We are back from D.C....

Oh man! What a trip!!! We left to D.C. last Wednesday to go find a place to live...Brielle stayed with Ryan and Kara (I will forever be grateful for them and Kara's willingness to help us out so much) We took Braden with us...quite the experience...he was sooo good considering the circumstances, I was grateful for that, but it was still crazy!!! We drove to Boise to catch our plane and our flight was delayed about 40 minutes so we missed our connecting flight in San Francisco to go to Baltimore...I was FUMING!!!! They sent us to Los Angeles and we had a 5 hour wait!!! Our plane left at 11pm and got to Baltimore at almost 5am! Yeah! Not fun at all!!!! When we finally got to Arlington (my mom, brother and sister found an apartment there) it was almost 8a.m the next day!!! We were exhausted!!!

We had a few appointments that afternoon to go see places...the very first place we saw was a very cute condo 3 bedroom 2 bathroom in Fairfax, Virginia for $1600 a month!!!!! INSANE!!!!! On Friday, we saw some other cute and trashy places for about that price or more! It's all about location there so they can get away with charging so much money just because it's closer to D.C. We debated between the condo in Fairfax and a house in Maryland (thanks Daij for sending the info on that house!!). Waaaay cute house, with a backyard, it was huge and well kept for $1650 plus all of the utilities (gas, electricity, water, garbage, mowing the lawn, etc, etc.) about $250 to $300 a month. After giving it much thought and consideration we decided to take the condo in Fairfax. We only have to pay for electricity, so our total every month will be a lot less expensive! Although, we fell in love with the house in Maryland, I think the condo will meet our needs just fine and it is in a really, really, cute community. We have a play area for the kids right behind our place and it is about a 40-45 minute commute for Scott to GWU. We drove so much and saw about 7 places in total. The traffic is insane there, that whole area is HUGE!!!! Soooo many people, sooo many trees and soooo much traffic.

I think I have become a small town girl because I was feeling a bit claustrophobic there. I hope I get used to it, I think I will...there's sooo much to do there! And both Scott and I were particularly impressed with the people...everyone is so friendly and helpful. Scott and I are excited for this change even though there are times when we both have no idea how we are going to make it!!! Thank goodness for student loans. Everything is so expensive there...so we are just praying to Heavenly Father that I won't have to go to work...my children need me...I don't want to miss out on the little things that they do everyday...we are relieved that this trip went like planned and that we will have a place to live when we get there in July!:)

We went to a Peruvian Restaurant with my family, we had a fun time! There are so many Peruvian Restaurants in Arlington, Scott and I are sooo excited!!!! Peruvian food is the best!

Braden was so tired from the trip, he was cuddling with his tío Kem. I love you Kemchu, thank you for being a good uncle to my kids.

This is the entrance to the condo, the arrows are pointing to our windows. We are in the bottom floor. It will be nice not to go up stairs with the kids.

The whole condo has hardwood floors.

The kitchen...my least favorite part of the condo...oh well...it meets our needs and someday I will have a nicer kitchen.

The master bedroom.

Summer Time!

I'm so glad it's summer! That's all I have to say! I think the kids are loving the nice weather too!

I forgot to post these pictures last time from Nya's graduation.

Brielle & Braden

Lots of Fun and Lots of Driving!

Last Thursday morning I headed to Utah with the kids for my little sister's graduation...the kids did really well, considering I didn't stop at all during the 4 hour drive. They were a bit "anxious" to get out of the car by the time we hit Salt Lake. Braden screamed at the top of his lungs from there to Provo...Brielle kept telling him, "Bwaden, STOP cwying!" Brielle was a happy camper as long as the Hairspray soundtrack was playing! She knows the words to a lot of the songs! I had a smile on my face while she was singing...I have to say that it is the cutest thing ever to hear her sing to those songs...however, that's all she wanted to listen to, if I changed the CD she would tell me, "mommy I want Hairspray songs pleeeeeease", by the end of the trip I was getting sick of Hairspray!!!!!!

Nya's graduation was neat! It was a bit long for the kids. But it was sure special to see my little sister graduate from high school. I was 8 when she was born and I still remember the day she came home. She was the cutest little baby and I remember helping my mom change her diapers and making bottles for her. When Nya was in second grade we discovered that she was deaf in her left ear, she has no hearing whatsoever in that ear. Her right one is perfectly fine. We also discovered that she had some learning disabilities. Many people in the schools told my mom that she would never graduate from high school. But this woman (my mom) NEVER took no for an answer, you have no idea!!! She has battled with the school districts in Miami and Provo to get Nya the attention and the individual help that she needed! My mom amazes me! She's always encouraging Nya and setting high expectations for her. So, this graduation for Nya is quite the accomplishment. She is a really good girl and we love her so much! She is a trooper and we are sure proud of her!!!

