Gan en/Gratitude

Janelle and Bryton gave Rick and I a really special gift. It was a poem that Janelle wrote, with Calligraphy done by Bryton. The Chinese characters (gan en) mean "gratitude!" Love it! 

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Tuesday 26: Janika and Brandon came from Pleasant Grove, arriving around 1:00. I didn’t realize that they were coming so early and told them that no one would be home since Rick and I both had interpreting jobs. They said it was fine; they planned to put the boys to bed as soon as they got there. I got home around 3:00 and then played race tracks with Everett. He loved it! He is so dang cute! Janika had said that Everett had seen the Marco Polo of me and Evan putting marbles and cards down our long orange race tracks and told him mom that he wanted to play race tracks with Grandma too.

We have a really old set, that we have had for many years, and most of the connectors are lost. I pretty much had to tape everything together with duct tape when I did it with Evan, and so I decided to order a couple of new sets for the boys. So, me and Everett put them together and build a long track. He had fun and was being silly and kept laughing and laughing.

Janika had offered to make dinner so that I could keep playing with Everett. So, we had a nice spaghetti dinner later that night. Janelle and Bryton arrived later that night and so it was good to see them too.

Wednesday 27: Today we did a bunch of cooking for Thanksgiving. Jenna made the pretzel jello and four step pudding. We also made gluten free stuffing. I had a hair appointment this afternoon and Rick worked with Janelle on the Daddy-Daughter dance for the wedding. Jared and Hallie also arrived today. I stayed up until midnight finishing up the yams so that I wouldn't have to worry about it the next day!   

Thursday 28: We had a really nice Thanksgiving! I started a little earlier this year, so that the turkey would be finished by noon or so. Jared and Hallie went running in the morning. Janelle and Janika went outside to peel the potatoes in the sunshine. We ate around 1:00. Everything was delicious! We went around the table so that everyone could say something they were grateful for and we gave a toast to each one! 

We enjoyed our meal and then Jared and Hallie started washing all of the dishes. Then they went outside to play croquet. Josh was able to call and so we talked to him for a while. They didn't do anything for Thanksgiving, which was too bad. Jaiden tried to hop on the call too, but was on her way to Zone Conference and didn't have a good enough internet connection. We all played JackBox and some of us took naps. 

Rick worked with Janelle on her dance for the Daddy-Daughter dance and it looks so cute (a little cheesy, but also precious!) I was in the kitchen and Christmas music was wafting through the air. I looked out the window to see Janika spinning a smiling Callan around. Behind them Rick and Janelle were dancing. I suddenly felt overcome with gratitude and became emotional as I just soaked it all in! It was just like something from a movie, ha ha! We truly have been blessed! 

Janelle and Bryton left around 5:00 to go spend the rest of the evening with Bryton's family where they were having another Thanksgiving meal. They had fun over there also, playing games and being together. The rest of us ate pie and four step pudding and watched "Family Man," which is one of my favorite movies. I was working on writing out the chalkboard labels for the ice cream and hot chocolate toppings for the wedding while watching it, so I was only halfway paying attention, but I have seen it several times. Then everyone headed to bed so that we would be ready for the reception the next day!! Janelle was pretty late getting home, so I waited for her to come home before heading to bed too. 

These two brothers look so much alike! Here they are two years apart, wearing the same little shirt. So cute! 

The cute newlyweds in their adorable matching pajamas! 

Gratitude for Marriage

I thought I would save Rick's post since I thought it was sweet! Click HERE for the full post with pictures and comments!  (For his gratitude posts so far he talked about his mission, Hands Up, Sunburst Singers, friends who helped him graduate from USU and now marriage). 

Another progressive step I felt I needed to take in my life I knew was marriage. At this time it had been on my mind for at least 4 years. I had friends and missionary companions getting married all of the time - but I wasn’t. 😟 I was extremely nervous for marriage, and by the time I had reached this point in my life, I was actually wondering if I even wanted to do it. I had dated a number of phenomenal young ladies who would make wonderful marriage partners…… but I just didn’t feel “eternity” with those relationships. It wasn’t until I met Wendy Westra that my thoughts began to change. We became fast friends, and then our relationship developed into even more. I knew within the first 3 months of our dating that this was someone that I could get serious with. It was the first girl who I had dated that I decided I wanted to exclusively date (which was a huge deal for me!). Over the next year, our relationship took the time needed to flourish and they are years I cherish!

