when his three siblings are mauling him simultaneously!

As of November 14, he is cutting four teeth all together on the top! Ouch! I can't believe it! He is going to look way too old.

We are very happy he is in our home and he is very loved.

First snow of the year...

A few weeks ago before all this unusually warm weather, we had some snow. The kids were so excited and wanted to get in all their gear to play in it before it melted. Tanner made the snowman entirely by himself and he and Zach had a snowball fight and made snow angels. It is hard to believe there was snow after all this warm weather. Halloween was downright balmy! I keep dressing the kids in long sleeved shirts and they get hot!

Jensen Look a like meters...let it be known that I do have a child that looks like me(Jen)...scroll down for the proof!

We Love Halloween

Halloween was lots of fun. The kids went to a party at Grandma and Grandpa's last Friday to start it off right. What fun grandparents! Then the next night was the Trunk or Treat at the church. They all had Halloween parties at their schools on Halloween day(they each go to a different school) and then they came home and went trick or treating. We give Tanner the credit on getting Zach to be excited about being Superman. At one point he wanted to be Sharpay(you know from HS musical), and we knew that would happen when pigs fly! Zach and Megan were excited about being Superman and Wonder Woman because they had watched the little Superfriends cartoon a couple of times and got into it. Tanner was a Power Ranger, although the closer it got to Halloween, he wanted to be a shark because he loves sharks. Maybe next year. The Cruella DeVille and Dalmation went over great and it was really fun to do. The "fur" coat was thrown together by Jen's Mom and it pretty much made the outfit. Thanks Mom! Brandon didn't really do anything this year, which is a bummer because he has been some great things. Last year he had a black afro and we didn't know quite what to call him, until he took the kitchen clock off the wall and put it on a chain around his neck and became Flava-Flav an old rapper from that VH1 dating reality show that used to come on. It was hilarious. He promises not to disappoint next year. Needless to say, Mom is exhausted today! It is all worth it because we love Halloween!

Jen as Cruella DeVille & Gavin as a Dalmation



Brandon as a Halloween party-poop and Gavin as a Dalmation



Jen, Tanner and Gavin at Munga's house after trick-or-treating



Jen & Gavin



The Jensen Kids: Zach as Superman, Tanner as a Power Ranger, Gavin as a Dalmation and Megan as Wonder Woman



Brandon & Gavin



Zach and the School-Bus Assistant, Lizzie



Gavin going trick or treating with the other kids



Meg, Zach and Gavie trick or treating



Super Zach!



Wonder Woman!



Tanner, the Power Ranger

Dad and Tan's Road Trip To Vegas

My brother, Tyler, and I try to do a boys' road trip to a BYU game every year. We were going to try to make it down to San Diego, but decided to go to Las Vegas instead for the BYU-UNLV game. I brought Tanner and Tyler brought his two boys Noah and Xander. I'm hoping that Zach will be ready to go next year.

We went down early Friday morning and arrived at about 1 pm local time and made a visit to In and Out burger. I guess I don't understand the obsession. There are lots of places with better tasting burgers. Must be a taste you have to grow up with.

Next, we went to the Shark Reef aquarium at Mandalay Bay. It's a great collection of different kinds of sea and water life including a golden crocodile from Thailand, some piranhas from the Amazon and, of course, lots and lots of sharks. The really neat thing is that you can view the sharks from below in a simulated sunken ship. Tanner really enjoyed it and we spent 2 hours there.

After, we journeyed to the Texas Station hotel in North LV. We chose it because of the various kids activities there: arcade, bowling and a theater. Of course, there was a swimming pool which the kids hit on Friday and Saturday.

Tanner got a little sick on Saturday morning so we spent most of the day at the hotel bowling and swimming. He wouldn't let a little sickness keep him out of the action.

Finally, we went to the game. We met up with my sister Heidi and her husband Tyson and my brother-in-law Ryan (at the game with his Dad and Brother.) (Check out the pic.) We ended up being in the nose-bleed section 313. I wouldn't choose those seats again, but the kids had a decent time. The Cougs won, so all was good. It would be really nice if they could avoid having so many turnovers. Drives me crazy! I guess that's what you get with a sophomore QB.

After the game, Tanner and his two cousins got to slap hands with the players as they came off the field. We then jumped down onto the field and Tanner took off like a shot towards Cosmo. You can see the picture we snapped with him here.Anyway, Tanner cried when he got home because he wanted to go back to Vegas, so I guess he enjoyed the trip. He really cherishes those trips with the boys. They really build some great memories.

Babies Don't Keep!...for all mothers

Mother, of Mother, come shake out your cloth
empty the dustpan, poison the moth,
hang out the washing and butter the bread,
sew on a button and make up a bed.

Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?
She's up in the nursery, blissfully rocking.

Oh, I've grown shiftless as Little Boy Blue
(lullaby, rockabye, lullaby loo).
Dishes are waiting and bills are past due
(pat-a-cake, darling, and peek, peekaboo).

The shopping's not done and there's nothing for stew
and out in the yard there's a hullabaloo
but I'm playing Kanga and this is my Roo.
Look! Aren't his eyes the most wonderful hue?
(lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo).

