Josh's Missionary Video!!

 Here is the mission video that Rick made for Josh! Love it! 

Josh, Missionary Homecoming!!

Today was Josh's missionary homecoming! I was SO glad that he didn't have to report to the high council at 7:00 am the morning of his homecoming like Jaiden did. I guess it depends on which Sunday the high council meets. Yesterday was busy shopping, preparing food, and and cleaning the house. I was hoping to start cooking the pork roasts in the crock pot Saturday morning, but it was afternoon by the time we made it out to Walmart to buy them. I had two different crock pots and started them cooking shortly before 2:00 pm on low. I thought the roasts would be finished and ready to shred by 10:00 p.m. but they weren't. I stayed up until midnight but they still were not tender. So I finally went to bed. 

At 3:00 am I woke up and thought I had better check on them. By this time they were very tender and falling off the bone. So I stayed up and separated the roasts from the bone and shredded the meat. It took an hour and a half and so it was past 4:30 am before I made it back to bed. Next time I make pork roasts in the crock pot I will have to time it better! Thankfully we didn't have church until 10:30 and so I was able to sleep in until 8:30. 

Jared was the DJ at his school's dance last night up north and so they headed to St. George early this morning and arrived just before church. Everyone headed to church and were even able to get a family picture outside of the church building before the meeting started. This was the first time everyone in our family was together in three years! Jaiden had left on her mission in August of 2023 and then Josh left on his mission August of 2024. It was a wonderful meeting. The meeting was also Ethan's (Jenna's boyfriend) missionary farewell and so that was fun to have he and Josh speak together. Ethan did a great job on his talk and so did Josh.

Jenna sang "Nearer to Thee," with Ethan's mom, Paige Allred, and Ethan's brother, Josh Allred, played the cello. Rebecca Gulbranson accompanied on the piano. It was a beautiful number! Jenna and Paige blended well together and they also looked very beautiful! We were grateful for a spirit filled meeting! We had lunch at our house after. I didn't invite ward members, except for our good friends, the Williams. We also invited the Larsons (Steve Larson went to Korea on his mission. He is the one that spoke with Josh at his farewell two years ago). 

We invited the ASL sister missionaries and then the kids invited several of their friends. So we ended up with a good amount of people. We had pulled pork sandwiches, several salads (potato salad, broccoli and cauliflower salad, pasta salad) and a veggie tray, lots of fruit (watermelon, strawberries, grapes, apples and dip), chips, and dessert. Ellen ordered a cute cake that followed up with our welcome home chant "Josh, it's time, cross the line!" We all got a kick out of that! I made peanut butter bars and we bought cookies. It was fun to eat and visit! 

Later on the bishop and his wife dropped by to bring Josh his missionary plaque. After they left Jared led all of the young adult children in some games on Jackbox. After everyone left we finally got naps! Then later that night it was just Rick and me and Josh and Jenna. Rick taught a nice Come Follow Me lesson and then later gave Josh and Jenna back to school Priesthood blessings. It was a nice day! 

Elder Jensen is Home!!!

Today was the day!! I took work off yesterday to try and catch up on house cleaning. Janelle and Bryton arrived last night and we visited with them for a while and then they stayed over at Bryton's parent's house. Thursday I started interpreting at Utah Tech and so I needed to be there, but it was just a half day. The rest of the day I finished cleaning up Josh's room. Bryton was working remote and Janelle came over and helped me clean. I turned down several interpreting jobs this afternoon. I knew I would be too busy trying to get everything ready. 

I had ordered a nice big "Welcome Home" banner and also a nice yard sign. We headed over to the airport around 5:15. His flight was expected at 6:25. Usually when we have picked up our missionaries, they were the only missionary flying into St. George. But today there were several! The first family we met also had an Elder Jensen coming home! We said, "That's perfect, we will all be cheering for Elder Jensen!" 

Then another family arrived and it was Mark Tarr and his wife, the family we had met two years ago at the Golden Corral when dropping off Josh to the MTC! Mark was in LD Singers with me at Snow. At the time we laughed about how we had also run into them when we were dropping off Janelle to the MTC and they were dropping off their daughter to the MTC! Their son was also going to Korea, but the other mission. So it was funny to run into them again at the airport for the return of both our boys!! 

