The rest of Christmas

So, Christmas was awesome. I spent 3 weeks in California with my family.

I had a lot of fun being Aunt Amy and playing with my nieces. I also got to see some of my oldest and dearest friends. I never got a picture with my twin Sara. We met up in my old town and walked around. Joe was actually able to join us for that outing.

I also got to see Betsy. She was my best friend in High School. I am greatful for good friends, even though I am not great at being a good friend.

We also went to some Christmas parties and saw friends from church. Adelynne and Amy got to see Santa that night; they were pretty excited.

Gosh darn it, these girls are cute!

We got to go see Heather in her 1st grade school Christmas program. I didn't get to take any pictures because we were in the back. To be honest, it really wasn't all that great, but it was fun to get to see Heather. She was all dressed up in a scarf and hat and they were telling "snowman" stories. Her bangs were in front of her face, and you could just barely see her toothless smile. She sang the songs so well. And she was so excited to see her cousins. She kept trying to ask her parents in the audience where Adelynne was. We couldn't figure out what she was asking, but we had a good laugh anyway. Love my nieces!

This picture of Joe was taken one night when Amy was telling stories. Apparently it was the same story each time, generally shorter, but the fun was all in the setting up. Here he is with the "daddy" Barbie and some stuffed animals. Amy is in the background with the rest of the storytelling equipment.

For Christmas gifts this year, Joe and had some paper bound and then we decorated then and made personalized coloring books. I had fun raiding my mom's button collection.

I never got a picture taken of Katie with her book, like I did of the other girls.

Heather, age 6 1/2

Amy, age 2 1/2

Adelynne, age 4 1/2

I wish I had actually remembered to write down all the funny things my nieces said during our time together.

One time, I was playing Barbies with Adelynne and Amy. Amy was playing the role of the "daddy" and "mommy" barbie. The daddy would go off to work, come home, make out with the wife, and then go back to work. Repeat. After about 5 rounds of that, mommy barbie got put in time out. She never told me why. I just thought it was funny.

One day while Adelynne was picking out her clothes to wear, she distraughtly yelled to her mother, "I don't want to wear my old clothes! They aren't new!" (She only wanted to wear the new clothes she had gotten for Christmas.)

I don't remember the other funny things, but I loved having the time to spend with them.

Here is Amy and Katie watching "Up" on an ipod. Cute cousins that love being together.

Rachel made all of the nieces colorful tutus. I got to help. It was really fun. While passing them out to the girls, somehow the boys got ahold of them and turned them into hats. We made them pose for a picture. They'll probably hate us for the rest of their lives.

David, Mark, Joe, Dustin

My nieces Heather and Katie really wanted a kitten for Christmas this year. We asked Katie what she would name a kitty if she got it, and she said she would call it "Jared cat." This is funny because my sister-in-law Rachel, their mom, was 8 1/2 months pregnant at the time, and if she had a boy they were going to name him Jared.

Turns out, Santa got their letter and they got this adorable kitten Christmas morning.

He didn't get named Jared. Actually, we named him Bruce, because he liked to perch on things like Batman, and he had tuffs on his ears like the Batman mask. He was super cute!

He did get really sick, and we were worried he wouldn't make it. Joe and my mom did a lot to nurse him to health, and actually had to force feed him with a syringe. He finally perked up as we were heading back to Utah, and has since returned to his playful kitty self.

Joe had a hard time saying goodbye to Bruce. They were buds.

I guess I'll end my Christmas post with cute pictures of Heather and Adelynne with their suckers.

I loved being with my family. I am so grateful for the time I have to spend with them, and of course, wish I could be with them more. I hope everyone else had a wonderful Christmas season!

Road Trip

A couple days after Christmas, my parents, Joe and I, and the Belt clan crowded into the van for a road trip. Our first stop was down to our Grandparents. We were only there a day and half, but it was really nice to see them again. Unfortunately, my grandmother got really sick the day we were there, so we weren't able to spend a whole lot of time together. The boys played several rounds of hearts, and Joe won both times. My Grandpa took it well, but my dad was pretty bitter about it.

From Grandma's house we went to Vegas, where my brother-in-law Dustin's parents live. We were able to stop and see my cousin Christy, and Dustin's best friend Aaron's family. Then up the mountain to Dustin's house. We had enough time for dinner, and then the rest of us (minus the Belt family) were on the road again headed back to my parent's house. Not sure if you followed that route, but oh well. These are some cute pictures of my nieces in the van.

