Visiting the Grandparents

After leaving the cousins we headed to Ogden to go visit Grandma Jensen. She was ready with a nice dinner for us. After dinner she let the girls open their gifts from her. She had made these darling Christmas pictures out of wool for all of the grandkids! 

She also had a really nice Suunto watch for me and a soft minkie blanket for Rick and Christmas money for us. Grandma had cases of food storage as a gift for all of the grandchildren. We barely fit it all into our car the next day! There were six cases for each person! Whew! I am so grateful for Grandma Jensen and all she does for us. She really spoils us! Tonight we just visited and the kids watched the movie, Ratatouille. Our niece, Chantel, left two big boxes filled with hair products for the girls to take home. They had fun going through them all and choosing what they wanted! The next morning we visited some more and Jaiden helped Grandma set up her new watch. After lunch we headed to SLC to visit Grandma and Grandpa Westra. 

I forgot to get pictures at Grandma Westra's house. Grandma Westra spoils us too and prepared a nice roast beef dinner for us. For Christmas she had given us and our children money in their Roth account. I love how she is helping to prepare us and our children for our future by teaching us about finances and putting money away in a Roth account that can accrue interest through the years. Chris and Corin were there when we arrived and so we were able to visit with them a little. After dinner Alicia brought the kids to come visit. The cousins played on the Wii while the adults played Rummikub. Then Alicia brought Adria and Calder back home since Adria had to work the next morning and Rella stayed and slept over with the girls. We stayed up and watched a Christmas movie. 

The next morning I did an exercise swim with my mom. I always enjoy this when I come visit since we can exercise and get a nice visit in at the same time. The kids had fun playing with Rella and then we packed up and headed to Lindon to meet Alicia at a parking lot off the freeway to drop off Rella to her. Our car was so packed that we could barely squeeze her in! I was grateful that the weather was good and the roads were clear on the way home. The kids had wanted to be home in time for New Year's Eve. We didn't have our traditional New Year's Eve dance party this year. It is the first year in many years that we haven't had it -- so it was different. In fact, Janika and Brandon texted asking what time the dance party was so that they could skype in! I didn't really mind not having it since I was tired from traveling though. Jase and Ellen stopped by for a bit and so I gave them their gifts from Grandma. 

Josh went to a party at Lilly's house (I think). Janelle had to work and then went to a party at Brea's house. Jaiden went to a party at Emily's house and Jenna also went over to the Williams to hang out with Clarissa and then they came back here to ring in the new year! 

Christmas Break Getaway

Over Christmas Break I decided to bring some of the kids up North to go visit their cousins and grandparents. Janelle had to work and Josh didn't want to go, so it ended up just being me and Jaiden and Jenna. We had a fun time! Janika and Brandon had been with us since our Christmas Eve and were also leaving St. George today to head back up North. We left a couple of hours before them. We got caught in a snow storm between Cedar City and Beaver and so that was a little disconcerting. I hate driving in the snow! Thankfully the storm didn't continue much past Beaver and the rest of the way was fine. We arrived at Shane and Alicia's and the kids were all excited to see each other! Calder was disappointed that Josh hadn't come though! 

The kids played and Shane and Alicia fixed us a yummy dinner and then we watched the "12 Dates of Christmas," which has become a tradition with these cousins! It really is a great movie! We have seen this movie several times, but this is the first time we noticed that they had a quick little clip for each part of the song, "12 Days of Christmas." For example "2 turtle doves" had two kids running down the street in what looked like bird costumes. So we had fun paying attention and watching for the next line of the song to be incorporated into the movie. The next day the kids went on a "hike" and came back with muddy boots. It was a quick visit and the kids were sad to leave and so Alicia said that she might be able to bring her kids up to Grandma Westra's house when we went there in a day or so.

2020 Recap of the Jensen Family

Here is our Christmas Newsletter for 2020...

