Family History 2000

(Not yet finished...)

At the beginning of this year, Janika had just turned four, Jase had just turned two, and we were expecting our third baby in March. Rick was the first counselor in the Elder's Quorum and I was first counselor in the Young Women's Presidency. I continued to teach an evening ASL class at Dixie College and also continued to work as an interpreter, interpreter mentor, and certification rater. Rick was busy teaching Seminary and working towards his Master’s Degree. He also taught computer classes for Dixie and Internet classes for Infowest Internet service as well as some interpreting for the Deaf.

I was blessed with an easy pregnancy which went by very quickly.  The birth itself was incredibly fast! On March 8^th Rick and I went to the hospital even though my contractions were not too close together or painful yet. We wanted to make sure I arrived in time for an epidural since things had gone so quickly with Jase.  I wasn't even sure that they would admit me until my Dr. came in and ruptured my membranes. Then things started happening! There was no time for any pain medication now.  In fact, less than fifteen minutes later a healthy baby boy was born. My Dr. had left to run an errand and missed the birth. We named our baby Jared Daniel Jensen. The kids were both so excited to see and hold their new little brother!

Jase was still not talking at all but he was still able to communicate with us since we had taught him sign language. By the time he was almost 2 1/2, he could use and recognize over a hundred signs.  We weren't sure why he wasn't talking. He was going to The Learning Center two mornings a week and working with a speech therapist who was working with him on oral motor skills to strengthen his muscles.  When he was around 2 1/2 he suddenly started using some words.  Soon after that he was combining words and before we knew it he was talking as well as anyone else his age!  He went from no words at all to complete sentences in just a matter of weeks.  The Learning Center and speech therapist told us that he no longer needed their services.

            

This year Rick and I became familiar with the book, “The Tightwad Gazette.” We also became hooked on yard sales.  Every weekend we would pick up the free newspaper, "Pioneer Shopper" and look for the yard sales that were advertised for Saturday.  Then one of us would get up early and hit as many sales as we could.  It was exciting to be able to get things for so cheap!

On May 6^th Rick graduated from SUU with his Master’s Degree!! Grandma and Grandpa Jensen came for the graduation and for Jared’s baby blessing the next day. It was a wonderful weekend and we were grateful for the support!

June: Rick and I attended our CES Convention in Brian Head while Gerilyn, Kydee, and Chantel watched Janika and Jase. We brought Jared along and he was really good and loved the extra attention! We will never forget this particular convention because almost everyone got food poisoning! Thankfully I didn’t, but Rick did! Our Area Director stood up at one of the meetings and said, “Well, it looks like our numbers are running thin!”

In spite of the food poisoning incident, we still had a good time. It was really fun getting to know the other couples better and spending time with everyone. I just love going to things like this! Not only is it a great boost for the teachers, but it is nice to have time with your spouse and to be able to socialize with the other teachers and their wives. There are so many wonderful people to rub shoulders with. You don’t often get this kind of experience with other professions.

Later on this month we went camping with the Healeys and the Hoths. We found a pretty area called Rock Cliff near Jordanelle State Park which was secluded, but required hauling all of your stuff in on a handcart almost a quarter to a half mile from your car. We got caught in a huge storm of lightning, thunder, and rain in the middle of setting up. Janika was trying hold up our tent and screaming for her Daddy while he was trying to finish getting it set up. Our sleeping bags were wet, Steph was holding up cups to catch water dripping from the ceiling of the tent and her daughter, Raquel, was throwing up. We almost gave up and called it quits. But the rain cleared and we finally got everyone to bed and talked about how we would look back on trip and laugh about the memory!

The whole family had a wonderful time at a retreat at the Ashton's cabin and Rick and I enjoyed the talks at the CES Conference at BYU. 

When we got back from our trips Janika wanted to play with her best friend. Her friend came over and said, "Let's play the game where Jase is the monster and tries to get us." Jase came up to me and said, "I'm not a monster, I'm a boy!"  On the way home last night Rick was telling scripture stories to the kids. He asked Janika, "What does it mean to heal?"  She said, "to make you un-sick."  Yep that's right!  

Rick was transferred to the one-man seminary at Tuacahn High School and was excited for the new opportunity! He also taught one class at Snow Canyon Middle School and was assigned to be the computer consultant for the area.

In September Janika and Rick sang a duet of "Oh, How Lovely in the Morning" in church. They did great! 

To be continued... 

(December 25)