Jensen Family Camp

The first part of our Utah vacation was Jensen Family Camp. For day 1, we missed the first activity at the temple due to an overtired and very cranky toddler, but he was happy and rested by the time everyone got back to Grandma Jensen's house, so the fun began. All photo credit goes to Janelle; it sure is great having an amazing photographer in the family!

The tablet provided mucho interest and entertainment:

Then we went to Asplund's house and the kids did a photo booth:

Brek helped seed apricots, or "apricops" as he calls them.

Dinner was amazing. And following that, the children put on a play:

Day 2 was at Dave and Carol's house:

Brek's favorite part was the rockets:

Before lunch, Jessica and Marisa started pedicures. I participated:

Brek REALLY got into it. There were several brave aunts and cousins that entrusted their feet and toes to a 3-year-old boy:

I don't know what this is or what he's doing, but I felt it needed to be documented and saved on the blog:

The evening concluded at Mike and Janelle's house, culminating in the roasting of s'mores after dinner:

We enjoyed our time with family, and Brek especially loved all the cousin time.

June

I turned 30. We celebrated our 6th Wedding Anniversary. We went swimming a lot. Pictures:

Birthday. Maybe now that I'm 30 people will stop treating me like I'm 18. At least that's what I hope.

Anniversary: I didn't enjoy my salted carmel brownie from my birthday so we made raspberry cream cupcakes for our anniversary. 

Brek LOVES swimming. Ever since the pool closed last August, he has been asking if it is "next summer yet?" The first day the pool opened, when Brek woke up from his nap Joe came out in his swimming trunks. Brek just looked. We asked him what it meant. And he seriously couldn't get all of his clothes off fast enough before actually using words and telling us we could go swimming. 

On this day in particular, he though my strappy heals were a fitting ensemble with the swim trunks. He sure has his own fashion sense.

Soccer Camp

Well, since Toddler Soccer went so well, we decided to try British Soccer Camp, which was every morning for an hour for a whole week. The determining factors for Brek were a) he got his own real soccer ball and b) he got a t-shirt, which he thinks is a soccer jersey, so giving up his jersey from the Y was ok.

His coach was Coach Matt, who, of all the coaches, had the thickest accent and spoke the fastest. We thought it was quite comical that they gave the hardest-to-understand coach to the youngest kids, but hey, we got through it. Ironically, whenever the kids tried to call him Coach Matt, it sounded like "Coach Mutt."

The biggest thing that Brek learned was about "small kicks" instead of huge ones across the whole field. He definitely has learned to have more control of the ball.

They played lots of different games and that made it a lot of fun. (Tho Brek still had a hard time understanding why they didn't get to kick the ball into the big goals the whole time.)

According toe Brek, falling on the ground is an important part of soccer.

At the very end of the week, Coach Matt presented each kid with a certificate and he wrote a personal note about his experience working with each child.

Coach Matt's note to Brek said: Brek is one of the happiest kids I have ever coached. Such a keen young soccer player who is already showing a lot of potential. I really hope Brek continues with soccer when he grows up. Well done!

My Sister's 30th Birthday Texts

I wanted to remember the texts my sister sent to me when I turned 30:


HAPPY BIRTHDAY SISTER!! I love you! Throughout the day you will receive 30 texts of reasons you are awesome. From me. :)

30 things about you that are awesome, here is numero uno:
#1: Your smile spreads happiness.
#2: Your ugly cry is the most sincere expression of true faith and true emotion.
#3: You have an ugly cry. :)
#4: You love people with all your heart.
#5: You value and treasure your friendships.
#6: You are a great listener when I'm talking your ear off.
#7: You are smart, and smart about things that I'm not, or that I wouldn't think you are knowledgeable about, (like financial stuff).
#8: You're financially responsible - way more than me!
#9: It's no secret when you are angry.
#10: You took on the calling of motherhood before you were ever a mother, loving unconditionally other people's children.
#11: You sincerely share in others' joys and sorrows.
#12: You make some fantastic aprons.
#13: You have some crafty talents (see #12, cross stitching).
#14: You sweat in some odd places (which isn't unique because lots of women do), but you deal with it gracefully and vocally.
#15: You have been to and lived in Russia - holy cow!
#16: You are great at planning fun activities for your own family and for other family/friend get togethers.
#17: You truly and fully forgive me, (not always immediately, but when you take your time to forgive me, that is when I know I'm completely forgiven).
#18: You like animals - specifically mine - (but I think you like them more than you admit to).
#19: You are pretty great at agreeing with me ... and validating me when I am venting for whatever reason.
#20: You make some really delicious foods (but only few of which I've had the privilege of enjoying, sadly).
#21: You introduced me to some new foods (you deserve credit for mine AND Dustin's like for hummus, but you also get credit for our dislike of cauliflower mashed potatoes) :)
#22: You really try your best at everything you do - you may not always succeed, or feel you have succeeded, but you put your whole heart into anything you do.
#23: You break out into a rash when you're up in front of people, and that's awesome because when I notice that on other people, I think of you and miss you.
#24: You are more concerned about others than yourself. I have noticed that most when others suffer physically, the pain you deal with doesn't matter to you.
#25: You are not afraid to challenge yourself - like when you did the Bridgeport triathlon. Total respect here.
#26: You can sing in bass clef. Dude, I can't do that. Awesome.
#27: You are patient. Don't smirk, it's true. You wait out the tough times humbly, hopeful, and frugally.
#28: You are still young at heart, finding joy in jumping waves at the beach, craving Disneyland rides, and enjoying silly sitcoms on the Disney channel.
#29: We can talk about just anything (hairy boobs and itchy vaginas) while about doing just anything (taking a dump in a church bathroom and having the lights turned out on you).

Aaaaaaaannnd #30: So as I have been thinking all day about all the reasons you are awesome, nothing can beat out just how much of the space in my heart you fill. How so much of who I am is because of you. You have transformed me and inspired me to be my best self, and you do that to everyone you involve in your life. Don't thank me for the sappy dialogue, you're welcome.

So there you have it. 30 reasons why you are awesome. You can now officially be 30.

Oh but wait, I have to make a subtraction.
-1: Eating nutella on a banana is not your favorite way to eat nutella. So I guess you will just be 29 again. :)
HAPPY BIRTHDAY MY DEAREST SISTER!!