A broken arm.

Yesterday, we decided to go on an outing with the kids. We found this really cute park with a jungle gym, a nice spacious grass area and a little trail into the woods. It was beautiful. We were probably there about an hour and a half and about ready to head home.

The kids were having such a great time...they played...

...we went on this BEAUTIFUL trail into the woods...it was kind of muddy but it was sure gorgeous...

...we even brought snacks and sat on the grass for a while enjoying the day...well...actually...the mosquitoes were eating us alive...but no, we really were having a great time...

When we were about to head home...the kids ran back to play at the jungle gym...Scott and I headed with them and let them play a little longer...they were going down the slides and climbing, etc. I was keeping my eye on them the whole time, making sure they were playing safe, etc. Then, Brielle started climbing on one of the slides on the wrong side, so instead of sliding down the slide, she was climbing it...I always remind them that it's not a good idea to do that. We were so engaged in conversation with this nice guy who was there with his twin girls, that it didn't really register to tell Brielle to stop doing that. Braden was on the other side blocking the entrance of the slide and they both had this little confrontation, I think Brielle might have told him to get out of the way and Braden didn't agree with what Brielle was telling him and he started to push her, (it wasn't a big push, it was a "semi-gentle" push) but it was enough of a push for Brielle to lose her balance and fall off the slide. It was about a 3 feet fall and she landed on top of her left arm/wrist area. We were 10 feet away from them! 10 feet! I didn't make it in time to catch my little girl!!!!! Brielle is a really tough cookie. When she falls she cries for 2 seconds, we comfort her and she gets back up and starts playing right away. This time, it was a DIFFERENT story! She fell pretty hard! She cried uncontrollably, she went pale and kept guarding her arm. It was so sad. I'm so grateful Scott was with me. I was torn between comforting Brielle and being upset with Mr. Braden for pushing! We said goodbye to the twins and the dad and started driving home...

While we were driving, Brielle was still pretty shaken up in the car and kept guarding her little arm. Scott and I debated whether to wait until the next day or take her to the ER right away. We decided to take her to the ER, especially because Brielle herself, said that she needed a doctor. :) It is so not like herself to be so shaken up about falling. Like I said she's a pretty tough little girl. After about an hour and a half wait we finally got in and they took an X-ray of her little arm and sure enough it is fractured right above her wrist. I kept HOPING that it was nothing but it was BAD news. :(

My poor little girl waiting for the doctor to come confirm the x-ray...

This is the copy of Brielle's x-ray they took of her cute little arm...you can kind of see it where it's fractured...it's hard to see on the scanned copy but it's there right next to the arrows...she fractured her radius and ulna...they call it a buckle fracture...according to the radiologist that is the fracture you want to get!!! I rather NOT fracture my arm AT ALL if you ask me!!!

Brielle and Braden were glued to the TV, watching the naughty show I don't like them to watch Spongebob Square Pants...but since Brielle was being such a little trooper and Braden was so good the whole time we let them watch! Look at their faces!!! They are hypnotized!!!:)

She and Braden have made up since...she was pretty upset with him for a while. We were walking out of the hospital after this whole ordeal (by the way, we spent almost 3 HOURS there!). Brielle DEMANDED Braden to give her a hug. She said, "BRADEN, I FORGIVE YOU! GIVE ME A HUG!!!" Braden said to her in a really quiet voice, "I'm sorry Bri-bri" It was one of the most tender moments I have EVER witnessed! Throughout that whole time, of course, I shed quite a few tears!!! It is so hard to see a child hurt, especially when it's your child! She was such a trooper! She kept asking if the nurses were going to give her a present!...ha ha!!! So after the whole thing, we went to get her a Barbie and she requested a Happy Meal for dinner (we very seldom go to McDonald's) so this was a real treat for her!

Today, was a hard day for her...she was really sensitive all day...but she still wanted to go out and play, so we went to the playground behind our place twice! (now that the pool is out of the list of things to do for the next 6 weeks...) :( She keeps asking how much longer she has to wear her cast...and we keep telling her that it has to stay there a LONG, LONG time...6 LONG weeks...that's when she reminds Braden, "Bwaden, no pushing! you broke my arm!!!" I'm afraid Braden will NEVER live down pushing Brielle off the slide!!! We have an appointment tomorrow morning and she's getting a permanent cast...hopefully, it will heal great and we will be MUCH MORE careful from now on...

