1996 Jensen History

 Rick and Wendy’s Family Update (1996)

1996 has been a year full of change for our family.  Janika was born on December 8^th and so we started off the new year with a new baby!   I (Wendy)  had a few weeks of paid vacation after Janika was born and ended up with three extra weeks due to the Government Shutdown.  After that I worked part time at the BLM (about 16 hours a week) and used sick leave, annual leave, and leave without pay to make up the rest of the 40 hours.  This way I was able to keep full benefits and almost a full pay check.  Rick’s job at Health Benefits of America was a temporary one that ended in January and so Rick was home with Janika while I worked part-time at the BLM.   I was home with Janika while Rick worked part-time teaching  Seminary in the afternoons.   My ASL class at SLCC was cancelled Winter Quarter because there were not enough students and so I interpreted a night class at SLCC two nights a week instead and Rick taught voice lessons one night a week.  We joked that between the two of us and our part time jobs, we almost had one full-time job!

Rick had to take a couple of Institute classes in order to qualify for hire as a Seminary teacher and so he took those classes while I was at home with Janika.   It worked out really well because we both were able to spend ample time with Janika and still have lots of time to spend as a family.  Both our families were also very helpful with watching Janika when the need arose.

Janika was blessed January 7^th and given the name Janika Carol Jensen. Her middle name was named after Rick's mom and the announcement came as a surprise to her! Rick gave Janika a beautiful blessing from Heavenly Father and blessed her with the qualities of Rebekah of Old. 

Janika has brought so much joy to our family!  Rick and I have loved being parents.  We often brought Janika with us to parties and activities and have loved showing her off wherever we went.  We brought her with us on a vacation to California the end of March and Rick showed me around where he served his mission.  We learned how much work it is traveling with a baby and how much extra luggage you need! 

Rick has really enjoyed teaching Seminary and is a wonderful teacher.   Rick had me dress Janika in her blessing dress and bring her to his class one day. He also had me speak and we gave the lesson on eternal families. The kids seemed to get a lot out of it.  

Rick also took his State Certification Test for Interpreting in January and we found out a couple of months later that he passed!  He now has his Level I Transliterating Certificate.   We were both very excited and had the opportunity to do some team interpreting this year. Rick interpreted part-time at  SLCC Spring Quarter and I started teaching ASL again two nights a week. 

Shortly after Janika was born,  I was called to be the Pianist in Primary and several months later became the Primary chorister.  Rick’s served as Young Men’s President for the first half of the year and then he was called as the  Second Counselor in the Elder’s Quorum in August. We were also both called to be the choreographers for the Stake Musical, Fiddler on the Roof. I thought Rick would end up doing most of it because he has more experience in that area, but over the course of time he became more and more busy and so I ended up being in charge and called a couple of people from our ward to help with it. The play ended up being a success when it was performed in the Fall.

In the Spring I ordered a baby jogger stroller and loved taking Janika jogging with me.  She seemed to really enjoy it as well. Rick and I anxiously awaited to hear whether he had been hired by CES or not as a Seminary teacher and felt very good about things, so when we found out in April that he had not been hired, we were devastated. After much discussion and prayer, we decided to try it again next year with Rick teaching early morning. That way he could get a full-time job and I could quit my job at BLM and stay home full-time.   Even with the stress of not getting hired and not sure what our future held, we were always extremely blessed in that we continued to be financially stable and also had insurance coverage and benefits. We strongly believe that if we always faithfully pay our tithing, we will always have sufficient for our needs and we have seen these blessings and promises in our lives.

About a month after finding out about Seminary, Rick got hired on with New Horizons Computer Learning Center as an instructor.  We were grateful for this job even though the salary was not as high as we had been hoping. He learned a great deal and became quite the computer-whiz!  A month later I quit my job at BLM.  They asked if I would be interested in working for them as an independent contractor (interpreting) and I said I would. They called me whenever they had a meeting or a need for an interpreter and after getting a baby-sitter, I would go in for a few hours.  It has been nice to have this opportunity to get out now and then and earn some extra spending money. After Rick was at his job three months, he got a raise and was also able to prep at home.  It was wonderful having him home so much and it allowed me the chance to run errands or interpret while he was home. 

We enjoyed spending lots of time with family. In June we headed to Fayette for a traditional summer gathering celebrating the birthdays of Chris and Sandy's boys. 

Rick and I decided to sell my car this summer and buy a new one and after consulting with Kyle, he talked us into leasing a new GeoPrism LSI.   It is the first time either of us have had a new car and it is great!   We enjoyed a wonderful summer together.  When our anniversary came on July 28^th, we spend the night at “The Anniversary Inn,” leaving Janika for the first time overnight at my sister’s.  After I quit my full-time job I was often called to interpret by Utah Interpreter Services and would do it now and then but I preferred interpreting at my old job.   This summer Rick and I both attended our 10 year high school reunions.  It was interesting to see that some people had changed so much and others had changed so little. 

In August Mom Jensen slept over and then came with us to our friend's wedding in the Jordan River Temple the next day. She also stayed with Janika while we went to the CES Symposium at BYU and then brought Janika to Ogden to sleep at her house. We were grateful for the help and I’m sure Janika loved it too!  We really enjoyed spending the holidays with both families.  It is great being able to spend time with family and to give Janika the opportunity to play with her cousins. Janika also got a new cousin October 16 when my sister-in-law Amy had a new baby boy named Kellen Scott.

Thanksgiving...

When school started again I interpreted once a week for a Seminary class and I also started teaching ASL again at Salt Lake Community College.   This was our second year with our group “Hands in Harmony” and it went great!  We had try-outs in the summer and started out with four of the same kids from last year.  This year we ended up with twelve in the group and they had over 30 shows.  They sung every weekend at The Inn at Temple Square and several times in Park City.  They also sung at numerous retirement homes, company parties, the capitol, ward shows, the Dicken’s Festival, The Festival of the Trees and so forth.  This has been a great little business for us!We spent Christmas Eve at the Westras and then Christmas morning Rick woke me and Janika up in order to videotape us opening our presents. We had a lovely morning and then headed up to Ogden to spend the rest of the day with the Jensens. We slept over so that Julie could do our hair the next day!  We are so blessed to have a beautician in our family! A few days later we had a final big bash for Hands in Harmony and gave them all pictures and awards.  It has been a great year and we look forward to another great year in 1997!J

(Above picture taken at Margie and LaMar Westra's house: Alyssa, Sandy holding Kadan and Conner, McKenna holding Kellen, Janika, Jeni holding Landon.)