Christmas 2008 Part 1

Both I and Aaron have always loved Christmas- having said that I must say that with Porter around Christmas takes on a whole new meaning of wonderful! It is so fun to see how much he enjoys the little things like getting to turn on the Christmas tree each day. One of my very favorite Christmas moments with him this year was when we went to see the Christmas lights. One of Aaron's clients has a house with 42,000 lights that are all coordinated to music which they broadcast- Porter was fascinated- we let him out of his carseat to sit on my lap while we watched and he couldn't hold still- he kept dancing to the music bopping all over the place and trying to climb on the dash to get a closer view of the light show.

We spent Christmas Eve day at Nanna and Pa's playing games, eating, having a Christmas Program and of course opening presents- Porter was so excited that he skipped his nap(s) and by the time presents came around he was a bit very cranky. I forgot my camera but Aunt Chels got some good pictures which I will have to get from her when her family gets back from their big ski trip.

Christmas Day we planned on sleeping in but the wind was blowing so hard it woke me up early- With that and the snow we decided that if we were going to make it to Grandma and Grandpa J's we better get going- The first road we tried was very drifted and at one point completely blocked and in the process of being cleared by some kind soul out on a tractor. We turned around and decided to try and go North on a different road (It seemed silly because our destination was to the South) fortunately we were able to make it to the Highway and then turned south and things were fairly clear from there.

Then followed more food fun and presents- Porter didn't quite get the whole unwrapping thing but he had a great time helping grandma hand presents out.

Merry Christmas 2008

I am so bad about Christmas Letters that I only got a handful actually mailed..... So for all of our lovely friends and family her is our "online" Christmas greetings:

Merry Christmas 2008

~

We hope this season finds you all happy and well. May you all have a lovely Christmas and a wonderful year in 2009.

Between camping trips, hunting adventures, the Elders quorum presidency and his job as the Sales Manager at Yost Aaron kept busy this year. Porter adores his dad and loves to wrestle and feed the dog with him every night.

We feel very blessed that Audra has the opportunity to stay home with Porter, a job she absolutely loves! Last year she started designing graphics for digital scrapbooking and was hired this year to design for an online store. That and Porter have kept her busy but she also found time for lots of canning and her church callings doing the ward bulletin, newsletters and ward website.

Porter has grown so much the year & it has been so much fun to watch him learn and all those fun ‘firsts’. He is a very loving child and more than happy to give out kisses and loves. He loves being outside and adores our cat whom he calls “ickles” He loves to cuddle up on a your lap with a book playing fetch with the dog, and hauling his toys around in his ‘CAT’ dump truck. Porter is definitely the light of our lives & always keeps us busy & smiling

Scrambled Eggs

My little helper loves to sit on the edge of the fridge when I open it- he's usually so good that I didn't even think about it when I was cleaning out the fridge this afternoon and all of the sudden..... I felt really bad because I snapped 'no' at him and his little lip quivered- So I left the eggs for a minute to tell him I was sorry- he calmed right down, walked over to the eggs and kept pointing at them and saying "Uh Oh!" In a very concerned voice-

I guess the lesson to me is don't shout over cracked eggs!

1200 Free Digital Prints & 20pg photobook for $6.99 w/Free Shipping

Have you heard about Artscow.com yet? It is an AWESOME printing service for not only for photo prints but scrapbooks as well- I have several fun projects for Christmas but I can't tell you the specifics just in case the lucky recipient is reading this.

Right now they are offering 1200 free prints and a $6.99 20 pg photobook with FREE shipping and some other fun FREE ITEMS just for signing up with them- Their photobooks are so easy to do you just upload pictures from your computer drag and drop them on the pages and tada- an AWESOME gift or memory book to keep!

Plus they give you additional freebies for every $15 you spend (including your shipping costs) you can sign up at artscow.com and start ordering great Christmas presents!

Also if anyone is interested I have a couple of coupons from them for an 8x8, 20 pg photo book for just 11.99 with FREE SHIPPING- I don't have many so if your interested (and serious about using it) just e-mail me at audrajjensen@msn.com

Hunting Season

Hunting Season is over..... We (I should say Aaron) didn't get anything this year and I am kind of relieved. Although extra meat in the freezer is always nice I have nightmares about Bambi hanging in my garage. Aaron got to go a couple of different times with his friends - I think out of the group they came away with 4 or 5 deer but no elk this year.

