Happy Birthday Jackson!

My Jackson turned one today. I actually had a tiny meltdown...he's ONE! Where has the time gone? I swear he was just born a few months ago...not an entire year ago! Oh he melts my heart. He is the SWEETEST, happiest (most of the time!) little guy ever. Life is a fantastic party for my little Jack. He brings such joy to my life. And he loves his daddy and me! Okay, especially me :). And he loves Ellie, and Ellie loves him. They are the best little siblings. I love my little Jack more than I ever could have imagined. I am so blessed to be his mommy!!!

Ellie and Santa's Love

This is such a funny picture of Ellie last year with Santa that I had to post it! Everything about it makes me laugh...including her funny hat (why she had it on, I'm not sure)! I wasn't there for the experience, so it's even funnier to me because I didn't have to witness the trauma. Am I a bad mom?! Santa looks thrilled about the whole thing too. I swear this picture could win an award somewhere...
She and Jack are going to see him again this Saturday. I can't wait to see this year's picture! John is a good sport to take them without me.

Happy Birthday, Johnny

Happy birthday to my love, Johnny! You're the best!!

Way Too Long

Okay, it's been way too long! I'll go back to Halloween...it seems like forever ago. Ellie LOVED it and still wants to go trick-or-treating and asking me what I want to be for Halloween. Jack was the cutest bear you've ever seen. Poor guy couldn't really move in it though! The next week we left for Newport Beach...and got back last week! It was a fantastic 12 day vacation. We drove so that we could see John's brother and his family in Las Vegas. Ellie loves her cousin Abby. While it was great to see them, and we were able to extend our vacation because we drove, I'm not sure when we'll do the drive again. It was long! For the most part, the kids did great. But it was a LONG drive even though we broke it up going both ways.

One of the highlights of the vacation was that my parents ended up going down to the same resort for a few of the days we were there, and flew my Granny down for a couple of days. It was such a wonderful time, and she loved it so much. I will always remember how special those days were. My Granny is 83 and is doing great, but she wanted to see the ocean again and so she just came for a couple of days and left my grumpy Gramps (whom I ADORE) home. We didn't spend everyday with them, but the time I spent with them was so special. My granny is so cute!

Four Generations of us girls...Ellie's middle name is Ginger, after my Granny.

Another highlight (of course!) was Disneyland. My dad, Ellie, and I went one day and it was also such a special day! It was so fun. I love that my dad came with us...he's the best.

Then the next day, just our little family went to Disneyland. It was the perfect day. Perfect weather, not too crowded, perfect kids...just delightful.

Disneyland had their giant Christmas tree up...

I think one of the highlights of the vacation was for John to golf with Big Jim (my dad). My dad is a serious golfer, and it was fun for John to play with him.

We've been to Newport so much the past few years that we feel like we really know our way around that part of Orange County. We're actually kind of sad because for the first time in a long time, we don't have plans to go back. RANDOM PICTURE, I KNOW...BUT IT'S SO CUTE!!! JACK'S FIRST SHOWER WAS IN NEWPORT, AND HE LOVED IT! And...FUNNY Ellie at the pool one day...She is so awesome!!

Now to the most important part of my blog. My sweetheart Ellie. My baby girl turned three last week! Oh how I love her. She has change me. I cannot articulate how blessed I feel to be her mommy. I am so grateful for the sacred opportunity I have to be her mom. I am so grateful for the joy she brings me and John. She makes my heart sing. She still has no hair...but hey, on the bright side, I haven't had to battle her daily to do her hair!

Part of the reason we went to Newport was to take her to Disneyland for her birthday, and then on her birthday, she and I had a "girls only" afternoon. Then that evening we had a small party for family. Her auntie Liz made the CUTEST cake you've ever seen. It was a great day. Wow, I'm a lucky mom!

GO UTES!!! We had season tickets this year, and had so much fun going to the games...especially the last one! Hopefully we'll get to go to the bowl game too :).

I have so much to be grateful for this Thanksgiving. To name a few; John, Ellie, Jack, family, the Gospel, My Savior, the Pilgrims, our Nation, good health, great medical care, my friends, my life. I am so blessed. I don't deserve it, but I'm so grateful for it and always try to remember how blessed I am.

I love em'!

Friday night we took our kids to a great pumpkin patch. Ellie helped me pick out the pumpkins while Jack rode around in the wheelbarrow. He loved it and thought he was awesome! Jackson and his cousin Lucy in St. George. Lucy is two days older than Jack.

Grandma & Grandpa Evensen have a Halloween party every year...Ellie is the cutest Minnie I've ever seen!!

At Gardner Village...Nana sat by the witch first, then Ellie got brave and sat on her lap!

I did it!!

Okay, so those who know me know this is completely out of my element...but I completed my first triathlon last weekend with my sister and sister in law! We all have new babies and thought it would be a great way to get in shape. I was afraid I wouldn't even be able to finish. But, I did! And it was so fun! And I did better than I thought I would...5th in my division! We all had so much fun doing it, that we're ready for our next one. And, how sweet is this - the night before the triathlon, John took our kids to buy me flowers and a card. He's been really excited that I did it. The only thing is - I should have gotten a TAN before I went!! My legs could blind you. Hooray for Katie, Liz, and me!

Too Long...

