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.

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!