 2020 impacted us all with a worldwide pandemic, political and civil unrest, and the presidential election. But it was also a year that contained numerous blessings. Along with the shutdowns came a life with a slower pace, more family time, and more opportunities for reflection. In March we received a new daughter as Jase and Ellen were married in the Draper temple for time and all eternity. They were married on Saturday, March 14th. On Monday, March 16th temples across the world were shut down because of the pandemic. How blessed we were to be able to be in the temple with our family and friends to witness that sacred event! They had a beautiful reception. The St. George reception had to be cancelled, but we were so grateful that they were able to still have their reception in South Jordan and were still able to go on their planned honeymoon! 

A few days after their reception, those of us who stayed in Salt Lake experienced the earthquake that happened on March 18th. First a pandemic, and then an earthquake! Like the rest of you, we never came back to school in person after spring break. Although there were some stresses concerning the shutdown, it was also a time we enjoyed (at least I did). I was out of work for a few months and although I missed that income, I enjoyed being home. Church at home was a sacred experience. Our children really stepped up to the plate in planning and teaching their assigned lessons and we felt the guidance of the spirit. 

April brought Easter and our Masquerade Ball! Since Senior Ball was cancelled for Janelle we decided to throw our own family prom at home. In honor of Covid we made it a Masquerade Ball with home-made masks and a model run-way as everyone modeled their masks. We got some hilarious video footage from this event! 

May was Mother's Day -- which for the Jensen family means "Mother's Day Tea!" Janika and Brandon surprised me by driving clear from Logan for the weekend to celebrate Mother's day with us. 

At the end of May Jared returned home from his mission! He loved his mission and we loved his letters and phone calls each week. His return home brought additional insights as the family studied the scriptures. He also brought more energy and laughter, a much higher volume of noise, and the need to increase our grocery budget! 

In June, our family enjoyed Father’s Day Flee at a cabin in Pine Valley with our good friends, the Healeys. Then we had the opportunity to perform a special musical number with handbells for my dad for Father’s Day at our annual Father’s Day party in Draper! Click HERE to listen! 

July included a fun camping trip to Navajo Lake with our good friends the Williams! 

In August Grandma Jensen rented a big cabin in Bear Lake. We had fun spending time with the entire family and enjoyed great company, delicious food, a fun day at Bridgerland Adventure, and time on the lake! We also got to go visit Brandon's family at their cabin and go boating with them!  

August was back to school -- with masks and social distancing. We were grateful that both our girls were able to attend the Homecoming dance since many of the other dances were cancelled or postponed. Two or three months later our entire family tested positive for Covid (except for Janika and Brandon who were up north). The amount of illness ranged from no symptoms (Jenna) to almost all of the symptoms, albeit fairly mild (Wendy), to completely down in bed for two weeks (Rick). Josh was fortunate that he was able to finish his entire fall soccer season before getting Covid. Janelle had to miss 24 days of school due to quarantines! It was truly a miracle that Jaiden and Janelle (and the rest of the cast) were  able to still participate in their Musical Revue at the high school. You can listen to the girls' touching duet "Some Things are Meant to Be" from Little Women HERE or on Facebook HERE. 

Everyone was healthy for Thanksgiving and the week before Christmas Rick and I were able to go to Mexico! This was our first time trying out an all-inclusive resort (Ocean Maya Royale in Playa del Carmen) and it was so much fun! We were able to see the sights and swim in the rivers at Xcaret and go visit Chichen Itza. We also enjoyed just relaxing at the resort and eating all of the delicious food!   

So that brings us up to date for the year! Rick is currently teaching Seminary at Dixie High School and was recently offered a new part-time position in addition to the classes he is already teaching. He is now the ASL coordinator and adviser for the United States and Canada. He is excited and overwhelmed with this new opportunity! Rick also continues to work as an interpreter for the Deaf part time. He  serves on the High Council and Wendy serves in the Young Women Presidency. Wendy stays busy keeping track of the children's schedules and carpools and also continues to work as in interpreter for the Deaf.  

This is what the kids had to say about 2020...