We also ran into people we knew from our ward and area who were welcoming back a sister missionary. There were also a couple other missionaries coming home from Korea (but the other mission). So there were lots of Korean flags, and posters, and people, and excitement! The missionaries came out one at a time, instead of all at once, which was nice because each one could greet and get hugs from his or her family and then move off to another area to make more room for the other families waiting for their missionaries. 

Josh was one of the last missionaries to come out. He had gone to change into traditional Korean robes, which was fun! A lady who was on the airplane saw our banner and said, "don't worry -- he is coming!" It was wonderful getting that long awaited hug when he finally did come! We all did our hugs and took pictures over by the baggage area and had him run through the finish line! The chant Dad decided on was: "Josh, it's time! Cross the line!" (repeated three times getting louder and louder). You can see our cheesy chant in the video! 

Then we all headed to the house. Josh wanted Dominoes pizza for his first meal, which made it easy! Rick ordered it and Janelle and Bryton picked it up at 7:30. We ate and then Rick, Josh, and I went to the church to meet with President Rowan for Josh's release. Unfortunately the stake president was out visiting people and their visits went over and so we were waiting outside in the heat for thirty minutes! But we eventually made it in and had a nice visit. 

Then we went back and met back up with the rest of the family. We have a tradition for our new returned missionaries where they teach our family right after they get home. At first Josh was flustered because he had brought a phone home with him from the mission, but everything shuts down on a missionary phone after coming home and so he didn't have his notes or anything. But then he went ahead and gave a very nice lesson and then got very real and vulnerable. It was very touching. We have loved this tradition. The lessons of our new returned missionaries have always had such an impact on all of us! 

Father's Day Flee 2026: "Discover Your Destiny"

Father's Day Flee this year was headed up by Brandon with all of the guys helping. Since Rick and I had spent a lot of money getting the yard done this year we decided to keep Father's Day Flee really cheap with a "Stay-cation" in St. George. Brandon also planned around nap time for the kids, which was great for Rick and I since we are "nappers," too! The theme this year was "Discover Your Destiny!" Here is the video invitation Rick put together: 

Wednesday, June 17: Our opening ceremonies starated with the famous "Father's Day Flee" dance outside by the tramp!  

Jason is the newest member of the family and was probably wondering what kind of crazy family he has married into! Rick got this Indiana Jones style hat on his latest cruise for Father's Day Flee. He thought about getting one for all of the guys, but I told him they would probably never wear it again and so he just got one for him. Whoever was giving the lesson had the privilege of wearing the hat, haha, and the kids got to wear it when they participated. 

The first lesson was taught by Jase. He divided the family into teams, each one with one of the grandkids, and each team had ten minutes to quickly find something around the house to wear that would represent their future destiny. This is what each team came up with! (Click HERE for the album with all of the pictures and videos!) 

Check out those lips! We have some pictures of Jenna at that age and she did the same thing! That sparkly little red dress was my baton outfit when I was young -- not THAT young though. I was ten!! It makes an appearance through the years, such as in this Mother's Day Tea Post in 2012 and this post my sister put together from when she and I were in baton lessons years ago back in 1978 and 1979.  

After Jase's lesson and activity we had a yummy taco bar! Rick made his yummy refried beans and Janika made Cilantro dressing. After we got the kids to bed we played games! 

Thursday, June 18: Today started with a big breakfast of pancakes, yogurt, and fruit. Then we all packed up and headed to Fire Lake. Fire lake (Ivin's Reservoir) is only 11 minutes away. We used to go all of the time, but haven't been in quite a while (at least Rick and I haven't. The kids still go a fair amount.) Bryton was able to bring a paddle board and the kids had fun playing in the water and building sand castles. We ran into Mari Purdy there, which was fun, especially since we have fun memories of going to Fire Lake with her and her kids through the years! 

After Fire Lake we went home for lunch (sandwiches, fruit, chips) and naps/quiet time (at least for some of the kids). Jase and Jared brought Evan and Eli swimming. 

