Scott's Crazy Eights

I convinced Scott to do his crazy eights! It was fun!

8 Things I'm passionate about

1. My family
2. My wife
3. Ballroom dance
4. Becoming a doctor
5. Eating out
6. Playing board games
7. Playing racquetball or tennis with friends
8. The gospel

8 Things I want to do before I die

1. Bungee jumping
2. Skydiving
3. Go back to Chile
4. Serve a mission
5. Compete ballroom dance with Denisse
6. Get my pilot's license
7. Travel the world
8. Make my millions

8 Things I say often

1. Oh man!
2. You are so cute!
3. They are nice!
4. (You can imagine what this one is...)
5. I'm gonna go take a bath
6. I'm tired!
7. Let's say a prayer
8. Your turn

8 books I have read recently

1. Angels and Demons-Dan Brown
2. Deception Point-Dan Brown
3. The DaVinci Code-Dan Brown
4. Empire-Orson Scott Card
5. Ender's Game-Orson Scott Card
6. All the Harry Potter books-J.K Rowling
7. The Book of Mormon
8. The Pleasure of My Company-Steve Martin

8 Things that attract me to my best friends

1. They are outgoing
2. They are good people
3. They have the same interests
4. They are funny
5. They are easy to talk to
6. They are not nerdy
7. Their wives get along with my wife
8. They like me back

8 Things I've learned this year

1. Medical school applications stink
2. Not to annoy my wife
3. Children are wonderful
4. Not to have 2 children a year apart
5. Little girls are cute
6. A bachelor's biology degree is worthless without further schooling
7. Waiting tables at Olive Garden is NOT my dream job
8. I love being a dad

My Crazy Eights

Inspired by Daija and her family I will do the crazy 8's. Here they are:

8 Things I'm passionate about

1. Teaching Spanish
2. Learning
3. Having a clean home
4. The gospel
5. Freedom
6. Politics/World Affairs
7. Family
8. Goals

8 Things I want to do before I die

1. Compete ballroom dance with Scott
2. Go to Jerusalem
3. Serve a humanitarian mission with Scott
4. Learn to be patient
5. Go back to Perú
6. Take flamenco classes
7. Own a house
8. See Brielle, Braden, Kem & Nya happily married

8 Things I say often

1. Brielle!!!
2. Say please!
3. I love you hon!
4. No!
5. I'm sorry I said that
6. Are you hungry?
7. How was your day?
8. Please don't touch that, it's not a toy!

8 Songs I could listen to over and over

1. Antología-Shakira
2. A Dios le pido-Juanes
3. Let's get it started-Black eye peas
4. You are beautiful-James Blunt
5. He hears me-Hillary Weeks
6. Last kiss-Pearl Jam
7. Mi tierra-Gloria Estefan
8. Come take your place-Hillary Weeks

8 Things that attract me to my best friends

1. They are compassionate
2. They enjoy talking about life
3. They are easy to read
4. They accept me for who I am
5. They have similar goals and values
6. They have opinions
7. They just understand
8. They make happy

8 Things I've learned this year

1. Being a mommy is a refining experience
2. I need to draw closer to Heavenly Father
3. We need to work hard at the things that matter most
4. There is always room to improve our characters
5. I can't stand clutter in my house
6. I need to be more selfless
7. I'm glad I'm going through this mortal experience
8. Friends are good to have

8 people I think should do '8'

1. Scott
2. Kristin
3. Brenda
4. Stacey
5. Betsy
6. Terrilyn
7. Kem
8. Emily

When there's silence, there's trouble!

When you have kids you know that when it's silent they are in trouble. This happened today. I was in the bedroom and I noticed that there was no sound coming from either Brielle's bedroom or the family room...I knew she was being naughty!!!! Somehow she had gotten a hold of a pen, and this is the art she drew on herself! Thank goodness she didn't get to the walls. I had to laugh out loud and take pictures of her! It was quite funny! And look at that face!..."I'm innocent mommy!"

What a blessing!

