Happy 16th Birthday to Jenna!!

Jenna turned 16 today!! Our baby is growing up! She didn't have Madrigals this week, and so she was able to sleep in a little longer! Her good friend, Clarissa, came to the house early and set up cute decorations on the door with a "Happy Birthday" sign and balloons and a poster of pictures of them through the years. It was SO cute!! Made me cry! There were also balloons on sticks lining the porch steps. The Young Women leaders also left a cute sign in the yard. 

Jenna has such thoughtful friends! Several of her friends gave her gifts, and she received loads of text messages from both family and friends wishing her a happy birthday. At school she was surprised by a few white roses and notes that were delivered to her in every class period!! After a bit she realized that the deliveries were from her dad. She said that all of the girls in her class asked her who gave her the flowers. When she saidm "My Dad!" They were all like, "Awww! That is SO sweet!" Some said, "My dad would never do something like that!" 

For lunch Jenna's "lunch bunch" all came over to our house for lunch. I had gone shopping last night and was up late getting all the food and baking one of the cakes. Jenna baked the other cake when she got home. She didn't get home until after 10:00 because she and her friends were out delivering their Sadies' posters. They decided to ask some boys from Hurricane and so they had to drive clear out there. For the lunch I made White Chicken Chili and it turned out really good! I had never made it before and so I was happy with how it turned out. However, it didn't make as much as I was expecting. I doubled the recipe and it still didn't look like enough to feel a crowd of 12 hungry teenagers! So at the last minute I cooked a cookie sheet of taquitos too. We also had the two cakes (one regular and one gluten free).

Usually I am working in the morning, but the teacher had cancelled class on this particular day, which worked out perfectly for me! But then one of our other interpreters cancelled for today and Rick was still feeling sick and so I had to scramble to get ready and hurry over to the University after the lunch and work for a few hours.

 After Jenna got home from school I brought her to the DMV to get her driver's license! She had taken and passed the test yesterday. She got a -13, which she wasn't happy about, but at least she passed, haha! We were in and out of the DMV in less than fifteen minutes, with license in hand! Then we headed to Nothing Bundt cakes since Jenna wanted one for her birthday. (They have two kinds which are gluten free, and they are amazing!)  I ordered a few of the Bundtlets, and she also got a free one for her birthday and so headed home with four of them!  

After we got home Ethan Allred came over to take her on a date. He had asked her what she wanted to do for her birthday and she said, "Go to Home Depot!" So random! They walked around Home Depot and then went out for ice cream and then picked up some painting supplies and canvases from his house and had a painting party! So all in all Jenna had a GREAT birthday and felt very loved!! 

General Conference!!

I love General Conference! We had conference crepes this morning! And Janika also made crepes and invited Jared and Janelle to come over to their place this morning. It was nice getting the temple tour over with so that I could actually focus on General Conference! Jase and Ellen and the boys left after the first session. I made a cake last night and we sang "Happy Birthday" to Jenna before they left. I couldn't find any candles, and so she blew out a random scented candle after we sang to her, ha ha! 

I especially loved the Sunday afternoon talks and was grateful that President Nelson still spoke! His talk was amazing! And then the very last temple announcement was Ulaanbaator, Mongolia! Dad and I just started cheering and I started crying! Immediately we got several texts from family members about it. I know that things take a while and so it probably won't happen during your mission, but it is still exciting! 

Some people moved in the house that is behind our back yard and so Jenna made some cookies and we went to meet them. It is the daughter of the builder and her husband and little 18 month old boy. They are renting it for a year while they build a house out near the Red Cliffs Temple. 

Jenna's Birthday Party

Tonight was Jenna's 14th birthday party! We went to the dollar store for balloons, which she decorated our stair railing with, and then had a couple of friends come and help her make the cakes. 