Love Jase and Jared's cheesy grins. You can tell that Jase and Jared grew up with many of these kinds of pool pictures through the years! Evan and Eli need a lesson on how to get their heads over the top of the pool! 

Then everyone played video games. (At least the grandkids thought they were playing. Notice how they are actually holding remotes, or controllers that aren't actually hooked to the tv, haha!)   

Brandon did his lesson on Premortal Preparation and then we had hamburgers and hotdogs and corn on the cob for dinner! Later that night we went to Tuacahn to see "Finding Nemo!" The only way we could afford that many tickets is because Rick and I are interpreting the show for Tuacahn and were able to do a trade. This was the first time the any of the grandkids had been to a show a Tuacahn. I was worried whether or not it would hold their interest the whole time, but it did! They were mesmerized! Finding Nemo was a good one for them since it was only 70 minutes long with an intermission. Only three and older are allowed to go and so we left Callan and Elsie home with a baby sitter (Audrey Williams). The temperature was over 100 degrees and I had purchased cooling cloths for everyone that you get wet and wrap around your neck. Rick thought that was silly and was teasing me about it, but it really did help! I was surprised! Most of the family gladly accepted one (or two!) 

Friday, June 19: We had bagels, cream cheese, fruit, and yogurt for breakfast and then went to the all-abilities park. It was HOT!! And crowded! The turf on the playground has different colors and shapes of dinosaurs and so forth, which looked cool, but was hot! The kids enjoyed the splash pad and played on the playground for a bit and then we road the train. Then we headed home for lunch! 

The house behind us was purchased by a business who runs homes for special needs adults. One of these is Hank, the train engineer at the All-Abilities Park. So we asked him if we could get a picture with him!  All of the special needs adults faithfully attend our ward (the hearing ward) each week. They also love to bear their testimony on Fast Sundays, which sometimes makes for a very unique testimony meeting! 

After the park was lunch and naps. Jared taught the next lesson at the Seminary building on mortality, "Facing Goliath." He divided the family into two teams and gave each team some cardboard. They were to each draw a picture of a monster. Then he preceded to share the story of David and Goliath along with gospel principles. Then the grandkids were all allowed to try and knock down the "giants" with rubber balls! (The videos are in the google album!) 

After the lesson we had a great dinner of marinated chicken, corn on the cob, rice, and veggies and then Jenna taught a devotional which involved an object lesson that included making oobleck slime with the grandkids! They loved it! 

Jase and Ellen and kids slept over at their own house, but they put the kids to bed at our house so that they could stay longer and play games with the family. Janelle and Bryton slept over at Bryton's parent's house because we didn't have room for everyone at our house. But they stayed late and played games too. 

Tonight Rick taught his lesson. Now that we have grandkids, it seems like all of the lessons are geared to their level. Jenna missed the more in depth lessons we used to have and so Rick planned a really good "adult" lesson tonight after the grandkids were in bed. Rick is such a great teacher, I always love his lessons! 

Saturday, June 20: We had breakfast and then went to the splash pad in St. George. This was better than splash pad at the all-abilities park yesterday. It is a lot bigger and there is also a big grassy area where the adult kids could play spike ball and the grandkids were able to go on the carousel! 

After the splash pad we went home for lunch and naps again. Jared arranged for everyone to go to a church to play basketball and Jase and Ellen set up their bounce house in the gym. The kids had fun playing on the bounce house and running around and dancing. The adults had fun playing basketball! 

Then we came home for Bryton's lesson on kings where he had the kids make crowns. They wore those crowns the rest of the night! Then we ate a yummy dinner of pulled pork, fries, fruit, and vegies! 

We finished up our Father's Day Flee Sunday morning with Jason's lesson and wrap-up. All in all it was a successful Father's Day Flee!! I love the fact that our children love to be together -- even if it is doing simple things like going to the splash pad, playing spike ball outside, or basketball at the church, or just playing games as a family! 

Everyone came to church with us at the hearing ward. Eli even went up to sing "Daddy's Homecoming" with our primary! Everett went up last time (Mother's Day) but he was learning different Father's Day songs in his ward and didn't know this one. After church we all ate lunch and then the family went their separate ways. Rick and Jenna and I then headed to Pleasant Grove for the Westra Father's Day party!