The cleaning and scrubbing will wait till tomorrow,
for children grow up, as I've learned to my sorrow.
So quiet down, cobwebs. Dust go to sleep.
I'm rocking my baby and babies don't keep!

One of Zach's bus driver's is Miss Diane. She is a sweet lady who has always said positive things when she picks up Zach and had a smile on her face. She always brightens my day. She and her daughter Lizzie, think Zach is the cutest boy and are very nice to him and Lizzie has bought him a couple of little gifts. They also say nice things about my other kids while we get Zach on the bus. The other day she said, "Enjoy this time. You will look back on this time, and it will be the best time of your life(while my children are babies)." She said she would go back and do it again in a heartbeat. Just when I thought the day was hard, I decided to stop and smell the roses! Life is short. :)

Mini trip to Idaho

Tanner, Gavin and Mom took a little trip to Idaho with Munga (our Grandma). The most eventful part for Tanner was his experience at the hotel swimming pool. There were some 8th and 9th graders that came on buses on their way home from their trip to Yellowstone and unloaded to stay at the hotel. The first thing they did was get in the pool was packed. When Tanner got in, one of their teachers had whistled to the students to watch out for him and make room for him. Before too long, some of the students asked if he wanted to play volleyball with them and he did. So they served him the ball, and he hit it quite well which I think surprised them. They played for a long time until the students had to go to their hotel rooms. They took pictures of him and the next morning one of the teacher's saw us in the hall and said they were leaving but the kids had been looking for Tanner wanting to play again! It was so cute. We visited Aunt Janet and Uncle Karl and had lunch at their place. It was snowing and really cold! Their had a fire on their property that almost burned their whole place down. The Idaho Falls temple was really beautiful despite all the cold weather and rain. We also visited Aberdeen where my Mom grew up(until she was 17). The best part was seeing her little feet and initials in the cement again. Her Daddy did that when she was a baby when he made the step. She lived at the telephone office(where she is standing) until she was about 12, then moved to the farm until she was about 16, then back into town for a year until they moved to Salt Lake, which broke her little teenage heart. She had a wonderful, memorable childhood and the stories are so fun to hear.

"Too soon they've grown, and then they've flown..."

Yesterday, Tanner went to Hee Haw Farms on a field trip and he really wanted me to go. I just couldn't because Brandon couldn't take the morning off from work. I felt bad, because I really would have liked to have gone with him. I told him that when the bus loaded up and pulled out of the school parking lot, I would be out on the back deck watching and waving at him. When the bus rolled out, there he was in the window, smiling and waving at me(and Gavin) so cute and enthusiastically. He waved all the way around our yard and out of the parking lot. Well, I was glad he was happy, but I was just so emotional about how cute he was and wishing I had gotten it on videotape, etc. First grade has been so much harder for me to let go of him than Kindergarten because of the full day. The first day of Kindergarten, as they filed into their classroom and the teacher shut the door, there he was, the only one who turned around in the window, and was crying. That was a rough day for both of us. At least this time, I was the only one crying. Yes, they do grow fast. Too soon they've grown and then they've flown... :( I realize that someday, he won't want to wave at his Mom out the window-he'll probably be too embarrassed or too cool, so I cherish this time. And at least the image is imprinted in my head and my heart sort of in slow motion when I think of it, even if it isn't on videotape. Looking at Gavin reminds me a lot of taking care of Tanner when he was a baby. We spent lots of time together and he'll always be my baby, forever and ever.

Tanner scores a goal!!!

The cherry was put on top of Tanner's first official soccer season. For his last game yesterday, he scored a goal! He had come close a number of times, and finally did it! Thank goodness Mom was there to see him, with all the kids in tow, and Dad was subbing as his coach for that game. Way to go Tanner!

It's the most wonderful time of the year...for us parents!

• Megan started preschool!


• Tanner started 1st Grade!


• Zachary started a new preschool and gets to ride the bus!

Gavin has teeth!!! Pictures to follow shortly

He has been drooling up a storm, and now we know why! Yes, that is right. Just two days shy of four months old, we noticed a little tooth has popped through and another is just starting to. Evidently if you come out almost ten lbs. you do everything early, and make your mom feel as though she's been robbed of the infant stage!!!

Kids Swimming Lessons

Swimming Lessons

We have had swimming lessons every day this week and the kids have absolutely loved them and have done very well. If they could, they would live in the water! They are practically growing fins. Lessons were full for June and July at most pools, but we were able to get into the late session this month at the new and improved American Fork pool. We have decided it is the best pool in the Valley for watching little ones swim.

It is great and Tanner said on the way there today, "I really miss this city, mom." Brandon said, "Mom feels that way too!" It is so funny that he remembers so much about American Fork even though he was only 4 when he moved.

Video of Twins Racing during Swimming Lessons

Video of Tanner Swimming

New photos of Gavin

New pictures of Gavin! He is only three months old, but looks bigger and more mature to us.



He is rolling & scooting everywhere!
He sleeps through the night and likes to turn over and sleep on his stomach. Most people say he is a miniature Brandon. Judge for yourself! The kids love him so much and even Megan seems to be at peace with the fact he is a boy! :)