She told the girls to come in their PJ's. Every single one of them came except for Brinkley, who was out of town. Jenna got a nail gel set for her birthday with one of those UV lights and so the girls painted their nails while watching Mamma Mia (and singing at the top of their lungs for all of the songs). Then they had cake and ice-cream. A funny story about the cake. Jenna wanted to make round cakes and decorate them. She had a regular cake and a gluten free cake. Her friend Hannah decorated the regular cake and it turned out cute. Grace decorated the gluten free cake and it turned out, well -- creative. Gluten free items can be difficult to work with, ha ha, and it sunk in the middle. She filled it with frosting and tried to paint a dinosaur. It looked quite interesting, but it actually turned out to be quite delicious! 

After cake and ice-cream Jenna opened her presents. She got so many nice ones! She got so many nice presents! Her friends know her well! Clarissa filled a box filled with orange items (orange juice, gum in orange wrappers, mascara in an orange container and so on) and the box was decorated with pictures of her and Jenna and friends through the years. It was so cute and creative and must have taken her hours to put together! Caprina gave her this huge pot filled with various succulents plants (Jenna loves plants -- especially succulents!) She got jewelry and money and gift cards and a cute hat and candy and treats and bath and body type stuff and all sorts of fun things. Jenna was really cute and went and gave every friend a huge thank you hug after opening their gift. After gifts the girls played murder in the dark and then played outside until their parents came to get them. It was a fun night! 

Back row: Julia, Clarissa Williams, Bria Thompson, Anna Ence, Lindsey Gardner, Sammy Smith, Caroline Williams. Front row: Grace Freeman, Hannah Hoss, Caprina Cowing, Joclynn Araico, Alexa Alejus-Ruiz, Maggie Wimmer, Elyse Bayly, and Jenna Jensen being held up in front. 

Happy Birthday, Jenna!!

Today is Jenna's 13th Birthday!! Click HERE to see my Facebook post for her! Today we had our traditional Conference Crepes cooked by Chef Rick and then Jenna opened up her presents. We enjoyed conference and then had ham and egg casserole for dinner (as requested by Jenna)! I can't believe that my baby is a TEENAGER!!! Actually I can believe it. She has been acting like a teenager for a while now! 

Janelle took Jenna hiking tonight to he Anasazi Petroglyphs!  

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wendywestrajensen/posts/10158307343878456

Jenna's Birthday Party!!

Jenna had her birthday party tonight! She planned and executed the whole thing. She made the invitations and the cake and put up the decorations. She planned the activities and games. She insisted on swimming (even though I tried to convince her otherwise since the weather turned cool this week, which mean the pool was cold)! But they swam anyway and filled up water balloons, which they affectionately called "their babies" to play with. They played games, opened presents, had cake and ice-cream, and made Fresca floats. They had fun! And her friends were very generous -- not only did she get tons of nice gifts, but she came away with $90.00 in cash!!(Pictured: Front: Sammy Smith, Ella Thomas, Jenna Jensen, Lindsey Gardner, Caroline Williams, Brinkley, Maggie Wimmer, Cortnie Kendrick. Back: Anna Ence, Clarissa Williams, Grace Freeman)

General Conference October 2019

General Conference was wonderful as usual!! Saturday was exhausting though! I hurried out to Josh's soccer game and then came home for conference. While listening to conference Rick was busy painting touch up in the kitchen (he painted the kitchen this past week) and I was busy scrubbing paint off the kitchen floor that had spilled during this week's painting project! Jenna, Jaiden and I attended the Women's General meeting at the church (Janelle had to work) and then I stayed up late trying to get more cleaning done so that we could enjoy our Sabbath the next day. So I only got partial notes written for Saturday's session and will need to study all of the talks again when I can listen with a notebook and pen in hand.

Sunday we have a tradition of "Conference Crepes" for breakfast cooked by Rick. Jenna used her new birthday chalk-board to write this cute little advertisement. Sunday I took loads of notes! The messages were wonderful! I have a lot to think about, study, and pray about. We had a delicious dinner of steak, baked potatoes, grilled zucchini and squash, fruit salad,  and green salad. So we were both spiritually and physically fed today! The kids and I watched the new Book of Mormon videos and tonight Rick taught the "Come Follow Me" lesson and tied it in with the messages we received during conference. Here is the new Young Women Theme!!

