Meeting Baby Callan

I finally got to go see our newest grandbaby -- Callan Vance! I had scheduled April 11th to come up to visit for a few days and then learned the night before that he would be coming home from the NICU that day! So it was perfect timing! He was born on March 24, so he had been in the NICU for almost three weeks. I got subs for all of my classes at the University on Thursday and Friday and headed up Thursday morning. After I arrived I stayed with Everett while Janika and Brandon went to the Timpanogos Hospital to bring Callan home! When they were close to getting discharged they called me so that I could bring Everett to the hospital to get him. He is SO tiny!! They brought Everett over to see the helicopter and then we all headed back to their home! 

More pictures...

Beware of water, snow, and wheelchairs: Jensen Weekly

Here are some of the happenings for this week in the Jensen household!! 

Ellen came down with her family for their Fall Break. They stayed at an Airbnb for the week. Jase came and joined them on Thursday night and we celebrated Eli's first birthday over the weekend with a barbeque and family and friends! Happy Birthday, Eli!!!

Jared had come down for his Fall Break last weekend, and is back to work and school this week. I didn't get any pictures from him this week, sorry! 

Janelle is loving teaching at the MTC and had her first district come and go! She came down with Logan for the weekend to attend her friend, Anika Boettcher's wedding. She and Logan went to the temple open house while they were here. 

Jaiden arrived in Mongolia!!! We are grateful that she and the other members of her district arrived safely!! We are excited for her P-Day so that she can catch us up on everything! The tidbit I did hear was that all of the missionaries had to go to the hospital to get x-rays and blood drawn to make sure they don't have TB or something!  

Josh is in the middle of Water Wars at the high school. Water Wars is not an official high school activity, but a student run event that lasts several weeks -- or until there is only one team left. The students choose others to be on their team and then they pay a combined amount of $20.00 for their team of around four people. It seems like practically the whole student body is involved. They all get wrist bands and have very specific rules to follow. They get members of opposing teams out by squirting them with a squirt bottle. 

Each team has to get someone from a different team "out" during the week or their whole team is out. Each person who gets another person out has to catch it on video so that they have proof. Inside the school or church is off limits, but inside someone's home is not. The winning team gets all of the money, and it is like $2000.00 or something! So it gets extremely competitive!! Josh carries around a squirt bottle wherever he goes and makes us lock the doors whenever he is home. I remember Jared being involved in this also, so apparently it has been going on for years! 

We are constantly getting emails saying that more volunteers are needed at the temple open house. It was Josh and Jenna's turn last Saturday.  The other available times for them were either during school or during evenings when Jenna had dance and Josh had work, and so we had grabbed the only Saturday shift for shoe-coverers that was assigned to our Stake. 

They had both signed up to be shoe-coverers, but then someone there assigned Josh to wipe down the wheels of visitors in wheelchairs, which apparently wasn't nearly as fun as putting shoe covers on people's feet. We were glad that they could serve, but sad that their service time ended up at the same time as Eli's birthday party. They would have loved to be there for the party, but they had signed up two months ago and we didn't feel right about backing out at the last minute. Jenna said it was fun and offered to come again. 

Josh came home completely grumpy and hangry. The shifts are almost four hours long and Josh was tired and starving. It was almost time for them to finish their shift and Josh was counting down the minutes when he was asked to push an older lady in a wheelchair through the entire tour -- tacking on an extra hour to his shift. He apparently accepted, but very begrudgingly! The others couldn't find him and had to wait the extra hour for him as well. Luckily we had extra hamburgers and hotdogs from the party waiting for the kids when they got home! 

Saturday night Josh went to his soccer Halloween party. He said it was fun but he was disappointed that he didn't win any big prizes. Josh got sick the next day -- he went to church, but soon after he was complaining of fever and chills, and was blowing his nose and sleeping all day. He said that it must have been from wiping down all those wheelchair wheels yesterday -- or the party outside in the freezing cold -- or a combination of both. Rick sang in church -- his arrangement of "Did You Think To Pray." It was so beautiful!!

