Jaiden Exec Council

Jaiden is the new ACTIVITIES REP for the Snow Canyon High School Executive Council for 2021-2022! Congratulations, Jaiden!! 

Campaign Video. If you aren't really familiar with the TV show, The Office, (like me, ha ha) then you won't really get the humor in this video. But I still thought it was pretty cute! 

Janelle: Senior Ball Royalty

On Friday, April 16th Janelle got whipped cream shoved in her face with an announcement that she was on Senior Ball Royalty! 

Here is a video of the "telling." Janelle is on .44 and 1:15...

Then came interviews...

Thursday, April 29, was the Assembly. First silly skits... (Janelle was happy to be partnered with Justin Gulbranson, since they are good friends. In fact four of the six guys on royalty are in Janelle's friend group and she has gone to a dance with all four of them.)    

       

And then the escorts. Janelle was escorted by her sister, Jaiden. (I accidentally cut off the first part of it. It says "Justin Gulbranson being escorted by his good friends," and then he turns around and no one is there...

Jensen Update -- April 2021

*Shane and Alicia's family came down for Easter Break/General Conference. The cousins had a great time together and it was fun to visit and spend time with family! We also had lots of great food. Alicia did a nice photoshoot of the girls and videotaped Jaiden's talent for Distinguished Young Women. Thanks, Alicia!! 

*Josh was busy with HS soccer all month long and made several goals. JV is now finished, but the State Tournament for the Varsity team starts tomorrow. He is still struggling with parosmia (where taste and smell are distorted). 

*I got my second Covid Vaccine. Janika and Brandon got theirs and Jase just got his first one. I will take the kids in as soon as school gets out. 

 *Jaiden got her ACT scores back a couple weeks after taking the test and got a 28. We were happy with that! All three of our girls got the same score! She is considering taking an ACT prep class to try and boost it a little. 

*Jaiden sang the National Anthem at the high school boys' soccer game and went to the Junior Prom. Janelle didn't get asked, which was a bummer, but she was asked to Senior Ball (and we heard wind of two other boys who were also planning on asking her). She was also nominated to be on the Senior Ball Royalty. So that made up for it! She had tons of fun doing all of that and was partnered with a good friend of hers. 

 *Josh celebrated his birthday. He had a soccer game on his birthday, but had an injury due to a collision with another player at a previous game and was only allowed to play ten minutes at this one, which was a bummer. He missed some playing time in a few games before his knee finally started feeling better. He had all of his friends over the next day/evening for a party at our house. 

 *Rick's good friend from his mission, Michelle Robinson, passed away. She had a stroke a few years ago and has had a lot of health problems ever since and so I am sure she is happy to be healthy again! He put together a neat slideshow of pictures for her and posted it on Facebook. I also posted it on my blog.

*Jaiden performed in her school play and that was fun to watch! Janika and Brandon came down from Pleasant Grove to see her show and so that was nice of them! The rest of the kids all came too (except for Jared). Jared was a groomsman for his friend's wedding and went to a Bachelors' party in Vegas. He is also going to be a groomsman for another friend next month. 

*Jaiden ran for Executive Council as the Activities Rep and got in, so she will be a Student Body Officer next year! I am excited for her, but also nervous, because it is a time consuming position and she is already SO busy!

 *Jaiden did her interview and self expression for Distinguished Young Women on April 24th (she had already turned in her academic records, talent number, and fitness routine video). They announced the winners later that night. She won in every single category and won the overall title of Distinguished Young Woman of Southern Utah!! So that was pretty exciting and she got some cash scholarships. She will go on to compete in the State Competition in October. 

*Brandon is doing well and enjoying his job at JobNimbus. Janika is looking for an internship for next year. She will graduated with her Master's degree in December. They look forward to moving into their townhome next month! 

*We all went and watched Jase and Ellen speak in church in their ward. They did a great job. For my birthday. Rick and I went out to dinner and to see the Dixie High School play, Clue. It was good! On Sunday we had everyone over for dinner (like we do every Sunday) and sang Happy Birthday with a chocolate Pie.

*We went and saw “Comedy of Errors” at our local Shakespeare in the Park. They started this a couple of years ago (cancelled in 2020 due to Covid). It is right across from the town hall and everyone just brings blankets and lawn chairs. They do a great job, and it is free!  

