I Love the Country Life PART TWO!

Look at that! Two cattle drives in one week! Isn't that fun?

Here is another reason why I love living in the country. Friday night we went back up to the range to have a picnic with two other families. (3rd time this week...You would know where to find us if you needed to!) Anyway, when we got there nine deer were hanging out right there where we picnic. They obviously don't know that a range is where people practice shooting their bows! Hee hee! They must feel right at home with all of the animal targets! We spooked them and they took off running and I was able to get this pic before they got too far! Aren't they beautiful!

I think I figured out what the saying, "bloom where you are planted" means. I was talking to my sister Kim on Saturday night. She lives in L.A. She was telling me what she and her hubby had been up to. That morning they had rode their bikes to breakfast and a Farmers Market. She then told me that when she gets to do things like that, it makes her so happy to live where she does. (She is starting to feel ready to be closer to "home." ) I just thought how interesting that we had each had such different experiences but were so happy with where we were at at the moment. That is what it is all about. Be happy in the moment, make the most out of all the moments you get, CREATE moments, and cherish them all. Bloom where you are planted!

Great Weekend

We had a great weekend. The sun was shining everyday. We just love that! Saturday morning we spent in Idaho Falls at Home Depot and Walmart. Kendon bought some grass seed to plant over by my garden plot so the kiddos will have a place to play while I work in the garden. I'm really excited about that. We already have a great big lawn that Kendon mows each week and this new area has two little hills on it (not fun to mow) so I told Kendon that if he will plant the grass there, I would mow it and I hate to mow the lawn. That tells you how much I really wanted grass there. I think it will add beauty to my garden spot as well. I know that sounds silly but one thing I love about having a garden is that I think it is beautiful. That is why I weed... weeds just junk a garden up!! ( I do have a sister in law who loves to mow lawns crazy girl! Maybe she would want to mow the hills!!! Hi Stacey!!!)

I also bought some flowers that I planted in our "rock garden." I'm really excited for them to take off and bloom. We didn't get to have a flower garden last year, due to installing a new septic system (the joys of an OLD home!) and we had to dig right through my flower bed. That is why we had a rock garden that the kids and I created. It was fun and we'll continue to add to it this summer as well, but I am so thrilled for the flowers! I just love this time of year.

Sweet Baby Meg. Finally starting to feel better after a triple threat weekend. #1 Immunizations on Thursday. #2 Another tooth trying to come in. #3 An Ear infection. POOR BABY!!
Having her so sick has caused me to realize how thankful I am for my healthy children. I can't imagine what my heart would feel like if I had a child with a serious illness. We are so blessed!

Connor Saturday afternoon after picnicing in the park, helping Mommy plant flowers, eating two, maybe three? popsicles, playing in the sandbox and dirt, and needing a bath in a major way! The face only a mother could love. (Well, maybe a grandma and grandpa and aunties too!)

Sirri playing at the archery range. She is such a great sport whenever we go there. She still hasn't been interested in shooting. She creates her own fun! What a super kiddo!

The flowers I planted in the "rock garden." We have lots more painted rocks on the other side too. We had such a blast creating those last year.

I Love the Country Life

Today we were all outside enjoying the beautiful weather and THIS is what came trotting down the road (do cows trot?!?!) They were right in front of our house. The kids sure enjoyed it. I love this time of year because this is a frequent sight around here. When I was teaching school I was even late one day because I was stuck in a cattle drive. How many people can say that? I LOVE it!

Tonight we took a picnic dinner out to the archery range. The kids had a great time hiking all around enjoying the sun shine and finding all kinds of super treasures in the great outdoors! It is so cool that we can be out to the range in 15 minutes. I think it is even "cooler" that we have a daddy that likes to have his family tag along with him!

Even Baby Meg enjoyed herself as she was packed all around by her Daddy.

Nice Shot Connor.

Look Mommy, a caterpillar!

Sweet sweet Sirri. She has such a good time hiking around with us. She is such a great cheerleader to Connor. She cheers him on when he shoots his bow and congratulates him when he has a good shot. She has surprised us and has never asked to shoot the bow. As long as she is content just hanging out with us that is fine. If she ever decides that she wants to shoot too, then we would think that was great also.

Little Miss Sunshine!

Cuddly Bear!

Honesty is the Best Policy...Even at Three

Holy Cow! Two posts in one day. Sheesh! I had this one almost all typed up and ready to go before we went to the range and I just couldn't help but post those cute pics of the kids...so today is your lucky day! Plus this story of Sirri is one that I just have to have on record. I may have to use it against her someday when she has kids!

Last night we had Family Night. We do this every Monday and it is something that the kids really look forward to. Some weeks it is easy to decide what we are going to learn about, and other weeks I can't decide until minutes before. Well, last night was an evening all about honesty that has been in the making since Easter. Why you ask? Because that is when Sirri told her FIRST real lie. YIKES! At three. I know.

