So, our first stop on our epic family trip was Jensen Family Camp down in Cedar City. 7 of the 8 kids were able to make it (granted, besides us, there's only one other family that lives outside of Utah, and they are the ones that couldn't come), plus Joe's mom were all there. I think the head count was about 35, and for the most part, we were all staying in one house. I took a few pictures, but the majority are all from Janelle, the official un-official family photographer. I decided to document it all in one post for memory's sake, so this will be long.
We started with lunch and a scavenger hunt on the SSU campus.
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| Joe, Brek, and Grandma Jensen upon arrival. |
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| Telling Nora and Rose that Brek asked for them the entire drive down from Provo. |
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The younger crowd
Madison, Jonathon, Mara, Kate, Nora, Brek, Sabrina, Rose, Eliza |
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| Brek, flanked by Mara and Nora, followed by Eliza and Rose |
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| Brek loved running up and down this ramp. And he just loves Nora. |
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Cute nieces
Eliza, Rose, Lizzie, Mara, Nora, Kate |
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| Sabrina and Eliza |
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| Kate |
Joe's sister Michelle divided all the bigger kids into teams and sent them around on a scavenger hunt around the campus. But for Brek and Madison, she had discovered they both loved Dora, so she created a Dora-themed hunt for these 2 little ones. Here's the map:
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| Brek checking out the map |
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| Madison is looking at the map too. |
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| Brek and Madison heading up the big stairs |
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| Over the big hill, which Madison then informed us that it was a little hill. |
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| And down by the waterfall we found a treasure chest, with bubbles inside |
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| Trying to blow bubbles |
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| Such a cute smile! |
Our 2nd activity took us to the church where we did some Minute to Win it games. This was mine and Joe's responsibility.
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| Lining up to get divided into teams |
The stack of cups
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| Go Matt |
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| Rachel |
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| Rose |
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| Peter |
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| Sabrina |
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| Eric |
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| James |
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| Kate |
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| Jessica |
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| Lizzie |
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| Aunt Suzette helping Brek as he "played" the game. |
Demonstrating the hanger game:
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| Mara and Aunt Carol; Sabrina looking on |
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| Rachel helping Eliza |
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| Jensen with an onlooking Jacob |
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| Dan helping Madison |
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| Brek giving it a go |
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| Jonathon |
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| Jonathon from the front |
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| Lizzie |
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| Suzette |
Balancing blocks:
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| Adam |
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| Marisa |
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| Peter |
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| Dan |
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| Janelle |
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| Joe |
And then right as the timer went off, it fell:
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| Sara |
Balloon-blowing cups:
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| Nora |
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| Receiving balloon-blowing help from Matt |
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| Jacob, Grandma Jensen, and Nora |
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| Eric |
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| Grandma Jensen |
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| Jacob - he was pretty amazing at this game |
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| Brek trying to blow up his balloon |
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| Dan and baby James stacking cups on the side |
Balloons up in the air
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| Joe, Marisa, Peter, and Carol |
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| Matt |
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| Joe and Marisa |
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| Peter |
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| Carol |
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| Marisa, Peter, and Carol |
Bubble Blowing - this one is my favorite
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| The onlookers during demonstration |
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| Lizzie approaching the line with her bubble |
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| Jonathon |
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| Sara |
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| Grandma Jensen and Lizzie |
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| Kate and Rose |
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| Kate taking a dive |
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| Jonathon. And I love how Brek is trying to "help" blow. |
Chopsticks and Marshmallows:
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| Adam, Suzette, and Joe |
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| Side-liners |
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| Jensen playing with baby James |
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| Jacob and Nora |
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| Grandma Jensen, Carol, and Dan, with Jensen and Brek looking on |
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| Brek taking a turn |
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| Really, he just wanted the marshmallows in the cup |
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| But in reality, he just wanted to eat the marshmallows |
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| Madison just liked to use her hands, who needs chopsticks |
The clean-up:
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| Love Lizzie's enthusiasm and muscles |
After dinner, we went to a part of Zions, took family pictures, and hiked. The scenery was beautiful!
The hike was super fun! Brek practically ran the whole way, trying to keep up with cousins. Because, as he said, "I'm a cousin too!" He LOVED his cousin time. On the way down the trail, the group of cousins ahead of us got farther ahead of us than Brek really liked. This is what he said: "Do you hear that? It sounds like Swiper the Fox. Swiper swiped my cousins! Gotta say 'Swiper no swiping, swiper no swiping, swiper no swiping.'" He cracks me up!