*I have been busy interpreting. My hours at Dixie Tech went from four hours a week to sixteen hours a week. Plus I have been doing medical interpreting jobs too. Rick has been really busy with his new job responsibilities working with the Deaf Seminaries across the nation. He put together a big Fireside with all of the deaf youth across the country over zoom. It was well attended and turned out really well! He is really doing a great job! 

*The girls had a great time at Senior Ball last Saturday. I will write more about that later. 

*Jase and Ellen are busy with school and work. Ellen's pregnancy is coming right along and she is finally starting to show! She is working a lot of hours and taking 21 credits -- all while being pregnant! Jase is considering applying to Medical School after he graduates next year! 

It was a busy month!!  

 

Senior Spotlight: Janelle

Tonight was a combined YW/RS activity to spotlight our Senior girls!  It was held in Robyn Parry's backyard with a nice spread of food. (Only I ate a gluten free cracker that had either almond flour and flax seed in it, which made me really sick. I was kicking myself for not checking the ingredients first!) Thankfully I was able to make it through the program before becoming really sick.  Jaiden, Janelle, and Emily sang their beautiful rendition of "Come Thou Fount" and Jan Broberg sang "I Dreamed A Dream" from Les Miserables. Each of the moms were asked to fill out a questionnaire for their daughter's spotlight. I have included Janelle's below! They also showed a nice slideshow of pictures of the graduating girls. Those graduating were Janelle Jensen, Sophie Smith, and Tayli Morris. 

Senior Spotlight Questions:

Name: Janelle Jensen

Favorite book: The Hunger Games Series

Favorite food: Lasagna

Hobbies/Talents: Singing, Sleeping, Reading

Activities: Madrigals, Seminary Council, Musical Productions, hanging out with friends, hiking, working at Papa Murphy’s Pizza.   

Favorite movie: Doesn’t have one.

Biggest Fear: Isolation

Describe your daughter in 3 words: Pure, Spiritual, Compassionate

Interesting Fact: Janelle has always been very expressive and talkative. In the fifth grade she won first place in district in the Storytelling Festival. She was also a Hands in Harmony Caroler for several years.   

Plans after High school: Janelle plans to serve a mission and then pursue a degree in Occupational Therapy.

What is your favorite thing about your daughter?

Janelle cares about other people. She will often ask me about my day and expresses gratitude freely. One line in her patriarchal blessing states: “You have been blessed with eyes to see the hurt in others and with a heart to heal.” I love this sentiment and it describes Janelle perfectly!

Anything else you want to tell us about your daughter?

Janelle has always had a desire to do what is right. She regularly studies her scriptures and records spiritual insights in her study journal. She is a great teacher and will be an awesome missionary! Janelle is beautiful inside and out! I am so grateful that she is ours!

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qY4gmz5G9-g)

Jaiden's Play: The Musical Comedy Murders of 1940

Normally the high school does a big Musical in the Fall and a straight play in February (or around there) and a Musical Revue in the Spring. But this year the big musical was cancelled due to Covid and the Musical Revue (which is smaller and more flexible) was moved to the Fall instead. This was the one our girls almost missed performing in due to our whole family getting Covid. But through a series of miracles they were able to perform. You can read about that HERE! Instead of the Spring Musical Revue our high school decided to do a straight play. Neither of our girls have done a straight play before. Janelle decided that she would be too busy and would rather get more hours in at her job, but Jaiden (who is also too busy, ha ha) decided to audition.

She made the part of Bernice. It was a fun part and she did awesome with it! Here is the description of her character: 

Bernice Roth: The perpetually thirsty lyricist, she is Roger's partner. Bernice is very odd and emotional, frequently losing her composure and screaming. When Marjorie fails to respond to the second act opening number of "White House Merry-Go-Round," Bernice is hugely offended, despite the fact that Marjorie was dead at the time. She spends the entire second act attempting to "fix" the play, even when she is held hostage by Ken, O'Reilly, and Dieter. In the finale, she is struck with inspiration toward a new work that takes place in the heartland of America – a cowboy play called Nebraska. This is a spoof on the play Oklahoma! Bobo Lewis originated the role.

