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.

Eyelashes...and other random thoughts

Have I ever mentioned my children's eyelashes??? I wish I had a better camara and I would post pictures of them. They are spectacular. Both of my kids have beautiful eyes (something I'm SO grateful for, given my lifelong eye issues)...and both of them have super long (and very thick) eyelashes! Ellie's are long and straight...they hit her sunglasses. And Jack's curl perfectly! They are awesome. My lucky kids. Maybe when Jack is married, his wife will pin him down and put mascara on him...sort of like I did to his daddy!! Okay, John was recovering from knee surgery and couldn't get away. He has the longest blonde eyelashes I've ever seen on a guy, and they were too pretty for a guy when they had mascara on!! It was torture for him, and he's going to kill me for telling the world that I put mascara on him!! It was just too tempting...men just shouldn't be allowed to have such beautiful eyelashes :).

By the way, I forgot to mention a very fun evening we had with John's college buddy, Jared. We always love it when he comes in town and wish he lived closer. And we'd REALLY like to find him a wife...preferably someone in Utah who would force him to move here :). He's a great friend to John...and I now claim him as my friend too.

Another side note - I must make killer cookie dough...it seems men can't get enough of it! John and his buddies eat it as fast as I make it and I only get one batch of cookies out of my dough...and even that I have to fight for. Even Ellie now prefers my cookie dough to baked cookies. Jared took some home to California with him and has horded it. And we gave some to Anton for his birthday...I'm so lame! But I know he likes it, so that's what we gave him - a batch of cookie dough!

Johnny and I had a really fun day yesterday. We golfed in the morning, and both played better than normal :). Then I worked out with my trainer (yes, I'm still working out with one and my muffin top is slowly diminishing!) for 2 hours (I know, crazy! And unusual...I don't normally workout for that long.), and then John and I had a fun date at Ruth's Diner. My pork tenderloin was to die for and I ate every last bite. There was a great band playing so we just stayed and enjoyed the evening for a while. It was a great day.

July Recap...

How time is flying! I've been slacking on my blog...perhaps no one has noticed :). So, I thought I would do a quick recap of the month of July, which was really fun and busy.

We started the month in Midway with the Woodward family reunion. We had a great time! Ellie loves spending time with her cousins, and I love spending time with my sibs and parents. We golfed (John & I came in dead last...we're pathetic. Good thing I gave him golf lessons for Father's day. We'll see how they're paying off when we play next Saturday.) On Thursday and then went to a private chuck wagon dinner. I think that was my favorite part of the weekend. Ellie got to ride two horses, we did a wagon ride to and from the dinner, ate good food, and just had fun. Friday we had kid races, games, swam, etc. Then we had a delicious fajita dinner and did fireworks, which scared Ellie to death! Oh, and we did a great bike ride. Saturday we swam, shopped, and just hung out. It was a really fun weekend. Of course I laughed my head off at my brothers...they are so funny! Good times.

Ellie loves Horses...and isn't afraid to ride them all by herself!
a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6LmGQdmg3QO_tOi2JlmpMyRaXM4xBT7izo99dNTaGltu03fKZu5aykFLVjhKyLUDqvxwkLJhGMvDLVXriRZMEiB-2wH3sw2mz30OkcDkRJ0IZDtBulPEibIJsXAlUH7qBXaQshf8m1aw/s1600-h/Ellie+chillin%27+with+the+girls.JPG">
Ellie hangin' with the girls.a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKu4rWFI7ABcGiGiQiMwL3jVnVxTGZs3TAfsXJLiWVpJMBLmcbGkk2iA7KeaYYebrDbWCd4k9gfQ714bL1zjwItL8SUdDs_5rkVt5bB5Xik_5NWM36-K0wWsKSZdgYGgnc8WBGV_P4tfc/s1600-h/fireworks+-+loud!.JPG">Ellie didn't like the fireworks very much.a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdWFG3p6yaJzNq6upI-cPyOPe6CSe0M-qj01tnLTpc0mh9gxwnFce84oIyUnZgOBFs5ZaVgs915tNa_z4bwftYdG_KDU3AfnOvhwnxowRckL0Gd4qJ11d4XYpRkISMILS8J7ET1N25SKI/s1600-h/4th+of+july+jack+slept+through+fireworks.JPG">But, later, Jack slept through them.

Ellie's been in swimming lessons twice a week this summer and is such a great little swimmer! Everytime I take her to the "big" pool, people are amazed at how well she swims and can't believe she's only 2! a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilt-UNHNvclN31I3CyyyYKksdyRfaj1QlTYDxd8Wo2ODSm14o009mq7Cu9ltksz4FTdUC8mI-16W6kxnnqovCFrPzHYIVaPei5v8PTXljAd_kHhjEpcQKJVHm-xOOhXw63wYjbv7JKnPU/s1600-h/IMGP1218.JPG">
John took Ellie on a daddy - daughter vacation to Cottonwood Lake. They had a great time fishing, hiking, and playing with Ellie's cousins. So sad I couldn't go (okay, not really!). I suggested they make it an annual event...just daddy and Ellie...and eventually Jack. But, I'm not sure John is too keen on the proposal just yet.

Here are just a couple more pictures of things we did in July.

