Christmas Letter 2010

Season’s Greetings from the Jensen Family 2010

Brandon had a good year at work and enjoyed several business trips. He coached Tanner's basketball team last winter and is preparing to do it again. He enjoys watching cooking shows and trying new creations in the kitchen. He likes to put secret ingredients in his recipes. Iron Chef here he comes!

Jen made it through a Disneyland trip in March being eight months pregnant! The first day there was St. Patrick's Day and it was fun to watch the sea of green clothing on people all day. Zach said, "Hey there's Dad!" Jen said, "Really? Where?" He said, "Right there....the one wearing the green shirt." Jen and Leah were lucky enough to join Brandon on a trip to Boston in August. She feels blessed that five adorable children call her Mom.

Tanner enjoys being a big 4th grader and hanging out with his buddies. He takes after his dad as a sports-lover…Go Cougars! He is often found reading the paper and watching SportsCenter when he’s not actually playing basketball and football. He is a good artist, and also enjoys learning to play the piano. Tanner is a kindhearted big brother and fun to be around.

Zach is in 2nd grade with Megan this year. Last spring he received the third place trophy in the school's storytelling contest with his entertaining version of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. He is very good at writing and telling stories, singing, and just entertaining us! Zach loves having his own bedroom and keeps it clean and organized.

Megan is an excellent student and loves her teacher. She and Zach are in the same class again this year. She loves having a little sister! She enjoyed taking dance classes these past three years, and has decided she'd like to try gymnastics in the upcoming year. She enjoys learning to play the piano and loves to do any kind of a project. Megan’s a sweet girl and loves to draw and write little notes to say thank you or that she loves us.

Gavin is our happy, three-year-old sunshine boy. He loves life and playing with his "kids"...which are his siblings. He is a very thoughtful and grateful boy. He loves reading stories and singing songs ranging from Primary songs to Beatles Rockband where his specialty is “Yellow Submarine.” Gavin is so excited for Christmas to come. He says if he hears Santa, he will “tear open the shutters and throw up the sash” and see him!

In April, our little angel, Leah Rose joined our family. She is such a joy and a good-natured baby. She is eight months old and usually the center of attention around our house. Over the past month she has mastered crawling and putting very small items into her mouth! She is also standing up to everything and going up the stairs. We sure do love her.

We are grateful for this time of year to celebrate our Savior’s birth and connect with family and friends. May your Christmas season be filled with peace, joy and love.

Merry Christmas!

Love, Brandon, Jen, Tanner, Megan, Zach, Gavin and Leah Jensen

Jib Jab Christmas

Can't seem to find the time to blog these last two months, so here is this! Merry Christmas!

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

Jib Jab Halloween

It's that time of year again...JIB JAB!!!

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

Cascade Springs

You'll have to humor me while I catch up on my blog. I'm behind by about three months, so here's two new posts. Took the fam to Cascade Springs. This was back in July. We had a good time. It was the kids first time. They really liked it. It's always been one of my faves.

Summer Swimming

Yes, I am biased, but I think little Leah is just about the cutest thing ever in her swimsuit, long-sleeved rash guard and hat. The rash guard(okay, I really just call them swim shirts) is too small now(sniff, sniff)...her chubby little arms would never fit today. Dang. Moment of silence for that fact. :( And yes, the twins and Brandon are pretty cute here also.


Then there is G-man. My Gavin. For his pool-side snack, he wanted a Drumstick. And a Drumstick is what he got. See he isn't allergic to nuts or peanuts like some of my other children. It's great to have a child be able to enjoy a Drumstick! Because Zach has grown up so much around Megan and Tanner(who are allergic to peanuts and some tree nuts) he won't touch nuts, peanuts or peanut butter, but I'm trying to make sure Gavin does. I started him out right a while back showing him the beauty of a Reese's peanut butter cup and he caught right on. We also had a great time going around the lazy river, playing in the kiddie pool and going down the big waterslide over and over again.

Tanner enjoyed trying the Flowrider for the first time. Great job Tan!

Our Family 2010

You can click on any of these to enlarge them.














Thanks to Holly and Brooke Reid of Holly K. Reid Photography for all of their patience, kindness and talent and for making me smile/cry each day whenever I look at these. :) I've had an especially difficult last month or so, and these have lifted my spirits.

The one and only...

This is the only proof from our recent trip. They had taken a picture of us right before our Duck Tour...you know the ones. They always take them and no one ever buys them because we all have our own cameras and the photos they take are usually so expensive...but I consider these desperate times so I took a desperate measure and purchased this little gem online. I really am not a fan of the picture...I am standing on the curb above Brandon and Leah is not even looking, but I'll take it. Post about the trip to come later.

Sweet and Sour

That's how I feel. Today is my 13th anniversary. This is the sweet part.We just took a little trip to Boston for a couple of days(also a sweet part)...just us and our little Leah. We haven't taken a trip together for 8 years.
Yes, it's true. See, Brandon goes there all the time for business...quite a bit in fact. But I, on the other hand...do not. We went back in 1998 on a Church history/US history trip and so I had actually been there. So, seeing as how our anniversary was coming up, he thought he might as well fly me(Leah, the nursing babe too) out on his frequent flier miles and then we could have a short little anniversary trip. I guess I complained enough...you know...the squeaky wheel and all! So I went out and spent a couple of days...ooooo'd and awwwwwww'd over probably the most historic US city, and one of my favorites. We actually saw quite a bit in the short amount of time we had thanks to our lovely GPS system in the rental car and wonderful Duck Tour...Yes, the ones that go into the water! This is also a sweet part to my story! All was well until...we got home and I went to show Tanner the pictures on the camera(cue the sour part)...um...."Hey Brandon, where's the camera?" Long story short...we can't find the camera and we have narrowed it down to losing it on the airplane or in the rental car. I have already been back to the airport and they can't find it and on Monday we are going to try to get somewhere with the rental car agency besides the e-mail we already sent. It is just a small, inexpensive little camera like the one below, although mine was more dinged up, but it has lots of pictures on it that mean a lot to me. Sigh...been crying a lot today...yes, a lot. I'm still trying to keep up hope. But it sure has put a damper on the fun. If you read this, say a little prayer that my little camera will turn up and let's hope someone isn't desperate enough to want it that bad! Keep the camera buddy and just hand over my card...please oh please!

The "5th" of July

We celebrated the 4th on Monday the 5th this year, the day after our little Angel's blessing. Grandma Leesa turns her hill into a huge water slide. The kids always have a blast! They look forward to it every year. Uncle Tyler was the "splash zone" complete with a cup of water he splashed on every one that came down. It was pretty funny. Gavin and some of the other kids took a turn with the splash zone cup! It was so cute. If it didn't take so long to post videos maybe I would post one but it always takes me forever.

Leah's Blessing Dress Pics

*Her blessing day pictures are two posts down.*

3 months old and lovin' this girl!

I realize I am adding this when Leah is almost 4 months old! But better late than never. She is an absolute joy. She sleeps though the night. She brings a smile to everyone. She loves getting her diaper changed-seriously...just loves it! She rolls everywhere...yes, goodbye bassinet. Boo hoo...:( She laughs. She cries(well, that's pretty obvious). She has bright and beautiful eyes that love to watch the leaves dancing in the trees. She loves to be outside and take walks. She is ready to conquer the world and I am not ready for her to! Must....slow....down....please!