The show itself was rather confusing, but it was also very funny and we enjoyed watching it! I ended up watching it four times -- opening night (with Rick and Janelle), then I went to the other cast show with Jenna to see Jaiden's best friend, Emily Williams, perform. Then most of the family attended the Friday night show. Janika and Brandon even came clear from Pleasant Grove to support Jaiden in her show! Jase and Ellen also came along with me, Rick, and Jenna. Then I went again on Monday night with Josh. 

The show was double cast. Here is a photo of both casts together! 

Here is a funny video clip from the show (but it contains a spoiler alert if you plan to ever watch this show! It starts off dark because the power had just gone out in the story -- keep watching!!) Click HERE to watch! 

Jaiden: Distinguished Young Woman of Southern Utah 2021-2022!!!

Jaiden has been participating in the Distinguished Young Women Scholarship Program for Southern Utah over the past couple of months. Last year and this year the program was done online due to Covid. It has been a lot of work and quite stressful since Jaiden is already involved in so many things. (But it was worth it!) There were about six workshops where the girls were taught about the program and also about life skills. They also taught the girls the fitness routine and shared interview tips. The workshops were on the same night Jaiden has dance and so she had to miss a couple of the workshops (or watch the recording of the workshop later on). The contestants committed to collect at least $300.00 from sponsors. This was a bit out of her comfort zone, but she ended up with about $450.00 in sponsorships.

The girls were judged in five areas: Scholastic, Talent, Fitness, Self-Expression, and Interview. There was a lot of information to navigate for this program and several deadlines. For Scholastic she was required to turn in a transcript, ACT scores, and academic record signed by her school counselor. For the talent category the contestants chose and created a talent and then turned in a video submission of their talent, limited to 90 seconds. For the fitness category the contestants learned a specific fitness routine that incorporated coordination, strength, and stamina and submitted a video submission of the routine. Self-Expression included a 20-30 second response to a question on the day of the showcase and the Interview included a ten-minute interview in front of several judges. The self-expression and interview were both done on Zoom.

Jaiden had two mock interviews – one with Heidi Wakefield, the DYW Director, and another with a couple of past DYW winners. Rick and I also tried to ask her possible interview questions over the past couple of weeks whenever we got the chance (which was difficult with her busy schedule). 

Today was the day when the interview and self-expression would be performed! She got a list of eight self-expression questions last night (one for each competing girl) with an explanation that they would be drawing each question out of a bowl. Jaiden performed in her school straight play last night (and all last week). Then she went to Denny’s with the cast to celebrate. So, she did not get home until midnight. She started preparing for the self-expression questions as soon as she woke up until the time of her afternoon interview. She was very nervous, but said that they both went pretty well!  

There were eight girls competing from the various high schools in the area and tonight they announced the winners. Jaiden was one of the winners of all five categories – AND was the overall winner! She is the new Distinguished Young Women for Southern Utah! She will also go on and compete in the State competition in October! We are so excited for her! Congratulations, Jaiden!! (She won $1150.00 in scholarship money). Here is her talent video!   

      

Here is the link: https://youtu.be/D2Veoit_Wdw

Here is Jaiden in her interview and talent dress: 

Here are a few pictures from the photoshoot that Alicia did when she was down for Easter Break. She also videotaped Jaiden's talent for us. Thanks, Alicia! 

 https://www.facebook.com/AliciaWestraPhotography/

Program Results: 

Scholastics:

$175- Ruby Ludlow

$175- Elthura Campbell

$175- Jaiden Jensen

 

Interview:

$150- Ellie Zierse

$150- Ruby Ludlow

$150-Jaiden Jensen

 

Fitness:

$100- Kaliya Roberts

$100- Ruby Ludlow

$100- Jaiden Jensen

 

Talent:

$125- Libby Pike

$125- Ruby Ludlow

$125- Jaiden Jensen

 

Self Expression:

$100- Charity Barnes

$100- Ruby Ludlow 

$100- Jaiden Jensen

 

BYBS Award:

$100- Emily Williams

$100- Elthura Campbell

$100- Kaliya Roberts

 

($500) Distinguished Young Woman of St. George- Ruby Ludlow 

($500) Distinguished Young Woman of Southern Utah- Jaiden Jensen

Senior Ball Promposals!!

