Christmas 2013 | The Report

We had yet another successful Christmas at the Jensen household.  

Can't believe another Christmas has come and gone.  

After so much anticipation, Christmas morning finally arrived.

The children came upstairs and said, "Santa came to our house!!!" 

They were beyond excited.  

...and Brooke! oh man! She was a joy to watch.  She was thrilled that she had presents.  

She LOVED opening her presents and we LOVED watching her be so excited! 

It was so magical in every way.  

I felt so grateful that Scott and I can give that feeling to our children.  

Not necessarily because of the material things, but what it means to give, that's the feeling I love.   

We were so blessed this Christmas. 

I love being able to capture their expressions!

Her dream came true! 

We were so glad to have my mom spend the holiday with us!

Scott is a simple man! He was thrilled to get a shoe polish kit! Love him! 

The kids spent the rest of Christmas day playing with their new toys and reading their new books.  

I love that part of the day on Christmas.  The house gets quiet after breakfast, kids are busy playing.  

We had a yummy Christmas dinner together. 

My tummy was happy.  

Love this little girl! 

My sister and her family joined us later and we had more fun watching everyone opening presents again!:) 

Christmastime Part II

One of my favorite traditions during Christmastime is building gingerbread houses. 

I think what I like the most about this activity is that we are together as a family.  

It is actually magical.

These are the moments I hope the children remember.  

Brookie was particularly into it.  Mostly eating the candy. 

The boys tediously worked on theirs.  

They are both perfectionists.  

Our handiwork.

What a fun night! 

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Another fun and meaningful tradition we have is the reenactment of the Nativity. 

We were so glad to have the Friels and Penny over and we had a great night together.

I was especially grateful for the reminder of the true meaning of Christmas.  

The children were children and were a little wild but 

I hope they remember that Christmas is about our Savior.   

The two year-olds were not interested in being part of it.  

They thought jumping on the couch was more fun!

Then, the kids put a little show for us. 

They sang Christmas songs and danced around! 

Cutest kids ever! 

So grateful for these wonderful people in my life.  

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On Christmas Eve, we decided to make tamales with my mom and the kids.  Sadly, Scott had to work.  

The tamales turned out delicious and at the end of the night Brielle, Braden and Brooke had a little program planned out.  Brielle and Braden wrote their feeling about Christmas and Brooke sang Jingle Bells.  

I think there was a common theme: "Christmas is about Jesus, not the presents!" :) 

My kiddos on Christmas Eve in their new jammies. 

These three little people make this time of the year so magical. 

Around Here│Christmastime

Soon after Thanksgiving, the streets of Salt Lake City turned into a winter wonderland.  

I love the first snowfalls of the year.  

We got a real tree this year and our house smelled so good.  

I am not a fan of colored lights but the kids and Scott demanded them and I couldn't say no.  

Our tree was fresh for about 2 weeks, I faithfully watered it hoping that it would last until Christmas but by Christmas it was super dry.  We were all a little disappointed.  But we enjoyed the wonderful smell nonetheless.  

Christmastime is such a magical time.  The children were so excited and it seemed like we waited forever and ever until Christmas day.  

Brookie's cheesy smile has been cracking me up!!! 

She sure has the cheesy smile mastered.  

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We got to go to the Internal Medicine Holiday Ball.  It was such a nice break and we were glad the Clarkes could make it too.  The food was good and we enjoyed some good conversation with our friends.  We are grateful to know them.  

Scott and I danced for an hour and we called it a night! 

It's always fun to spend some alone time with my husband.  

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Trent, Scott's cousin, is headed to Africa on his mission next month.  Jana had a little farewell party for him at her house.  It was nice to see them all and spend a few hours together.  

Trent is such a nice guy and we are proud of him for making such a good decision to go serve.  

I loved watching Brookie interact with Uncle Chuck.  

...and I can't get enough of the cheesy smile!:) 

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Someone told me about the Christmas window stroll at the Grand America Hotel downtown.  