From then until now, we have been married 26 years. I have always loved kissing my wife, holding hands with my wife, signing with my wife, and being with my wife. She is a joy to me. Have we had our ups and downs? YOU BETTER BELIEVE IT! Do we agree on everything? ABSOLUTLEY NOT! The important thing is that we WANT to be together (we’ve had this discussion a lot). Our marriage is not just about being stuck with each other. We desire to be with each other – and it’s awesome! I’m grateful for the institution of eternal marriage. I’m particularly grateful for the partner that I chose as my eternal partner and that she chose me. I hope as the years go by, as family gets bigger and more complex, and as life becomes a little less chaotic through our “golden years,” we continue to choose each other. I sure love this lady! #givethanks

Melted Garbage Cans and Near Misses!!

This is what happened when Rick tried to burn the edges of Jaiden's birthday poem to give it that cool, antique look. It wasn't successful and he ended up throwing the failed attempt into the garbage. A while later I heard this thumping noise and said, "What is that sound?" Then I looked out the window to see smoke going by and wondered if there was a wind storm or something. Then suddenly I put it all together and exclaimed, "Did you start a fire??!!" Rick and I both ran outside to see our garbage can melted halfway to the ground and our neighbors shooting water at it from their hose in their backyard. The thumping noise was the water hitting our house. Thank goodness they were outside barbecuing and saw the fire! The garbage can is right next to our house and the fire could easily have spread to the house and gotten out of control! Pretty scary!! We feel grateful that it wasn't worse!!

Gratitude Mirror

I went upstairs to help Jenna with her school work and happened to notice this message on the bathroom mirror -- so cool! We sure do have amazing kids!

If you can't read it it says:

Gratitude List: Please add when you feel grateful :)

*I'm grateful for more family party time!
*I'm grateful for croquet! And basketball, and Balderdash!
*I'm grateful for nice weather
*I'm grateful for the Book of Mormon

A day or so later there were tons more!! 

Father's Day Party!!

The party was so much fun!  The kids all had a great time playing with their cousins.  They jumped on the tramp, played in the sandbox, threw water balloons, played games, jump rope, frisbee, and so on!  Scott had purchased a cotton candy machine which was a big hit -- although it turned all of the kids' lips and tongues blue for the family picture!

We had a great time visiting with each other and it was so great that Dad was there. We had thought he would be alone in a hospital room (after his recent heart attack/cardiac arrest) for Father's Day while we were all partying without him -- the guest of honor!  We were so grateful that it worked out for him to come!

Cardiac Arrest and Father's Day Flee (Add pictures)

(Letter from Jase to Janika) 

Dear Sister Jensen,

                I haven’t written you in a while because I have been at math camp and I just got home on the 27^th. In case you want to know, math camp was extremely boring. It was pretty fun at first but soon it ended up being just like school except there was only a couple of classes. By the last day, day 12, I was so ready to leave and be free. Well I am so glad it’s over now and I did learn lots of new things while I was there. Also I guess mom and dad told you about grandpa’s heart attack.  This is what I typed up that night in my Journal.

Well, today has been a really scary day for me. Everything started out normal. I've been staying at grandma and grandpa Westras for a few weeks to attend a math camp for college credit at University of Utah. Well I woke up, got ready, and headed on the bus to go over. When I got back I played a little bit of video games and then ate some dinner. After that, Grandpa and I went to play Tennis. A couple days ago I actually beat him and won a hundred dollars but I still like to keep playing with him. 

Well everything was normal. He won the first game and the second and I won the third. Then he won the fourth and I won the fifth. I think we were halfway through the sixth game when grandpa just collapsed on the ground. He fell sort of slowly almost like he was lying down to take a nap. At first I just stood there scared out of my mind wondering what just happened then I ran over to him and flipped him over with his head tilted up. He was hardly breathing. A gasp every 30 seconds maybe and his heart was beating really fast. I didn't know what to do so I kept trying to talk to him to see if he would respond but his face started turning purplish.