It all started Easter morning. Kendon and I tried to limit the amount of treats the kiddos ate in the morning since we have church at 9:00. We didn't want to send them to nursery and primary all hopped up on sugar for their poor, sweet teachers to deal with. So, we put one little bag of skittles in their Easter baskets and one jelly bean in each egg that we hid. It is so great to have little ones cause they didn't know they were getting ripped off by the Easter Bunny!!!! Anyway, they got to eat all the jelly beans and we asked them to save the skittles for later. When we got home from church the Easter Bunny had struck AGAIN and left another egg hunt in our yard (thx Jaci). The kids then decided to have one of those treats instead of their skittles. After lunch and asking again for their skittles (to no avail) it was nap time. Sirri came up to me and said, "I'll go to bed by myself mom. You don't need to rock me." She does this every once in a while, so I told her good night. Then I looked down at her and notice that she had her sweatshirt folded up in half over her stomach and obviously had something hiding in there......YEP you guessed it, her skittles! I was baffled. I didn't know if I should be mad or proud because she was so smart to think of that all on her own! Little stinker!

We have had a few little fibs since that incident as well, including saying that she has to go potty just to get out of sacrament meeting and telling me that she didn't have to sit in time out at gymnastics, she was just telling Jaci "hi." (Jaci took her to gymnastics that day and informed me of the time out situation, but Sirri told me "HER" version of story later when I was talking to her about it.)

Good grief! I hope the Family night lesson will help. At least now I know that she knows or is beginning to understand what it means when something is true and not true so we can discuss it when we have "issues!" Why doesn't this parenting thing come with a handbook!?!?!? But, if anyone has a similar problem with their toddlers or elementary age kiddos I have the FHE lesson all about Honesty saved on my computer if anyone wants a copy.

Blast from the Past!

It always amazes me the things that can create such fond memories. Sights, songs, smells, sounds. Tonight for me it was taste. We had a great day. Church, naps, all the usual. Then, this afternoon we took the kiddos out to the archery range to shoot Connor's bow. (He and Kendon also went yesterday. I am telling you, the kid is hooked!) We didn't get to stay very long because we got rained out. So, we came home, got all cozy in jammers and turned on a cartoon movie for the kiddos. (I'm hoping that some day my kids will appreciate the joy that can come from a rainy day.) Anyway, for dinner I decided to make cinnamon toast and peaches. I know that doesn't sound like much of a dinner but it sounded perfect to me. You see, when I was growing up, that was always the meal we had when we got home from water skiing, a day of playing or on rainy let's just watch a movie kind of night. SO, it was more than a meal for me, it was a memory. Sound silly? Well, I was just talking to Kim on the phone and just yesterday she was telling her husband about the exact same meal and with the same amount of nostalgia as I was. I have to say, that I think my parents must have done a darn good job raising us kids if cinnamon toast and peaches can cause us to have such great memories and to cause a yearning for "home!" So, thanks mom and dad! You did a good job!

By the way Mom, I just talked to Kendon and I think we will plan on coming home on the 12th. So, cinnamon toast and peaches sound good in a couple of weeks?!?!?

Love you all!

Something to look at....

Connor and Kendon. Mighty Hunters!
Do you see Connor's arrow?

Kendon made Connor t-shirt with the archery club logo on it.
Connor loves being "same same" as his daddy!

Meg, doing her spitting trick that Grandma Bigelow taught her.
So cute!

Look at those eyes! (and eyelashes!)

Practicing at home.

Okay I think I figured out the picture posting part of this. I figured if I was going to direct you all to my blog there had at least be something to look at! So, here are a few pics from recently.



Easter pictures.

Sirri playing dress up.

Sirri at gymnastics. Isn't she sweet in her leotard!

She is quite the natural and can do a pretty mean hand stand!!! (even w/o the help!)


So, maybe I didn't get it totally figured out (hence the jumbled pics at the bottom, but I'll work on it.) No more time for today. I'm not quite sure this was such a productive way to spend the kids nap time, but I hope you enjoyed it!!!

A Blogging We Will Go...

Hey family and Friends.

We are going to try the blogger thing. I'm not quite sure what I am doing but we will figure it out. (any thing "computer" is typically Kendon's baby!) When we were first married (well, when we were pregnant with Sirri) before the days of blogs, he created a family website. I'm not sure what happened to it....so I figured we would give this a try.

I know that many of you enjoy when I send our Jensen Family Update via the e-mail, so I'll be doing this instead. And it will be sorta like a journal for me. My kiddos are always doing crazy, funny, silly, naughty, why did you do that sort of things and this is a super way for me to "write" them down.

So, without any further ado.....

THIS IS WHAT WE THINK LIFE IS ALL ABOUT!!!