June Happenings

Just a few more things for June:  Silly Bree put stickers on her sunglasses and asked for a picture.

The kids did swim lessons again this summer.  Here is Bree with her teacher...

...and Miles rocking the backstroke.  (Tess couldn't join us because of her summer program, but she is a super great swimmer already!)

I just had to share this picture because I love it and it brings a smile to my face!  This is my neighbor Renee's bike and something was wrong with it.  Bryan gladly fixed it for her and then hopped on for a spin to test it out.  He was being goofy while he rode it and Renee snapped this picture.  When she texted it to me I just died laughing.  I sure love this guy!

YW Girls Camp 2017

Yay, Girls Camp!  I love going to Girls Camp!  I was released from Young Women last Fall, but I was asked to help out on the Stake level this year.  I was given a committee of 5 awesome ladies and we had to come up with all activities for one day of camp.  Preferably adventurous activities!  Yes!  I don't like going to Girls Camp where the girls sit around and paint their nails.  AND, this was Tess's first official Young Women activity since she turned 12 so that was such a great bonus to get to be there with her.

Here are all the girls and leaders from our ward.  Our Stake Camp is in Liberty, Utah, near Pine View Dam.

On "my" activity day, we had the girls rotate through 4 main activities:  1-staying at camp to play volleyball and do archery (the facilitators of the archery put $1 dollar bills on the targets and the girls got to keep any they hit!), 2-taking a tour of the home of David O. McKay in Huntsville (which I heard was really neat, but kind of long-winded), 3-playing on kayaks and paddle boards at Pine View, and 4-participating in a Ropes Course.

I was at the Ropes Course all day, helping girls go through.  For about 3/4 of my day I was running one of the team-building games that help the girls work together and get to know one another better.  During the last 1/4 of the day, another leader graciously offered to run my game so that I could try out the Rope Course!  Wahoo!

Here are the girls listening to the safety instructions...

...Tess was excited and not at all nervous.  But there were many girls (of all ages) who were frightened and decided to just watch instead of doing the course.

I knew this little gal would have no trouble at all.  She is a great climber and she's very brave and fit.

Here's a picture of a few of the girls out on the ropes.  They had you go with a buddy to help keep each other safe.  The workers did not help (in fact, there were only 4 workers there at all, the whole day!  2 on one course, and 2 on the other.)  This one was called the Adventure Course, where you and your buddy go through, walking on lots of wobbly things (ropes, boards, etc.) about 70 feet up in the air!  The last leg of it is a short zipline back to the beginning.

(Tess ziplining here...)

Here I am with my buddy Ashley.  (Unfortunately during the time I got to go up, Tess was already done, so I was not with her, but I did get to quickly snap a few pictures of her before I ran back down to my game.)

Anyway, it was a lot harder than I expected it to be!  I'm generally not too afraid of heights, but it was very wobbly and I was nervous.  It felt good to be back on solid ground. :)

Here are some pictures I took from down below.  See the girls about 70 feet up!?

The 2nd part after Adventure Course was called the Leap of Faith.  This one was much scarier to me! They have a tall telephone pole that you climb (there are nice hand- and footholds all along the sides.)  The pole is very wobbly though and you can feel it swaying side to side in the breeze.  At the top is a small wooden platform about 18" across.  It, too, is attached very precariously to the top.  I'm sure it was secure enough to be safe, but definitely loose enough to be super wobbly!  And it spun around as well.  So, it's tippy, spinny, itty-bitty, and high up in the sky!  Yikes!

The goal is to stand up on the top platform and then jump over to the trapeze bar, which is maybe 6-8ish feet away.  One of the workers said that she had climbed the pole many times but had only just that day been able to grab the bar!  My sweet Tess did this leap about 4 times (there were so many girls afraid to do it, that several girls got to try over and over again if they wanted to.)  She said she got on top every time, and jumped every time, and one time even touched the bar with her fingertips but couldn't quite grasp it.  If she were a little bit taller she could have done it, I bet.  So awesome!

Many girls and leaders started climbing and then got too scared to go to the top so they just kind of flung themselves off the side.  (We were harnessed with a worker on the ground on belay, to lower us to the ground.)

