Ms. Jensen goes to Utah

I was able to take a few days off work and take a trip up to Utah to visit with some of my girlfriends and my in-laws. I brought Oliver as a treat for my in-laws and to test my parenting skills on the airplane, but Oliver was so good on the plane, I didn't have to delve too deep into my advanced parenting skill toolbox. Shawn's parents were nice enough to not only provide me with room and board during my stay but also hours and hours of minimum wage babysitting for free and a horseless carriage to get me from A to B and into a snowbank. But more on that later.

First things first, Oliver bonded with Taffy, my in-law's dog.

Sara and I were roomies for several years in collage at UVSC. Proving she is such a great friend, she still met up with me for lunch even though she had been sick all week. Cool friend points have been awarded.

Funny Story: On the way to Sara's house I missed her street, I turned down a private farm road and got stuck in a snow bank trying to flip a u-turn. Well I was not wearing boots, just black flats, and after revving the engine I got out to try and push/rock the car a little and I sunk knee deep in the snowbank. This happened to me a couple times as I tried to push/rock the car in the snow a little. I finally realized that I was going to have to dig to clear away some snow around the tires, and of course I wasn't wearing gloves. The whole ordeal took about 10 minutes, but I was laughing the entire time - how ironic that I was not prepared for the cold and totally spoiled living in Arizona and got stuck in the snow my first day in Utah.

Thursday night we did a Jensen Girl's Night Out to the Sizzler for dinner and then walked around the University Mall because we were all so full. It was a lot of fun to just hang out with girls and it gave Stan, my Dad-in-law (or D.I.L. as he likes to put it) some quality time with Oliver.

The view from Jensen's back yard. They live on the Ranches Golf Course, and have a beautiful view of the golf course, mountains, and valley, and a sliver of Utah Lake. But you can't really tell that much because of the annual winter inversion.

Michelle was my co-worker and running partner for 5 years. We also ate at Sizzler, one of our favorite restaurants. We had such a good time that we lost track of time and she was VERY late getting back from lunch. Luckily, I still "know" people there and she didn't get in any real trouble.
For posterity, this picture was taken at WNA where we used to work together.

Friday night the whole family got together for dinner at Village Pizza. It's this cute little family owned pizzeria and their pizza is amazing. Shawn decorated a pizza box for them the last time we came to UT and they liked it so much they put it up on the wall.

Saturday afternoon/evening I met up with my SMNK (Secret Married No Kids) friends Melanie and Angie. We went shopping at the Fashion Place Mall and out to dinner for several hours. I was gone a lot longer than I thought I would be. We had so much fun talking and reminiscing and it was like no time had passed at all.

(SMNK was a group of 4-6 couples in various newlywed stages with no kids. All the guys got along and all the girls got along and we all had a great time together. We went camping, to movies, to the gym, shopping, out to dinner etc and just had such a great time together.)

Because it was so ridiculously cold and all my friends were in various stages of colds, I left Oliver home with my in-laws who were ecstatic to spend quality one-on-one time with him.

I was so worried about Oliver being cold I had him double wrapped in blankets and his hat so he wouldn't freeze.

Saying good bye at the Salt Lake City Airport.

Christmas Day

Lincoln was SO excited Christmas morning when he came downstairs to presents and an empty plate of Christmas cookies. He was practically bouncing off the walls with excitement and the best part of Christmas this year was watching Lincoln be so excited and happy about everything.

We were able to have Grandma and Grandpa Jensen and Aunt Kara and Uncle Tyler open presents with us on Christmas morning thanks to the webcam.




We went over the my parents house around 9:30 and opened more presents over there and Shawn made us crepe's for Christmas brunch. We spent the day watching White Christmas, hanging out by the pool and at the park, getting in the hot tub and roasting marshmellows in the fire pit. It was a very special and relaxing day.

The Monday after Christmas we spent Family Home Evening viewing the lights at the Mesa Temple grounds. This is the only picture we were able to get of all us this Christmas. And it was the perfect way to end the Christmas season this year.

Christmas Eve

My sister Emily came to surprised us with a visit for Christmas and my mom surprised us with tickets to Ballet Arizona's The Nutcracker. We went on the 23rd. I love The Nutcracker and its become a family tradition to go every year.

Making cookies for Santa with Aunt Emily and Uncle John on Christmas Eve day.

We had Christmas Eve dinner at my parents house with my extended family. We ate a delicious meal, opened 1 present each, read the Christmas story from the bible and sang Christmas songs and of course did our annual family photo shoot.

Great Grandpa Naum with ALL of his great grandchildren.

Lincoln and Oliver in reindeer Christmas pjs brought by Lincoln's eft Rigadimp.
(Oliver isn't old enough for an elf.) This was Lincoln's first year with a elf that reports back to Santa if he is being good or not.

Lincoln (and Daddy) were very excited about this monster truck because now Lincoln has 2 and they can have have monster truck races together.