Christmas Morning at Grandma Jensens

Christmas morning at Grandma and Grandpa Jensen's house involves a yummy breakfast, stockings filled with surprises, and a huge array of gifts. Every year Grandma Jensen makes a special present for each of their Grandchildren. It is always exciting to see what it will be. It is always magical and makes me a little emotional thinking about all of the hours of love that goes into such a project. This year she made gifts for their hope chests -- quilt tops for each grand-child that will be made into a baby quilt for their first baby. Hopefully each of the grandchildren will be able to work on finishing the quilt with their Grandma. This will give them special time together, teach them a new skill, and help them create something meaningful for their future. Aren't they gorgeous?

Jenna's Christmas Stocking

Wow, my own sock? Cool!!

At Grandma Jensen's house, there is a unique hand-made knit stocking for each member of the family including Grandma and Grandpa Jensen, their six kids and spouses, and 20 grandkids. During the Christmas Season, the stockings cover the entire fireplace. Then on Christmas morning they are laid out and stuffed with all sorts of goodies!!

Jenna's is the newest one (and probably the last one...) which is good since Vera (the lady who makes them) is getting older and says she won't be able to make any more! She certainly did a wonderful job!

Christmas Eve at Grandma and Grandpa's!

We celebrated Christmas Eve at my Mom and Dad's house where we enjoyed several different kinds of yummy soups. My Grandma and Grandpa were there and all of my siblings with their families which makes 24 grand-kids so far!

After dinner we watched the slide show compiled by my brother-in-law, Grayson. It is fun seeing the cute pictures from all of our families. The funniest part of the slide-show was a picture of a real business that said, "Jensen's Reproduction Company." That picture was followed up by a picture of my family in the hospital holding our newest baby!

Then we had our annual Nativity re-enactment. The kids love dressing up in the cute costumes that my sister, Jeni, made. They are much cuter than the make-shift blankets and sheets that we use at our house! Our cute little niece Adria played the part of Mary and her little sister Rella said, "I want to be a princess!"

That's okay -- Josh wanted to be a lion! After the Nativity we played the traditional candy bar game. My mom threw some cleaning products in the pile too. Jaiden was so excited to show me here new SOS pad! When all the candy bars were gone, we did the annual present exchange. Our kids were excited to open all of the fun toys and books from their cousins! Then we headed out to stay over night at the Jensen's and so I guessed we missed the big dance party with my Mom and Dad's new dance revolution!

Our Family Christmas morning...

Josh didn't like being woke up and was having a melt-down...until he realized that he got to open presents. As soon as his mouth was stuffed with candy, he was fine! The big surprise from Santa was a Wii. Of course Janika thinks we are about the last people on the planet to get one. The kids have been playing it non-stop ever since. We also got a Wii Fit which has been fun for everyone -- including Mom and Dad!

Angels on Christmas Eve

We had a really special Christmas Eve. We celebrate Christmas Eve and Christmas Day early at our house so that we can have our own celebration with just our immediate family. That way we can have our own traditions and still join with our extended family for their Christmas Eve party and Christmas Day celebration. We have done this for years and it has worked really well and spreads out the holidays.

We have a tradition of dressing up and acting out the Nativity on Christmas Eve, but each year we do something a little different. Last year we had a "shepherd's in training" and everyone dressed like shepherds.

This year we did something equally special. The focus was on angels and everyone dressed up like an angel. Rick had gotten a whole bunch of white material and shiny white material for the belts. He and Janika cut holes in the top for everyone's head and then we used the belt to hold it together. Rick had everyone open up their scriptures to the Bible Dictionary and we read about angels. He had brought home a giant white board and wrote different qualities of angels on the board. Then we talked about angels on earth -- those people who have affected our lives for good, including the seven little angels gathered around us that night. We then went and sang to some people in the neighborhood. It was a little difficult since it was raining and we had to buckle and unbuckle four car-seats! It was a neat experience though. Rick and I both were in need of a tissue by the evening's end! I hope it was a special experience for the children as well.

Janelle's Christmas Drawings

Snow Day!!

Last night we heard the news...all schools in our district will be closed tomorrow due to the snow. Cheers rang out all throughout the house! This won't seem like much snow compared to those of you who live up North! However, there are not snow plows here to keep the roads clear and so when a storm like this happens then school is cancelled.