Janika and Brandon: 

2020 has been a whirlwind, but we have been so incredibly blessed along the way!! Every night as I kneel down to pray my heart is just overcome with gratitude. We began the year with a trip to Kauai with Brandon's family that was a dream! A few weeks later life shut down and we were able to work from home together for about a month. Brandon graduated with a double bachelor's in marketing and business administration and kept working at Cache Valley Bank up until a few weeks ago. He recently accepted a job offer as the marketing operations analyst for JobNimbus in Lehi, so we packed up and moved just before another cold Logan winter! With this job came another surprise Hawaii trip, this time to Maui! I'm still working through my master's program in school counseling and will begin a practicum in the spring at a local elementary school. My classes have been online for most of the year, but I think I honestly like that format better. Now we're just adjusting to life in a new area and on the hunt for a new home. Stay tuned for when we become homeowners in 2021!

Jase and Ellen: 

The first few months of this year were a blur of wedding planning, apartment searching, work/school, and spending all of our spare time together. March brought Covid - but also our wedding! We were sealed in the Draper Utah Temple and were blessed to be able to share our sealing with many of our friends and family members. Following our sealing, we were able to have the most perfect reception in South Jordan, then leave for our honeymoon in Cozumel, Mexico. In Mexico, we were able to visit ruins at Tulum and Coba, go snorkeling, go swimming in a cenote, and enjoy lots of time on the beach. Due to Covid, we were able to celebrate home Prom with Jase’s family. In May, we adopted our cat, Sweet Pea, from the local animal shelter. Sweet Pea was scared of the other cats, and since adopting her, she’s gained plenty of weight and become excessively energetic (especially at 4 in the morning). Jase was also nominated to be the Chemistry and Biochemistry Student of the Year in May. During the summer we spent lots of time with each of our families. We celebrated Father’s Day with Jase’s Family; then, we spent time with Ellen’s family when they visited Saint George. During Father’s Day Flee, Ellen was able to enjoy shooting paintballs at an unarmed Jase wearing shorts, and when Ellen’s family visited, we were able to drive side-by-sides at the sand dunes. In July, we went camping near Duck Creek with our friends, Shantell, Brekkon, Liz, and Kendrik.

Once school started again, we got swamped; but in September Ellen’s sisters, Lexie and Sophie were able to visit for a sister’s weekend in Saint George. We spent the end of September and the beginning of October in quarantine after we got Covid-19, but after we were healthy again, we were able to visit Ellen’s mission in Jacksonville, Florida. We were able to stay with two families from Ellen’s mission as well as see some others. We were also able to visit some local historical landmarks, do some shopping (much to Jase’s dismay), and spend time running around on the beach. Jase also got to participate in a laser tag tournament in October. He was so excited and did really well - it looks like we won’t be done with laser tag anytime soon! In November, we got to spend Thanksgiving with Jase’s family and enjoyed a much-needed break from school. We are excited to be done with the semester soon, and we can’t wait for Christmas and more time with each of our families!

Jared:

2020 was quite a wild ride! The year started while I was still living the dream on the southside of Chicago. It was awesome to see miracle after miracle from my time there! Soon I was transferred to the North side of Chicago where I spent 6 weeks, then my time was cut short there as I was transferred to the middle of the mission to serve in the office working with the president. That's when Covid hit and my companion and I suddenly learned that we would be sent home three months early, so I was again transferred to serve way out in the cornfields for my last area. I loved each of the last few areas I served in! Even with Covid I was able to have great companions and enjoy the work I did with them. Coming home was an adventure and I was able to start working and attending Dixie State University and studying my generals. That's pretty much where my life remains, I've been working, studying, and enjoying my life! I'm excited to be done with my generals this semester and begin my major of Exercise Science next year!

