Merry Christmas

We hope that everyone has been enjoying the Holiday season. This has been a very busy time of year for us. Aly had her First Birthday at the beginning of November. She was so cute and had so much fun. She even let her cousins open all of her presents. She really didn't care. She loves playing with all her new toys. When it came time for her cake she was so excited. As soon as she realized that it was good cake, she picked up the entire piece (which wasn't very small) and tried to cram it in her mouth. She was so cute.

Thanksgiving was fun. Nathan and Colleen and the girls were able to come down. It was a wonderful treat to be able to spend so much time with the entire family. Aly loved playing with her Idaho cousins. Peter was excited to be able to introduce Aly to Nathan, since he had never met her. We are sad that they won't be able to join us for Christmas, but we are happy that the reason is because Nathan can't get time off work. We're very happy for them and that all of Nathan's hard work at school and Colleen's patience has paid off.

This Christmas season we've been trying really hard to put our focus where it should be. This last Sunday we were able to attend our Stake Christmas Fireside. The theme was having a Christ centered Christmas. It was just what we needed to kick off our Christmas season. It was absolutely beautiful. It was all music and there is no better way to feel the spirit then to listen to music. It touches the heart and penetrates straight to the soul. We walked away really feeling like we were ready for Christmas. It's been nice to not worry so much about presents and to spend the time reflecting on what Christmas is. We haven't even really decorated. We set up the tree and a few lights but our main focus has been the nativity and what Christ has done for us.

We hope that everyone is enjoying this wonderful holiday season. We want all of you to know how much we love you. Have a Christ centered Merry Christmas and a safe and Happy New Year.

Aly had so much fun helping us set up the gigantic 12 foot Christmas tree. She thought it was so funny to watch us climb the ladders. We had Christmas music playing and she spent the whole time dancing, laughing, and running around.

After 5 1/2 hrs of hard work, 2 giant ladders, and decorating with 50 - 60 ornaments, we finally finished the tree. We had a lot fun and we really enjoyed watching Alyssa get so excited. She even helped put some if the ornaments on the tree. She's only taken off 1 ornament since we put the tree up but she loves to go over and look at them and touch them. You can see just how tall the tree is. It dwarfs Peter and he's a pretty big guy.

First's for Aly

Jensen Grandkids.
From Left to Right. Natalie holding Caylin,
Logan, Alyssa, and Rachel.

This month has brought about lots of new First's for Aly. Just to name a few, her first tooth came in which is quickly being followed by her second, third, fourth and fifth all at the same time. She said Mama for the first time (she's been saying Dada). She took her first steps all by herself. She saw Caylin, her baby cousin for the first time and go to touch her. Which she was very excited about. W also took her and Rachel to the park and she saw her on the swings and wanted to join in. So she got to swing on the swings for the very first time. She absolutely loved it. It's now her favorite thing to do. As you can see, it's been a very busy couple of weeks for Aly.

Fun times at the Cabin

We had so much fun at the cabin on Cnference weekend. It's always nice to get out of town. It was especally nice to be able to watch Conference and be spiritually edified. We loved being up there with Mom and Dad Austin, Becky, Charles and Audrey, and James, Tamara and Emma. The girls had so much fun playing together. We were glad to see them all get along. It was an eye opener for Peter since he doesn't get to see Aly all that much he hadn't realized how much she's grown until he saw her playing with the "Big Girls".

We also had fun hiking the Alpine Pond trail. It really is beautiful even with the trees loosing their leaves.

The girls especially loved going on ATV rides.

Well, we had lots of fun and hope that everyone else had fun too. We're just sad to see the cabin season come to a close.

Helping Mommy

Aly tries so hard to help me when I'm cleaning. She loves to watch me vacume, clean the dishes, and especially loves helping me fold laundry and sweep the floors. I'm glad that she has decided that helping me is fun, even if it makes the job twice as long. The picture of her sweeping is fuzzy because she wouldn't stand still long enough. She thought it was too much fun to push the broom around.

The Long awaited update

Aly at 9 1/2 months

Wearing a dress that Aunt Kolie wore when she was that age.

Our Little Girl is now almost 10 months old. Where does the time go? Aly is now an expert crawler and is now trying to learn how to walk. She loves to pull herself up and walk around with support from the couch and coffee table. She has also learned to clap her hands. When she sees us doing it she gets really excited and claps along with us. She especially does it when we play Patty Cake. She still doesn't have any teeth in but the Doctor says that they are all there and will probably come in all at the same time. So we haven't experienced the teething drama yet, but we should get it 10 fold when it happens.