It rarely snows here and when it does it usually doesn't stick long enough to do anything with it. When it has snowed, it has been during odd times -- like March or April. So to have it snow here during the Christmas season (and enough to actually make a decent snowman) is unusual and fun. The kids are loving it -- they are outside right now making a snowman and having a snowball fight.

Colorful Jaiden

Jaiden is sporting a very colorful outfit that she picked out herself. She is proudly showing off the gingerbread house she made in pre-school today. Lately Jaiden is so into dresses. She wants to wear a dress everyday, which doesn't often coincide with her rough and tumble personality. She has so much energy and is always moving! She loves to stand on her big-wheel and race it down our long private driveway as fast as she can. Most of her play-dresses are spring and summer dresses and so I always say, "why don't you wear pants?" "No! I want to wear a dress!!!" (With very colorful tights of course!) So even though she wears dresses, she really does wear the pants around here!

Jase and Jared's School Concert

Jase played the Xylophone. Jared and Jase sang. They sounded great!

Snowing!

It snowed today! Check out the snow/mud man. Here's how my day went... I spent 20 minutes rummaging through the shed looking for coats, boots, hats, and gloves. Another 20 minutes dressing kids in the above mentioned items. 10 minutes watching them play outside, 5 minutes consoling Jaiden after she fell into the mud, 5 more minutes consoling Janelle after she fell into the "swamp," 10 minutes peeling off their wet muddy clothes, 30 minutes scrubbing mud off boots, and another 20 minutes throwing all of their clothes into the laundry. And we don't even have any marshmallows to go into their hot chocolate. (Sigh)

Nativity Scene

Here is Janika and Jenna dressed up as Mary and Baby Jesus. Jase is learning about digital photography in ELP and was supposed to take a picture representing one of our holiday traditions. One of our favorite traditions for Christmas Eve is to have the whole family dress up in costumes and act out the Nativity. This first picture is the one that Jase took and turned in for his assignment.

Looking at these pictures I can't help but wonder what it must have been like for Mary, the mother of Jesus. Although we don't know how old she was, we do know that she was very young -- probably not much older than Janika is in this picture. I can't imagine such a young girl going through everything that she did. I love the words to the song, "Mary Did You Know?" by Mark Lowry (lyrics) and Buddy Greene (music).

You can listen to it here:

"Mary Did You Know?"

Our kids need to get out more!

This morning I took some of kids out to run an errand. As we drove along a street that overlooks the city, Josh (2 1/2) shouted, "Look, the temple!!" "Yes, you are right -- there is the temple!" Then Janelle (6) shouted, "Look -- there's McDonalds!" "Yes, and McDonalds..." Then the street wound back into town and Janelle said, "Now we are back in the village!" Village?? Then Josh excitedly shouted, "Look Janelley -- a store!!" Boy, our kids really need to get out more.

Christmas Fireside

Tonight I went to our Stake Christmas Musical Fireside and it was absolutely delightful! I wouldn't have gone had Janika not been participating. Her school choir teacher was the one who put the fireside together and asked Janika to sing a duet with a boy (around eight years old). She gave them the music and had them rehearse at her house and so I didn't have to do anything but show up at the performance and enjoy! It was so sweet and pure with their bright clear voices singing about Mary and Joseph. I couldn't help getting a little emotional.

The entire program was wonderful -- just what I needed tonight! I had been feeling uptight and anxious before I came with all of my kids running around the house being their characteristically noisy and messy selves. I brought two of the easier kids with me to the fireside (Jared and Janelle) leaving the youngest three with Rick. Jase opted not to come. It was nice to get a chance to snuggle with Jared and Janelle and bask in the delightful Christmas spirit. All of the musical numbers were absolutely beautiful and touching. The program flowed nicely with insightful narrations between each number. I left truly having been touched by the spirit of Christmas!

Deaf Branch Christmas Party

We had a fun time at our Deaf Branch Christmas party. (Jase took all of the pictures, practicing for his digital photography class at school).

We ate delicious food, watched a Nativity program, got surprises from Santa and enjoyed good company. A big thanks to all who helped put this together!