Josh stayed home from school because of his illness. He also missed his last soccer game, which is okay with me because the weather suddenly turned cold tonight. We had our ward Halloween party and chili cook off. (Chili, dunk tank, cake walk, pumpkin painting...). Jenna dressed up as a devil for the party and her friend Clarissa dressed up as an angel. Josh managed to feel well enough by that time to at least go try a few bowls of chili. When I got home he and several of his friends were in the house saying that they couldn't leave or someone might "get them out" (water wars). They eventually left. 

I had tried a couple of bowls of chili at the Fall Carnival and then brought Jenna shopping for her Halloween party -- nothing like waiting until the last minute! We went to several stores looking for a red dress for her costume (Kiss, Marry, Kill) and having no luck I put a request out on our RS GroupMe chat asking if anyone had a dress she could borrow and soon had the perfect dress. 

I started to feel sick while we were shopping and realized that I was having an allergic reaction to something I ate at the party. My chest hurt and the skin around my eyes swelled up. This is the second time that has happened. It happened a couple of months ago the day before we left to bring Jaiden to the MTC after eating some soup at a work meeting and it took two full days for the swelling to completely go away. It has been the same this time. It is so frustrating -- and I don't even know what is causing it! (This one took three days for the swelling to completely subside!) I also feel like I am coming down with whatever Josh had and am praying that I don't get sick! Rick is going to Washington DC with Elder Peter Johnson this coming weekend for Seminary and Institute recruitment and so we are praying he stays healthy too. 

Happy Birthday, Eli!!

 Happy Birthday, Eli!!  Click here for Ellen's Facebook post of Eli's Birthday! 

Jase and Ellen had Eli's birthday party over at our house before her family headed back up north. Those who came were Ellen, Jase, Evan and Ellen's mom and dad, brothers, and sisters, Ky Phillips and Callista, Logan and Summer, and Lanae and Brecken, me and Rick. Josh and Jenna wanted to be there, but had already committed to serve at the temple open house two months ago and so I didn't feel right about having them back out at the last minute. Janelle and Logan were in town for her friend, Annika Boetcher's wedding in the Cedar City temple and already had lunch plans with one of Janelle's missionary companions afterwards. So they missed it too. 

Eli is such a happy baby and is almost constantly smiling his big mouthy grin. He is so fun to play with because he laughs so easily! He is such a cute, chubby baby. You would never know that he was a preemie! (Ellen's sister took a ton of pictures at his party and they turned out soooo cute!!) 

We love you, baby Eli! 

Blessing of Eli Dean Jensen!

Baby Eli was blessed today! Their ward was at 10:30 in Herriman. It was estimated to be 35 minutes away from where we were staying in Highland, but we left early to play it safe. It is a good thing we did because it was snowing and the roads were terrible. The drive was a big nerve wracking and I was worried for Gerilyn and Grandma Jensen who were coming clear from Ogden. They said that their drive was very scary, but thankfully everyone arrived safely without incident (although there was a scary close call with Jared, who was taking Jenna, Jaiden, Adria, and Rella). Josh was with us and we also had my mom and dad drive with us, since we were worried about my dad driving in the snow.

I offered many prayers on the way there and thankfully those prayers were answered! It was a very good sacrament meeting and I really enjoyed all of the talks. Jase gave a beautiful blessing and I was grateful that we could all be there for it. We all went to Jase and Ellen's basement apartment for brunch afterwards. Thankfully their apartment is quite big, because there was a lot of people who came! After the blessing we headed back to Shane and Alicia's and changed our clothes and headed home. The roads were bad part of the way, but not too terrible. The wiper fluid in my car stopped working and so that was frustrating and scary because I felt like we couldn't see well. I am so glad that I live in Southern Utah! I wish all of our family lived there too, ha ha! 

Family time!

We had a great time with family this weekend! Friday, around 2:00, we headed up north. Rick and I had Jenna and picked up Jaiden from SUU on our way, and Josh drove with Jared (a little later). We arrived at Shane and Alicia's and had a nice dinner with them and mom and dad (take-out Thai food). It was delicious! Then we just visited with family. Jared dropped off Josh later than night and then he stayed over with his good friend, Jayden Wyson, who is going to UVU. They spent the day together and then Jared went to an FSY reunion Saturday night and then met back up with us for Eli's baby blessing on Sunday.