 I wasn’t sure if I should start CPR because I’ve always heard it’s dangerous to do it if a person’s heart is still beating. So I just sort of waited and tried to give him a few breaths of mouth to mouth. When I checked his pulse again his heart had stopped but luckily a lady next door was running by and so she called her husband and then 911. Her husband was a doctor and he got there right about when his heart stopped. He began CPR which the doctors later said probably saved his life. He broke a few ribs in the process so he must have been doing a really good job. About 2 minutes later the doctors arrived and that’s when I went to get grandma. When we got back the doctors had him hooked up to some pretty great equipment that pumped the heart and gave breaths for them. They then loaded him into the car and took him to the hospital with grandma following. She told me to stay and watch the house and call all of the kids and let them know so that they could meet her there. Well now I’m just writing this and waiting to hear the news and just waiting for Corin to get back from efy so yeah. Pretty strange day.

                So that’s about it. Grandma said sometimes this is how the lord prepares us for the future and that’s when it hit me. It totally says that I will perform miracles of healing in my patriarchal blessing and I bet this is one experience that will lead up to the future. By the way Grandpa is doing fine. At first he couldn’t remember like anything but now he’s got it all back. Also I asked the nurse and I guess you can start CPR even if the heart is still beating as long as you know it’s a heart attack so that’s good to know. So that’s how my stay at grandmas was. Thanks for your letter as well. I did think about the atonement in this situation from my perspective as well as from grandpas and I am so grateful that I always will have something to rely on in all of my struggles. 

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Sat. 27 (Note to Janika from Janelle)  Janika, (Sister Jensen)

Love you too! we were out of town for a while because of father's day flee. Did you hear that Grandpa had a heart attack? He is okay now, but his ribs hurt because he broke them during CPR. Father's day flee was so fun! each of us had to be paired up and assigned to one of the parents so we could teach them like they were investigators and we were parents. Guess what! Dad invited missionaries to come be investigators too! me and Jase had to teach them. 

We got to visit the homestead crater, which was so cool. We didn’t swim in it, but we got to touch it and it was actually warm. Grandpa got back from the hospital on father's day, how funny is that? We got to spend Friday with Gerilyn. First we went to Del Taco and ate lunch, and then we went to a splash pad. It was a really good splash pad and park, but it was so hot that it was super crowded. 

Then we went to Wheeler Farm, and got to go on a wagon ride and see animals. There were huge pigs, horses and baby horses, cows, sheep, roosters, ducks, (they were huge) and goats. It was so cool to see the ponds and animals! Most of the ducks weren’t even in the pond… they were just in the middle a yard! They didn’t even leave it even with the huge opening! We got to take pictures with them. It was so hot that we had to bring a spray-bottle for our faces every once in a while. But overall, it was so fun!

We got home today from Salt Lake. Right when we left this morning though, we realized that the air conditioning was broken and only blew hot air so we were baking for five hours! It was terrible. I miss you so much and love you!

      -Janelle

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Well, this was a week with a lot of emotions!  My Dad's heart attack/cardiac arrest was so scary for all of us!  It must have been pretty traumatizing for Jase, but he handled it really well.  He turned him over and checked his pulse and gave one or two breaths before the neighbor doctor took over.  I worried that the tennis might have caused the heart attack but the doctors said that it would have happened anywhere -- even if he was just sitting on the couch.

My mom said she was grateful it happened out in the open with lots of people around so he could get help right away.  She said if it had happened at home she probably would have thought it was just low blood sugar and might have just waited for him to wake up or called a neighbor and it might have been too late. The neighbor did CPR and saved his life and the ambulance responded quickly.  They had to do the defibrillators at the scene.

Wednesday I was so worried and stressed because of my dad and also because we were leaving the next day for Father's Day Flee and then EFY which requires so much planning and packing and I felt so unprepared.  Thursday we left in the morning and dropped the kids off at Grandma's and then met Grandma at the hospital to see Grandpa.  It was disconcerting to see him confused and not remembering things.

We went grocery shopping for Father's Day Flee and then headed up to Heber Canyon.  The cabins were nicer than I expected.  They were little but Dad and I had a king bed and the kids had bunk beds. They sleep four and so we had two and Shane and Alicia's family had one.