It's been WAY to long since I've posted! Just after my last post, we took a fun vacation to Newport Beach with my entire family. It was so great! The weather was beautiful, there were no lines at Disneyland, and it was just fun to hang out.

A few other highlights of the past few weeks:

***Ellie is now potty trained!! It only took a day...she was very ready.

***Jack is still TINY for his age! I took him to his 9 month check up (I can't believe he's that old!!) and he is only in the 5th % for weight, and 10th% for height. Little squirt. Cutest little squirt alive! Poor little guy has been sick for a few weeks now...has had two colds in a row and an ear infection. And I think he's teething on top of it.

***The U game against Oregon State was so fun! And a great game. And the first game we went to without our kids...and I'm so glad because it was a nail-biter. It's been a great season!

***Conference. I needed it. I am so grateful for the Gospel. I loved conference. It was a time of reflection and introspection for me. I am empowered to try to be better.

***My Granny Jensen took me to lunch at the British Market near Trolley Square and it was delightful. I am so blessed to have my Granny & Gramps!

***Zoo, Wheeler Farm, Gardner Village...some of the fun places we've gone. This fall has been so beautiful.

And that's about it. I guess that's why I haven't blogged much.... I'm having so much fun with my little family, just doing normal things. Nothing too grande. Just on the "mommy track", but loving it more than I ever could have imagined. I'm so blessed.

The Love of My Life

This weekend, John and I celebrated our 5th anniversary! We can't believe how fast the time has gone...it seems like just yesterday that we were planning our wedding! Johnny is the love of my life. I feel so blessed to share my life with him. Here are some pictures of some of the fun things we've done together in the last five years.

John proposed on the 9th hole!

WOW! I was shocked...and SO excited!

Dancing at our wedding

Feeding cake

Hot air balloon ride for my birthday

Tour de France 2004

Biking in France
France
Cottonwood Lake

Tubing (this is out of order, I know)

London 2005 - pregnant with Ellie

England 2006
Hawaii 2007

And, of course...CA. We've been to Southern California at least 3 times per year of our marriage...and since having Ellie & Jack, we have yet to miss Disneyland when we're there. I know, we're kind of crazy! Okay I am a lame photographer...and those pictures aren't great. And in fact, don't even BEGIN to capture the wonderful adventures we've had. I don't have pictures of our first two trips to Hawaii (before kids), pictures of Scotland, snowshoeing, camping (which most of you won't believe I've done without the proof of pictures!), or our daily adventures as a little family!

And yet, while fun, the adventures & vacations are just a small part of the wonderful life I have with John. I remember while planning our wedding, numerous people I worked with on flowers, my dress, etc. commented on what an easy bride I was to work with. Now, most of you know I can be very fiesty, but I was so happy to have finally met the right man, that none of the frivolous wedding things meant much to me. And I still feel that way now. I am so blessed to have found the right man -a great, noble man - that the fun frivolous things are insignificant compared to the peace I feel knowing that we are an eternal family.

I love my Johnny with all of my heart.

August Recap...

Ellie caught her first fish!!!

A couple of weeks ago, John took Ellie back to Cottonwood Lake for another daddy-daughter vacation. Ellie loved it and caught her first fish!! Apparently she takes after me because all three poles were completely tangled together when they got home. I think it has something to do with us being left-handed trying to fish with a right handed pole :). Oh, and get this...Uncle Mike was there with his friend Jack, who was Prince Charming at Disneyland for years! It was just the four of them, so needless to say, Ellie was showered with lots of attention, and ate up every bit of it. She saw a moose near the lake, and we STILL talk about it every single day while driving in the car. She asks me every day if I'm scared of the moose. Funny girl.

It was a fun weekend for Jack and me too! We celebrated Nana's birthday at a park with my family, and watched the Olympics. Speaking of the Olympics...I know I'm a little late, but wow. I haven't been so into the Olympics since Mary Lou Retton won gold in 1984(and that also tells you all how freaking old I'm getting!). I loved watching every race of Michael Phelps and I love his story. He is an inspiration. I'm so happy for him. My dad and John are already starting to plan their trip to the 2012 Olympics in London. Apparently I'm not invited. Good thing I'm not embarrassed to invite myself :).

The week after John & Ellie got home, Jack started crawling!!! Oh my, he is busy! And he pulls himself up on everything. He's fallen a couple of times and has some good bruises to show for it. Now John understands why I didn't encourage him to crawl! But he's so happy, and loves to follow Ellie and me around the house.

We had our annual August birthday party at my Granny's house, which is always fun. Get this...excactly 25% of the Jensen family was born in August! Pretty wild. Anyway, Ellie got stung by a bee at the party. Her first sting. Poor girl. She was so sad!

This last weekend we went to Midway...and yes, we wandered through Swiss Days for about 20 minutes before all of us (John, me, & the kids) were done. But, we had a lot of fun playing, shopping, and eating out. The weekend was too short.

I'm hoping to be better at blogging now that summer is coming to a close (Wow, it was COLD today!). We haven't been doing anything spectacular, but we have been so busy playing!

Here are some other random pictures....

Happy Jack in his crib

My funny Ellie loves her sunglasses & hats...& horses

Ellie couldn't figure out why I wouldn't take her to Gymboree class in her awesome outfit"Yummy...can I have some more?"

What a stud.