Saturday I did an exercise swim with Mom and Alicia. The cousins hung out and Rick worked on the itinerary for our upcoming Church History tour. Janika and Brandon and Everett came over to visit and then Jase and Ellen and Evan and Everett came over later in the afternoon to visit also. So we were able to have all three grandbabies together. We had an enjoyable time visiting and playing with the babies. 

Then Rick and I went out to dinner with mom and dad and all of my siblings to the Olive Garden. Mom and Dad and Rick and I went early to try and reserve a big table. All of us were able to come, except for Scott and Amy, who had other commitments. And who did we happen to run into at the restaurant as we were waiting for our names to be called? Dave Wright and his wife! I haven't see Dave in many years, so it was fun to visit and catch up! Although it was difficult to hear because it was so noisy. Dave and I dated years ago when we both attended Snow College. 

Our family enjoyed a very nice meal and had a great visit and a lot of laughs. Since we were all going out tonight, Janika had arranged to make dinner (home-made pizza) for everyone else at Shane and Alicia's house. Adria and Rella both had a school dance, so they were gone, but Calder and Jenna and Jase and Ellen and the babies were there!

Janika and Brandon Cruise to Ensenada

Janika and Brandon went on a cruise to Ensenada in December while Everett stayed with Brandon's parents. They were there over her birthday, like last year. Janika wrote this in her history: 

We had the opportunity to go on a cruise with Brandon’s work in December. Everett stayed with Grammy and Bud. We were pretty nervous for our first time away from him (for more than one night) but it ended up going really well and he hardly even missed us! I can’t say the same haha. But we had fun, and it was a nice little getaway. 

Baby Eli, Two Weeks!

I finally got to see baby Eli! He is two weeks old today and as precious as can be!

 

Heading Home

Janika and Brandon arrived home from Hawaii very late Friday night and stayed over at Brandon's parent's house. Saturday morning they picked up Evan from Ellen's parent's house in order to babysit him for the day. Ellen was finally released from the hospital today since her contractions hadn't started up again. Tomorrow she will be 32 weeks and then she will be able to go to the Riverton hospital which is closer to their home when she goes into labor again. 

Josh and I played with Everett and Evan and then got ready to head back home. We picked up Jenna from the Westra's and drove the four hour drive home without incident -- although I was very tired! Rick would be arriving home from his cruise Sunday afternoon and I was looking forward to seeing him! 

Baby Everett

Janika and Brandon came to visit over Labor Day weekend. I didn't think to take any pictures of the visit, but then later on found all of these (and loads more) in my camera roll! The kids loved playing with baby Everett! And no wonder -- he is so dang cute!! 

Baby Everett is here!!

Everett Hayes Jenson: Born May 30, 2022 

Brandon sent us the following text Monday night: “Baby Everett came and hour or so ago. He gave us quite the scare when his heart rate dropped out of nowhere, low enough that about 6 nurses came into the room and then whisked Janika away. Once she got strapped to the c-section table his heart rate started to stabilize a little bit and we waited to see if he would continue to improve. Luckily, he did, and they never did figure out why that happened. They gave us the option to either go back to the room and wait it out and see if it happened again, and if it did, they'd rush into emergency c section again, or we can just go ahead and do a c-section now. We said a quick prayer and decided to just get a c-section right now, and all went well. Scariest hour or so ever though. Everett Hayes Jenson is 7.0 lbs even and 20 inches long, born at 6:17 PM.  Everyone kept commenting on how sometimes they get some not very cute babies but this one is so cute! We are so happy to have him here!!!!”

Brandon said later that the medical staff said that if they had decided to "wait it out," it might be another 12 hours of labor or more and that it is better to do a c-section while the baby is stable, rather than struggling). Since Janika had gestational diabetes, they were planning on inducing her a week early (her due date was this Friday), but then she tested positive for Covid. Then Brandon got it a few days later. So, they postponed her induction date a few days. Since Janika did such a great job of managing her blood sugars, I wondered if they would have her wait even longer until they were both over Covid for sure, but I am not sure what the protocol and reasons are for inducing early for pregnancies involving gestational diabetes. 

Having Covid complicated things. Because of that, there were no visitors allowed (besides Brandon) during her long night/day of labor and delivery, or in her recovery room. Janika and Brandon said that the medical staff were pretty chill in the labor room and they didn't have to wear masks in the room (I think they did when the medical staff was in the room), but in the delivery and recovery room they were very strict and the nurses and doctors had to wear full protective gear before coming in to the room and the baby was not even allowed to go to the nursery. So, Janika and Brandon had to start right off the bat taking care of him in their room in the hospital. It has been stressful, but so grateful that he is safely here!!! And he certainly is a cutie!!! 