FDF was fun.  We were able to relax and enjoy each other without stressing too much over Grandpa since he was doing better each day. Dad did a great job on his lessons.  We went hiking and the kids had a blast playing together with the water guns dad brought and at the little rec center playing pool, foosball, and ping pong. Rick had invited the missionaries to come up for dinner and to be the investigators. It was really fun.  Jenna and Rella were my teachers and I was the investigator and they were so funny! 

I asked what they believe and Jenna quoted the fourth article of faith.  I asked what remission of sins meant Rella explained that you could be forgiven of things you had done wrong.  I said I would love to be forgiven of the things I had done wrong, and Jenna nodded knowingly and proclaimed, "Yeah, like yelling at your kids!"  Ha Ha Ha! 

Saturday we stopped at the homestead to see the crater there and had the girls' song and testimony meeting at Grandma's house.  It was really neat and the spirit was there. Rick took all of the kids swimming while Shane and Alicia and I went to visit Grandpa.  He was doing a lot better, but still confused about a lot of things.  

Rick and I went to the open house for Janika's new mission president and his wife -- the Gardners!  It was so impressive.  We said her name and he said, "She is with Sister Riggs, right?"  He said, "Now Janika Jensen, she was the Seminary President of Tuacahn."   I was impressed that he could remember all of that!  I wish we had taken a picture with them.

So the miracle for today was that the doctor called this morning and said that my dad could come home today!!  We were so excited that he could come home on Father's Day and be there for the party tonight!  He seems SO MUCH better now that he is home and back to a familiar environment.  I know he still can't remember things from this past week, and still has a lot of healing to do, but today he seemed just like the Dad/Grandpa we all know and love!  You couldn't even tell that he had just had a heart attack or broken ribs or memory loss.  He was just regular old Grandpa and I loved it!  I am feeling so happy and grateful!! 

Just a few days ago we didn't even know if he would live.  We have seen so many tender mercies this week!  The party tonight was awesome!  Dad couldn't come because he had to come do the EFY Counselor fireside.  Now we are at BYU for EFY for the rest of the week.  I don't feel ready at all, but if Rick is then that is what is important.  I am excited that Jared is doing his juggling act.

Alicia is taking the three youngest and Janelle is staying to help grandma and grandpa and Jase has another week of Math Camp.  I think he will be glad to finish it up.  Well it is almost 11:30 and we have to get up early, and Rick and Jared are complaining that the computer light is keeping them awake and so I have to go.

Father's Day

We had a Father's Day miracle today.  We were all at my mom's getting ready for church when the hospital called and said that my dad could come home today! The doctor said that he thought Dad would be less agitated and be able to heal more quickly at home. This was wonderful news for all of us!

Rick and Jase brought my mom to the hospital Sunday morning and administered the sacrament for Mom and Dad. Rick and Jase left Mom with Dad at the hospital and met the rest of us at church. My mom hated to miss church today since they were getting a new Bishopric and she was anxious to see who it was.  We wrote down the names so that we could let her know.  Rick left right after Sacrament meeting to go pick up my mom and dad and bring them home.

The kids and I attended all three meetings and then went to my mom and dad's.  It was good to see Dad up and around! We were excited that he would be able to come to our annual Father's Day BBQ tonight! Rick had his EFY counselor fireside tonight and so he had to leave in the afternoon and miss the party.  I took some pictures of the kids (except for Jaiden because she went home with Adria and Rella yesterday for a sleep over).  I took all of the kids and my mom and dad in our van to the party.

Jared -- he is such a goof ball!

New rock trail and trellis in my parent's yard.  Pretty! 

Father's Day

I sent our dads a card and the new photos we got taken of each of the kids for Father's Day. We weren't able to attend the celebrations up North but we had our own family party here and it was a lot of fun.

I thought it was really sweet that Janika got up early and made Rick breakfast in bed -- especially since she had been out late last night for the Stake Dance. Rick cancelled his morning meetings and so we actually got him home for once!  Our kids all decorated posterboard ties for their Dads during Primary and so Rick got to wear four of them during Sacrament meeting.  Our kids sang, "I'm So Glad When Daddy Comes Home," as a musical number.

