January blues (or is it green, maybe white?)

The fall time thru New Years is my favorite time of year. But once Jan 2 starts, I just get depressed. The weather is cold, it gets dark about 5pm, and there is nothing to look forward to!  But this year my parents gave us a Vita-Mix blender for Christmas. So we have been making soups and green smoothies! It has been fun to see what combination of fruits and green veggies we can get in our smoothies!

Broccoli soup in the vita-mix!

Our first green smoothie!  And yes, we really do drink it most mornings!

The second week of January brought our first major snow storm of the winter. It snowed so much in fact, that we had a snow day from school!

 

Mike and I even shoveled the neighbor's driveway! But I don't know if you could call it work since we were on the 4-wheeler!

 

 

 

But, along with the snow came very frigid temperatures. The temperature never got above 20 degrees for the next 3 weeks!  In fact, the average temp was about 10 degrees for the month of January!
Spring will be a welcome sight!

Christmas at the Jensen's

Yes, even though it is April, I am finally blogging about Christmas!  You see, once again, I am a little bit behind.
Drew had not been home to decorate the Christmas tree for 6 years! So, this year, we waited until he got home to buy a tree, put it up, and decorate it!

Drew adding ornaments to the tree!

The finished product!

We host Christmas Eve at our house. Sometimes it is just Grandma and Grandpa, but this year we had everybody!

We were pretty lazy Christmas morning! Gone are the days when the kids are up at 5AM. We woke up about 8, had breakfast, talked with Greg, and then opened presents!
Here is Drew and Megan showing off some of their Christmas presents!  (Yes, Drew just needs cash!)

We then spent the evening at Grandma and Grandpa's house where we had dinner and opened more presents!

The best part of Christmas was being able to talk with Greg. We were able to skype with him for       
2 1/2 hours!  He looked good, but we all miss him. We just look forward to Christmas 2014 when he will be home!

It's Beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Every year the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square put on a Christmas concert. It is very popular, and tickets are very hard to come by. Tickets are free, but they are given out in a lottery. Well this year, I forgot to put  my name in, so we did not get tickets. But over Thanksgiving, Rachel (who plays in the orchestra) announced that she was given 10 tickets!  So Mike and I, and Grandma and Grandpa snagged those tickets. A few weeks before Christmas, we went to Salt Lake for the  concert and to see the lights on Temple Square.

Here I am with Grandma and Grandpa before the concert started.

After the concert, we took some pictures on temple square.

The next day, Grandpa and Grandma drove back to Boise, but Mike and I stayed in Salt Lake for another day.  We spent some time at Rachel's and played with the kids!

Lizzie playing in the snow.

Mike bondindg with Logan.

We also went to the Sweet Tooth Fairy Bakery (winner of cupcake wars!) and bought cupcakes to take home to Megan!

Mike and I went back to Temple Square to see the Christmas lights!

There is also nativity sets from all over the world!

This nativity floats on a pond!

This one is from Asia.

We have decided we need to do this every year!  Thanks Rachel for the great weekend! It has gotten us in the Christmas Spirit!

Thanksgiving

Oh, I have so much to be thankful for! I love this time of year. It really helps me to reflect on all that I have been blessed with. 
The Boise temple was rededicated on Nov. 18 by Pres. Monson. It is now officially open!
Greg left the MTC on Nov. 19 for New Mexico. He got to call us from the SLC airport. It was so good to hear his voice!
Drew flew in that night for the week. It was so good to have him home!

We spent Thanksgiving at the cabin. This year it included, lots of people, no hot water (the pilot light kept going out on the water heater), and a big bonfire!

The little kids put pillows in their clothes and played sumo wrestlers!

Grandpa bought a ping pong table for the bonus room at the cabin.  So, I ask you, "how many guys does it take to put together a ping pong table?"

Rachel making pumpkin pies. Mikaela is suppposed to be helping, but I think she is the "Official Tast Tester!" Oh well, pregnant ladies get the benefit of a doubt!

Due to a shortage of oven space, Grandma cooks her turkey outside on the barbeque! Of course, it was perfect as always!

All summer, Grandpa has been cleaning off the other lot. He had a huge pile of tree limbs and undergrowth. So what do you do? You light it on fire!

All things said, it was a wonderful Thanksgiving! Even with the cold showers!  Everyone missed Greg, but look forward to 2 years from now when he will be home!

Greg's a missionary!

Boy, the time does fly!  With the business of getting Greg ready to leave on his mission, and helping with the Boise Temple Open House, October flew by. But we were able to get Greg to the MTC in Provo on Oct. 31st. Two weeks before he left, Mike, Greg, and I went to Logan so Greg could go thru the temple.

Mike and  Greg heading into the temple.

Greg's old roommate Daniel, met us at the temple for the session.

 About 10 days before he left, he spoke in our Sacrament meeting.  Then we had a breakfast afterward at our house. 

Greg and his friends Dunja and Corey, who came to support him even though they are not members of the church!

Mikaela shows off her baby bump!

Lots of family and friends there!

We left for Provo the day before Greg was supposed to report to the MTC. Here is his last picture at home, and it's with Max!

We stayed with Marty and Rachel that night. Megan helped babysit the kids while Mike, Greg, Rachel, and I went to the Draper Temple.

The next day we took Greg to the MTC!  It was also Halloween. Rachel's kids were all dressed up in their costumes to wear to school!

When we got to Provo, we went to the Provo Temple and took some pictures around the temple grounds.

This is the last picture that I have of Greg before he disappeared into the MTC.

I did really good, I didn't cry until after I got back into the car! Then I looked at this last picture all the way back to Boise!  This will have to sustain me for the next 2 years!

Greg's Mission Call

About 6 months ago, Greg made the announcement that he wanted to go on a mission. Mike and I were quite shocked! We watched Greg with cautious optimism as he worked on getting himself ready to go. Over the next few months, our caution turned into full fledged excitement as Greg prepared himself to be a missionary. His papers went into the bishop the first week of August. His mission call came in the mail on Sept. 6th! Because of the family's schedule, he couldn't open the call until 9:15 that night.  But, he either held it, or kept it by his side until it was time to open. He wasn't letting it out of his sight! (notice the white envelope on the couch by Greg?)

Finally, he gets to open the call!

Reading... Reading....

He's going to Albuquerque, New Mexico!

Our friend, Frank Carollo, and Greg's Young Men's Pres, Tyler Haws, also came over.  Tyler Haws played a huge role in helping Greg get ready for his mission. We owe him a huge debt of gratitude.

Greg enters the MTC on Oct 31st.  Halloween!  Maybe we should dress him in a Super Man costume?