Merry Christmas

Love it

The face behind the camera in all her morning glory...showing the new watch Josh got me

We didn't take many pictures because I was doing the movie camera, but here is all the loot

Everyone in their new PJ's

Tenley just wanted to eat that bow

iI wish you could see his face better....he was so excited

New PJ's....they are much needed

Tenley opening her first present

Cousin Anson, Jared's boy, playing with Tenley! All their boys are so good with babies!

Uncle Jared has five boys and has always wanted a little girl, so he loves to love on Tenley

The boys loved this rocking horse...I think it got used a lot that day

This is Mel holding Tenley and screaming at her mom to "LOOK!"

Tenley loves to suck or eat her toes...we finally captured it on film! Wouldn't you love to be that flexible?

Daddy gave me my first taste of chocolate ice cream and I LOVED it!

Josh and I went and saw the acappella group "Noteworthy" They were so good and really put on a fun performance! We watched them when they were on TV, so it was fun to see them in person.

Merry Christmas to all our friends and family! What a wonderful Christmas our family had this year! For the first time in our marriage, Josh and I spent Christmas at our own house with just our little family and it was PERFECT!! I told Josh that I didn't want to spend Christmas away from our home anymore! It is just too crazy to haul all the presents back and forth and to be away from our own beds and bedrooms! Do I sound like a mother with 3 kids or what? We have done it for many years now and don't get me wrong, it is always fun to be with family, but I really wanted to start our own family traditions with the kids! It is also so much easier to put the kids in their beds in their bedrooms when it is bedtime!!

This year I decided to get everything done at the beginning of December so I could fully enjoy the entire month! I started to put up all the Christmas lights and realized we needed a few more candy canes, snowmen, and lights for the front yard, so I called the babysitter and headed for Wal-Mart! It is a thirty minute drive for me, so while I was getting the decorations I had the thought...I should get all the Christmas shopping done while I am here, so that is what I did! The kids had already made their Christmas Wish List, so I knew exactly what to get them. It was such a load off my shoulders to get it all done that day! That night I stayed up late and wrapped all the presents and put them on top of our entertainment center! There was no way they were going under the tree to be ripped open a thousand times before Christmas morning!

December is always a busy month with all the Christmas parties, baking of Christmas goodies, getting Christmas cards delivered and spending time with loved ones! We had our Ward Christmas party and that was good, but we left early because all the kids and Josh were tired! I felt bad for just eating and leaving, but I am sure it was a little less crazy with our two wild boys gone! We had Josh's work party and that was fun! They had different events that we participated in and if you won an event, you won a really nice prize! We had drive a skidster around three barrels (like barrel racing) and it was a very crazy and bumpy ride for us girls who don't drive heavy equiptment around all day. We had to shoot a really old 22 and it didn't really matter where you aimed, the bullets went wherever they wanted. Then we did the ski jump on the Wii and I didn't even get off the snow and last we had to throw a ping pong ball into a little bowl! Josh and I didn't win one thing, but we still had a great time! We had our Jensen Christmas Party and it was fun to see all our extended family! The kids had a blast playing outside and running around with all their cousins! My Aunt Chris had her three children there and they just loved Tenley, but Mel especially loved her and followed her wherever she went! It was quite sweet! Then we had my niece, Bekah's, dance recital followed by my mother-in-laws Birthday party after the Jensen Christmas Party! It was a busy day and by the end of it we were all exhausted! Bekah did so good in her recital and looked very cute! We ate pizza and opened Birthday presents and it was fun to be together as a family and tell stories and talk about life. We had it at my sister-in-law's grandparents home and they converted the garage into a game room, so all the kids were in heaven! This was the final Christmas Party we had before Christmas arrived!

For Christmas Eve, the boys were so excited to take daddy 77 Chevy out for a ride in all the mud! It rained constantly for 4 days here, so there was water and mud everywhere and they kept asking me to drive through it in my nice car. Of course the answer was, "You will have to wait for daddy to take you in the Chevy, we have to keep mom's car nice!" I know they had alot more fun with their daddy climbing hills and splashing through mud puddles! When they got home, I asked them if they ever got scared and they said, "No, its not scary!" Everytime I go with them, I am always on edge and nervous about climbing those steep hills! I have become such a non-adventerous person since I had children...to much to live for! Then, we finished our Scripture Christmas Tree out of the Friend, read "The Night Before Christmas", and the highlight of the evening for the kids...opening one Christmas Present! I bought them all PJ's, so they were so excited to put them on and sleep in them! To end the evening, we headed out to look at the Christmas lights throughout our valley while we listened to Christmas music! It was cute to hear the boys say, "Oh, that is beautiful!" Their favorite Christmas song was Alvin and the Chipmunks! Tag just thought it was the funnest song ever and really tried hard to sing like them! When we got home we put out fresh baked chocolate cookies for Santa and carrots for his reindeer and then it was off to bed! The boys were so excited for Christmas that they had a hard time settling down, but daddy finally told them if they went to sleep then Santa would come and Christmas morning would be here! That really helped!!

Christmas morning was lots of fun! Tenley woke up at 6:00 and as soon as I opened my bedroom door to get her, Ty opened his door and was ready to see what Santa brought! I told him to go wake up daddy and Tag and he came back to me in tears saying, "daddy and Tag won't wake up!" I felt so bad, so I told him to let me get the movie camera ready, get Tenley a bottle and then I would come wake them up! He waited so patiently and then was so happy when they woke up! I was at the end of the hallway with the movie camera and it was fun to watch them come into the family room and see all the presents! They were so excited and started ripping into the presents! I had to slow them down so we could see who they were from and get pictures of the madness! They loved all of their presents and spent the day playing with all of them! They would go from one toy to the next and start all over again! It was fun to watch! Josh got his dirt bike fixed, so he took the boys out for rides and they absolutely loved that! They could go all day long and never get tired of it! As a mother, I always worry about them until they come home in one piece! I know Josh is really careful, but it is all the other people I don't trust! The day went by way too fast, but it was a good day! We had a yummy Christmas dinner, but I was so disappointed with the apple pie...next time I will have to make it myself!

I know this is getting really long, but I wanted to write about the most important thing over this Christmas Holiday! I really pondered and reflected about all the many blessings I have been given in my life and the one thing they had in common was my Savior, Jesus Christ. It is through him that I have all that I have. He is why I do the things I do and teach my children the things I teach them. He is the reason that my life is filled with joy, happiness, and peace. There is nothing that warms my heart more than to hear my children pray, sing primary songs, or tell me what they learned in nursery or primary! When I hear these things, I know that there are still many good things in this world! I am so grateful for my Savior and for all that he had done for me and continues to do for me each day! We are so blessed and I hope that I will continue to remember those things throughout each year that passes by.

I hope you all had a wonderful and very Merry Christmas!