Jenna's 10th Birthday Party

Jenna wanted to have a Halloween themed party for her 10th birthday party!! Jenna and her two best friends, Clarissa and Anna, all decided to be dead brides for their costume. They look pretty creepy!

I loved seeing all of the girls' creative costumes. The girls were all so animated and lively (and loud)!! Jaiden and Emily (Thing 1 and Thing 2) hid "eye balls" all over the yard for the girls to find (the Halloween version of an Easter Egg Hunt, ha ha!) Then everyone went downstairs for the candy bar game, which became increasingly loud and slightly competitive with the girls "stealing" certain coveted items from each other. They all ended up with a pretty big stash of candy. 

We went back outside for some fresh air and the girls played a few rounds of "No Bears Are Out Tonight." Then Jenna opened presents and LOVED each and every gift! She got so many cool things -- nail polish, cute notebooks, gel pens, squishy toys, a cute backpack, a lamp, a dress, leggings, an art activity book, bath bombs, a game called "Beat the Parents," a gift card to Menchies, and a gift card to Megaplex theaters!

I asked Rick if he could set up the strobe lights in the basement and tell the girls a scary story. Suddenly it was SO quiet! He had them all mesmerized! The volume quickly returned as the girls came upstairs for cake and ice-cream. They all broke out singing Happy Birthday in Chinese! Almost all of them are in the Chinese program at school. We had witch's brew with dry-ice and rootbeer floats.

I had also purchased a Halloween Bingo game, but ran out of time and so we didn't play it. I think the girls had a good time and it was a successful party!

 Pictured: Jenna and Caroline Williams 

 I was grateful for the help of Jaiden and Emily (Thing 1 and Thing 2)! They made their own costumes and made two birthday cakes -- one gluten free and one regular. They also made a play-list of Halloween songs, hid the eye-balls, headed up the candy bar game, and helped to cut and serve birthday cake. Thanks girls! 

Jenna's Ninth Birthday!!

Jenna turned nine years old today!! I was telling Jenna, "I can't believe that my baby is nine years old!!"  Jaiden overheard and asked how old I was when I had her. I said forty and she gasped, "Forty? Are people even allowed to have babies when they are that old?"

Well, I am grateful that I was "allowed to" have Jenna! She brings so much light and life to our family! Jenna is fun loving, energetic, creative, sweet, smart, silly, and sassy! She is also a good friend and cares about the feelings of others. She is a sweetheart and we are so glad that she is our daughter!! Here is Jenna with the cake that she decorated herself!

 The evening of Jenna's birthday we celebrated with Papa Murphy's pizza (gluten free for me and Jenna) and then the Carolers sang "Happy Birthday" to Jenna! Then we went shopping so that she could pick out birthday gifts from the money she received both her Grandmas. She purchased a sequined pillow that changes colors when you brush your hand on it. It is pretty cool because you can make designs in it. She also got a magnetized friendship necklace that she shared with Clarissa!!

Instead of a big friend party this year Jenna decided to invite a couple of close friends to go to Laser Mania. I was completely on board! This was a busy week and Rick and I had both sick with a cold all last week and so I was feeling completely behind on many things -- including birthday plans! Jenna invited Clarissa and Audrey (but Audrey ended up being sick) and Anna. The girls had a great time! 

Happy Fifth Birthday Jenna!!

Happy Birthday Jenna!  I can't believe my baby is five years old already!  Today was a really busy day and so we are having her friend birthday party tomorrow.  This morning she opened up her family presents before school.  She brought a treat to playgroup and the mom in charge also made cupcakes which was fun for her and the kids!  Then she had preschool and got to bring a treat there too. I worked today and taught my class this afternoon.  We also had caroler rehearsal tonight and so all of the carolers sang "Happy Birthday" to her in harmony.  They sounded great!  

Now for some bad news.  I had three of my girls tested for Celiac on Monday and got the test results back today.  The other tests came back fine but Jenna tested positive for Celiac (like her mom).  Her numbers were very high!  So that is not a very good birthday present!  Her birthday cake is the last food with gluten in it that she is allowed to eat.  Darn it!