We have been very busy the last several months. Peter recently changed jobs and is now doing a job that he's wanted to do for a year. He is working as an Assitant Activities Director at a Nursing Center. What that means is he gets paid to have fun, play games, and bring joy to the residents. He absolutely loves it. It's the best job he's had so far. And he doesn't have to worry about giving anyone medications and making sure they're on time.


We went to the Cabin in July with Mom and Dad Austin. Jill and Dad were asked to be judges at the Garfield County Fair talent show. Jill had so much fun and we all enjoyed seeing the talent, especially that of the little children. Kids can be so cute. It was so nice and relaxing, as the cabin always is. We are so blessed to have the cabin to go to so we can de-stress. Aly and Jill also went to the cabin at the end of Aug. for the Jensen Family Reunion. It wasn't muh of a Reunion. Peter an Adrian couldn't come because of school and work. Jeremy, Cami and the kids could not come because Cami's doctor told her she was not allowed to leave town due to early contractions, a month early. Aaron and Wendi had to leave early because Rachel got sick and because her lungs are still under-developed they didn't want to take any chances, and neither did any of the rest of us. (Rachel is doing fine). So that left Mom and Dad Jensen, Jill and Aly, Ricky, and Nikole.

We still had fun and enjoyed ourselves very much. We went to all the sites nearby, Aspen Mirror Lake, Navajo Lake, Brian Head, Cedar Breaks, Panguitch Lake, Alpine Pond, and Mammoth Caves. We had so much fun. We especially enjoyed sitting on the porch and watching the Humming Bird Wars as they fought over who had rights to the feeder. They would fly within inches of our heads. Jill's hair even got buzzed from them.

Ricky inside Mammoth Cave. Which is really 4 caves connected by lava tubes that you can crawl through. It's much bigger than this picture shows.

Our new adventure is Peter's schedule for this semester. He is working 40 hrs a week at Del Mar, continuing with school, and working 12 hrs a week at his internship. Basically what it comes down to is that he leaves at 7 in the morning and does not come home until 9:30 at night. It's quite exhausting for him but he loves it. He's really enjoying his internship at Salvation Army Rehabilitation Center. He actually gets to participate in group therapy, drug phase rehab classes, one on one's with the therapist and client, and any administrative functions. He's excited that he acually gets to have hands on experience and not just sitting in a classroom learning theories. He gets to see the theories he's learned put to use and see if they actually work. We are also excited that he only has 2 more semesters left. Yes, if all goes according to plan, Peter will be graduating in the Spring of 2010. Yea!!

Well, that's all for now. here are some recent pictures. Enjoy.

Aly has discovered that she loves spaghetti, loves geting messy, and HATES being cleaned up. She'll scream until we stop.




Here we are at Brian Head Peak. You can see part of Cedar Breaks in the background.

Aly LOVES to play with her cousins. Here she is playing with Nat and Logan while Jill was babysitting them. It's great that they all get along.


Aly also loves brushing her gums. It's good practice for when she has teeth.

This picture does not do her eyes justice.

So BIG!!!

Here are some recent pictures of Aly who is now 6 1/2 months old. Where does the time go?

We tried to take Aly swimming for the first time but the water temperature was too cold. So we ended up filling the kiddy pool up with warm water which she really enjoyed.

When Victor and Adele came home from their mission to Chile, they brought back pretty dresses for the girls. When we first saw it we thought it was huge. Well, we waited so long to try it on Aly that now it's almost too small. But at least we got some pictures.

We just thouht that this picture was adorable. It's her new favorite way to sleep. She'll stay in the stink bug position all night long.

She likes to Move It!!

Peter gets Aly to do this cute little dance to "Move It". She loves it so much that she just laughs and laughs. It's so adorable.

Our Hike

Yea!! Jill has finally learned how to edit and post video's to our blog. So here's the first of many.

Here's a short video of our Hike on the Lava. It's about 4 minutes long. We got half way up and realized that we didn't have the camera. So Peter hiked back down just to get it. He's so amazing!!We tried to show just how beautiful it is up there. Enjoy!

Cabin Fun!

This month we have spent a lot of time at the cabin. It has been so nice to escape our hectic lives. The first trip was with Mom and Dad Austin. It was lots of fun to spend time with them relaxing and playing lots of games. This was Aly's first trip to the cabin. It was such a treat to see her exploring new sites and sounds. She loved the rainbow windsocks and windchimes.

