Jensen History 2005

We started off this year with lots and lots of rain! Our little town of Santa Clara made national news because of all of the flooding in our area.  It was labeled “The 100 year flood” because there hasn’t been flooding like that in a hundred years.  The Santa Clara River (which had looked more like a creek) was now raging out of control.  There was flooding going on everywhere – Santa Clara, Gunlock, Dixie Downs, Enterprise, Hurricane, Bloomington – but it wasn’t all visible unless you drove to those sites to watch it.  By the end of the flooding, 18 homes had fallen into the rivers and were lost and many more were damaged.  The raging river was only about ¼ mile from our home. They closed all of the schools due to all of the road closures.

Rick and the other Seminary teachers got together and came up with a relief fund called “FUNDS FOR FLOODED FAMILIES” for those who sustained damage in the flood. After a couple of hours of phone calls to all the right people, there were over one hundred high school students (and the Seminary teachers) wearing T-Shirts with their logo printed on them, out on the streets collecting money in sand-bags.  Janika also went out to help them.  They collected money for several days and ended up presenting the Red-Cross with a check for $23,000!  I was very proud of Rick for heading up this whole effort and also for Janika for getting out there and pounding the pavement, collecting money.  The land-scaping of Santa Clara is forever changed and I am amazed every time I drive on the road from Santa Clara to Ivins at how different it all looks now.

We went on a few trips this year including a stay at Park City and a trip to Disneyland! Rick also put together a Hand's Up Reunion and he and I enjoyed our Seminary Convention as well as the EFY Session Director training in April. Rick and I had the opportunity to be session directors at EFY twice this summer once at BYU-Idaho and once at BYU-Provo. This was our first time session directing and we loved it!  

Rick directed both the Hands in Harmony Choir in conjunction with St. George Musical Theater and also the Hands in Harmony Carolers. December was the usual whirlwind of Christmas preparations and Hands in Harmony performances. Rick had new costumes made and they were absolutely gorgeous! The carolers did a great job performing non-stop and spreading Christmas cheer! I am always amazed at the beautiful arrangements that Rick comes up with. Rick invested $7000.00 in a music studio in our basement! It was expensive, but worth it! He has written and recorded several songs on his studio and they are so beautiful! He and several other Seminary teachers also started an LLC to buy and sell land and houses.

I wrote an e-book this year about teaching sign language to children called "Sign Language for Babies and Beyond" and started an Internet business selling it on-line. It was a lot of work but it has done pretty well and has been an interesting and exciting endeavor! I also interpreted a lot this year. Being a mom, interpreting, teaching ASL and working on my book all kept me very busy!  I sometimes called a baby-sitter to help watch the kids so that I could go interpret or just get caught up on grading papers, prepping lessons, cleaning house, and writing my book!

I love getting out to teach and interpret, but I especially love being a mom! I am always entertained by the funny comments our children come up with. Janika had been teaching Jase times tables and he learned some of them.  We were walking to the park and Jase saw a truck that said "4X4."  He exclaimed matter-of-factly, "There's another one of those 16 year old trucks again!"  Then one Sunday we were sitting in church and the first counselor in the Bishopric got up to conduct.  Janika said, "Is he like the "Vice Bishop or something?"  I said, "They are called first and second counselors."  She said, "So that's sort of like the first mate on a ship then?"

On Valentines night we all went shopping and when we came home there were some plates of cookies on our doorsteps.  Janika asked me if she could call and thank our neighbors for the cookies and I said, "sure!" Well, she called and they weren't home and so she left a message on their answering machine saying thank you for the cookies...(and then she must have been in prayer mode because she said)..."in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen!"   When she told me she accidentally ended the message like that I laughed so hard that tears were rolling down my face.  It seems like one of us did that as a kid too...probably me!  

All of our children are happy and thriving.  Lately we have been spending a lot of time together as a family just playing games and having fun together.  I am grateful that I have the opportunity to be a stay-at-home mom.  I know it sounds like I am gone a lot, but it is really only a drop in the bucket compared to the time that I am home with my children.  It can be overwhelming at times, but I really love being a mom.  I often find myself gazing at my beautiful children while uttering a silent prayer to Heavenly Father that he has allowed me to be their mother. 

Janika is now ten years old and a big help when she is home.  She is a great baby-sitter and also a good little cook!  She can whip up a dynamite batch of chocolate chip cookies from start to finish without any help at all.  She also often cooks breakfast for all of the kids and loves to try new recipes.  She loves to sing and has a very nice voice.  She hasn’t been too thrilled about taking piano lessons, but we are trying to keep her motivated.  She continues to be a stellar student who excels at everything academically.

Jase just turned eight and was recently baptized.  He bore a beautiful testimony at his baptismal service and also in church after we returned home.  He is also a great student and excels in all of his subjects.  He loves to play with friends and he loves to play video games and computer games.  He is also a good singer and sang a couple of solos in church this year. He is now in Scouts and my calling as Cub-master helps me to know better how to help him earn his achievements. 

 

Jared is doing well in kindergarten and is also very outgoing and social.  He is also very affectionate and will often come up and give us hugs and snuggle with us.  He has a wonderful imagination and can entertain himself with the smallest of things.  He is certainly a bundle of energy and we will find him pulling his light saber on anyone who walks through the front door! 

Janelle has progressed leaps and bounds this year!  She is now a chatty little three year old who is fiercely independent!  She wants to do everything herself.  She can go potty all by herself, but just don’t go and flush for her or you will never hear the end of it!  She continues to make me smile and laugh with the cute things she says and with her little songs and rhymes.

Jaiden has also progressed so much this year. She now runs all over and is a little chatter-box as well. She sounds so cute -- I never tire of hearing her cute little phrases. When I say "Okay Dokey," she chimes back, "okey okey!" She loves chocolate milk and goes around shouting, "Kaw-cut milk! Kaw-cut milk!" 

We also look forward to the arrival of our new baby boy who is due in April.  We will have three girls and three boys and feel that our family will be complete! We are grateful for the gospel in our lives and for the many blessing that Heavenly Father has given us.  We know that the gospel of Jesus Christ is true and we feel grateful to live at such a time as this with a prophet of God to lead and guide us.  We have truly been blessed abundantly this year and throughout our lives!