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| Kate, Lizzie, Sabrina, Brek, and Eliza |
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| Being a cool dude with those shades |
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| Just Brek and the background scenery |
This was the end of the trail. Most everyone climbed up to the top.
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| Love how Jonathon is helping and protecting Brek up on the mountain |
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| The group |
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| And a bit zoomed in |
Joe took Brek over to the edge and I caught these cute pictures. I love how Brek's arm is wrapped around his daddy.
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| Pointing |
And finally, the individual family pictures we took BEFORE we went on the hike. I'll end the whole post with the whole group photo.
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Dave & Carol
Jacob, Nick, Ryan, Andrew |
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Matt & Suzette
Josh, Nora, Rose, Megan |
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Peter & Marisa
Rachel, Jessica, James, Jonathon, Sara |
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Adam & Michelle
Mara, Eliza, Jensen, Eric |
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| Us! |
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Mike & Janelle
Kate, Lizzie, Sabrina |
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Dan & Michelle
James and Madison |
So the rest of the picures are from hanging out at the house and playing at the park before everyone left. I love all the "portraits" Janelle captured.
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| Brek and baby James playing the next morning |
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| Eric became Brek's #1 Favorite cousin because he gave him the hose. |
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| Brek eating dinner at the little picnic table with Jensen, Sabrina, Ryan, Lizzie, and Megan. |
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| Hanging out with the big boys. |
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| Joe reading a story |
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| Sara, Peter, Jessica, Jonathon, Rachel, and Marisa |
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| The girls eating breakfast before church |
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| Michelle working on breakfast |
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| Megan, Ryan, and Jacob enjoying Sunday breakfast |
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| Eliza and Brek heading down the slide on the beanbag, with help from Rose |
Now think up to just a few pictures back with Brek holding the hose. Ever since he first got to play with it, he was always wanting to play with it. So on Sunday morning, several of us saw him pick up the hose and didn't really think anything of it. But immediately after getting a grip on the handle, he marched straight into the little tent in the yard. The biggest boy cousins had been sleeping in there, and suddenly went screaming and running outside to try and stop him before he soaked all their stuff. It was a great moment. Luckily nothing got wet because the water wasn't actually on.
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| Andrew trying to secure his things, with Brek tumbling out of the tent |
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| The aftermath, and LOTS of giggles |
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| Our family fireside |
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Sunday night, most everyone headed up the canyon for a campfire and roasting s'mores. A few of us stayed behind at the house and I thought I'd be helpful and do dishes. Not exactly sure what happened, but just after I started the dishwasher, it started spewing bubbles.
Joe was wonderful and cleaned it all up for me.
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| Andrew climbing the ladder |
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| Another view of the rocket fun, with Jensen, Matt, Lizzie, Adam, and Jacob |
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| Adam & Peter helping kids (some not from our crew) do rockets |
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| Mike & Lizzie shooting rockets |
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A nice game of volleyball was going on.
Clockwise from front: Peter, Marisa, Josh, Rachel, Sara, and Jessica |
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| Dan & baby James |
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| Eliza blowing bubbles |
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| Joe & his mom chatting at the park |
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| Lunch Time! I have always loved watching Andrew interact with his younger cousins. Here he is eating and chatting with Sabrina, Eliza, Jessica, Lizzie, and Mara |
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| I, on the other hand, got to break away from the adults and hang out with the other teens: Jensen, Jacob, Eric, Rachel, Ryan, and Sara. Being an Aunt sure is fun! |
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| Mara |
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| Carol |
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| Dave |
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| Nora |
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| Kate |
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| Lizzie |
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| Jacob |
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| Rose |
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| Brek |
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| Andrew, James, and Peter |
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| James |
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| Andrew |
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| Peter |
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| Josh |
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| Mike |
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| Janelle |
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| Rachel |
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| Megan |
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| Joe |
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| Matt |
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| Nick |
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| Marisa & Michelle |
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| Suzette |
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| Jensen |
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| Brek & me flying a Chinese kite |
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| A view of mine and Brek's kite |
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| Eric flying a kite |
We had such a wonderful weekend with Joe's family. Brek loved playing with his cousins, even tho almost all of them are so much older than he is. It was fun to be with family; they have been well-missed since our move to Nebraska. And a side note - Brek LOVES his yellow shirt, and wants to wear it often. He also thinks the 3 of us should always wear them on the same day now, and doesn't understand when we don't.
We feel very blessed that we were able to make it for Family Camp this year.
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| Our Big Jensen Family |
