In Memory

In the past two weeks, we have mourned the deaths of three people who have been important in our lives.

My Great Uncle Jim, my Grandpa Jensen’s brother, passed away on Monday, January 6. He was 90 years old. He and his wife, Flora, moved to a care center here in Bountiful a while ago. We have enjoyed visiting with them there. Even though our extended family had annual family reunions when we were growing up, Uncle Jim did not attend as often as his siblings did, so I didn’t know him well in my youth. It has just been in the past couple of years that Ryan and I have gotten to know him better. We have enjoyed our time with him, and learning more about not only him, but about my grandpa as we heard stories of their youth.

Jeff’s Great Aunt Winnie, his Grandma Morrell’s sister, passed away on Monday, January 12. She was 89 years old. I first met this great lady in 1996, and I have continued correspondence with her over the years. Even though I have not technically been a member of her family for almost seven years, she always enjoyed hearing about the things happening in our lives. I last saw her at a family reunion on Catalina Island in the summer of 2001. Even at the age of 81, she was willing to camp on the island in order to spend time with her family. Aunt Winnie was the family member responsible for most of the family history work. At one family reunion, I purchased several binders of family history from her. I'm so glad that I have those for Ryan to get to know the wonderful people on that side of his family.

Here is a sweet tribute written to Aunt Winnie by her granddaughter, Jane.
Our neighbor and friend, Irene Dickson, passed away on Saturday, January 10. I have known Irene since I was five years old. When I was younger, she was a loving and caring leader. When I moved back into this ward after my divorce, she was an accepting friend who truly loved unconditionally. I will miss her not only as my friend, but as someone who modeled Christ-like love and service.

National Bubble Bath Day

Apparently Ryan's calendar is going to provide me with plenty of blog entries this year. Today is National Bubble Bath Day. We had noticed it on the calendar this morning, and talked about when we could each take bubble baths today.I often watch "Studio 5" as I'm answering student emails. (There's a plug for you, Linda!) Today they had a segment on National Bubble Bath Day! It was funny - they had a few guests that were presenting their favorite bubble bath products. At the beginning of the segment, they were joking that none of them even knew it was National Bubble Bath Day. I did!!!

I hope all of you reading are able to "celebrate" this wonderful holiday! I certainly plan on it!

What is Today?

As a devoted BYU fan, my wake up song to Ryan every morning is “Rise and Shout,” BYU’s fight song. When I finished singing this morning, he sat up in his bed and gave me a HUGE hug. He had a hard time going back to school yesterday, so I thought maybe he was sucking up in preparation of his “can I stay home today” speech. When he let go, he said, “Do you know why I hugged you?”

“Because I’m such an awesome mom and you love me so much?”

“No!” (What?) “Didn’t you look at my calendar for today? It’s ‘Cuddle-Up Day.’”

That explains it.

We’re having a lot of fun with his calendar. Yesterday we were able to add something to it. Yesterday, January 5, was the inauguration of Governor Jon Huntsman.At the end of his speech the governor said, “No matter if you normally cheer for the blue or the red, today we are all proud of the Utes.” And he declared yesterday Utah Utes Day in honor of the great performance by the Utes at the Sugar Bowl.

For all of you that know me, you know that I am True Blue. Utahns know that if you live in the state, you are generally red OR blue, you can’t be both. Interestingly, at the beginning of the game last Friday, a friend in the South (and die hard Alabama fan) made a comment on Facebook about me cheering for the Utes. I never thought that phrase would be uttered! But I hope I speak for all BYU fans in saying that we ARE proud of the Utes and their spectacular season!

Alice & Claire’s Blessing Day

Yesterday was a very special day for our family. It was the blessing day for Alice and Claire. Because of their health concerns, Marc and Frances decided not to have the blessings at church, but to do them at her parents’ house. It was fun to have so many family members and friends there for their special day. Marc did a great job, and gave two very sweet and tender blessings to the girls. (I just have to add how proud I am of my little brother. He is such an attentive and loving daddy. Alice and Claire are very lucky to have Marc and Frances as their Daddy and Mommy.) And, as always, Ryan enjoyed being the “big cousin” and helping with the girls.

Here are a few of my favorite pictures from the day.

Getting Alice dressed (obviously she's not too sure about all of it)…
Alice & Claire with Daddy & Mommy…Close-up of Alice & Claire on Daddy’s & Mommy’s laps…The Inman family…Ryan with Claire & Alice…

Ryan and Alice continued to hang out after Claire went to get lunch…

Happy New Year!

I know, it’s now the 5th, but it’s still in the first week of the new year. We’ve already had a great start to the new year, which I will write about in a separate post.

I wanted to mention something that I received for Christmas. Ryan’s school class made the cutest calendars! Each child drew a picture (Ryan drew himself holding Alice and Claire), and then the monthly pages are attached at the bottom. His teacher found every possible special day to put on the calendar! For example, yesterday was “Trivia Day.” So, perhaps for Family Home Evening tonight, along with our annual goal setting, we’ll play a short game of Trivial Pursuit in honor of yesterday’s Trivia Day. I’ll keep you posted on any important days you need to know about through the coming year.

The Revelry Continues

On Saturday, December 27, Rara & Aunt Dott had their annual “Gingerbread Trains with the Grandmas” event. Ryan, Abi, Josh, Aidan, and Gage had a great time creating (and eating) their trains.That night, we were able to go out to dinner with the Randalls and the Cunninghams, who were in town from northern California. We don’t get to see them very often, and we always love spending time with them and getting caught up on things.Sunday, December 28 was the annual Jensen family party. This particular event has been held every year for at least 41 years. How do I know that odd number? We have pictures of me as a baby attending. Throughout my growing-up years, it was held at Grandpa & Grandma Jensen’s house. Most of the years since they passed away, we have held it at the Strands’. It’s always fun to get caught up with aunts, uncles, and cousins, as well as the new additions to the family. For those of you who have been regular readers of this blog, yes, the piñata and “Must Be Santa” remained part of the festivities this year.

(Slideshow is coming. I keep getting error messages. In the meantime, view it here.)

Monday, December 29 was Frances’ birthday. We got Chili’s take out and (at Frances’ request) white cupcakes, and spent the evening with them. Even though Chili’s forgot Frances’ meal, we had a great time together, and hope her birthday was a great one.

Merry Christmas!

We had such a fun Christmas this year! It was our best Christmas since...well...since we spent Christmas at Disneyland two years ago.

Ryan actually slept in until about 7:45, and then called Rara and Papa to come over. We let him open his presents from Santa (MP3 player, Hulk Operation game, WALL*E DVD, etc.), and then asked him to wait for Marc and Frances and the girls to open the rest. Ryan and Papa had fun playing Hulk Operation while he waited. When Marc & Frances and Alice & Claire got here, we all ate brunch (the selection included such traditional Polish items as potica, Kronski sausages, and sauerkraut, as well as eggnog french toast made with Polynesian sweet bread and served with coconut syrup). When we had all eaten (and pretty much worn through Ryan's patience), we all opened the rest of our presents. I gave Ryan Guitar Hero, which entertained all of us for most of the rest of the day. I gave the girls VERY cute onesies with colorful ribbons and their names embroidered on them. I can hardly wait until they're big enough to fit into them!Frances brought gingerbread dough that she had made, so we all enjoyed making and decorating gingerbread cookies, too. It was so much fun to have everyone at our house! And having the girls join our family this year brought so much joy and happiness to our family! We had a wonderful Christmas, and hope those of you reading this did, too.