My brother Kem is back from his bike ride across the United States! It was so fun to see him!

We went to feed the ducks at a pond close to BYU campus. We were all so scared that Brielle was going to jump in the water with the ducks, she seriously has no sense of danger...my mom kept chasing after her and I'm so glad Kem caught this specific moment with my mom and Brielle! Brielle thought is was hilarious that my mom was chasing after her and was laughing so hard when my mom caught her!

I drove back to Rexburg on Saturday then headed to Boise on Sunday afternoon and stayed with the Anderson's (one of my favorite families in the whole world!!!) My citizenship appointment was on Monday at 8 in the morning. I got 100% on my test and the interview went well. The interview only took 10 minutes!!!! Can you believe it? All that driving for 10 MINUTES!!!!!! Oh well...I guess it's all part of the process...I take the oath on July 24th! They asked me 5 questions on my test:

1. What is the capital of the U.S?
2. What are the 3 branches of the government?
3. What is the highest court?
4. Why was the civil war fought? (when the lady asked me this question I don't know why but the first thing that came to my mind was voting rights. I knew it was wrong but instead of rethinking it to myself that answer just came out. The lady looked at me and said "think again". Then I was like DUH!!!! It was fought to free the slaves!!!!!! What a dork! I can't believe I said voting rights!!!! Oh well, I still got 100%!, I think I was nervous!!!)
5. What is the name of the national anthem? (no, I didn't have to sing it!!!) :)

So, there you have it! I answered, signed some papers and that was that!!!!

Again, it looks like June will be a busy month at the Jensen's...Scott and I will be flying out to DC next week to look for housing...I hope we find something affordable and nice....wish us luck!!!:) Then, the following week is our 4th year wedding anniversary wow! 4 years!!!!...then...I go to Utah to meet up with my best friend Timber, who is driving from New Mexico...so it should be a fun month!

Busy May!

May has been a busy month for us. We are trying to figure everything out for the move in 2 months and trying to get everything taken care of for Scott to start medical school in August! I can't believe it's already so close! We are flying out to DC next month to find housing, etc. It has been busy around here to say the least, so much has been going on I haven't had energy to blog. My little sister is graduating high school on Thursday, so I'm driving to Utah with the kids tomorrow. Then I have my citizenship appointment this coming Monday in Boise (pray for me!), so I'm going to be doing lots of driving. I decided I better blog right now before the end of the month!!!:)

The highlight of this month for Scott and I was going to a session in the Rexburg Temple for the first time! Can you believe it? The first time!!!! I can't believe it! It has been so hard to go to the temple since we've had both kids but we finally made it, I think last time we went was last November, way too long. It was such a special session and it was so amazing to be there and it seemed like I had gone to heaven for a few hours and I was able to recharge my batteries and return to my routine. I loved every second of the session, I was so awake and I had missed what we are able to do in the temple! I feel truly blessed to have these truth available in my life!

Last Thursday, Scott and I got offered free babysitting from a former T.A. I had last year (who is now adjunct faculty at BYU-Idaho) so Scott and I can go dancing! We hadn't gone Latin dancing in sooooo long! They have it on-campus every Thursday night. We decided that we are both out of shape! But we had the best time and realized how much we both LOVE dancing and hopefully when Scott is a rich doctor we both can take private lessons and do competitions together! It was fun to remember when we started dating we'd go to country and swing Wednesday nights at BYU-Idaho. At first, we were just friends and then I remember thinking: "but he is just dancing with me, he's not asking any other girl to dance, I wonder if we are together?" And then, he started holding my hand to go get a drink of water together...such fun memories...

I've had my dancing shoes for about 8 years now! It was fun to finally wear them again after about 4 years of them just sitting in my closet!

We both look so cheesy in these pictures, but after almost 4 years of marriage we are still very much in love!!!:)

We've been enjoying the nice weather the last few weeks (even though it has been raining this last week) We have been outside a lot and just enjoying our last summer in Idaho. I have to say that I have always loved Idaho summers and have fun memories of the summers I have spent here. The kids have been loving life because we are not stuck in the apartment all day long!

We had a fun Memorial Weekend, we went to visit Scott's grandpa Jensen's grave on Sunday. It is probably the last time we'll be there for a while. It was special to go and visit his grave and remember him and the sweet man that he was.

On Monday, we went to Blast Off. The kids had a BLAST!!!!!:) That place is so much fun and it is perfect for little kids. They played and played and played forever!

Scott quit his Olive Garden job last week, so he didn't have to work on Saturday. (He's been working at Qwest for the last 2 months during the week but decided to keep his job at Olive Garden on Saturdays, for some extra money. But now we get to have him on Saturdays for the last few months before medical school.) The kids have been loving being able to spend time with their dad.