Josh Larkin asked Jaiden to Senior Ball with this cute poster featuring her favorite show: Phineas and Ferb. It says "Ferb, I know what we are going to do today!" Then Ferb is crossed out and "Josh" is written in little letters. "Today" is crossed out with "May 1, 2021" written underneath it and then it says "Senior Ball with me? Josh"

Jaiden was happy! She answered him with the theme song from Phineas and Ferb but added "On May 1st I could be... (and then the theme song from Phineas and Ferb) and then wrote, "But I'd rather go to Senior Ball with you! YES!" 

Now for Janelle....a couple of weeks ago (April 16th) Janelle got nominated to be on the Senior Ball royalty! She was walking to class when a member of the Senior Council hit her (gently) in the face with whipping cream with the announcement, "You are on Senior Ball Royalty!!" I don't know why they do the announcements with silly things like that, but they do! They let her go home for a bit to try and wash it out. Anyway, she was thrilled!! The only hiccup was she didn't have a date! However, that problem resolved itself when she was asked a week or so later.

In fact she almost got asked two more times! She accidentally overheard (from a reliable source) that a certain person was going to ask her. So she was expecting it. But when she was asked it was from someone else! She was fine with that though since he is a friend of hers (Carsyn Richins) and she was excited! Then the next day Jaiden received a text from another friend saying that her cousin was planning to ask Janelle. But Jaiden told her that Janelle had already been asked! She Janelle felt pretty good knowing that a couple different guys wanted to ask her! 

                                                            Janelle answered with...

 

Happy Birthday Josh!!

Josh turned 15 on Friday, April 16!! His big present was a cell phone. He is excited to finally get one! We decided years ago, with our first child, that we would wait until our kids were at least 15 before they received a phone. That decision has been harder to stand by through the years as most parents start giving their kids phones at earlier and earlier ages through the years. But we have felt it was important to wait since most kids are not ready to handle the responsibility of a phone at an early age and there are so many downfalls to them having one. So Josh is the last one out of all of his friends to get a phone. The nice thing is that now he can finally join the GroupMe for the soccer team and be in the loop as to what is going on. I also like it because I can get a hold of him instead of having to text all of his friends like I did in the past. 

Josh opened his gifts this morning -- his phone and a few treats. He was adamant about getting an iPhone like Jared (the rest of us have androids) and so we bought Jared's iPhone 11 from him for Josh (in order to keep the price within our birthday budget) and Jared got a new phone. Josh had a soccer game on his birthday in Hurricane. But unfortunately he has an injury from a previous game and was only allowed to play about ten minutes for fear of making it worse. So that was a bummer. They tied the game and the varsity team barely won. After the game I made some cookies and Josh's friends came over to watch a movie. 

Josh took Saturday off from refereeing in order to spend time with his friends for his birthday. He mowed the lawn in the morning and then Jaiden took him out to lunch at Wendy's. In the afternoon his friends came over and then walked to the park to play pickleball. Lilly gave Josh some Lorax socks, which he  was really excited about, and also a bracelet that she made. Some of Josh's other friends gave him some little gifts. After pickleball the kids came here and played the flour/penny game while I went and picked up some pizza at Little Caesar's. Then they played Jackbox and other games in the basement. Sunday we made brownies and sang, "Happy Birthday" to Josh.  

Josh is a great kid. He is very smart, keeps up on his homework without being asked, and is a 4.0 student. He is a great soccer player and also loves to play games with the family. He loves hanging out with friends and enjoys pickleball -- and of course soccer! He is good at wood working and is the one who often ends up fixing things around the house. He has a great singing voice but just rolls his eyes when we suggest that he should try out for a play or Madrigals. We love when he tells us funny stories about things that happen at school or soccer. We are grateful to have Josh in our family!! 

Friends in photo: Lilly Wittwer, Ashley Harris, Alexa Harrell, Jocelyn Hinton, Max Torrez, Daniel Packard, Ethan Scott, Josh Jensen 

 

Parosmia

Josh is currently dealing with an aftereffect of Covid-19 called Parosmia. We have done some research on it and my mom sent a bunch more articles and YouTube videos on it this morning.

