Christmas

Yep, I am that far behind.

The past several months I have really wondered if having a blog was worth the effort. Now that we aren't in Japan anymore, life just isn't very exciting; it is busy, tiring and stressful, but not exciting.

I really haven't even taken many pictures because I was so far beind in knowing what to do with what i had already taken that I just felt unorganized and cluttered and my psyche just doesn't do well with that. :)

But, I have finally come to realize (after talking to another blogging friend) that if I don't blog now, at least a little, that by the time I have a chance to catch up on all the pics I will never remember all the details of what was going on. So, the blogging will commence!

Joshy playing in the snow for the first time that he actually remembered; he loved it!

We decided to drive to Utah to spend Christmas with family...it had been 7 years since we had been home at Christmastime! Needless to say, the boys loved their time with cousins, grandmas and grandpas; here is Julianne being very well loved on.

We had to do the obligatory picture of the kids on the steps of the St. George Temple. It was a beautiful night and so much fun to see the lights and nativity while listening to Christmas music.

Bear hugs were issued often!

Logan was not feeling well while in Utah, but he was SO anxious to be in the snow. So, we bundled him up to the point that he could barely move and his eyes were just barely peeking out; he loved it and he loved the snow.

~Random Sampler~

Logan with jammies filled with stuffed animals. :)

Andrew and Grandma enjoying the ride around Old Town Sacramento.

Logan and the "Captain" on the really cool pirate ship in Old Town. This ship looks just like the you would think a pirate/sailing ship from the 1800's should look. Touring the ship and sailing around one of the nearby ports here is on our "to-do" list while living here.

Andrew caught this fabulous shot of my dad in Old Town...I love it (he will hate it)!

Josh and Logan have come up with a new game at night. They like to see how many stuffed animals they can put in their shirts and/or pants at night while they are "sleeping" in bed. In this particular picture, Josh was so "stuffed" that he couldn't even move! Dana and I had a good chuckle when we removed 7 stuffed animals of various sizes from his shirt. :)

Dana bought me an awesome bike for Christmas! I love it and so does Josh. We are ready for warmer days to be outside and having fun peddling around our neighborhood.

Andrew has developed a love for the game of chess. Thankfully, Dana taught him how to play over the course of a weekend as I couldn't remember all the rules. He is pretty good and Logan is catching on quickly. It is fun to see the boys learn something somewhat difficult so fast and be so proud of themselves.

I know this picture is terribly blurry, but I love it! While my parents were here in November we went to the Science Museum in San Fran; it was incredible! Even though my dad was exhausted, he happily (mostly) complied with Logan's wishes of riding on grandpa's shoulders.

Tae Kwon Do (and other stuff)!

So, the boys have been taking Tae Kwon Do for about 6 months now and COMPLETELY love it! Their teacher is a Korean man that taught at Berkley for many years and now has his own studio here near the base. At times he is fun and relaxed but other times he is quite serious and will make the kids toe the line. All in all, I am thrilled the kids are enjoying it as much as they do.

They earned their yellow belts a few months ago, and now next week they will be testing for their orange belts-they are excited!

The teacher seems to enjoy the boys as they give it their best effort every time .

And just because I think he is adorable, here is another picture of Josh playing baseball, he was so determined to hit that ball!

Yep, it has been FOREVER! So, let me catch you up on a few happenings from the past couple of months.

In November, my parents came to visit us in our new home; we had such a great time! We decided to tour Old Town Sacramento and here are just a few of the pictures we took:

I think Andrew must have been inspired by his dad's stories about eating "bugs and such" while in Thailand because he ate his first chocolate covered bug while in a candy store in Old Town. We were all a bit grossed out but his little chest swelled with pride because his little brothers were too scared to do it themselves.

Grandpa played baseball with Josh. Josh worked very hard for his few hits and loved every minute of it!

We took a horse drawn carriage ride through Old Town and loved seeing all the sights up front and personal.

Mom and Dad are always great sports to see and do as much as possible while they are here; we always have great fun! It is such a blessing to live this "close" (15 hour drive) to family as I am sure this is the closest we will be for many years.

The Flu bug vs the Boys...

The Jensen household was struck by the mean and nasty H1N1 virus this year. Andrew had it first and it was rough on him; many days of fevers, a sore throat, aches and pain and just being downright miserable. Then, about 1 day after he was finally recovered and back to school, Logan came down with it. Now of course since we are military, getting any immediate help or medicine was basically out of the question though I tried my very best. After 4 days of scary fevers and Logan being more sick than I had ever seen any of my kids be in prior years, I took him BACK to the hospital. After fighting with the Dr. about getting a more indepth look at his lungs they did find that he had pneumonia as a complication of H1N1. Thankfully, it was not too severe but enough to have him admitted to the hospital. The first 12 hours of Logan's stay, he was so out of it that he doesn't even remember any of it.

My Mom was great to take the next flight out to us to help me as we knew that Dana's schedule was not going to allow for much flexiblity to help while Logan was in the hospital. Thanks to her, we have pictures documenting this not-so-fun-and-quite-scary event for our family. So, here is Logan relaxing and finally off the IVs and oxygen and then the next picture is of Joshy visiting Logan in his room.

Hopefully I NEVER have pictures like this to post again...yikes!

Halloween

Nope, I didn't forget about it...just catching up!

The boys were SO excited about Halloween this year. Sadly for all of us, Andrew and Logan were also very sick during October. It was a rough month with lots of missed school, medicine and rocking in the chair with mom. Hopefully next year we can have a little more fun.

But, we DID get to do a few fun activities. :)

The kids couldn't believe how big this pumpkin was...Josh is in utter shock (or something).

These pumpkins were less than $5! Bargain!

Teamwork was the lesson learned that day.

See, one works and the others learn from his perspiration. We are all about learning real life skills here.

Freedom!

Fear!

They went through it twice. Once with Mom to make sure nothing was going to jump out and get them (with Josh's face buried in my shoulder with me shouting "DON'T look Josh!" poor kid) and once just to prove to themselves that they are brave (they are).

These two were able to do some trick-0r-treating on Halloween...

This one sadly did not get to partake in the festivities. He was fevering at 104 (with meds) in this picture. Four days later he was hospitalized; but that is a story for another time.

Anything but dull!

Muir Woods

So far, Muir Woods has been our favorite place that we have visited. It is almost like stepping into a forest that only exists in fantasy. The paths are perfectly groomed, it is damp, dark and ethereal. The small stream that runs through the woods is crystal clear and alive with small fish. The explorers of the woods are quiet with a reverance for the beauty.

Here are a few of our favorite pictures:

The boys with Grandma Jensen and Aunt Candice.

Joshy posing with his favorite carved bear.


A rare moment of quiet reflection (see, it does happen!).

The beauty encircled us...it was hard to know which direction to look first!

Oddly enough, even the spider webs were beautiful (is that even possible in my world?!).

Snuggling Aunt Candice, they loved spending time with her.