Family Camp

Well, I'm finally getting around to writing and posting about Family Camp. I appologize for the delay. I haven't been able to get the collection of photos from some of the other/better photographers, but I'm hoping that when I do I can add some more pictures.
After we got back from Wyoming and MAT camp, we had a 2 day - turned 2 week family party. I finally got to meet the last of Joe's siblings, his older sister Lorilee, and her family. They have been living in Vermont, but just moved to Arkansas. I've heard so much about her; it was great to actually get to know her. And it was fun for all of her kids to actually get some fun time with cousins that they hardly knew at all. I had fun watching them all interact.
Our first day together we had a picnic in Provo, and then went over to BYU campus and bowled. We took up over 6 lanes. I bowled with the older cousins, on the only lanes that didn't use bumpers.

Andrew, Megan, Spencer, Hyrum, and Ryan

I thought this picture turned out really cool!

Gotta love those bowling shoes!

I was so close to breaking 100, but Nick took the lead in the last round. I was rather bummed.

After bowling, we went over to the Cougar Stadium. Nephew Josh works there, and he was able to tell us a little bit about what it is like taking care of the grounds, and we also got to visit the locker room. We all had fun getting into the lockers.

Here is Sara enjoying a seat inside the locker

I caught Jacob peaking out.

After being on cmpus, we all got changed and took that big family picture that I posted earlier. Then after we ate dinner we had Family Home Evening, hosted by Peter and Marisa's family.

Thanks to Peter's handiwork, we got to build the Salt Lake Temple together.

On Day 2 we went to Alpine to the Moyle Family Park. If you live in Utah and have never been, I highly recommend visiting! It is open every Tuesday during the summer, and the descendents of John Moyle come together in pioneer dress and share things about the life of John Moyle. We got to tour the house where John Moyle lived; the kids got to make candles and make butter, as well as learn to dance and play pioneer games.

Nick and Ryan; Hyrum and Peter

the faceoff between Isaac and Jacob

More pioneer games:

Dan & Eric

Megan, Nick, and Spencer

After a picnic lunch we all went swimming at the pool in Lehi. It was awesome! Then we gathered for dinner. We thought it only fitting to take a tuba-generation photo. Joe has had a lot of influence on his nephews. Here are all of us Tuba players in the Jensen Family:

Isaac, Ryan, Joe, Amy

We had a wonderful time together and are grateful for such a wonderful family to be apart of. We loved having those of Joe's siblings visit that we don't get to see often. And even those that we live close to, it was fun to chat and spend time together. We always look forward to time with family!

Jensen Family Pictures

We had a HUGE Jensen Family Photo taken as part of our Family Camp (which I'll blog about later...eventually). We've got the entire group, minus 2. A few days later we were within 5 minutes of actually having everyone there for another shot, but kiddies had to get to bed so unfortunately this is what we have to work with. It sure has been fun having everyone together. Back: Andrew, Dave, Nick, Adam, Eric, Peter, Joe, Me, Hyrum, Spencer, Matt, Megan, Josh, Michelle, Dan, and Mike

Middle Row (Seated): Carol, Eliza, Michelle, Marisa, James, Grandma (Janet), Lorilee, Naomi, Rose (or Nora, can't tell which one of the twins), Lizzie, Janelle, Sabrina, and Kate

Front row: Ryan, Jacob, Jensen, Mara, Jo-Jo, Jessica, Rachel, Peter, Abby, Issac, and Nora (or Rose)

The following few pictures are basically the same, but included for some funny moments:

Look at Dave's face!

And look at Dave again

Another good one of the group

I sure do love being a part of the Jensen family!

MAT Camp 09

Two weeks ago we ventured over to Evanston, Wyoming for a week for MAT Camp (Music-Arts-Technology). This was Joe's 4th year as a teacher, and my 2nd year in attendance. We love the town of Evanston and hope someday we'll be blessed to settle and raise a family there. For now, it's just a dream.
While there, we stay with families that open their homes to teachers; and this year, we got to stay in Betty and Larry's "mansion." When we called the couple to find out how to get to their home, they told us to look at the mountain, find the highest house with the green roof, and follow it. They weren't kidding. Their log cabin, 3 story home was the highest home in town, and overlooked EVERYTHING! One night, we watched the dust-buster plane BELOW us. The view was amazing. It made me fall in love with Evanston even more.

The view from where we stayed

Joe taught the low-brass workshop, and then several classes he co-taught with his nephew Andrew: a 3-5th grade "Everything Makes Music" class, a John Zorn "Cobra" class, and an advanced electronic music class. He also played baritone in the band, trombone in the jazz band, and tuba in the orchestra.

Like I said, Joe's nephew Andrew was there teaching with him.

Actually, ALL of Andrew's family was there. It was definitely a JENSEN party. 

Andrew also taught a blogging class, and played french horn in the band and orchestra.

Andrew's brother Nick played clarinet in almost every group he could. He is awesome!