Parosmia is a disorder in which the odors of certain things -- or, in some cases, everything -- are distorted. This happens when smell receptor cells in your nose, called olfactory sensory neurons, don't detect odors and translate them to your brain the way they should. (webmd.com)

Josh tested Positive for Covid (along with the rest of the family) in the beginning of November 2020. So it has been about six months. Josh lost his taste and smell completely (anosmia) but could still eat fairly normally. A couple of months later it seemed like he was starting to taste and smell again -- but everything was "off." We thought this was a good sign that his taste and smell were starting to return. But we quickly came to realize that it was far from "normal." What smelled and tasted delicious to the rest of us smelled horrible to him. He could no longer eat his favorite foods, such as pizza and chili. He said that they tasted like rotten meat. After researching this condition we learned that it had a name -- Parosnia. Josh said that this was way worse than having no smell and taste at all because with that he could eat whatever he wanted -- even if it didn't bring particular enjoyment. But now he struggles to eat because it tastes so awful to him. He has lost about ten pounds -- and he does not have any weight to lose! 

We pray for him everyday and he has received a priesthood blessing. We have faith that it will eventually go back to normal. In the meantime he comes home from school everyday (or team night or anywhere else food is served) and tells us whether or not he was able to eat the meal. Last night I got Little Caesar's pizza for his birthday party and Josh ate an apple and a bowl of mini-wheats cereal instead. When I mention what we are having for dinner throughout the week he says, "Well, what am I supposed to eat?" And I can't really answer because I don't really know what will taste okay for him that day. I have considered doing the smell training. We will probably look into getting some essential oil and doing that -- if he is ever home long enough to be consistent! 

https://www.webmd.com/brain/what-is-parosmia

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1kDzqpDlY0           (more technical)

https://www.bbc.com/news/stories-55824567

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dap9ItH_ZDU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvBEck0v42c

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oY36kj8oVV4

Grizzly Hockey Game

Janika and Brandon went to the Grizzly Hockey Game with the free tickets that USU gave them and they happened to run into Josh Lee! Small world! (Josh Lee is Deaf and served a service mission here in St. George. He came to our home for dinner/FHE every Monday night for most of his mission!)  

Michelle Robinson: A Dear Friend

We received news today that our dear friend, Michelle Robinson, passed away. Rick put together a little slideshow that he posted on Facebook. You can view that HERE or on the link below. 

Rick served as a performing missionary for a good part of his mission. He and his companion were asked to put on numerous firesides and they traveled to different areas speaking and singing. Michelle Robinson was a ward mission leader and also served as their accompanist. She was gifted on the piano and loved to accompany them during their missionary firesides. She and Rick became great friends through serving together.

I often heard stories about Michelle when Rick and I were dating. I remember when she called him at his apartment one time while I was there. Rick took the call in the other room to tell her all about me. Boy were my ears burning! Through the years Michelle would often call Rick -- or me -- and have long conversations. She would tell me about everything going on in her life and she would also share funny stories about Rick from his mission. 

We were able to meet up with Rob and Michelle when Rick was assigned to teach EFY at Rohnert Park in California. Michelle also came to visit us in Utah and was there when I was pregnant with Jenna and we made the announcement to our children that we had one more baby on the way!

Michelle often sent us letters and pictures and I always tried to keep her updated on what all of our kids were doing through the years. Michelle was loud and had no problem speaking her mind. She kept us laughing! Michelle was an amazing lady and she will be missed! We love you, Michelle! 

Jaiden Junior Prom

Jaiden went to Junior Prom with Adam Dunn. They went to Vernon Worthen park and played frisbee and other games and had a picnic of Chick-Fil-A. Then they went roller skating at the RINQ. Then after getting ready they took pictures at Snow Canyon State Park and then ate dinner (pasta factory) in Carson's decorated backyard. Then they went to the dance. Since Jaiden is the Junior Activities and Assemblies Representative on the Student Council she had to help plan the dance and stay and clean up. The other girls and their dates helped too. Then they went to Adam's house for ice-cream and cookies and played Tellestrations. Jaiden had a great time! 