Our Little Stud!

On our way back from our Spring Break vacation back in March, Scott noticed that Braden was going cross-eyed while he was watching his little T.V. (that we have for the kids when we go on long drives.) I thought it was probably because he was really tired, he had played really hard at the water park the day before and we had been traveling for quite a few hours. But then we started to notice that his right eye would go weird when he was watching TV at home or right before his nap or bedtime. We started to get really concerned. Scott called his uncle who is an optometrist in Idaho Falls to find some answers. He basically said that it could be nothing to worry about or that it could be a vision problem and that he'd need glasses and to watch him for another week and see if things would change.

Well, it started happening on an off during day, even after he had woken up from a nap. I knew he wasn't tired because he had just taken a nap. I remember bawling one time, when Scott told me that he would probably need to wear glasses. I don't know why, I know many people have vision problems and have to wear glasses. But my baby is only 2 years old and I guess as a mom I started to think how this would affect my little boy. The world can be harsh sometimes, you want your kids to fit in, to feel accepted by others and grow up having high self-esteem. I wondered how this would affect my little Braden's image of himself, etc, etc. and then I started to blame myself...may be it was something I did while I was pregnant with him, may be I was lacking a vitamin or he didn't get enough nutrients to help him develop his sight, etc, etc...I'm a worrier...Scott calmed my fears as he always does...

About the last week of April, I started to make phone calls to find an opthamologist here. I called and the next available appointment wasn't until the 8th of June!!!!!!!!!! Since the person who told us about this guy held him at such high regard we decided to wait a whole month and a half to get him in with this opthamologist. That month and a half felt like an ETERNITY!!! We were so worried because his eye just kept getting worse and worse and then his left one started to go crooked once in a while too.

Anyway, to make the LONG story short, I finally took him in on the 8th. We found out that Braden has strabismus, it's a condition that happens when the eyes are not properly aligned with each other, one of your eyes goes "crooked" (that is the term the doctor used) and your vision is VERY poor. The doctor basically said that Braden is EXTREMELY far-sighted, so he can see very far away, but not close. So everything close to him is blurry!!! He prescribed him glasses, very THICK glasses and we have to put a patch on his good eye to strengthen the bad one for an hour a day. I have to say that it was worth the wait to see this opthamologist, he was AMAZING!!!! He was so incredible with Braden and wanted to take Braden home!!! It was so cute! AND my Mr. Braden DEFINITELY earned a GOLD STAR throughout this whole process! He has been so cooperative with the patch (we have to bribe him once in a while with cookies and we have to keep him distracted) but overall, he has been so good.

I went to the library and found a few books on pirates to make him feel that is FUN to wear the patch...we taught him to say aaarrr matey!!! Here he is on his very first day with the patch after bribing him with chocolate chip cookies, Scott is reading him his book about pirates!!!:)

Distracting him for the whole hour can be challenging. So we try to make cookies, give him treats (he was LOVING these strawberries!!!), go to the park, go on a walk, read books, watch a movies, etc, etc.

We just barely picked up his glasses a couple of days ago, and it was so emotional for both Scott and I! I had tears in my eyes (and as I write this I'm getting teary-eyed)! But it is amazing to see him now look at things so carefully, it's like he's discovering the world around him!

We had notice that Braden can be kind of clumsy sometimes and it's because of this eye condition he has trouble with his depth perception. We are hoping he doesn't fall as much anymore!

I feel incredibly grateful for modern medicine!!! You have no idea how much I've thanked Heavenly Father for the time we live in and that Braden has the BLESSING and that we have the resources to buy him a pair of glasses so that he can see and so that his eye won't be doing funny things. That we can pick a phone, call a specialist for the eyes, that we can take him and he can get diagnosed the same day and that a week later he can have glasses to be able to see!!! What would his life have been without them? Honestly, if this is NOT a miracle, then I don't know what is a miracle!!! I can only THANK Heavenly Father EVERYDAY for our many blessings!!! And like I told the doctor, if this is the extent of our problems, then I MUST count my blessings...it could be MUCH worse!!!! I LOVE this little boy with all of my heart! He is so lovable and so kind! And I just hope he grows to be the kind of man that his daddy is!