I and Porter always miss him when he's gone but we're glad he gets to go have fun with the guys- So on behalf of Aaron- Thanks for all the fun to Scott, Bill, Eli, Clint, Clint, Colby, Kelly, Jacob, Trevor and anyone else I missed (Oh and thanks for getting him home safe too!)

Here's a few pictures

A few more tags...

HUSBAND TAG
1. Where did you meet?
It's a long story basically we met at the singles ward

2. How long did you date before you got married?
Almost 4 months- We both just knew!

3. How long have you been married?
We celebrated our 8th Anniversary in July!!!

4. What is your favorite feature of his?
I love his blue eyes and how they change colors depending on what he wears.

5. What is your favorite quality of his?
He is very thoughtful and is always helping me out with Porter and around the house.

6. Does he have a nickname for you?
Maybe......

7. What is his favorite color?
Definitely RED!

8. What is his favorite food?
Shrimp or Steak

9. What is his favorite sport?
Hunting and Fishing!!!

10. When and where was your first kiss?
It's a secret....

11. What is your favorite thing to do as a couple?
Go Camping.

12. Do you have any kids?
Porter

13. Does he have a hidden talent?
He has lots of talents- Some might argue it's not a talent per se' but he is very determined

14. How old is he?
10 months older than me!

15. Who said "I love you" first?
Him

16. What is his favorite type of music?
Talk Radio...

17. What do you admire most about him?
He is very kind and a hard worker- He takes such good care of our little family.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NAME 6 QUIRKS

1. I could practically live on Orange juice and lemonade

2. I'm very particular about how my clothes hang in my closet.

3. I use to read tons but since having Porter I've got hooked on books on tape, I almost always have one going when I clean the house, drive anywhere, and even take one camping to listen to while I'm hanging out in the camper.

4. I loooove Taco Bell (I think your right Kathy about it getting in your blood and I only worked there a week!!!)

5. My major in college for the first two years was International Studies with an Emphasis in the Middle East (Like I would ever actually use that!) It's a really good thing that I switched to Business.

6. I love to get the mail. I guess it started in college and even though now its mostly boring stuff I love sorting through the envelopes and the occasional package.

Porter & Ickles

I've always thought that fall leaves make such a great backdrop for photo's so the other day I and Chels took the boys out in the yard to catch a few pictures.

I love this one she got of Porter & his cat Ickles- Porter loves his cat (which the rest of us tolerate) The poor cat never actually had a name until one day Porter started calling him Ickle and it just stuck.

I can't believe how attached to the cat he is we can't go outside without him instantly saying ickle ickle and looking around until he finds him. Ickle is also pretty attached to Porter. He follows him around the yard like a puppy and even lets Porter drag him around by the head, tail or even sometimes upside down.

The Little Dragon

We started off our Halloween Celebrations on Thursday the 30th with a visit to the Pumkin Walk with Porter, Mom, Dad, Aunt Chels, Cousin Karson and Nanna- The boys especially loved the Sesame Street display

Friday afternoon Mom and Porter went over to Chelsea's and made Halloween sugar cookies with her, Nanna and the boys- After a quick nap we went to the ward trick or treat. Porter didn't quite get the whole trick or treat think- he was more interested in walking around and looking at everyone until he figured out there was candy in his bucket then that became all he was interested in.

Next we went to see Grandma Farrar and then to Grandma J to see her and Uncle Scott. We tried to go see Nanna, Pa, Papa George, Uncle Aust and Uncle Eli but they had several sickies so we just said a quick hi at the door. Hopefully we'll get to make a late trick or treat trip there later in the week. In the mean time here's some pictures and a cute video.

Picture Tag

It was supposed to be my 6th picture in my 6th folder right? Well it's of the little man (surprise surprise) when he was about 6 months old- I tag Roxanna, Chelsea, and Genessa

Look-a-like Meter

A couple of weeks ago we took Porter in to the Dr. when I walked in the receptionist and billing clerk commented on how cute Porter was and that he looked just like me (yes that means I must be cute too!!) A minute or two later his dad walks in and the receptionist tells says "Wow- now I think he looks just like his dad"

So.... Either Porter has strong features from each of us and thus looks like both of us
Or.... Me and his dad look the same (are you kidding?)

