Jase Post (taken from Facebook)

Tonight Ellen and I celebrated our 5th anniversary! I already told her I wanted to do something big for it, but being the poor planner that I am, we didn’t end up booking any trips. However, the past two weeks have been a complete whirlwind for us as Ellen applied to, and received a job in St. George for a Director of Marketing position at a non-profit organization called Liberty Village. Since then, we’ve made plans for me to quit my job and started packing up our house to move back to St. George. Tonight, we went to dinner at Sakura to celebrate not only our 5th anniversary, but Ellen’s first week at her new career as well. I’m so proud of what Ellen has accomplished so far and I love watching her become so great. She is truly amazing and I’m so glad I married her 5 years ago.

For me, it’s time to channel my inner dad energy as I transition into being a stay at home dad for our 3 kids. I’m going to need a lot of training for this new job! If you saw me at the grocery store today with my 3 littles all 3 years old and under along with two shopping carts just trying to get through the shopping, you could probably tell that I have a lot to learn.

That said, I am so grateful I get this opportunity to spend more time with my kids. I’m grateful for the opportunity to come back to St. George and see our many family members and friends. Most of all, I’m grateful I married someone who never ceases to amaze me with all she can accomplish. Ellen, thank you so much for choosing to marry me 5 years ago and for bringing me along on this journey of making all of our dreams come true. I love you!

(Ellen Post) Five years with my love! I am so grateful that I’ve been able to experience all the joys of the last five years with you (some pictured ). I am even more grateful that I’ve had you by my side through the hard times. Thank you for being my rock at the beginning and end of every day, as well as every moment in-between. You are the best husband and best dad. I love you!!  Facebook Post

Happy New Year's!! (Janelle's Weekly )

Janelle with her MTC District

Janelle's water bottle that she affectionately calls "Walter." She has had this cheap water bottle for years and we keep trying to get her to get rid of it because it is broken, but she managed to find a new lid to it at the DI or something, ha ha! 

Janelle ran in to Bradley Williams at the MTC!! 

Janelle went Side by Side Razor riding with Bryton. She lined her friend, Trina Lang, up with Bryton's twin brother, Kolton. Bryton's brother Kadan and his fiance' McKenna also came. She said that they had  fun time!! 

Janika's Last Day of Work!

Janika finally got Covid (the week she was supposed to give birth) and had to miss the last week of her job at this school, which was sad since she didn't get to say goodbye to anyone! 

Josh -- Icebox

Today was Josh's last day of work at Icebox! He put in his two weeks notice at the beginning of the month so that he would finish before soccer season started. He figured he would just be too busy with practices and games to continue. Even though he sometimes complained about his job, when I picked him up he said, "I am actually a little bit sad to be leaving -- I think I will miss this!" The job was okay, but the pay was lousy -- only $8.00 an hour. I am sure he can find a higher paying job elsewhere after he turns 16! 

Janika and Brandon in Cabo!

Literally the week after getting out of the first trimester (timing could not be better) we went to Cabo San Lucas with Brandon’s company. They invited the marketing team to come down a few days early and help out with the customer conference they were putting on there and allowed me to come serve as support staff as well. After that, the rest of the company came down to party at the Hard Rock All Inclusive resort. There were definitely cons to being there pregnant (we couldn’t do any of the excursions because none of them allowed pregnant women there, we had to skip out on a couple of the restaurants because I just couldn’t handle the smell, etc.) but overall, it was a very nice (free) trip! I still felt a little sick on and off, but for the most part was able to eat normal food. We spent most of our time there reading by the pool, getting a couples massage, and taking advantage of the lengthy room service menu. It was a great little baby-moon trip! Thanks, JobNimbus!

Jensen Update -- August 2021

 

August Highlights...

Extracurricular: Lots of soccer for Josh (United 06 Team AND United 05/06 Team). Jaiden working on requirements for Distinguished Young Women and attending football games...) Jenna participated in a two week Summer Camp called Annie Kids with a group of her friends. They put on a little 30 minute show at the end. Dance started back up for Jenna and Jaiden. 

Trips: Janelle Senior Trip to Montana with her two best friends, Ellie and Brea. Click HERE to see the blog post! Janika and Brandon went to Costa Rica for a week to stay at an all-inclusive resort!! Click HERE for the blog post! 

Tuacahn: Our family went to see The Count of Monte Cristo and Rick and I went to see Million Dollar Quartet in the indoor theater. Rick and I interpreted the outdoor shows. 