The second trip was with Jill's sister, Nikole and her hubby Adrian. We really enjoyed having them there. Again it was lots of fun spending time with them relaxing and playing games. Peter and Jill introduced Nikole to Settlers of Catan. For those of you who know the game you know it can be complex. Well, Kolie picked up on it quickly and did very well for herself. Adrian claimed that he doesn't care for the game, but we think he secretly does. After all, he did win.

Adrian And Nikole were only able to stay the weekend, to much dissapointment from everyone. So after they left Peter and Jill went on several hikes and walks. We climbed the Lava Rocks in the backyard and we also followed Mammoth Creek down for while. It's such beautiful country that anywhere you walk is amazing. (The first picture is from hike to the top of the Lava and the second one was on our walk by the creek.)

All that exercise really took it out of Aly. This picture was taken on the morning we were packing up to leave. She slept the whole drive down the mountain and the entire drive home from Cedar City to Las Vegas, about 4 hours. We really felt blessed.

Well, we really enjoyed ourselves and hope that everyone else did to. We can't wait to go back.

Our BIG Girl!!

Here's our Aly. We bought a booster chair for her so we don't have to hold her while we feed her rice cereal. She love's to clean herself up with the washcloth when she's done. She's really growing up. Some mornings we wake up and don't even recognize her.

Update

It's been a while since we've written anything So here's an update and pictures.

Aly is getting bigger every day. She's now wearing 3-6 month clothes which are getting smaller as each day goes by. Jill was some what sad to have to put away the newborn clothes. Where does the time go? But as she grows her personality is starting to show more and more. She loves to laugh at people doing funny things. Jill makes funny noises and Aly will giggle but when Peter plays with her she laughs so hard that she forgets to breathe. She loves her daddy so much. When he walks into the room she lights up. If given the choice between Peter and Jill she usually wants Peter. But Jill doesn't mind too much since she's home alone with her all day long. Aly has also decided to be nice to her mommy and daddy and sleep 7 -9 hrs straight through the night. We are so blessed to have such a sweet, kind, considerate, and good daughter.

(Here's Aly getting ready to exercise with Peter and here she is just being Cute.)

Aly also loves playing with her cousin Audrey. They get along so well. We can't wait until Aly is a little bigger so that she can actually play more with Audrey. But Aly loves to watch Audrey play with her toys.

They are always smiling at each other.She also loves it when Audrey kisses her and makes faces at her.

We hope that Audrey and Aly will always stay close.

Peter and Jill are doing very well. We love living in Southwest Las Vegas and we love the Southern Hills Ward. Peter was called to teach a member missionary class during Sunday School. This class does not have a manual other than Preach My Gospel. So Peter is faced with the challenge of having to create his own lessons every week.The focus of his class is that every member is a missionary and that it is our responsibility to actively seek out missionary experiences. He is doing a wonderful job and loves teaching. Jill was called to be a Primary teacher and is currently teaching the CTR7's. She absolutely loves her class and has so much fun with them every week. She was also recently called to be the Ward Organist. Not much Surprise to that calling. She did go 1 year without having that calling. It was the first year in 10 that she didn't have it so it's no surprise that the Lord would call her back to it.

Peter has been working really hard lately. He is currently working at an assited living facility as a med tech. So he is getting really good at knowing what drugs have what effects. He is also still going to school. But is closer than ever to graduating. Also Peter and Nathan have been having their own Biggest Loser competition. Peter is pleased to announce that he has lost 30lbs in 5 months making him weigh less than what his drivers license says. But he's not done yet. He still wants to lose another 25 pounds.

Jill has been very fortunate to be able to stay home with Aly thanks to Peter working so hard. Although she misses the excitement of working she is enjoying all the time she gets to spend with Alyssa, It's very rewarding to be able to see her grow and change. So that she doesn't go crazy doing nothing, Jill has started to teach piano and voice again. She loves sharing her love of music with other people. It's the perfect job for a mom who wants to stay home with her baby.

On the news front, we were able to be sealed together as a family on January 17. That was a very special and exciting day. Aly was absolutely beautiful in white. Also, Aly is already starting to get her first tooth. Hopefully in the next couple of weeks it will come in so she won't be in pain anymore.

We promise to post more pictures of Aly as she grows more.

Love You All.