Hangin' at The Jensens!

This week was a crazy week. Kurt has been VERY busy with work and he had a job that took him out of town for about 4 days. Hailey and Hayden were originally going to go with him but it didn't work out. That really saddened the kids so I figured that nothing would cheer them up more than getting to go swimming at Aunt Chris's house!
So Friday, late morning, we headed over to Nampa . . . Mark and Jonathan were camping . . . so it was Me, Chris, her girls and my kids!

They had a great time!

Getting ready to get in. We had already had a nice lunch and now it was time to play! If you watch throughout the pictures you get to see the transition of Tyler. He was very afraid of getting in the water. He would stand on the steps but that was it. Throughout his time in the pool, Emma and the others gave him encouragement and by the end of the day - he was lovin' it!

Emma, don't be shy!

Howdy Kelsey! I am afraid she is more like me, doesn't really like to get wet. She sat out and talked with me and Chris on the Canopy Swing or went in to play video games!

Swimming can be hard work, huh Hayden!

Here's Ty safely on the steps!

Hailey loves swimming!

I think Kimmy didn't stop moving the whole time and wow, could this kid cannonball!

Tyler not quite ready to get in all the way . . . . just contemplating . . . .

Oh hey, went down another step!

Kimmy and Ty taking a break in the lobster pool!

WOW! Emma talked him into the tube! She is hiding behind him but believe me, this was a BIG STEP!

He wanted back to the ladder but Emma slowly moved him around the pool, he was fussing a bit but she kept talking sweetly . . .

We were all cheering for him!

Hi Chris! She made some excellent sun tea . . . I didn't drink as much as I wanted! It was soooooo goood!

Now they have Ty going around the edge of the pool, he whimpered often but the kids just kept things positive!

It was nice to sit and chat - mom's with kids don't get to do that very often. It felt weird not cleaning something but I'd do it again in a heartbeat! There is something to this "relaxing" thing that I need to research more!

Is that Chris or Cheryl Tiegs?

Of course if you are a teenage girl you MUST get in some tanning time with a good swim. Hailey and Emma were no exception!

By this time Tyler was walking freely around the pool. Emma had given him a challenge and he took it! The water was up to his chin but once he found out he could stand up on the bottom . . . freedom reigned!

I truly believe Kimmy is part fish and Hayden's eyes were so red at this point it was almost creepy.

After the kids swam they enjoyed watching and playing a little video games and enjoyed some popsicles. The day went by SO FAST! It was sad to have to leave but I hope there will be other days!

I would like to someday get a pool similar to this ourselves and then we can take a turn hosting a day of swimming and popsicles!

July 2, 3 and 4th!

This month so far has been pretty busy with birthdays and get-togethers and such.
The event that kicked off this month is an event I really enjoy. Every year our Church of Christ congregation hosts a "July Meeting" - members from all our different congregations come to hear some fantastic talks from the Preachers of the different congregations. This year the congregations that attended were all ones from the West. We had people from California, Oregon, Washington and Arizona. We also had an Evangelist fly in from North Carolina. His name is Tom and he is a fantastic speaker! His talks always include life events he has gone through and he has a fantastic positive spin on all the things he has experienced! This is quite an event. We usually start two months or more in advance to prepare. The meeting is usually about 2 days long and we do have the two main dinners catered but the rest is all contributions from the families in our congregation! We have all sorts of deserts and fruit dishes and snack foods that we get together and also have a couple of babysittings set up for the children that are too young to understand or fit in the building! This year the age cutoff was 7, so Tyler didn't get to come but Hailey and Hayden did and I think they enjoyed it!

I didn't take any pictures during the talks but I did take some at meal time.
It's wonderful to get to talk and get to know people from all over.

Hayden enjoying his snack of Nachos! I was in charge of this evening snack.

I always stress out about stuff like that but it went alright. We ran out of cheese sauce a little early but we survived it. Hayden was a helper with this too! Takes a lot of energy to help close to 200 hundred people get a snack!

This was taken on the second day after all the talks were completed and everyone was having the opportunity to fellowship with one another for a little longer before they all started packing up their vehicles and driving back to their respective states.

Hayden is having a little "down-time" with his friend Isaac. This year the building we rented was a public charter school so there was some equipment for the kids to mess around with.

Cleaning up afterward is a shared task for the brethren!

A couple of parting words shared after a wonderful two days of talks and fellowshipping! The time always flies at these. But we are all left with a lot of edification and skills to help us live a better, more godly life.

Ty was brought to the building by the sitter with all of his "goodies". The neat thing is that the kids who go to the babysittings also have scheduled times to do crafts and projects, have lessons and also play and nap time so they almost get to have their own little meeting!

Tyler being Tyler and taking time to goof off - he is so funny!

Poor Hailey is exhausted! She also helped a lot with helping serve snacks and she got to listen to talks and took down the sound equipment that Kurt had let us use for the meeting. One of the men from our congregation even gave her his camera (a very nice one) for the two days so she could be an official photographer! She loved that! It was starting to rain here and she couldn't wait to get home and collapse. I understood that feeling!

As we drove home with the rain pouring down we were exhausted but happy, all talking about how the meeting went so fast, too fast! Now to put our thoughts ahead to plan for next years!

FIRST FAMILY GET TOGETHER OF THE SUMMER!

Hailey had mentioned that it had been forever since we had had a summer family barbecue. These are events that I think are fun to have but to get everyone together at the same time seems impossible at times! Plus, with Kurt's job he is usually working evenings and weekends. But . . . excitedly we got to have him this time! We were missing Ray and his family and Pat wasn't well but we got most of us together and even Erica and little Maddie could attend!

I did opt for a little different theme though. Instead of the big, messy, time-consuming BBQ - we just decided to do desserts and root beer floats. I think it worked great! And the ladies didn't have to spend the whole time in the kitchen!


Emma and Chris chatting on the back porch!

Hailey, Brodie, Dylan and Kurt!

Bryan and Ryan!

It was great to have Erica here too. I know she works a lot and is busy so I was thrilled that she could spend some time with us!

Hailey and Brodie are both music enthusiasts. Brodie is plunking away here on Kurt's guitar.

Hailey wanted me to stop taking pictures but I had to, it's my job at these functions. If I don't blog - who will?

Wow! Check out those cute dimples! Like mother like son!

After the root beer floats and desserts we decided to take it out front to watch all the neighbors and their fireworks. Unbeknownst to me, Bryan had brought some along to entertain the kids.

Maddie wasn't happy with all the sound. It really frightened her. Emma is trying to get her to see the pretty lights but Maddie just wanted to go in the house!

Tyler didn't like all the sound too but he was enthralled with the light show! His curiosity kept him in his seat!

I think he liked that one! Or he is pretending to be a baby bird and wants me to drop a worm in his mouth . . . hmmmm.

Everyone just hung out and enjoyed each others company. I really had a great time visiting!

(still can't believe she is starting High School in the fall)

Is Kurt enjoying something else besides the fireworks???? Don't worry, he was doing that on purpose because he didn't want his picture taken.

Kurt NOT enjoying the flash on this camera! Honestly, it was blinding!

(I was really thrilled that he was able to spend the evening with us - he gave up watching a demolition derby in Homedale at a job his company was working at to be home with us)!

The Blues Sisters showed up at our little get together! Sorry ladies, but you can't disguise yourselves with some mere sunglasses to get out of having your picture taken!

Hailey took these shots -

Someone besides Maddie wasn't enjoying themselves either! We had given her some sedatives to help her out but we still found her tucked away in the bottom of the pantry. Poor Willow!