Well today I tried out the look-a-like meter and they confirmed that he looks equally like both of us- Of course I had to try it again with different pictures and got the same results.... Poor Kid!!!

Porter's Birthday

OK so this is a little really late... over a month but I just had to share a couple of pictures from Porter's B-day party/barbecue.

Porter is not really into TV but the one show he will watch is Mickey Mouse Clubhouse so we picked that for the theme. It is so cute he picked up the song at the end of the show, he doesn't really sing it but he walks around saying "Hot Dog" especially when he hears similar sounding music.

Redneck Fun

In August Aaron's brother Chirs his wife Laura and their boys Zack and Garrett came for a visit. As it is a common summer occurrence it wasn't too surprising when someone pulled out the tomato paste cans and some 'special' fireworks. . . . Don't try this at home folks! Uncle Reid who is literally an aerospace engineer (or something like that) calculated based on timing that they manage to shoot the tomato paste can between 150 and 210 feet in the air on average. . .

Clever Clever Boys.
Entertaining? Strangely enough.....
A little Redneck? Most definitely!

Toddler Tornado and the Yogurt Cup

Where did this little Toddler Tornado come form and what happened to the sweet little baby who used to snuggle in my lap?

A few weeks ago (right before labor day) I ran in to town to run a few quick errands. Porter wasn't trilled with getting in and out of his carseat and after a struggle to get him buckled in after the grocery store I was relieved that he was being relatively good... He had managed to get his hands on a cup of yogurt in the bag next to him... I figured it would entertain him at least long enough to let me do a quick drop off at the library and make it home....

Little did I know he actually could figure out how to open the yogurt container- and proceeded to give everything from his face to his toes a yogurt Spa treatment. He was quite pleased with himself and got this big grin on his face when I went to get him out of his seat at home. He thought it was great fun but let me tell you speaking from my new found experience, while yogurt may be fun to mush into a carseat-it is NOT fun to clean out of a carseat!

Porter Slides

Porter loves slides- Big or small it doesn't matter and he wants to do it himself... We have a little slide in our back yard that he looooves to go down again and again. He does really good getting up the stairs and going down by himself but recently he has decided that backwards is the way to go. Here's a quick little clip of him on his slide- make sure to turn on your sound to hear the cute little yell he does right before he goes down.

I am REALLY BEHIND on this blog so hopefully I can get in some more posts this week!

Jensen Family Trip

I have been so bad at posting lately- we've had a busy few weeks as a family. Faithsisters Scrapbooking picked me up as a digital products designer (YEAH!) so I have been busy getting things ready for that and learning the ins and outs of their site.

In the end of August we took a trip with Grandma and Grandpa J, Uncle Scott, Aunt Roxanna, Uncle Justin and Cousin Macy. We had a lot of fun- Porter was sooo good with all the traveling and slept most of the time we were in the car. He was especially excited to see cousin Macy. Here's a few pictures from our vacation.

Chocolate Milk- YUMM!

So Tired...

Port & Grandma

In the Pilot's Seat

Wow What a Big Airplane!

Unseen Blessings

I had an interesting experience this morning that really got me to thinking about how many times in our lives we are blessed and directed by the spirit without even realizing it.

Porter has been sick the past couple of days (yuck yuck yuck) anyways- He had just made a sick mess and of course gotten yuckiness all over himself in the process. I bathed him off and dressed him- and he seemed in a fairly good mood, yet pretty mellow so rather than haul him and an armful (both our clothes, two towels, a changing pad, and a blanket covered in yuck) to the laundry room I left him in his room to play.

I was in the laundry room less than a minute when I had the thought that I really should go check on him which was kind of strange because I'd barely left him and he wasn't crying or anything.

When I walked back towards his room I was surprised to see him in the bathroom right next to the tub- which of course I hadn't yet drained from his bath. I can't figure out what drew him to go in there- he hadn't been thrilled about the bath so I don't think he was trying to go back for more and the lights in the bathroom were off, and it was pretty dark in there (windowless)...