Some of you may know that I was called to serve in the Rexburg, Idaho Temple Public Affairs Committee as a Spanish translator. It has been one of the most wonderful opportunities to serve I have ever had. The brethren are putting great emphasis on the Hispanic community here in this area and feel that we need to reach out to them. I have been greatly blessed by this calling so far and I have met some wonderful, committed members of the Church. I am amazed at how much people give of their time and talents to build up the kingdom in this area. We had a meeting a few Sundays ago that was supposed to last 45 minutes but lasted 2 hours!!! It was interesting to hear how much work it is going into the Open House and Dedication, things you would never think about!!! Anyway, during that meeting our Chairman Merv Brown asked the main guy incharge of all the temple stuff, his name is Richard, if we could get a tour of the temple. To our surprise we got approved to go with the tour guides for the Open House yesterday! I was anxious the whole week and was constantly asking myself, "What have I done to deserve this priviledge?" "Why is the Lord giving me the opportunity to do this?" All of this people in the committee are special people in some way or another. And to tell you the truth I don't feel all that special. I guess my one talent is speaking Spanish!!! So, Sunday came around and I couldn't stop thinking that today I would get to go in the Rexburg Temple. It was an incredible experience. (A little sad at the same time because Scott couldn't come) So much work and effort has gone into the construction of this temple!!! It is one of the most beautiful buildings I have ever been in. It is not finished and there was a lot of construction still every where, they are close, but not quite there. The celestial room is celestial like it should be and the ceilings are spectacular. 34 feet from the floor to the ceiling. The main chandelier that will go at the top weighs 750 pounds. The bride's room was incredible (I wish I would have had that bride's room...the IF Temple's bride's room is beautiful too...) I guess everything about this temple is symmetrical and for every 2 feet of width there is one foot of height! I think it's that way, it might be the other way around. But I guess architecturally that is supposed to be incredible! Architecturally the building is supposed to be aethetically pleasing in every way. The main entrance is majestic and has a floor of stone, which is unusual because according to the contractor that was giving the tour most temples have carpet. The stone is beautiful! The crown molding all throughout the temple is spectacular to say the least. I didn't realize how difficult it was to do that, but I guess it is. The crown is from wood imported from Africa and I guess the prophet had come to visit the temple and said to the contractor, "Isn't it interesting how in Rexburg we have wood imported from Africa and in the Ghana Temple we have wood from North Carolina!" We all thought that was pretty funny. I got so many things out of this experience. I realized that we honor the God that we worship by putting so much work into a building that has eternal effects in our lives. I also realized that the work of God will go forth no matter what!!! I also realized that I need to be a better woman! So many times we just get caught up in life that we forget to realize that we are part of something magnificent! Something far beyond than what our mortal minds can understand. But we gain that understading through this mortal experience. I am humbled and I am grateful for this opportunity and blessing to serve!

Choo-Choo Train

Our bishop invited families in our ward with kids to come and ride his train (I guess this little train has been in his family for over 60 years) We had a blast!!! It was so much fun to see Brielle, especially, get so excited about riding it and she kept saying choo-choo, choo-choo. It was quite a treat for Scott and I. Braden enjoyed it too, but he especially enjoyed the popsicles that sister Beazer brought for the kids. He was loving life and was very upset when was done.

They were such good little passangers!

More of Brielle

Brielle is a silly, silly girl!

Brielle is folding her arms to say prayers before bed.

More of Braden

Peek-a-boo!

Braden had the time of his life eating licorice! He was a big mess afterward!

Braden had a check-up on Tuesday and he weighs almost 19 pounds and he is almost 28 inches tall, he is in the 70th percentile for weight and 90% percentile for height! Where he is getting that height? We have no clue!!! We are hoping he continues that way through adolencence. He most likely will be a shorty just like his parents though. There is always hope I guess...

Great-Grandma Jensen

It is such a blessing for Braden & Brielle to have their Great-Grandma Jensen around! She's such a wonderful woman and we love her!

Grandpa Jensen

I love watching Brielle and her grandpa Jensen interact. She can get away with just about anything when grandpa Jensen is around! In these pictures she wouldn't let her grandpa have his drink!