Easter 2021

 April 2: We were looking forward to the Westras coming for Easter weekend and so we were nervous when Jenna started throwing up Thursday night! She seemed to be doing better by Friday afternoon and Westras still decided to come. Friday night I had an interpreting job and Josh had a soccer game. We didn't go to this one since it was thirty minutes away and we had other commitments. We had enjoyed going to all of his home games though! The Westras arrived later -- around 9:00. Both Jaiden and Janelle were at work. We visited and got the beds set up for the kids. 

April 3: This morning we watched General Conference and Josh refereed some games in St. George. I had received a text from Suzy's Closet in Hurricane saying that they were having a big clearance sale. Suzy's Closet in the little shop that sells prom dresses out of their home. We decided it would be fun to check it out. So me and Alicia and Adria, Rella, and Jaiden drove out and tried on dozens of dresses. Jaiden ended up buying one for only $15.00! 

We finished watching conference and the kids had a "taste test" with a variety of Easter candy that Alicia had brought. Then we ate a yummy dinner of grilled hamburgers and side dishes and then those who were available watched the Priesthood Session.  

April 4: This morning we did Easter baskets and had our traditional Conference Crepes (cooked by Rick)! Jase and Ellen and Jared came for the Crepes. 

When the kids lined up I said, "Wow, can you imagine having that many kids?" Shane said, "You DO have that many kids!" "Oh, ya, I guess I do, ha ha!" Rella found this rubber shark head and made the shark center-piece with goldfish crackers on the "ocean."

In the church news there was a photo of this family all dressed in their Sunday clothes attentively watching conference. The caption said, "Send us pictures of your family watching conference." I thought, "I don't think they would want our pictures!" (No church clothes -- Jared sleeping, Jase and Ellen cuddling, the kids in their make-shift beds...) The kids played a couple rounds of croquet in between sessions. 

The kids also dyed eggs at our house today. We were going to do our annual egg bash, but had a photoshoot planned instead and so we ran out of time! The next day Jenna and Rella were invited to dye eggs with some friends the old fashioned Swiss way -- with roots, flowers, leaves, onion skin, beets, etc. This is a big tradition here in Santa Clara!  

After conference we had a lovely Easter dinner of ham, cheesy potatoes, asparagus, corn, salad, Brazilian cheese rolls (thank you Alicia!), and regular rolls. Then we had strawberry shortcake for dessert! Alicia had made a regular cake and also gluten free cake! Yum! 

Sunday evening Alicia did a photoshoot of Jaiden and Janelle. We wanted to get a few more headshots of Jaiden and some more Senior shots of Janelle -- including some in her cap and gown. Photos to come! Adria came and watched and so I took a few of her and Jaiden while we were waiting...

After we got back we had an Easter Egg hunt! Jaiden and Adria hid the eggs for the rest of the kids. 

After the hunt we gathered everyone together and went around the room and let everyone share one of their favorite talks from General Conference. We had a nice discussion! 

April 5: This morning Jaiden and Adria went on a double date. They went hiking up Snow Canyon and took a bunch of pictures and then they came back here and attempted to paint one of their pictures!  It was beautiful weather! I don't have Alicia and Lane's photos from their photoshoot, but I asked Jaiden to send me the ones on her phone of her and Josh (Larkin). 

                                            This must be the picture they tried to paint...

I thought we made it through the weekend without anyone else getting sick, but unfortunately Janelle started throwing up this morning! Ugh!! She called in sick and pretty much kept sequestered to her room all day! 

Rick, Alicia, and I took Jaiden to the new Contact Climbing Gym in order to borrow their Yoga studio to record Jaiden's talent number for the Distinguished Young Women Scholarship Competition. It took about an hour and about ten takes, but we finally got a few good takes to choose from and her talent number turned out really well. I would send it to the family, but I think we are supposed to wait until after the actual showcase before having people watch it. 

Jaiden had dance tonight and the Westras went for a little hike. Tonight we watched the movie, "While You Were Sleeping." 

April 6: The kids all headed back to school (except Janelle -- she only went for her last period since she was feeling better by then) and the Westras packed up and headed back home. It was a wonderful Easter break -- I am glad that we had family to share it with!!