We stayed after church so that Janika and Jase could renew their temple recommends before Youth Conference. Then we all pitched in to make a delicious Father's Day meal of barbecued Salmon and Steak, rice, corn on the cob, salad, and vegies.  Everything tasted so delicious. After naps Rick taught a family home evening lesson on "Fathers" from our past.  He showed pictures from our Jensen history book and told stories about his Grandpa Jensen.  The kids were very inquisitive and had a lot to share.

Following in his family tradition, we all had rootbeer floats for dessert.  Rick and the kids took advantage of the beautiful and unseasonably cool June weather to play outside on the tramp. We also watched a Hallmark Father's Day movie. I should have taken some pictures of Rick with all of the kids.  I have been working busily on my blog book from January to June of this year and so I have slacked off on blogging and picture taking! But it was a lovely day and I feel so grateful for my own wonderful Dad and also to be married to such an incredible Dad to our children.  I feel very blessed indeed! 

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I borrowed Jen's post on the annual Father's Day Party and will include it here (even though we weren't there!) 

It was out to Scott and Amy's for the annual Westra Father's Day BBQ.  There was rain, which continued all through the day keeping us mostly indoors or under the canopy. That was perfect for paracord projects, and Gray had brought a handy portable paracord kit. The rain did stop enough for the kids to peek at the toads under the tramp. 

The paracord was a bit hit, and the cousins all ended up with new bracelets. 

Looks like we tired some of the guys out!

Then it was TOAD time ...

WHO let the toads out? 

According to this video, Callahan grabbed one of them ...

Some never before seen (before this blog post) footage of the family party!

Attitude of Gratitude

Last night I attended a very nice fireside with my husband. I don't get to do that very often but he directs the Institute Choir and they were performing at the Young Adult Fireside at the Institute. Elder Wheeler from the Seventy gave a touching message of the Atonement of the Savior. His talk was also sprinkled with personality and humor. The choir sounded very nice singing one of my favorite songs, "Fount of Every Blessing." We came home but I wasn't feeling too well and opted to go to bed a little early. I woke up this morning feeling a little grumpy, brought on by a killer sore throat and chest congestion. After finally having a reprieve from weeks of allergy symptoms, now I was sick? Grumble, grumble. Then I stumbled to the scale to find I had gained a pound since yesterday. How can that be? How hard can it be to lose a measly ten pounds? I did a quick mental review of yesterday's meals -- Protein, fruit shake for breakfast, bowl of home-made chicken soup after church....we splurged with steak for dinner but I only had a small 4 oz piece and some green beans. Okay, I had some of my favorite Breyers peanut butter cup ice cream for dessert but only a little bit in a bowl hardly bigger than a medicine cup -- certainly not enough to warrant a pound of weight gain. Grumble, grumble. I walked into the kitchen to find a sink filled with dirty dishes left over from yesterday (more grumbles) and several bowls with a thin layer of dried up chocolate ice-cream still left out on the counters. Sigh. Feeling sorry for myself I decided that I definitely needed to listen to President Monson's General Conference talk on Gratitude while I did my kick-boxing workout. Thankfully, it did the trick -- just like going back to oil lamps did for the family in his story. I am so abundantly blessed! That little bit of extra fat that I whine about exemplifies the fact that we have plenty to eat. Besides the necessities, we also have yummy treats -- like peanut butter cup ice-cream! We are blessed with a big, beautiful, warm (or in this season, cool) home and even though it often easily slips into disarray, it is because of the wonderful blessing of seven healthy rambunctious running about. We live in a beautiful area -- in a free country. We have the knowledge of the gospel and loads of friends and wonderful extended family support. We have electricity (and Internet connection)! We can see, hear, run, laugh, play, and pray. Sometimes I guess I just need to turn the lights out, and the oil lamp on, to remember just how bright my life really is. It is not always as easy as it should be, which is why I am also eternally grateful for repentance. I am grateful for the chance to be able to drop into a soft warm bed at night and equally grateful for a brand new day each morning. With each day comes another chance to spend time with the ones I love -- a new chance to smile and laugh. A new chance to have an "Attitude of Gratitude!"