Here is Nick playing in the woodwind quintet on the last day. He's the 2nd one in from the left.

Ryan also played tuba up at camp.

Here is Ryan and Joe; I think they are reading the paper in the woodshop room.

This is Ryan and Jacob practicing yo-yo. They took the "Yo-Yo for Musicians" class that was offered.

Carol, the wonderful mother of the brood of boys, was also there at camp.
She took a ton of world music classes.

Joe and Andrew, aka "TubaTronix" performed at the faculty performance. This was their setup before they went onstage. They did great. It's always so nerve wracking for me because I get nervous about all the things that could go wrong. I'm such a great and supporting wife that way! Sadly, in all my nerves I forgot to record it. Sorry.

Here we are waiting for TubaTronix to perform. From front to back: me, Ryan, Jacob, Carol, and Nick

This is Andrew and Joe in their element.

This is the Cobra class. Very entertaining to watch!

This is the "Everything Makes Music" class. The kids got to play around with DDR dance pad, Guitar Hero, and various other 'toys' that Andrew uses.

Cobra in performance

The last pictures are of Andrew and Joe playing around once camp was over. You can tell these boys have just as much fun as the kids!

Look at that serious face!

Now, you may ask what I do all week. I played tuba in the band, and also attempted to play cello in the orchestra. Cello? you ask. You're right to question; I don't actually play the cello. I learned for about 2 months in one of my BYU classes, but that was 2 years ago. Let's just say it wasn't easy. In 2 months of beginning cello, they don't teach you how to play C naturals, or any flats. The pieces we performed were very challenging. One of the songs I played the first note of each measure. That was a good improvement for me! But it was fun! Next year I may try more; we'll have to see.

I also watch the boys teach a lot; I helped out with the 3-5 graders a few times, because 2 adults and 20 kids just isn't enough! I also bought ear plugs and worked on some schooling too.

All in all, it was a wonderful and successful week! We can hardly wait for next year!

Deseret News Marathon

On July 24th, my oldest brother Mark came out from California with the other 3 members in his ward's Young Men's Presidency to run the Deseret News Marathon. My entire family was extremely proud of Mark for all the hard work he had put into training. I came back from Evanston for the morning so I could cheer him on; I'm so glad I was able to be a part of this very special day! All of the boys wore red shirts with "Team Organ Donor" on the back. Some people didn't quite get the joke, and thought all the guys had donated organs before entering the race. But in reality, in case they died while running, they wanted their organs to be donated to science. All of the wives wore red shirts too. My sister-in-law Rachel even brought one for me to wear too. Sadly, red was a somewhat common color among the runners, and we all got very anxious whenever we saw a red shirt coming our way. We were situated at the 17 mile mark.

This is the first of "our guys" that came through.

And here's our #2.

He actually ended up finishing first of the 4.

He was doing very well and still pumped for the remainder of the race.

Along came #3:

We waited patiently and Mark finally made it!
His little girls were very excited to finally see him. As were Rachel and I; we were getting worried.
He made it to mile 17 in 3 1/2 hours. Only 9 more miles to go!

Luckily, because of the marathon trail, not only did we see the guys at Mile 17, but we also got to see them again at Mile 20. I was glad to see that even in those 3 miles, Mark's spirits had risen.

Rachel went down and jogged with him for a little bit too.

He had to stop and switch socks and apply a bandaid to his blisters. Once he was done, he bonced back up and went on his way.

This is our #3 guy finishing; his time was 5 hours and 1 minute.
After that, we all just had to wait for Mark.

The marathon ended right where the parade route ended too. It was fun to see the floats, and support the military there. I also enjoyed listening to all of the marching bands too. I was hoping that one would be playing as Mark finished the race, because I knew that would keep him going strong to the very end. And just as I hoped, there was one; he later commented that hearing the band helped him push hard to the finish line.

As the 6 hour time limit approached, Rachel and I went walking down the route to try and find Mark. We finally caught up to him

Just before Mile 26 Rachel asked me to start running with him. I actually got to finish the race with him. It was pretty exciting! I felt at a loss for words when it came to encouraging him; all I knew was that I was super proud of my big brother. The only downside of running was that I couldn't take pictures.

He finished the marathon in 6 hours and 2 minutes!
Here he is getting his time chip removed.

He was pretty excited to lay down and get some water.

All of his friends were there to cheer him on and see him finish.

Here they all are with their greatest cheer team - their lovely wives

Mark and Rachel are the two on the far right.

And here are the 4 marathon runners, proudly displaying their medals!
They all wore them to Church on Sunday

I love my brother Mark. He is great about cheering you on and supporting you in whatever it is you're doing or going through. He loves his family. I love watching him with his little girls. He married an amazing woman and I love the additions that Rachel, Heather, and Katie are to our Biggs family. He is a hard worker and a great example of dedication. He is a wonderful example of a worthy holder of the Priesthood and exercises those responsibilities with the greatest care. I love every opportunity that I have to be with him! Mark, I'm so proud of you!!!