Jared's Podcast

Jared's Podcast through the St. George Institute!

 

Jared's Podcast 

Josh: Junior Prom

Josh went to Junior Prom with Gwendolyn Dooley (who is good friends with Jaiden). For their day date they went sledding in Pine Valley. Gwendolyn couldn't go because she had a swim meet, but Josh still went with the group and had a really fun time. They met at Cameron's house for dinner. Josh said that it was decorated really nice for the event. The dance was held at Children's Museum in their big dance hall upstairs. Afterwards they went hot-tubbing at Hayley's house. Josh said that the date was a lot of fun! 

Josh Jensen & Gwendolyn Dooley, Gabe Layton & Piper Reid, Andrew Ord & S.J. Miller, Joe-Mack Smith & Jane Weston, Cameron Hugunin & Hayley Larsen   

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!

Josh: Olympic Development Team

(Josh write up): I just got back from a trip to Mesa, Arizona with the Olympic Development Team (ODP), with the best 2006 players from Southern Utah. It was really fun because we got to all stay in a hotel together and I quickly became friends with all of the other kids from other schools. I became closest friends with the cedar kids, and I hope we can hang out sometime. It was fun to meet all the kids from other schools because now I’ll know them when we play against them during high school season. I got to room with all the other Snow Canyon boys, and we stayed up late playing games and it was really fun. (We actually only stayed up until 12:00 because we had games the next day). I played the whole tournament as a right back, which is a defensive position, and that’s not usually what I play. Even though I didn’t really like defense there was some parts of it that were really entertaining. Our team did really well on the tournament and we even made it to the finals, but we didn’t win. We still got silver medals though. The bus ride home was awesome because someone bought a speaker and we played music the whole way back and it made us happy again even though we lost. That was how my trip to Arizona went for ODP.

Cruise with Rick: Enchantment of the Seas

(See my journal for more specific details!) 

Some of the places we stopped at were:

Charleston, South Carolina: We did a "walk about tour" where you listen to a tour guide on an app with ear buds and listen to stories about the various places as you walk by them. It was mostly ghost stories!  I was surprised how many huge historic cathedrals/churches and cemeteries there were!  

Florida: We went to Cocoa Beach in Florida and just laid out. The weather was perfect and it was beautiful out! 

Bahamas: "Perfect Day at Coco Cay" (Royal Caribbean's private island). We went kayaking and jet skiing. So fun! The weather was perfect and there was so much to do on the island. I wish we could have stayed there two days! 

The rest of the time was on the ship -- food, swimming, shows, egg-drop competition, formal night, and celebrating New Year's Eve! It was a fun week! 

2022 Christmas Newsletter

We couldn’t let this year pass by without saying how grateful we are for your friendship and your kindness. You truly are the salt of the earth, and we feel we are lucky enough to be salted by you. You have had a huge impact on us and our family! 

Rick: This year we have had some wonderful experiences and many of you played a part in those. I have had the exciting opportunity to continue working with the S&I (Seminaries and Institutes) ASL program for the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. This year we were able to see history in the making with the establishment of the first ASL Deaf Board of Education! I feel so grateful to be involved in such incredible opportunities to help gather Deaf Israel! 

Working with so many amazing people has been a season of growth for me, and I truly enjoy learning from the great youth and teachers. This year I have also decided to grow in different ways. I finally got the courage to screen for cruise interpreting and interpreted on FIVE cruises this year! I absolutely loved it and have met wonderful people in the process. I’m so glad I did it! Choosing growth is something I hope I always have the courage to do.

Wendy: I am proud of Rick for everything he has accomplished this year! Life has been busy for the rest of us also! Despite being busy, our home has become much quieter the past few months. With our two oldest children married (Janika and Jase), two living away from home and going to college (Jared and Jaiden), one serving a mission in Taiwan (Janelle), that leaves only two children at home with us (Josh and Jenna). It is really different! But Jenna still continues to shake things up by bringing a dozen or so noisy teenagers over to the house often enough to remind us that we aren't empty nesters quite yet!

Like Rick mentioned, this has been a year of growth for our family -- both literally and figuratively! This year we welcomed TWO new grandbabies into our family! We now have THREE adorable grandsons! It has been a delight watching our family expand! We also had five graduations this year -- Jaiden from high school, Jared with his associate degree, Jase and Ellen with their bachelor's degrees, and Janika with her master's degree! With all of the University classes I have interpreted for through the years, I feel like I have earned another degree as well, ha ha! I absolutely LOVE my job, especially University interpreting, and learn something new everyday! Rick loved his experience with cruise interpreting and FINALLY convinced me to give it a try! So, he and I will be teaming together on a cruise next month! 

It has been a fantastic year! Now I will turn it over to the young 'uns for their updates! 

Janika and Brandon: 

This year has been a whirlwind, but we feel so incredibly blessed. At the end of May we welcomed our perfect baby boy, Everett Hayes Jenson, into our family and it's been so fun to watch him grow! Janika was offered her dream job as a part time elementary school counselor and has been loving teaching social emotional wellness skills to all of her little friends. Brandon was recently promoted to Revenue Operations Analyst at JobNimbus and has really enjoyed his time working there. We are currently living in Pleasant Grove and just feeling so grateful for all of the opportunities God has given us this year! 