(I don't know how Braden got that huge bruise on his little cheek...but it's awful looking!!!...this little boy always has scratches, bruises, etc...I guess, he IS a boy)

Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure

About a month ago, my friend Bobbi invited me to do this 5K. I was so hesitant at first because I am NOT a runner! Scott and I go jogging and I workout at home once in a while. It took me a while to decide whether I wanted to join the team or not. But with Scott's encouragement I joined! I especially joined because of the amazing cause for the race. Breast cancer hits close to home. My maternal grandmother died of breast cancer. When I was 22, I found a lump in my right breast. I was terrified. I went to the doctor and they removed the tumor. Thankfully it was benign. At my age the risk is not great but with my history I always worry. A few months ago, I found another one. I went to the doctor and they sent me to a specialist, which scared me because they usually don't, unless they think it's something serious. But, thankfully again, everything is fine.

This was our team!!!

With our trip and everything I didn't have time to really train for it that much. I knew I could ran a mile and a half for sure but the other mile and a half I was just going to walk. To my surprise I only stopped 3 short times and ran/jogged the rest. Bobbi was so amazing! She ran pushing her little girl in the stroller! She was so patient with me and stopped when I needed to! Thanks Bobbi!!!

Here we are before the race! We were so pumped! The opening ceremony took FOREVER! So by the time the race started we were READY!

My bishop and his wife! She is an amazing runner and is in such awesome shape!!! She's a great example!

After the race, we were all sweaty, but soooo happy to have been part of such a great cause! There were people of all ages, races, men and women. It's funny but I got emotional when I saw papers pinned to people's backs saying that they were running in memory of their mothers, grandmothers, sisters, friends...it was special...

My fans...:)

I think this is going to become a tradition for the Jensen's. I'm making Scott run it with me next year!!!:) I can see how people get addicted to these things!!! I guess, we better start getting into shape and start running!!!:)

A Chronicle of our Adventure...

Day 1-Friday, May 29, 2009

We said we'd head to Palmyra first thing Friday morning. Knowing us, we didn't make it out the door until 11 a.m....by the time we packed our car with everything it was noon. About 3 hours into our trip, somewhere in Pennsylvania, we got caught in traffic. Next thing I know, Scott looks at his rear view mirror and starts saying, "stop, stop, stop..." and suddenly we got rear ended!!! The car behind us was going too fast and couldn't stop in time and hit us! Greeeatttt...our goal was to get there before dark to have some daylight to set up our tent at our campsite in Palmyra. We were NOT looking forward to having to call the cops and all the stuff that goes into reporting an accident. Thank goodness everyone was fine, Brielle actually thought it was hilarious and was laughing her head off!!! Funny girl! When Scott and I got out of our car, to our surprise, we didn't see a single scratch on the bumper. The guy's car got some damage, but he didn't seem too concerned about his car as much as ours. We figured since everyone and everything looked okay we would just keep going, I was a little hesitant about not calling the cops but was more anxious to get to Palmyra. To me, this was one of those tender mercies (basically a miracle!) because the guy hit us pretty hard! I attribute this miracle to the prayer we said before heading on this trip!

But the tender mercies don't end there. When we were a couple hours from Palmyra, Scott and I were enjoying the AMAZING New York scenery...which is incredibly breath-taking! I think it is one of the MOST beautiful states I have EVER driven through...anyway, Scott noticed a cute deer standing by the side of the road. When suddenly it decided to jump in front of our car!!! Scott started swerving not to hit the darn deer, good thing it was a country road and we were the only ones on it. We missed it by a hair!!! Angels were protecting us!

We got to Palmyra around 8pm, barely had some daylight to set up our camp but we made it! We had a wonderful older couple next to our camp who were kind enough to share their fire with us to roast some hot dogs. We were all starving! The kids kept calling them grandma and grandpa! We had some enjoyable conversation with the couple and then headed to our tent! Brielle and Braden were so excited it took them a while to fall asleep but they finally did! We were all exhausted! But grateful to arrive there alive!