Jobs: Janika started as a middle school counselor in Alpine while she works on finishing her MA degree. Jase quit Deseret First Credit Union last month and started working at Chrysalis so that he can get patient care experience. I think he usually works the late shift. He enjoys playing video games with the clients and is able to get homework done after they are in bed. Ellen quit her job at Chrysalis to focus on being a mommy. Evan is doing well, by the way! 

Jared is a shift leader and trainer at Dutch Bros, Janelle is still working at Papa Murphys and she is also working for Kenworthy Monuments. Jaiden is teaching Swim and working at Tuacahn. Josh is working at The Icebox in Ivins (a family owned restaurant). He kept his job after school began, but only works two or three shifts a week because of soccer. 

My job at Dixie Tech ended (the student graduated) and I started interpreting at Dixie University (along with freelance appointments). Rick has a new schedule this year with a lot more flexibility to work on the Deaf Seminary Program. He loves his new schedule!! 

Rick and I went to his husband and wife inservice this month. This included dinner at a restaurant and then a performance by a local band called The Hubcaps (who happen to include several Seminary teachers!) They turned it into a sort of Karaoke Night by encouraging people to come prepared with songs to sing. Rick sang a couple songs. It was a lot of fun! https://youtu.be/bpjnS50oiqU

Church/Temple: Janelle was able to go to the Cedar City temple with friends to do baptisms. I was asked to speak at the Saturday night session of Stake Conference on the Children and Youth Program. I was glad to get it over with! 

Back to School: Jaiden is a Senior, Josh is a Sophomore, and Jenna is in the 7th Grade!  

Medical: The kids got their second Covid Vaccine. I had an Endometrial Biopsy (normal results).

Funeral: Our neice, Jamie Venable Lacefield passed away. She was only 39 years old. This was heartbreaking for the entire family. 

Parties: Jenna had lots of end of year parties!! Swimming and Spa Nights! 

Josh: Soon to be Soccer Referee

Josh has been interested in becoming a soccer referee and so I have been trying to help him through the process. This is all new to both of us and so we don't really know what we are doing! Someone on Josh's soccer team told him about a certification training in September for new refs (and this boy's mom also called me to let me know about it). We both decided to register our boys for the training. It was the St. George entry level grassroots training through the U.S. Soccer Learning Training Center. I checked to make sure it was the correct website and the proper training that would lead to him becoming a ref for competitive soccer leagues in our area, and it was.

The training included 5 hours of online training (and quizzes) and then an in-person course on September 1st. The training, including both the online training and the in-person course, was $85.00. Rick was hesitant about spending the money for that, but Josh assured him that he would pay back the funds once he had his license and could start working. Rick was also concerned about transportation to and from games, since the soccer fields are clear across town. I am concerned about that also, but want to give Josh the opportunity to work, even if I have to bring him. Hopefully we can work out a carpool situation. 

At the training course the people giving the training went over more referee drills and calls, but Josh and his friend left the course confused because they were given NO information on what to do now that they were certified. How did they get to where they were now to actually working as a referee at games? When they asked they were just given the phone number of the ref assigner for Southern Utah. I called the number a couple of times and left a message, but received no response. Josh was very busy with Cross Country and soccer and so I put it on the back burner for a couple of weeks. I kept forgetting about it and so I set up a time in my calendar for Josh to call the ref assigner. (He doesn't have a cell phone and so he needs to use mine).

Josh called a couple of times and left a message. This time we received a text with a link to a PDF which contained detailed instructions with the next few steps on becoming a referee. I am not sure why the boys were not given these instructions during the online training or during the in-person course! Well, those instructions took another hour to wade through (granted I am a little slow, but I am constantly checking and double checking to make sure that I am following the instructions correctly). So now Josh is registered as a referee (we just have to wait for the final approval). We have the payment system set up (for him to get paid), and filled out the information that would put him on the referee list, and ordered the referee uniform and kit (another $68.90). I sure hope this will be worth it! So now we are just waiting for approval from whoever is in charge and for the uniform and other supplies to arrive. Then we will call the ref assigner again and let her know that he is ready to accept games. His friend already went through this process a couple of weeks ago and so he is assigned to three games this Saturday. 

Josh has been concerned about the expenses and said that he would pay us back for all of the referee expenses once he starts reffing games and earning money. (Thankfully they pay well!) He also wants to put together an account to help pay for other soccer expenses, such as specialized trainings and tournaments. He wants to tryout for high school soccer this coming Spring and has offered to help pay for that as well. He is such a great kid! So hopefully he will get to ref at least a few games before the season ends and will be all ready to go for Spring season. We also encourage our children to pay tithing first, the missionary jar next, then savings. So after all that (and helping to pay for soccer expenses) hopefully he stills has enough leftover for some play money!!