Funny story -- Janika had a job interview scheduled for Thursday. She had asked if she could do it over zoom since she knew she would be giving birth a few days before. But she didn't know that she would have a c-section and still be in the hospital. She decided to go ahead and keep her appointment and do the interview over zoom from her hospital room. Thankfully she had a nice top she could wear, and chose a place that didn't show any hospital equipment. The interview was going along when she unknowingly lifted her hand up to her face. The interview stopped her and said, "Wait, do that again!" She was confused but lifted up her arm. He saw the hospital wristband and said, "Are you at the hospital?" She admitted that she was. He said, "You totally could have re-scheduled!" Well, two hours later he called her and offered her the job!" 

 

Evan's South Jordan Baby Shower!!

Friday afternoon I watched Jaiden and Janelle sing the National Anthem at the Constitution Day ceremony at the Santa Clara City Hall. After that Jenna and I headed up north! We had stopped at the library and picked up some books on CD and ended up listening to The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson) since I had never read it before. Jenna practically has it memorized and so she let me know if the CD ever skipped or messed up! We stopped at Costa Vida in Fillmore on the way and I ran into Craig Johnson -- a former boyfriend from my USU days! So that was fun to visit with him and his wife, Jackie, for a few minutes!  

I dropped Jenna off to stay at her cousin Rella's house and Ani was invited to sleepover too. So they had a fun time! I headed to my mom's and we stayed up and watched a movie called "Gattaca," which was an older movie, but really good! The next morning Mom and I did an exercise swim. Later that evening we headed to the shower in South Jordan. There was a really good turn out! From our side of the family we had me and Jenna, Grandma Westra, Alicia, Adria, and Rella Westra, Danielle and Ani Westra, Kim Westra, and Jen Blackham and Sol Blackham. Gerilyn and Grandma Jensen came down from Ogden. They had more family and friends from their side of the family.

It was fun to visit with everyone and show off baby Evan! Ellen received lots of nice gifts for him! Unfortunately, Evan came down with Covid six days later and we wonder if he picked it up from the shower with everyone holding him and passing him around. But no one was sick that we know of so I guess we will never know for sure if he picked it up there or somewhere else.

Jenna went back to the Westra's house and went to church with them on Sunday and I stayed at my mom and dad's house and went to church with them. I left later than expected and Alicia invited me and Jenna over for a delicious dinner before we headed back to St. George. It was a fun little get away! 

Baby Shower for Ellen (and Evan)!!

Normally at Baby Showers you see an expectant mom looking VERY pregnant -- not thin as a rail cradling a tiny newborn! So this was a little different than the norm, but we were grateful that Evan was able to attend his own shower and that the guests could oooh and aaah over him! I neglected to get pictures of the guests since I was busy visiting, but here are some pictures of everything else! I was grateful to my friend, Allison, for helping with the food. It was delicious! She made mini brownies, mini rice-krispie treats, and swedish cream with berries on top. Janelle made homemade salsa for the chips. We also had watermelon and grapes. Ellen requested blue raspberry lemonade and added a few rubber duckies to float around -- although they flipped upside and so that didn't work very well. It was a cute thought though! 

Ellen had baby pictures of Jase hung up on one side of the fireplace and baby pictures of her on the other side and several pictures of Evan around the house. Ellen received lots of nice gifts including a really nice car seat (group gift), gorgeous home-made quilt from Jase's boss at DFCU, diapers, clothes, shoes, moccasins, socks, and many baby accessories. Grandma Jensen had sent down another beautiful quilt that she had made, along with a darling book that highlighted other family members who were also named "Evan." Those gifts had been opened previous to the shower. Several friends and family members donated money to a group gift or to other things Evan might need. The "decorating onesies" booth was a lot of fun and she got loads of cute decorated onesies for Evan! The kids especially enjoyed decorating the onesies, but we had a few adults do it also! We ended up with about twenty decorated onesies! We didn't have a very big turn out, but I was grateful for those who could come and it looked like everyone enjoyed themselves!