Amy falls asleep in some of the funniest positions.

Can't you tell that I just love these girls!

Amy Explores the Tuba

In my opinion, 2 year olds are all about exploring their personality. It's even better when there are fun things to explore, like, for example, TUBAs.

When Uncle Joe arrived, he brought with him 2 tubas. He brought them for 2 reasons: 1) family pictures; and 2) to play Christmas carols outside while the street fills with onlookers of all the Christmas lights. Joe and my brother Mark (on trombone) played the most. My sister Tracy joined in on violin. I did a little on flute.

The girls love the music. They especially like that Joe can play ANYTHING!!! For some reason, Amy was especially interested in the tuba. So Uncle Joe let her give it a try. She actually got a few really good sounds out. These are just some really cute pictures of her exploring the tuba. Oh, and a side note: Amy really doesn't like wearing clothes. She's cute in anything she wears, even if it is just her underwear. :)

I think this one almost looks like she is popping out of the tuba.

(Don't mind the Glenn Beck book on the table. We all had a chance to read it this holiday season. Just ignore the differing political views between several people in the family, and it's all good.)

After she got some good sounds out of the mouthpiece, she discovered the bell.

She enjoyed yelling inside it.

She made us all laugh! Maybe we have found another tuba player, just this time in the Biggs family.

Christmas Nativity

I needed somewhere to start with blogging about my 3 week Christmas vacation, so I figured I would start with our family's re-telling of the nativity.

This year as Grandpa read the story from the Bible, we had the girls, my 4 adorable nieces dress up and act out the story. My husband Joe was chosen to play the role of Joseph (because that is his name.) Heather, as the oldest, got to be Mary this year. Adelynne and Katie were angels. Amy was a shepherd. I got to help direct the cast out in front of the Christmas tree when it was their respective turn.

Right before we started I caught Amy and Katie in the other room having fun. They are so cute!

Here is me performing my responsibilities with my actresses and actor.

Our Mary and Joseph making their journey

and then settling in "Bethlehem"

Here comes our shepherd:

The shepherd made it to the manger

Here come the angels. Adelynne is holding up the star to guide them

My brother Mark played the role of the 3 wiseman, courtesy of our mom's pillow

After the nativity story we sang Christmas carols

Heather sang some of the songs from her school's Christmas program. She's so cute without those 2 front teeth.

I sure do love my family. And I love the Christmas story, that reminds us all for the reason of the season. A time to celebrate the birth and life of our Savior. A time to give thanks and show gratitude. A time to be with family.

Jensen Family Tradition

Once again, I'm using all of Janelle's pictures. Gotta love having a sister-in-law who takes tons of pictures at family gatherings. I guess my whining in my previous post about all the "work" to do blog posts now seems somewhat irrelevent considering I cut my "work" in half. hee hee!

Anway, on to the point: Because I finally spent my first Thanksgiving with the Jensens, I was finally able to participate in a long-standing Jensen Family tradition: GINGERBREAD HOUSES.

I was pretty darn excited, considering I haven't made one since elementary school. We all gathered at Janelle's house and spent several hours with frosting, hot glue, and candy. I don't know of any better way to spend a Saturday afternoon; well, maybe except for the hot glue.

Here's a display of our wonderful candy spread. There certainly were a lot of choices, which allowed for the imagination to go wild! Oh, and that's Megan making her choices, with Josh, Rachel, and Jo-Jo in the background.

Rose, Kate, and Nora in the early planning stages

Suzette (holding a sleeping Madison), Megan, and Matt

Me with Sara and Rachel. Megan and Jessica had been there earlier as well.

I discovered that one of the best parts is seeing everyone's finished creations

Kate (7)

Rose (8)

Jo-Jo (7)

Nora (8)

Rachel (12)

James (6)

Michelle, Dan, and Madison

Grandma Jensen

Carol

Me

A little more upclose. Rachel let me use her ideas of using Nerds as the christmas lights. I also build a sleigh like her, but used different candies for it. And Kate gave me the idea of having snowy grass. I did put more grass on the other side as well. I especially like my Hershey's kiss as the chimney with the "smoke" coming out.

After I finished, I helped Sara (age 11) with hers. She has some pretty clever ideas

I also enjoyed Janelle's capture of Mike and Joe. They were great and ran to a couple stores to find more glue sticks. This is a really good picture of my brother-in-law Mike.

And of course, my Joe, in all his charming glory!

It sure was a fun way to welcome in the Holiday Season!