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!
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