Jack-O-Lanterns and Field of Screams

Since Jenna's birthday was this week she decided to have a get-together with friends. They all came over to our house to carve pumpkins. The jack-o-lanterns looked great! She also made a carameled apple bar with caramel and a variety of toppings. After carving pumpkins they all headed over to the Field of Screams for the haunted corn maze. Fun night! 

Happy Halloween!!

Halloween (which fell on Tuesday this year) was uneventful. We got ZERO trick-or-treaters come, ha ha! We never get many, but at we usually at least get a few! I wasn't feeling very well and just worked on the computer. Jenna went with friends to Cynthia Lane. Josh went and watched a movie with friends. Jenna and her friends: Bria Thompson and Claire McCoy dressed as Kiss, Marry, Kill (which I had never heard of, but is some kind of party game or something)! 

Cute announcement from Janika and Brandon! (Due in April!)

Look how cute these turned out!! (Evan and Eli photos taken by Ellen's sister Lexie!)

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 Halloween!!

Jenna and her friends had planned to dress up as bikers for Halloween. The leather jacket is her cousin, Rella's, the red shirt is mine, the black heels are Jaiden's, and she just happened to find the black leather pants at "Nifty Thrifty" when she checked out the nearby store with Josh last Saturday. $2.00 and they fit perfectly! Lucky find! Jenna wanted to dress up for school and at first her friends were not going to, but she convinced them! She even got some tattoos from her friend to complete the look. Unfortunately she had a dress rehearsal for her play after school. She is Sleeping Beauty in the play, which is why her biker costume includes "princess hair." They were taking pictures for the play and made her scrub off the tattoos. But instead of coming off, they just left her arms covered with black spots. So they had to arrange the pictures so that her arms didn't show, ha ha!  

Halloween Night was pretty anti-climatic for me this year. Josh and Jenna were off with groups of friends and Rick was out of town and so I was home alone to pass out candy to the few groups of kids who actually come to our house. I had gone to the high school to pick up Jenna from her play rehearsal thinking it would get out on time  since it was Halloween. But I didn't realize that they had their first performance -- a matinee -- the next morning. So they got out late. I waited almost 45 minutes for them and almost gave up and went home when they finally got out around 6:40. Jenna doesn't have a phone and all of the doors to the high school were locked and so I couldn't go see where they were at in the rehearsal. 

After the rehearsal she had me drop her and Bria (also in the play) off at Grace's house -- which is close to Cynthia Lane. Cynthia Lane is pretty much a neighborhood carnival attracting people from all over. So we navigated slowly there amidst the crowds of people, only to find out that the girls were at Blackrock Park. So I drove back to the park and then dropped her and Bria off. At least I got a few group pictures in the process! (Jenna could have also passed for Sandy from Grease in this get-up!) 

After dropping off the girls, I went home to enjoy my relaxing evening at home. I did miss the good ole' days of trick-or-treating with my kids though. Our neighborhood has people who give out donuts, hot chocolate, soup, treats, and so on. I always enjoyed going out every year and visiting with my neighbors. I guess I could have just gone for a walk by myself, but it just isn't the same without having trick-or-treaters along! Some of Jase and Ellen's friends stopped by our house with their little girl and so it was fun to visit with them for a bit and a few group of kids. Josh and Jenna had fun with their friends and so all in all it was a nice evening! 

Normally I can never get any pictures of Josh in Halloween costumes, but his work (Tuacahn) required them to wear costumes on Halloween week and had a theme for each night, but I was actually able to get a few pictures this year! Check out his 70's outfit in the collage below (my shirt, Jenna's pants, his chain!) Jaiden had sent a few pictures from her group that attended "The Scream" and Grandpa Rick headed up north today for work and so he got to hold baby Eli and join Evan for his first time trick-or-treating! Janika and Brandon attended a Halloween work party earlier this week. I haven't heard if Jared or Janelle did anything to celebrate the holiday. Baby Eli was born two days before Halloween and so he gets an appearance on the Halloween Collage this year too! 

Josh with his fellow employees at Tuacahn...

 

Neighborhood Chili Cook Off (Halloween Party)

Tonight was the annual Chili Cook-Off in the Bishop's Cul-de-sac -- lots of yummy food, dunk tank, painting pumpkins, games and more! Jenna got permission to leave her rehearsal for Into the Woods an hour early in order to go. She dressed like a princess in Janika's former prom dress and looked SO pretty! 

Janika wore this princess dress to her Senior Ball on April 14, 2012 and also when she won Santa Clara Princess April13, 2013! 

Clarissa also donned one of Janika's former dresses and looked very pretty also! Jaiden and Emily also went as princesses in 2019 and so I will include one of their pictures just for fun. Jenna is wearing high heels and so she is actually as tall as Clarissa in this picture! 

Halloween

Halloween was really different this year! The only one who went trick-or-treating was Jenna and she just went with friends. Jase and Ellen went with Janika and Brandon to Thriller at Tuacahn and Rick and I babysat Evan. I had arranged for our family to get family pictures taken the next morning and so I was busy trying to put together outfits to prepare for that. Jaiden and her friends went to Thriller on Friday night and then Saturday night she was working at Tuacahn. Janelle was also working at Papa Murphy's Pizza in her Emo get up. Josh went to a Halloween party at Lilly's house. It was different not to be out and about trick or treating and we only had about five people come to our house (as usual) for candy. Rick wasn't going to get any pumpkins to carve, saying that they were too expensive. But then he ended up getting a few, which the kids carved on Sunday night. 

Anna Ence, Clarissa Williams, Julie Freeman, Jenna Jensen

Neighborhood Halloween Party

Tonight me, Jenna, and Janelle went to the neighborhood (Ward) Halloween Party! Rick was in a meeting, Josh was at his soccer game, and Jaiden had dance and a Madrigal Party. They had the traditional Chili cook-off, dunk tank, decorating pumpkins, and so forth!

  (Pictured: Grace Freeman, Clarissa Williams, Jenna Jensen)

Pumpkin Carving

While half of the family was partying in Chicago on Janelle's birthday, Jaiden was partying at home. She and Lane carved pumpkins tonight (Jaiden attempted to carve a pumpkin that looked like Lane and Lane attempted to carve a pumpkin that looked like Jaiden, ha ha!) They also watched a horror movie called "Lights Out." Fun times! 

A few days later she and her friends celebrated at the Rinq for Keirra Campbell's birthday party! 

Halloween 2020

Halloween was really different this year. Jaiden and Janelle were both at work (and then went to Halloween parties after work), Jared and Josh were both at parties, and Jenna went trick-or-treating with friends with no moms trailing behind like past years. Rick and I found ourselves home alone, watching a cheesy movie and answering the door for our four trick-or-treaters (we never get many on our street). Part of me was really sad -- I really enjoy wandering through the neighborhood in the fresh cool night air stopping to visit with neighbors and friends along the way. The other part of me was relieved since I am still sick and didn't really want to expose the whole neighborhood. At least all of the kids had fun! 

Costumes this year:

Jase: NASA, Ellen: Extraterrestrial, Jared: Ryu from Smash Brothers, Janelle: Elf, Jaiden: Snow White, Josh: Soccer Player (actually he didn't dress up, but I didn't want to leave him out), Jenna and friends: 80's girls! (Janika and Brandon didn't dress up this year).

Apparently Jenna's whole school that she was Jo Jo Siwa. I had no idea who that was until Jenna showed me. She really does look like her, ha ha! 

Ryu and Jared 

Other pictures from the night...

Janelle and friends decorating pumpkins