I tried going up too.  The pole part was the easiest part by far.  Getting up onto the platform was much harder.  Again...tippy, spinny, itty-bitty.  I was finally able to get my knees up on top and then it was time to stand up.  Of course there is nothing to hold onto.  I got one foot up to crouching position but then I chickened out and just kind of flung myself off from there.  I wish I would have stood up all the way, but I was pretty nervous.  Next time!

I'll try to embed a video here...

The other days of camp I was able to just hang out and enjoy being with the girls and leaders.  It was Stake Camp, and they had a food committee, so we didn't even have to cook, which was so nice!  We just showed up at the lodge and got our food served to us.  That was awesome.

One day was certification (training in survival skills, first aid, emergency preparedness, etc.).  After the classes, the girls had a competition between wards to show off the skills they learned.  Here they are diagnosing injuries and explaining how to treat them...

...and doing a knot-tying speed contest...

...and finally doing a big obstacle course/relay race.  Here is Tess, getting ready to crawl through the tunnel, (after being tagged by a young woman who had to run with 4 swim rings around her body.)  Fun!

These are the wonderful YW leaders:  Renee (camp director), Brenda (YW President), and Julie (camp director).

And a few of the darling girls (Tess is in the middle).  It was such a fun camp and I am so grateful that I got to go!

TDY Adventures

Bryan had a TDY to Ohio for about 8 days.  It happened to span over a weekend, so he and his co-workers made the best of the weekend days and did lots and lots of sight-seeing!

They went to the Pro Football Hall of Fame...

...and an MLB baseball game, the Cleveland Indians vs. the Minnesota Twins.

They saw a few LDS Church History sites as well.  Here they are at the Kirtland Temple (now run by the Community of Christ church.)

The Newel K. Whitney Store, where Joseph and Emma Smith lived for a time.

This is the room where the Word of Wisdom was received.

Here are the four guys, Dale, Bryan, Paul, and Todd.  

They also drove up to Niagara Falls...

One of Bryan's favorite things they saw was the Ohio State Reformatory prison.  It's a cool old building in and of itself, but it was especially fascinating because it is where the movie "The Shawshank Redemption" was filmed.  So it was neat to go through and remember scenes from the movie.

Here's the tunnel that Andy Dufresne slowly chipped away from his cell down to the sewer line.  (Fun Fact:  When Andy has to crawl through the pipes in "sewage," it was made from chocolate syrup and sawdust.)

Here is the safe in the warden's office, and the book where Andy hid his rock hammer at the end of the movie.

Pretty cool!  I would have loved to have been with Bryan for these cool sight-seeing adventures.

Happy 12th Birthday to Tess!

Our lovely Miss Tess is 12!  That's a pretty big deal...lots of changes, going to Junior High, Young Women at church, babysitting neighbor kids for the first time, etc!  She is such a sweetheart!

For her birthday activity, she chose to go to Lagoon and Lagoon-a-Beach with her friend Benttlee.  We all had a great time!  Usually we don't do Lagoon-a-Beach, so it was fun to do something different.  After the water was just too cold to handle anymore (it's very cold!), we dried off and rode some rides.  Here they are on one of the new kid rides Ruka Safari...

...and getting ready to ride Wild Mouse.  I detest that ride.  I hate it so much.  I really really feel like I'm going to fly right off that track.  (Which I know is exactly the point, but I just cannot stand it!)  I won't ride it again!

I caught this darling picture of Tess & Benttlee walking arm in arm checking out the new Terror Ride (which we still haven't been on...the line is always too long.)  Benttlee is a great friend to Tess--they just kind of "clicked" during the last few months of 6th grade, although they were in the same class all year.  I am so glad they are buddies!

Like Bree, Tess also wanted to decorate her own cake.  She knew exactly what she wanted--a yellow cake, with raspberry jam filling, and fresh raspberries on top.  It was super yummy!

She made the raspberries look like flowers.  Great idea Tess!

Unfortunately Bryan was out of town during the birthday celebrations, so we did a video chat with him while she opened presents.

