Family Reunion

The annual Jensen Family Reunion was last week! I have been so fortunate to have some of the best grandparents in the world, and I am so glad they had reunions every year. I think in all my life, I have only missed one. I have so many fun memories from our reunions, and hope that my kids can continue to have great memories too! This year we mostly hung out for 2 of the days, and had organized games and activities on Saturday. The games were super fun, with old fashioned relay races. (Great job Grandad!) We even got to watch an old fashioned movie on the big screen!! (Thanks Rick!!) I highly recommend the "Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again!" We camped in Joes Valley, close to Potter's Pond, so the kids spent quite a bit of time on the pond, swimming to the island, and hi-jacking canoes. The reunion wasn't complete until we had a few rounds of paintball. (Thanks for the bruises guys!) It was great to see the next generation of Jensens all playing together. What a legacy we have! Thanks everyone who made this reunion so great!!!

Un-birthday?

Jensen's birthday was last week. He had so many "parties", I almost started to feel like the week was full of "un-birthdays". (Not really, but it did cross my mind. Sometimes I think I may have too much in common with the Mad Hatter.) We celebrated his birthday almost everyday last week!! Sunday night we had cake, ice cream, and fireworks at Grandma LouAnns, Tuesday we went boating and Jensen was sure that the BBQ was for his birthday, Thursday we opened presents and had cake with the drillteam, Thursday night we opened present when we got to Just Grandma & Grandads, then on Friday night we had cake, ice cream, and more presents when were at our family reunion! (Boy do we know how to milk a birthday for all it is worth!!) When he walked into the gym on his birthday, he was serenaded by the Royals. In years to come, he might appreciate that 14 cute girls sang to him! Jensen was excited to get money from Grammy J, and some of his favorite gifts were "real" walkie talkies and squirt guns. Thanks to everyone who helped make his day - I mean week - special!! I can't believe that our baby is already five - wow does time fly!! He is very independant for being five - he was quite certain that he could cut and serve his cake, and light his own candles! Jensen has been making our hearts happy for five years, and we are grateful for every moment of it. What a blessing he is in our lives.

Rock The Boat

Amber Black & I are the advisors for the Royals, our high school dance team. . . which means that our children are part of the team as well. Last week the team had their summer camp, and for one of the activities, some very great parents took the Royals boating, so our kids got to (had to) go as well! All three of my kids had a blast!!! Brooklyn had fun on a kayak, and ended up needing some help getting back to the shore. Brittany and Jensen played on innertubes for awhile, and they they all went on tubes behind the boats. Jensen went on a single tube and was so proud that he didn't fall off. (I wish I had a picture.) Brittany and Brooklyn went in a different tube, and had a blast!! All in all, they had a great time!!!

Memory Lane

Memory Lane...
1. As a comment on our blog, leave one memory that you and I and/or BJ and/or our kids had together. It doesn't matter if you knew any of us a little or a lot, anything you remember!
2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses.
(Not very many of my blog-hopper friends actually leave comments - so this one may be a big flop!!)

Prettiest Pig Farmers

The girls are raising pigs for the fair, and I just have to say that I think they must be the prettiest pig farmers ever!!! The pig pens are by some of the mares, so when we go to the pigs, the girls have to check the water - and it takes quite awhile for the tank to fill up. They are very responsible, and very patient when they fill the water!!! BJ and his brother built some pretty good pens for the pigs this spring. They pigs have their own houses, complete with misters, and they have a ton of shade!! When the girls get to the pigs, they spray the pens down (which sometimes turns into a wet game!!) and check the feed. We try to get out there at least once a day - more if we can squeeze it in!! Is is a wet, stinky, mucky, messy job, but they do it (usually without complaining too much!) I just had to post this because I am so proud of how responsible they are being for their animals!!

Festive Fourth

What a fun and exhausting 4th of July!!! The day started with trying to get 2 floats, 1 truck, my kids, and 50 little girls ready for the parade. Brooklyn marched with the mini-drill team, and did a fabulous job. (She was even with the oldest group - way to go!!) Jensen and Brittany had a blast watching the parade, catching candy, getting sprayed by the fire engines, and watching all the great floats. Then we un-assembled floats, and went to the park for some fun. The kids played all the games for kids, and even won some prizes at some of the booths. Then we hung out at the dunking booth for quite awhile (the drillteam was in charge of the dunking booth). Brooklyn was dunked once, and wasn't quite sure she wanted to go again, Brittany didn't want to try it, and Jensen was a repeated dunkee. He had so much fun getting dunked over and over again! He would sit on the bench, and plug his nose, but when the seat went down, both hands flew up, and water went in his nose anyway. Then it was time to dive for dollars!! Brooklyn was lined up on the side of the pool with TONS of other kids. When the whistle blew, she had a hard time getting anywhere where there was room enough to dive down for the money. Then she just kept diving down! She ended up with $5.05. Not bad eh? Then we ventured over to watch the horseshoe tournament (where BJ's nephew's were competing.) The girls went to free swim, but Jensen was too young, so he and his cousin went to the ballpark where fire engines were spraying water. Needless to say, they had a lot of fun, and they found the mud. (See video) Then it was home to clean up, then to the park for dinner, and over to JC Hunt for fireworks. BJ's sister and her husband have a business that is right across the street from where the fireworks are launched, so we had great seats, complete with drinks and popcorn! The fireworks were fabulous! All in all, it was a great 4th, done wonderfully in Blanding style!! Happy Birthday America!

Blanding Block Party

We have the greatest neighbors. A lady who lives up the road organized a block party for our neighborhood during the week of the 4th. She went to city council, and got approval to block off the street. There was tons of yummy food, water slides and pools, chalk art, bicycle decorating, basketball, waterballoon volleyball, horseshoe type games, and fireworks to top it all off!! The kids had tons of fun, we got to visit with some neighbors, BJ even took a break from farming to play hoops for awhile. What a fun event! Thanks to all those who contributed and helped make this evening so much fun!!