Alpine slide...Ellie could have ridden it all day...
a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiouXJoCmonawkpSbFEF_V4_NnIQzt5MAF8cgxwmfz_raL00Hj0uM5VB9f5Vlh171_ctG632_7DGmbwXs9y8hsoOeB3UcFn_5utXSYtEuZ0CKHF6-SsQKA9t_g0tHvwbstQXkbZiZK5xt4/s1600-h/IMGP1199.JPG">Ellie chillin' around the campfire.a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiisO0MR6nha7doNWp8fjD-pra8T_kcRM3J5m4jYUzC6ja7FaQwL51OBQXF1O7i_V3i0Z4DrhIfgNmiyUG12OftNx5_aXDYiaQOqdXk1zKlruTeTKvJd5pWLZ6249xYK3zX7B5sJnHImFI/s1600-h/IMGP1203.JPG">Jack sleeping through more fireworks...Aren't my boys cute?! Like father, like son.
a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-SZVLaq84PIQSjICQy1BfK2K15mBPjScsxO_syo2duDVnK9lR_aBzhoefRY_r3r_fwxinS1BM2mY5a4iIK4lIA_6zEJ6ywBltPpNedgf9ghgVSYVRUczcZcTjtQotR7lhPGo8guPnCyU/s1600-h/IMGP1197.JPG">Ellie loves water, even when it's freezing cold! This is up Millcreek Canyon with the Woodwards.
a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie1sL8HtDt8Vmcj6DU6YuK0nuy77zdsPqO17tdrSA9gPxMkXeiBlgoe7ErZP0IPii8EmNQR62CO9nNvXSo22SAIaIYKAkm4VLqkhMje1MjZpZNoeBuNyObJxuuY_UeeW0xVtGH-pqv8FI/s1600-h/IMGP1209.JPG">Should we be worried????
a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh16xxxfdCOMef2kg_LrMfVQtSsjDAFf_244mGiOm2fewmPuBlxr3D7MlIH5r2s6HDfoTjz7XyfnCCug7HwbIJRTAJUAdFzOZuK8MckviDjYoe0SA_NuFGkuKeuAJ_-JR-zJUnZMZOJeAQ/s1600-h/IMGP1153.JPG">
I know the pictures are annoying with all the writing...but Jack is crying and I can't figure out how to get rid of it right now...sorry!

Little Squirt

So I've been thinking Jack is so big...until I took him to his 6 month doctor visit. He's TINY! His doctor measured his height 4 (yes, four!!) times because she couldn't believe how short he is! He is 25.5 inches tall, which is the 20% for his age. AND he's only in the 15% for weight, and 30% for his head. He's just a little guy. A cute little guy for sure! And the HAPPIEST baby ever. Last week I took him to get his picture taken before his teeth start coming in because he has such a huge round mouth when he smiles and it is ADORABLE. So, I took him, thinking the photographer would take a gruntload of pictures. It literally took five minutes. He was so happy and cooperated fully. I think they only snapped like 10 pictures, and Jack was smiling in every single one. He's so happy all the time! Anytime we're in public and he catches someone's eye, he starts smiling and "talking" to them. And his eyes...oh, they're beautiful! They're so big and bright...and they sparkle whenever he smiles. It's really funny to see how he can engage people. And he loves to cuddle with people who hold him...he is so sweet! He buries his head in my neck and LOVES it when I kiss his cheeks or ears. And he is so ticklish...he gets laughing so hard when we tickle his legs and tummy and neck. Can you tell I'm in LOVE??? Ooohhh...I love my baby boy!

Time is flyin'

This is just a funny (and not very good) picture of my cute kids playing together...Ellie is so sweet to Jack and was showing him her doll house.
Wow! My baby boy Jackson is 6 months old...where has the time gone? I was just telling John that the past six months have gone faster than any other time in my life. And I am having the time of my life! My life is so sweet right now...I wish I could freeze time just for a little while. My kids are at such fun ages, and we have stayed so busy this summer.

Ellie has been in swimming lessons for the past four weeks and I have been amazed at her progress. We thought she would only go for two weeks, but she is having so much fun and is making so much progress that we have kept her going and will keep her in them for the rest of July.

Last week we took Papa to the Zoo for Father's Day. It was so fun! Oh how we love Papa! It was just me, my kids and my dad...what a treat. And of course he wanted to buy Ellie a big stuffed animal to remember our trip to the zoo...but she only wanted a little tiny "baby" cheetah that she can take care of. Funny Ellie. She's been taking it everywhere with her.

Then we had an outing with Nana and some my sisters to This is the Place State Park. The kids LOVED it! We were there almost all day. I hadn't been there for years and didn't think Ellie would be very interested in it, but I was way wrong. She thought it was awesome, and even rode a horse for the first time! Ellie has been obsessed with horses since she turned one, so she had a perma-grin the entire time on the horse. It was so cute! But of course I forgot my camera for the zoo and This is the Place...I was so bummed!

My parents have been home from their mission one year today! My, how time flies! It seems like they've only been home a few months. And I am SO glad they're here. It's been so great having them home.

We're going to a Woodward family reunion in Midway this weekend for the 4th of July...It should be a great time. Oh my brothers make me laugh...well and Anton too, but not because he tries to :). I'll try to remember my camera.