Jase and Ellen: 

This has been an exciting year for us! Ellen started a new job in January working from home for a financial advisor. It has been a great job for her to still focus on school and be at home with the kids. In May, we both graduated with our bachelor's degrees. Ellen graduated in Communications and Jase graduated in Molecular Biology and Biochemistry. Shortly after our graduation, we moved to Baltimore Maryland for Jase’s summer internship at Johns Hopkins University. At the end of the internship, we decided to move to Herriman Utah where we currently reside. Jase started a new job at Co-diagnostics in Salt Lake City and Ellen decided to continue her education online through SUU for a master's degree. In October, our second baby boy Eli was born prematurely and on November 22 he was able to come home from the NICU. We are so excited to have him as part of the family! (You can read Eli's birth story HERE!)

Jared: 

This year has been a blast and I'm already excited for what the next one has to offer! I finished two more semesters and I'm officially a senior at Utah Tech University. The schooling was probably my least favorite part as I took some of my most challenging classes and had to crutch my way around campus with a torn ACL and meniscus. The injury was due to dancing with superior amounts of energy that my body couldn't handle, and although it has been a tough recovery, I have gotten surgery and will be running here again shortly! The highlight of my year was spending my summer working for FSY at Snow College in Ephraim and BYU Hawaii! I was able to have marvelous spiritual experiences and hopefully helped create some for the youth as well! (That's where I learned to dance with great vigor, and I guess as soon as I took it back to the party college environment the spirit stopped protecting my knee). I've continued teaching seminary, and had a memorable year working with the youth during the school year as well as the summer. Overall I had a pretty good time and I'm ready to see where life takes me!

Janelle: This year has been great, and I have grown so much! In January I was partying it up in the MTC and headed to the Minnesota Minneapolis Mission on January 17! I served in Duluth for three transfers with my companion Miriam Martinez, which was awesome, and then I went to Eau Claire Wisconsin with my companion Gabby Carter! Afterward Heavenly Father decided it was time for me to go to my original assignment of Taipei Taiwan. I started my Taiwan adventure in Danshui, with Jin Yuling as my companion. She went home that transfer, and I stayed in Danshui and served with Yao Xinci for one transfer! Afterward I became an STL and served in a trio in Jinhua, with my companions Chen Yucai and Li Xinjie. After a transfer Chen Jiemei left and Li Jiemei and I stayed, which is where I am at now! I have loved all of my companions, areas, and experiences and have learned so much from each one. There have been ups and downs and blessings and hardships, and I have grown closer to the Savior through it all. It is a miracle to witness others change their lives and turn toward the Savior. This work is run by God, and it will not stop. I'm so blessed to be a part of it!  

(Click HERE for Janelle's Missionary Blog!)

Jaiden: 

I feel like 2022 just started, but we are already to Christmas! That's wild. This year has been super good!! First off, I graduated!! Senior year definitely had its stressful moments, but I graduated with a 4.0! Summer started off great - filled with dance rehearsals as usual! It was my senior concert, so I had plenty of extra rehearsals to go to. The concert was SO much fun, and I already miss dancing at that studio! Summer was filled with fun, friends, photoshoots of course, and trips! I got the chance to go to FSY with my best friend Emily, and we had the BEST time there!! Our company was on another level for sure!! I also was able to go on a cruise with Emily and Lizzie for our senior trip!! It was the coolest EVER!! We went to three different places in Mexico, and we loved it!! As the summer came to an end, I had to REALLY get my life together because I was starting college in the fall! I am currently a freshman at Southern Utah University, and I love it!!! I am majoring in exercise science and minoring in dance. I have the best roommates in the world: Emily, Liv, Dagney, Josie, and Alexis! It is always a party at apartment 3!! I have made so many friends and so many memories. Everything from silly string battles at parks to prank wars! Cedar City is cold so it is definitely taking some getting used to, but I wouldn't trade my time here for anything! I am so excited to see what next year brings!! 

(Click HERE for Jaiden's Sterling Scholar Portfolio Video)

Josh:  

This year has gone by pretty quick and that's good because the sooner this year ends the quicker I'll be going to Mexi-Cali for spring break!! Here is a list of things I did this year: got my driver's license, learned how to fish (self-taught fisherman), started a job at Wendy's, ended a job at Wendy's a few weeks later (thank goodness for that), started a job at Tuacahn (best job ever), played varsity soccer for the first time, and kept my 4.0. I joined the Snow Canyon Madrigals singing group and I'm currently still deciding if it's worth my time or not. I also recently made the ODP (Olympic Development) soccer team. This year I've developed a love for a restaurant that I never would have imagined: McDonalds. However, with inflation and all that, I'm starting to wonder if it's still worth it to keep going...anyway, stay tuned and I'll let you know next year.

Jenna: 

This has been a great year and a lot has changed -- first of all I got highlights for the first time! I also FINALLY got my braces off! I wrote a song for Reflections and was one of the region winners! My friend, Grace Freeman, and I sang a duet for our seventh-grade talent show. This year I went on lots of hikes with my family and friends! I found out that I love doing hair and so I did my sister's hair for dances and stuff. Now I am in the 8th grade at Snow Canyon Middle School. I dance with Southwest Dance and was in the play over at the high school. I got two new nephews this year! It's been so fun seeing how big our family is growing and I hope it will get even bigger!

As you can see, this has been quite an eventful year! As we continue our journey of growth, I am reminded of the scripture in Doctrine and Covenants 50:40-42: 

"Behold, ye are little children and ye cannot bear all things now; ye must grow in grace and in the knowledge of the truth. Fear not, little children, for you are mine, and I have overcome the world, and you are of them that my Father hath given me; and none of them that my Father hath given me shall be lost." 

Thank heavens that all of us can grow in this life and through the grace of Jesus Christ, none of us are lost. We look forward to an ongoing journey of growth with all of you this upcoming year! 

Love, 

The Jensen Family