(You can always count on Miles to add some entertaining photobombs.)

Here's Tess’s birthday interview:

What is a happy memory you have?  Dad & I were making a snowman, and it had a huge snowball, taller than my head, and I couldn't push it.  

What is one word to describe you?  Creative.

Why do you like being a kid?  Because I don't have to go to work every day, and I don't have to worry about buying food for everyone.

What do you like to do for fun?  Create stuff.  Like DIY stuff.  I also like tumbling and active stuff.  

What's your favorite thing to do with your friends?  I like doing a lot of things.

What's your favorite thing to do with your family?  I like going out to dinner and doing Classic Fun Center, or a family Rollerblade/bike trip.

What's the nicest thing you did for someone?   On Mother's Day how we always make you breakfast in bed, and make a little thing for you.

What's your favorite song?  "Something Like This" by ColdPlay.

What's your favorite color?  Teal.

What's your favorite movie?   "National Treasure."  I like a lot of stuff.

What's your favorite book?  Fablehaven.

What's your favorite TV show?  Jesse.  

What's your favorite food?  BLTs or French Dip Sandwich.

What's your favorite dessert?  Fruit Pizza.

Who's one of your best friends?  Lauren.

What's a talent of yours?   Piano, and making stuff (like DIY).

What do you want to be when you grow up?  An astronomer.

What's the best thing about being 12?  I get to go to Young Women.  And I get to sit up front in the car.

Happy birthday Sweet Tess!   How lucky we are to have you!  You are so responsible and you are becoming so mature.  You are bright and curious and filled with creativity.  You have your father's "knack" with mechanical things too!  We see nothing but bright things in your future, sweet girl!  We love you!

Fathers Day

Happy Father's Day to all the amazing dads out there!  I got to speak in Sacrament Meeting this morning and it was an honor for me to talk about my wonderful dad, father-in-law, and our bamatamb daddy.  After church we headed over to my Aunt Kathy & Uncle Denny's house to celebrate with the Jensen side.

After dinner, Uncle Denny began filling water balloons for the kids to have a water balloon fight.  We knew about it beforehand so the kids were dressed in their swimsuits.  We just figured the kids would be the only ones in the fight...

...but it didn't take long until some of the adults joined in!  This picture of Bryan was a perfect shot of him getting beaned by a balloon he was trying to catch.

Here is everyone after the fight, soaking wet.  (l-r: Jared, Bryan, Melanie, Emma & Bree, Chloe, Josh, Miles, Tess, and Denny.)  Fun times!

Jeep Expedition

Bryan found out about a trail system called the Utah Back Country Discovery Route that goes all through the state (even starting in Idaho and ending in Arizona).  He and Miles decided to check it out with the Jeep.  They planned on three whole days, but poor Miles got pretty sick the night before they were to leave.  So Bryan let him sleep in and they left around noon on Thursday.  They went to GFR (near Green River, where we went for Spring Break).  It was so crowded during Spring Break--motorcycles, four-wheelers, and side-by-sides everywhere you turned, but Bryan said it was totally deserted.  They never saw another soul!  I'm sure it's because it was so hot!  

After spending the night in GFR, they drove over to Moab and did the Fins & Things trail.  Bryan has never Jeeped at Moab so he wanted to try a trail that wasn't rated too difficult.  He said that Fins & Things was perfect.  Lots of fun, but nothing too crazy.  He didn't want to do anything too wild, especially since he only had Miles for help if something went wrong.  They also tried the Crystal Geyser Safari Route.

While in Moab, they decided to drive over to Arches National Park and check things out.  Again, it was burning hot, but they still had a good time.  Miles made sure to do the Junior Ranger program while they were there.

We definitely need to do a family trip to Arches when it's not quite so hot.  It's beautiful and I'd love for the girls to see it too.  On their last day (today) they took the trails back home and ran into quite different scenery than the sand and red rock of Moab.  They were in mountain/forest trails and came upon a whole bunch of snow that still hadn't melted from our crazy wet winter.  They had a great trip!  (And other than one barfy episode at a gas station on the first day, Miles felt much better from his sickness!)