Day 2-Saturday, May 30th

Daij, we saw you everywhere we went! It was awesome!:)

That morning, we headed to see the sites without any idea how it was going to go with the kids. Children just have a way of keeping it real! That's the most positive way of putting it! We started our tour of the Smith Family lodge home and the kids weren't having it! Braden started to scream at the top of his lungs and poor Scott ran outside as fast as he could! Of course, Miss Brielle, who has been so clingy with his daddy since he finished school, did NOT want to stay with me at the lodge house and started crying because her daddy left her!!! The whole thing was quite dramatic! I was quite mortified about it, thinking how the heck is this going to work? and I DEFINITELY had the spirit of contention with me! I could see that Scott was frustrated too. We sat down by a bench and Scott suggested that we say a prayer. We did. Then we started to walk into the Sacred Grove. Everything changed. That moment at the Sacred Grove, set the tone for our whole trip. Every feeling of selfishness vanished. At that moment, I realized that our kids are first and we would do everything to accommodate THEM (as it always should be, but sometimes that is the hardest thing about being a parent!).

These kids are so worth it! Look at that little face! They were so EXCITED to have found a snail!

There are no appropriate words to describe the feelings that you get when you are in the Sacred Grove. As our little family was walking into the grove of trees, I was overwhelmed by an undeniable feeling of reverence. It was amazing! We started to feel the need to whisper. We explained to the kids what had happened there and it was so amazing to see their little faces when we were telling them about it! I consider myself blessed to have been able to be there as a family!

About lunch time our friends the Strassburger's (Max and Jeanna) met up with us. They live in Rochester, NY and were so kind to drive an hour to come see us! It was so nice to see them and spend a few hours visiting with them and meet their cute little Gracie! They treated us to lunch at this awesome burger joint in Palmyra. It was delicious! We had such a fun time catching up with them! We only wish, we would have had more time to spend with them!!!:) They are such a fun little family!

I stole this one from Jeanna's blog! (I didn't take any pictures of us in my camera!) I was so sad!

Then they took us to the place where the Book of Mormon was first published. This time, Scott and I took turns taking the tour. Scott went in with Max and Jeanna and got a one-on-one tour with this AMAZING senior sister, who was kind enough to do the "quick" version of the tour with both of us. She was so wonderful and it was neat to see all that they had to go through to print those first copies of the Book of Mormon.

(This picture is courtesy of Jeanna's blog!) :)

We were sad to say good-bye to the Strassburger's! Thanks for everything!:) We headed to our campsite and had roasted hot dogs and smores for dinner. We enjoyed the rest of the evening camping! The kids were in heaven and Scott and I were too! until it started raining...

Day 3-Sunday, May 31st

It rained pretty much all night and it kept us up for a while. Our plans to go to Church the next morning didn't quite work out, since we woke up at 8:45am and Church probably started at 9am. We got up and got ready, then headed to Hill Cumorah. We met an AMAZING senior couple at the Visitor's Center and talked to the brother for a while. Then, we went up to the hill. It was another amazing place!

Our next stop was the Peter Whitmer Farm. The farm is about a 20-minute drive from Hill Cumorah. By the time we got there, the kids were sleeping and Scott and I were so sleepy from being up half the night because of that rain, we parked our car and decided to take a 15 minute nap, or so we thought. We woke up almost an hour later! We must have been exhausted! But we felt so much better and were ready to go and do our little tour of the farm. There we met another INCREDIBLE senior couple. We were the only ones in the tour and it worked out perfectly! I LOVE one-on-one tours (especially with the kiddos!) I learned so much about the Whitmer Family! The tour was so enlightening! I LOVED it! I learned things I had never thought about before and I am grateful for the Whitmer Family and the role they played in the restoration of the Church!

Since that was our last day in Palmyra, we headed to the Smith Family Farm again to take some more pictures!:)

Day 4-Monday June 1st

We got up bright and early Monday morning, packed up our camp and started our 2-hour drive to Niagara Falls. We stopped there for a couple of hours. We didn't bring our passports so we only saw the American side and saw the Canadian side from afar. The falls are so impressive!

We had plans of heading to Ann Arbor, Michigan to stay with our friends Shad and Taneev for the night and visit with them before heading to Nauvoo. I plugged in their address into the GPS and Scott was just following the directions. Next thing we know, we are crossing the Canadian border...bad news because we didn't have our passports...they had to turn us around and we had to explain to the intimidating custom's guy what had happened...but after that little detour we were on our way to Michigan...the long way...

We got there after 7. The kids did amazingly well considering we were in the car 8 hours! Taneev and Shad took us to this amazing Cuban Restaurant in Ann Arbor. Growing up in Miami, I'm all about Cuban food! It was amazing! It was so fun to see Shad and Taneev and catch up with them! Shad is going to dental school at the University of Michigan. They showed us around campus. Ann Arbor is a charming town! We really enjoyed seeing around and visiting with the Mackert's. They were both so amazing with our children! They played with them and both Brielle and Braden loved all the attention! We are so grateful they let us stay at their place for the night! We loved catching up with them!!!:)

Brielle's face is priceless!

