Future Firefighters

Snuggle Time

Michigan Reunion 2014

We really enjoyed our visit to Daniel's family in Michigan.  Here are some highlights:

The Rogers Family Reunion (Daniel's mom's side) meets at the same beach each year and the kids always love getting in the water.  It was a little chilly this year so I was content playing in the sand and walking along the shore.

A huge hopscotch for the kids that Kristy and Tamara made, it was awesome.

Steven brought us to a horse farm he used to work at and all the kids got to go for a ride.  Esther even went a second time with me.  It was the first time in a saddle for our kids, they were all so brave!

 The cousins played super well together the whole time.  I'm glad the kids will have such good memories of being together at Grandma's house. 

 

 Here's a happy memory from 4 years ago, so cute!

 

Summer Days at our House

At last, some pictures from our world!  

(Esther asks if people we're talking about live in our world, probably meaning state/city, but it cracks me up every time!)

Though it was the middle of June, we DID plant a garden this year.  The kids love to water it and were very excited to see some green stuff come up, so even if we don't get to eat one bean I'll still consider it a success for their sake.

Ammon's favorite phrase lately is "Ammon do dat."  He is an independent 2 year old wanting to do everything himself, including putting his own shorts on.  It doesn't show well in the photo but he got both legs in one hole this time, but did not want us to fix it for him.

Micah does a great job keeping me company everywhere I go.

The kids were super excited to eat these patriotic pops on the 4th.  We also joined some neighbors for a BBQ and some fireworks they put together on our nearby dead end street.  Spencer kept telling us this was the best 4th of July EVER.

That's not a super bright apple, it's a tomato, and he ate the whole thing.

Daniel's favorite snoozing spot. 

This is a photo from 2 years ago that we tried to reproduce, at Esther's request.  She hears from a lot of people how sad it is to be the only girl, but the truth is she gets along great with all of her brothers. and she absolutely adores Micah "even though he's a boy," as she says.  And with no other girls around, she likes to team up with me when she can,"keeping the girls together," she tells me.

One Week Old

He's Here!!

Micah Blaise Jensen

Born March 14, 2014, 7:31am

9 lbs 2 oz 

21 5/8 inches 

Sunday Night

This is how I found the kids when I checked on them, each with their little comforts.

Ammon with his froggie blanket and new doll he got for Christmas.  He has been taking it to bed with him every night which I think is just too cute.

Esther with her blanket and "soft" doll.

Spencer with his rice bag to keep him warm and his Pokemon book that he got for Christmas.  He has spent hours looking at it, it really was a good find.

Tuesday-Thursday: Still Haven't Left The House

It's amazing that we haven't all gone crazy yet, not having left the house since we came back from Spencer's basketball game on Saturday.  Somehow the kids have managed to stay entertained without too much interference from me and fortunately we were well stocked with groceries so we haven't had to go out for anything.  I think Esther is going to go through withdrawal when Spencer finally goes back to school, which is supposed to be tomorrow.  Good thing it will be the weekend right after that!

Spencer was very proud of this pyramid he built and wanted to keep it up until Daniel came back from Spain, but decided the next day that the picture we took would be sufficient since he needed more blocks to build with.  He and Esther have played with them tons this week.

Here are the "invitations" the kids handed out this afternoon.  They were probably at it for over an hour, long enough for me to put Ammon down for his nap and catch up on some emails.  They placed a card next to all these duplos and then all over our bedroom on random objects, inviting the dresser, our pillows, and anything else they thought of to Esther's "party."

I was taking a close up and Esther was being a stinker and sticking her foot in the picture.  At first I was frustrated and then decided that it made the picture all the more funny.  She's barefoot, of course.

Ammon wanted me to put his blanket on his head as he walked around the house after his nap.  He must not have been quite ready to wake up, even though it was after 4:00.  (He still went to bed by 8:30 so he must be needing more sleep with whatever sickness he has.)

Monday--Snowed In

It didn't look like anyone in the neighborhood went anywhere today.  Spencer and Esther really wanted to go out so I bundled them up and set the timer for 10 minutes and let them check out the snow drifts in the backyard.  They said they weren't cold when I tried calling them back in so I let them stay out for another 5 minutes, by which time they were ready to come in.

Our kitchen window:

Playdough entertained them for over an hour and a half this morning!

Spencer reading to Ammon while I got dinner ready.  He is feeling really proud of his reading skills and willing to try new books now.

Sunday--Snow Day

With Daniel out of town, I'm hoping to get more photos up for him to see.  The rest of you are welcome to look as well :)

We woke up to snow coming down and it just kept going all day.  Somehow we managed to keep occupied, having our own church at home, getting some outdoor time in the snow, and watching home videos before dinner.  The wind picked up towards the evening and kept Ammon up a little late, but other than that we all felt safe and cozy inside.

Here's our Nursery/Primary lesson about families.  The kids did great with it, finishing up with coloring pictures.

The snow was perfect to play in before the wind picked up and Spencer and Esther had so much fun in it.

Enjoying hot cocoa after coming back in.  Yum!