Janelle:

I'm a senior at Snow Canyon High School this year! I am a section leader in Madrigals, Vice President of Seminary Council, participate in NHS and the school plays, and there are probably some other things that I can't remember right now! Even with COVID being a major wrench in everything a lot happened this year! I am an official adult now, for one, and have a betta fish named Desmond. I continue to work at Papa Murphy's and also currently do an internship for speech therapy at Vista School (when I'm not quarantined, which happened WAY more than it should've). COVID didn't stop us from having fun, however, and I took trips with my family for Father's Day Flee, Bear Lake, and I also went to Bryce Canyon with some of my friends. This year really made me appreciate school! All of the craziness added a little spice that made this year an adventure.

Jaiden:

I'm a junior at Snow Canyon High School! This year I am in Madrigals, Student Council, NHS, dance company, as well as studio dance, and the school shows! It has been a CRAZY year, what with the coronavirus and everything, but I've kept myself busy, and it hasn't been all that bad! When school was cancelled it was a tad bit boring, and having Covid wasn't the most fun experience, but overall it was a pretty good year! I went to my first school dance, became a Madrigals section leader, got my license, learned how to record songs in the studio, and got two new jobs! 2020 will definitely be a year to remember!

Josh:

In March all of the schools got shut down because of Covid and all of the students had to do online school. I liked it, but only because it was just one quarter. It was my birthday in April but because of Corona I didn't have my party until the summer. In the summer I also went to California with my friend and his family and it was really fun! I also started training for Cross Country at 6:00 a.m. every morning. My fastest time in a Cross Country meet was 18.56 -- much faster than last year! I still play soccer for both the 06 and 05 United FC teams, and I scored 16 goals this season. I have 8 games for each team, so that's really only one goal a game. But I scored 10 goals for my 06 team and 6 for my 05 team. I also got a job as a soccer referee, and I make $16 a game. I also got Covid at the beginning of November and still don't have my taste and smell back.

Jenna:

I am in sixth grade at Lava Ridge Intermediate School. In March we started online school because of Covid. I liked it because I finished school so fast everyday, but I missed my friends. This year I really got into reading. I read all of the Rick Riordan books -- starting with the Percy Jackson series. I am getting a camp half-blood sweatshirt for Christmas. I also like drawing and making things out of clay. Me and my friend started a little restaurant and made a special dinner for my mom and dad for a date. They loved it! I also got a snow cone machine and sold lots of snow cones. In October I turned 12 and got my ears pierced. I cleaned out our whole shed with my friends and turned it into a hide-out! It has been a fun year!

As I look back on this year I feel so incredibly blessed! I am grateful for my family and I am grateful for the extra time we were able to spend together this year! I am grateful for the chance to slow down and appreciate what is important. There were a few months this year where I felt like our family scripture study was the best it had ever been! We would read the upcoming chapter alone and then discuss it together and those scripture studies were filled with the spirit and revelation! I am grateful for friends, the gospel, and most of all I am grateful for the atonement of our Savior, Jesus Christ! As we look forward to 2021 and beyond, I hope we remember the many lessons that we learned during this crazy year of 2020. Love you all!!

Love, the Jensen Family

2020 Westra Family Recap! (By Jen)

My sister, Jen, did an awesome 2020 recap for our family blog and so I copied the whole post to include on my blog as well! 

2020 ... Do We Really Want a Recap?

Family - this IS supposed to be a complete recap! If you have additional memories/thoughts for your family, or for Utah/US/World that you'd like to add, just email me and I'll update!

2020 ... a year that will be remembered, but one that many might like to forget. There was the Westra Christmas Newsletter and the Annual Slideshow for 2020 which gives a pretty good look at what everyone was up to. The annual Father's Day party still happened ... but Covid canceled a family reunion and the Christmas Eve party. 

There were three weddings ...

One pre-pandemic, one RIGHT before things shut down, and one right in the middle of it all.

Several of the younger generation became homeowners... and this year there has been planning for a new home for Shane&Alicia with a G-suite (section for Margie/Lamar). There was also new baby news!

There were the annual ouchies!

Cal broke his foot ... the FOURTH time. Scott had to have surgery on his spine. Derek decided to try a trip to the ER. Kim had surgery on her ear and Conner ended the year as Cal had begun, except he managed a bigger break that required surgery.  Covid was an issue for a few of the families (Camden was the first, then some of Scott's and all the Jensens) but happily no extreme cases.