There wasn't much water in the tub to begin with and the laundry room is within good earshot of the bathroom so I don't know that anything would have happened, but you never know.... I truly think that the spirit whispered in my ear to check on him and maybe not so much to keep him safe as for the lesson that it taught me to appreciate all the unseen blessings in my life.

Temple Open House

A couple of weeks ago I and PJ got to go the the TF Temple Open house with Grandma C, Aunt Niecie and Auntie Em. It was so beautiful (as they all are) If you want to read about it click HERE. It was a long drive and a long day but lots of fun. It is a lot like the R Temple but about 1/2 the size. We stopped while we where there and saw S Falls.

Tagged...

I am sooo bad at taking care of tags- both of these are at least a week or two old- If you tagged me and I haven't done it yet I am sooooo sorry it must have got lost in the shuffle. The first tag came from my blog buddy over at Be It Ever So Humble. "Take three pictures of the view from your desk" Well.... my desk location varies from day to day- today it happens to be at the kitchen table- I took a picture of the outside of my fridge which currently has 8 wedding invitations on it (all from the past 6 weeks) but then I worried that some of them wouldn't their pic posted on my blog so I left that one off. Here are the three that made the cut:

Part of a picture on my wall by Greg Olsen

Mickey Mouse Clubhouse

PJ's Toy's

The next tag was from Shel's Scraps- Name 7 Random things about yourself:

1. My associates degree was in International Studies with an emphasis in the Middle East (I totally use that one everyday as a SAHM out here in rural America)

2. We just celebrated our 8 year anniversary!! XOXOXOXO

3. A few tears ago coming home from a camping trip we saw Dick Cheney Fly Fishing the river- in my excitement to take a picture as 'proof' I dropped and ruined the camera.

4. I am a garage sale addict - We go almost every weekend were home and in the winter I feel like I'm going through withdrawals.

5. My # 1 Favorite candy is Reese's Peanut Butter Cups.

6. I am 15 years older than my youngest brother who is 15 years older than my little guy.

7. I Loooove reading and have probably easily read over a thousand books in my life.

NOW I TAG YOU!

What princess are you?

One of my blog buddies told me about this fun quiz I just had try- I almost couldn't believe the results because out of all the Disney movies Sleeping Beauty is my all time favorite (followed closly behind by the Fox and the Hound) So what princess are you?


You Are Aurora! (A.K.A. Sleeping Beauty.)

Thoughtful and loving. Authority figures probably have been sheltering you all of your life. Thankfully you're a very tranquil person who is content with what life has given you, but secretly you want to know how the outside world works.

Which Disney Princess Are You?

Porter & Oakley Play Fetch

Porter has really gotten to like animals- We have two kittens (actually they are almost cats now). Porter gets so excited when we go outside, his little feet start kicking and he starts talking to them in this cute little language he reserves just for them. We're mot sure where he picked it up but he calls the "ickles".

Our little black one especially loves Porter and lets him tug on his ear or tail and drag him around. It's not surprising that one of Porters favorite toys is a little stuffed black cat. It has been nice for me too because if I want to do something in the yard I can just put Porter in his stroller and he happily watches the cats play in the yard/trees for quite awhile.

Porter is really interested in our black lab, Drake, who although he is four years old, still thinks he's a puppy and jumps on and licks everything... needless to say Porter doesn't really get to play with Drake.

Grandma & Grandpa Jensen have a Sheep dog, Oakley, who Porter loves and gets to pet. Oakley is so good with Porter and the other day Uncle Ott taught Porter how to play fetch with him. It was soooo cute, Oakley didn't even mind that Porter could only throw it a foot or two.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Strengthening the Family; Part 2 Quality Time

"The most important of the Lord's work you and I will ever do will

be within the walls of our own homes. Effective family leadership,

brethren, requires both quantity and quality time" Harold B Lee

Quantity Time-I must admit I wasn't too surprised when I read that the American family spends 40% less time together now than they did 20 years ago. When you start to turn that into actual hours over a child's lifetime the numbers are staggering.