Scott was off one Saturday and we decided to go.  It was such a fun outing and the gingerbread house was especially amazing! It's probably the biggest gingerbread house I have ever seen.  

The windows did not disappoint.  It was fun to see them all.   

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My little niece Vanessa turned one! Nya and Rob had a little party for her and we enjoyed being together celebrating her first year on this earth! 

She is honestly the sweetest little girl and we are SO happy she is part of our family!

We love her so much! I can't believe how fast children grow.  She brings so much joy to all of us.  

Thanksgiving 2013

I was so excited when Thanksgiving week finally arrived because it meant I would have my husband all to myself! I'm so grateful he gets 3 weeks off a year and this year one of those weeks landed during Thanksgiving week.  The kids had school Monday and Tuesday and after that we headed to Idaho.  We hadn't spent a Thanksgiving with Scott's family since before Scott started medical school.  Scott's older brother CJ and his family were also there, we hadn't spent a holiday with them in a long, long time.  Their kids are all so big and it is nice to spend time with them.  We don't see them often and our kids had a fun time playing with their cousins.  

Clay and Karen took us to lunch to a restaurant by the Greenbelt and we had to take a picture in front of the temple where Scott and I were married, almost 10 years ago!!! We will be celebrating our 10th wedding anniversary this coming June.  

It was nice to show our kids and walk around for a bit.

Thanksgiving day finally arrived and we ate the yummiest food.  

Karen is a superb cook and hostess.  

I know how much work it takes to put together a Thanksgiving meal and Karen makes it look like a breeze!:)  So grateful for all your hard work Karen! 

Thanks for all the delicious food and hosting all of us in your home.  

We were in a food coma after our Thanksgiving feast! 

Brooke loves playing with Lanie's phone any time we go to Idaho or they come here.  She has the best games.  Brooke was concentrating very hard when I took this picture.  

The older kids were loving grandpa's ipad.  

It was so good to see and spend time with Great-grandma Jensen.  

Thanks for letting us crash at your house grandma, it sure was nice spending time with you.  

There was a lot of love giving from Brooke to CJ and Lenell's newest baby. 

She's a cutie! It was nice to finally meet her.   

...and poor Emi had to endure all of the grandkids' persistent 'love giving'! too! :) 

Lanie let us play with her wii.  It was so fun! 

Last time we came to Idaho, we went to ijump but Scott stayed in Salt Lake.  It was such a fun place to go, I'm glad we went again while we were there.  The kids had a blast and we did too.  

We had a fun holiday. 

The time to say goodbye came all too quickly but it was nice to spend some good moments together. 

We were thankful for good food, family and fun activities.  

I'm thankful that we were able to make memories together. 

Let Him Be a Little Boy

These are the 3-month old shoes of a little boy who lives in my house. 

Yes, you read correctly, 3-month old shoes. 

How does one wear out a pair of shoes to the point where they have holes in them?

This is not the first pair of shoes with holes and worn out soles.   

I often remind Braden to take it easy on his shoes, when I see him jumping in water puddles or rubbing them against the asphalt when he rides his bike or his scooter.  As I was scolding him one time, Scott heard me and gently said, "Denisse, he's just a little boy.  Let him play however he wants."  

My budget driven mind had taken over.  I do the math in my head $20-$25 every three months, I could be spending up to $100 a year on shoes for this little boy! 

As I was cleaning the shoe organizer one night, I saw this pair of shoes.  

I started to examine them and this brought me to reflection.   

I realized that these worn pair of shoes with holes reveal that a healthy boy wears them.  

He can run.  He can ride a bike.  He can ride a scooter.  He can walk to school.  He can play.  

This little 6 year old boy is healthy, able and capable of putting holes in shoes! 

At that moment, as I looked at those shoes I felt grateful that 

they had holes in them and the soles were worn out.    

I love my Braden and I'm forever grateful that he is a healthy child.  

I think I can live with paying $100 a year for shoes...