Ah Covid ... that will likely get its own blog post, with thoughts and memories (and memes!) from the year. There was also the EARTHQUAKE in March, with aftershocks afterward. There were worrisome wildfires here in Utah, and worse ones in nearby states, causing smoky skies ... and spooky red skies. There was a night of wild winds that left some Utah residents without power for weeks. The airport was redone, Derek's old boss bought the Utah Jazz, a mysterious "monolith" appeared in the Utah desert and Jupiter and Saturn aligned to create the "Christmas Star"...

The year started with fires across Australia. Kolby Bryant and others died in a helicopter crash. The  Black Lives Matter movement made a mark, and there were protests and riots, in Utah and across the US. There was a plethora of politics and a presidential election. Whew!

Back to the Westra Clan...

Trying to add a little extra to what was in the Christmas Newsletter blurb.

Most snapshots are also in the slideshow.

Scott and Amy ... fun to have Mckenna and Spencer back in Utah. Some boating and razor riding, and S&A cheering on the cheerleaders. Amy and Taylee took a trip to Disney World. Kemery and Mitch got a house, a dog and now a new baby on the way!

Yea, a new and complete family photo for the Chris and Kim crew! A marriage, and a missionary home (temporarily). Lots of hiking, doting on a granddaughter and photo fun. Chris is good at keeping in touch with weekly email updates. 

Wendy sends email updates fairly often and keeps a family blog with all their activities as well as an annual Christmas post to recap their year (see it here). A wedding, a missionary home, college graduation and so much more!

The Blackham's also had a wedding, and once they moved Callahan out, there was a bunch of renovation (new carpet and paint). Gray got a new truck, and some new gadgets for his kitchen/cooking. Jen sent out monthly email updates (and adds them to the family blog as well). 

Shane and Alicia have celebrated being back in Utah/snow with several ski trips. There was a new family car (Kia Telluride), a driver's license for Adria, as well as teaching her to drive a stick in Grandpa's little blue truck. Dancing and biking and home improvement projects ... as well as exciting home plans for the future!

Derek and Danielle always have oodles of adventures going on! So many fun photos to feature. Many home improvement projects, music and art enterprises and their summer went to the birds (with them documenting both a robin's nest and a hummingbird's nest). If you follow Derek on Facebook/Instagram you'll be pretty connected with all that's going on. 

Christmas

For our Christmas morning we gathered in Jaiden's room at 8:00 a.m. before checking out the stockings and opening presents. (Rick and I had our Mexico Trip for our Christmas gift and our family got a new computer -- which we definitely needed since ours was really old and getting quite sluggish). The gift giving went quickly (we didn't have a ton). The kids mostly got clothes that they had already picked out and so there wasn't a lot of surprises! The kids all went in on a Coredy sweeper for our home -- so that was a surprise! Janika and Brandon set it all up and taught us how to use it and the kids had a lot of fun with it. We named it Rodney! Rick cooked up a big breakfast and then Jase headed to work. He worked a half day today and then he and Ellen headed to South Jordan to spend Christmas Eve and Christmas morning with Ellen's family. 

The kids put on one of their new outfits and took a bunch of pictures. They kind of look like they are right out of the fifties! (Janelle was taking the pictures with Jared's phone).

The next day (Christmas Day) we slept in and our whole family went and played pickleball in the afternoon. It was beautiful and sunny and felt so good! We later did a zoom call with Grandma and Grandpa Westra and Grandma Jensen and the kids showed Grandma Jensen some of the clothes they picked out with their Christmas money. 

Saturday Rick and I went out to lunch with Janika and Brandon at a placed called "Burger Theory." It was really good! Saturday night Jase and Ellen came over and the whole family had a nice chicken dinner and then we all played some fun games! We played Hail Hydra and Resistance. It was a pretty quiet Christmas this year -- I guess our kids are growing up!