Lets say families used to spend 20 hours a week together (just over 3hrs/day), based on this study they now spend only 12 so that's turns into

8 less hours/week

34.6 less hours/month

416 less hours/year

7,488 less hours/(18 years)

312 LESS DAYS

That is like missing almost a full year out of your child's life! Watching Porter grow this past year I have begun to realize how short our time with our children at home really is- What can we do to take advantage of every moment of it

Quality Time- As a stay at home mom I am lucky that I do get a lot of "Quantity" time with Porter- what really got me to thinking is the issue of "Quality" time- When I started looking at a typical day in our lives I began to see lots of what I call "missed moments" little snatches of time here and there where I was to busy involved in what I was doing that I missed an opportunity with Porter- to teach, to play, to laugh or even just to be right there.

A few days ago as I was feeding Porter I noticed that when I feed him he stares off into space and it is somewhat hard to get his attention- which for him, my social little guy, is pretty uncommon. After giving it a little thought I realized that almost every time I fed him since he was born I was either reading a book or watching TV- no wonder he was ignoring me! It made me sad to think of all those little "missed moments" that I could have talked to him, sang him primary songs, or even just gazed into those sweet little baby eyes- now that our "feeding" days are quickly drawing to and end I wish I had taken the opportunity to develop that as "Quality" time for us rather than plodding through it as just another task to do.

My goal now is to make the effort to be there on his level interacting with him- not just letting him play at my feet while I type away or work on other projects.... Which may mean a few less blog posts or saving my scrapbooking till he's asleep but in the end I know I will be giving the most to what matters most- my priceless little guy.

That is my challenge to you this week to find at least one little way that you can improve the quality of the time you spend with those you love

The little tooth that wouldn't- and a mess

Poor Porter his tooth is being stubborn and still hasn't quite come in- I feel so bad for the poor little guy! He hasn't been eating much due I am guessing to the tooth pain so last night, in an effort to get some kind of food down and also to give him something cool to sooth his mouth him I gave him a Popsicle. Of course true to character he wanted to do it himself- he needed a bath anyway so I figured what the heck...... Needless to say it was a bit of a mess and he ended up getting put in the tub fully clothed- which hopefully was enough pre-soaking to get the stains out of his shirt. =)

YUMMM!

A mess only a mother could love

Sorry little guy it's all gone!

Our 4th of July Weekend

We had a great Fourth of July weekend- very busy! Aaron's Aunt Bev her husband Tony and their son Mike along with his wife Trish and their daughter Makayla were visiting- it was fun to see them and to watch Porter play with Makayla.

We were very lucky to have great seats for the parade and fireworks; one of Aaron's friends from work lives on the parade route and let us set up a canopy on his lawn- Uncle Scott works really close to where they set off the fireworks and we were able to sit in their parking lot with a great view and we didn't even have to show up early to fight the crowds. I love the picture of me and Porter at the parade- he was so tired that he went right to his sleepy pose- two fingers in the mouth and a handful of mom's hair- We always joke that we need to get Aaron a wig so that Porter has something to hold on to when dad puts him to sleep.

On Saturday we had a big party for Aaron's grandmother's 90 birthday and got to visit with more family who were there for that. In all it was a great weekend!

Porter & Mommy at the Parade

Porter & Makayla

Happy Birthday Grandma

(the watch was the only way we could get him to hold still for the picture)

Porter & Grandma J. at the Fireworks

Porter & Mommy having fun

New tooth, So Tired

Porter was a bear at church- he was getting a new tooth and not very happy. Aaron had to take him out to the foyer, Porter however still wasn't trilled and we could still hear him from the chapel. I ended up bringing him home after sacrament meeting. Once home I put him in his highchair to feed him some lunch before his nap but the poor little guy didn't make it very long....

Later that afternoon we thought we'd go for a drive to check out the reservoir (It's almost full!) at our favorite campground which is just over an hour away. The ride started o.k. but about a half hour into it Porter decided he wasn't interested. Uncle Scott who was with us was a real trooper and tried very hard to keep Porter occupied.

The mountains and reservoir were beautiful and despite the tears it was a fun mini-trip. Porter got to dip his toes in the lake for the first time! - The water was cold and there was a lot of driftwood but he really seemed to like splashing his toes in the water.