Braden LOVED playing with Shad! He was so good with Braden!

Day 5-Tuesday, June 2nd

The next day, as it is usual for this Jensen Family, we attempted to get up bright and early to continue our drive to Nauvoo...but of course it didn't happen...we left the Mackert's around 11am. It is about an 8-hour drive from Ann Arbor to Nauvoo. We stopped for lunch and dinner so it turned out to be more like a 10-hour drive. When we finally arrived in Nauvoo, we were welcomed by a BEAUTIFUL sunset! We drove by the temple and were amazed by its beauty!

We got to our cabin, which we rented for $16 a night at the Nauvoo Campground (Church of Christ owned). It was ghetto but we were there together and there's no place I would have rather been! It was awesome! We had these rusty bunkbeds and Brielle thought this was our "new home". She repeated several times that she didn't like our new home with the bunkbeds!!!:) Scott and I were laughing so hard and Braden said several times that he wanted to go home!!! Poor kids, I think they were traumatized!!! ha ha!!!:) But their clean bathroom facilities made up for the ghetto cabin!

Day 6-Wednesday, June 3rd

We headed to visit the sites. We started at the visitor's center where a sister missionary helped us decide what we wanted to see. There is sooooo much to see in Nauvoo!!! We could seriously have spent a good 4 to 5 days to be able to see everything there! The only down side of Nauvoo are all of the tours that you have to be able to see all of the houses there. But we tried to do as much for the kids our first day there. We took a carriage and wagon ride. The kids LOVED it!

There is this cute little area called Pioneer Pastimes. They have games and different things that the pioneer children used to do to spend their free time! Brielle and Braden had such a great time there!

We saw a few other things, then headed to the cabin to take a nap. After our nap, we headed to the cemetery where many of the Smith Family members, including Joseph Smith, are buried. After that we walked around the temple and we were done. I think both Scott and I felt a little overwhelmed at how much there is to see there. We couldn't decide what to pick.

I LOVE this statue of Joseph and Hyrum Smith! It depicts the moment when they were headed to Carthage and Joseph said:"This is the loveliest place and the best people under the heavens; little do they know the trials that await them." That is POWERFUL!

Day 7-Thursday, June 4th

Scott and I talked about the places that we really wanted to see and took turns taking the tours. He would tell me about the place he just saw and then I would tell them about what I saw. It worked out pretty well. Nauvoo is such a cute little town. It amazes me at what good of a job the Church does at maintaining the Old Nauvoo part and how friendly everyone is there! I think we got waved at a hundred times! By the end of the trip we were waving at everyone too! We felt a neat spirit there. I wish we could have stayed there another full day!

Finally, that day we headed to Carthage Jail, which is about a 20-minute drive from Nauvoo. Besides the BEAUTIFUL Nauvoo Temple, I think Carthage Jail was the highlight of our Nauvoo trip! There is definitely a special spirit there! The sad part is that we had to take turns to do the tour. I wish I could have shared it with Scott! But nonetheless, it was awesome! The sister missionary who gave me the tour was Brazilian. It was neat to talk to her and meet another South American among all the gringuitos!!!:) She was a third generation member of the Church and we had that in common, we had an instant connection!

Around 6pm we started our 15-hour drive back to Virginia. I needed to be back by Friday evening because I had committed myself to run a 5K on Saturday morning! My AMAZING husband drove until 4 in the morning the next day. I was pretty much unconcious the whole time! Thank goodness the kids were out for pretty much the whole trip. We stopped at a rest stop somewhere in Ohio, Scott was exhausted, we slept there until 9 and then I finished the rest of the trip! We were home around 3pm. on Friday. It gave me enough time to rest for the 5K, which I hadn't even trained for at all!!! and had to get up at 5:30 in the morning on Saturday!

We saw so many wild animals on this trip! Brielle and Braden thought it was so cool everytime they saw one!

We had an amazing trip!!! I loved spending time together as a family! We had such a fun time and I'm grateful that we were able to do this! I know this will sound cliché but while we were seeing all of these wonderful sites the Spirit was so powerful and it bore witness of the truthfulness of the gospel! We LOVED them all!