Our favorite..hot pink!

I took Libby yesterday to get her hard cast on. She was so good and held still and cooperated better than most kids! She is so proud of that cast, it cracks me up! She told me when we left the Dr's office, "Owie better!" She understands the concept of it all, I guess.

The best part is that the cast is waterproof. That is the ONLY way to go. She took a bath with it on and it was wonderful. So for 3 weeks this is what little Libby will have on that cute little arm of hers!! :) Let's just hope she doesn't learn to use it as a weapon.

Since she isn't able to use her right hand for anything, Shane is keeping his fingers crossed that this will force her over to being a lefty! What do you think the chances are? Nice try Shane-

Girls...priceless!

4 little girls. 5 broken arms. 2 sets of stitches...priceless! That's right, this is the 5th broken arm of the Jensen girls. When people ask me if we'll ever try again for "that little boy", I always reply, "Are you kidding! I have the most active little girls that enjoy sports and video games and all that "boy" stuff more than most little boys out there! We have the best of both worlds!" And with that comes a price- broken bones, stitches, etc. and we've had our fair share!
4 years ago, I took Shelby ice skating with me when I was in the YW's. She fell on the ice and broke her arm for the first time. Then last summer Shelb broke her right arm at school and a week after getting her cast off she fell and broke her left arm at soccer practice. Then a month after she got her cast off, Lexi was jumping off of the rocks in front of the house and she fell and broke her right arm. NICE! Then Sage was swimming and jumped off the side of the pool and turned mid air just in time to hit her chin on the edge of the pool- YUCK! Earlier that year she sliced the inside of her arm open in the Marv Jenson's locker room on a broken dressing room lock. Another Yuck! I thought we were doing pretty good this summer since we only went to the InstaCare once thinking maybe Sage had broken her arm- thank goodness hers was just a sprain. Although she is kind of feeling left out now being the only one without a broken arm. She'll get over it!!


Then came yesterday. Libby fell and fell and fell! Maybe it was those new shoes, hmmm... Maybe it's the new puppy, hmmm... Maybe it's just pure bad Jensen luck! That one is the more likely one. She just fell perfectly on her right arm to cause a buckle fracture of her wrist. Just like her big sisters have done. It wasn't until dinner time when she was sitting in her high chair and she was holding her arm and starting kissing it and saying "Owie, Owie!" (how do you spell that?") That's when I told Shane, "Here we go again." We've become all too familiar with the signs of a broken arm.

I took her to the Insta Care and she was such a trooper. She has all of a sudden gotten so grown up. She did just what the nurse told her to and held her arm perfectly still for the x-ray. She even held perfectly still while they put this soft cast on her. I was so proud of my little Libby! She kept holding her arm up and saying "Ook mommy, ook mommy" (look mommy). Then when we pulled into the garage, Sage was the first one out and she starting yelling, "GG! GG!" and she was swinging her cute little arm around. She was so funny last night. Today she's not 100% sure about it since she's having a hard time feeding herself, holding her sippy cup and all that good stuff. We'll take her tomorrow to get her hard cast. Hopefully a bright pink or purple one. I'll post pictures then. Just so we're on the same page with everyone- Don't anyone turn us in- I promise non of them have been parent inflicted breaks! :)

Remembering Glenmoor...

I grew up in a little neighborhood called Glenmoor Village. My family moved there when I was 7 years old and that's where I met my best friend Emily Trimble. This last week she and I decided to revisit the days of living in Glenmoor by taking our kids to the greenbelt and having a picnic at the park. Some of you ask "Greenbelt?" That's right we lived around a large grass area called the greenbelt. It was like having a BIG park in your backyard. It was awesome! I don't think she and I really knew what to expect since neither of us had really been back since both of our parents have moved. What a place it is...full of memories!!!
I could just see me and Em, 8 years old again, playing at the park, trying to flirt with all 15 boys that were our age that were playing football. I could picture she and I skipping out on sunday school and running to her house in 2 feet of snow in our church shoes to get a snack and make it back before anyone noticed we were gone. We were still trying to decided while we sat there that day, which one of the neighbors told on us for sneaking out of the Trimble's house one night! We're still not sure! We did belong to a toilet papering club with Shelby Herrera, (no that's not who I named my daughter after) and Mike Armstrong. I remember hiding from my dad in the greenbelt when it was dark and late because I didn't want to go in just yet and it was way past my curfew! I also remember jumping on the tramp at the Gibb's house and getting a bloody nose by one of the boys and good ole Jeanne, my mom, came to my rescue! And everyone knew that when the Hammond's back door light started flashing on and off it was time for the Hammond kids to go home. Or how about the endless, I mean endless hours of baseball and basketball! I swear we played tornado for hours on end! It was so great! And I always loved a good game of catch with my dad in the greenbelt. It was so big that we'd get as far away as we could and throw the ball as far as we could. So many great memories growing up in this place called Glenmoor!

I know, who's the dork standing there? Yes, that would be me. But I had to post this picture. This is the back of my old house. Wow- how it's changed! They have a chain linked fence up around this part of the yard with these purple vine things growing everywhere. At least they color coordinated!

This is for all my siblings- look at our use to be basketball court. It is no longer! I can say that I was impressed that the current owners have taken some extra care of that old house! Those were good times playing ball!


This is what the greenbelt looked like from my house. Every childs dream! Endless room to freely run and play and lots of kids to play with. This is the park that is in the greenbelt now. In my day, (don't I sound old), we had a metal playground with swings. That's where Em and I lived during the summers. I think we may have even slept at the playground once too. And then of course met up with our toilet papering club and went toilet papering! Can you imagine letting your kids do that these days?


This is where Emily lived. She was quite saddend and disappointed in her house. I didn't get a picture of it but there's an old 32 inch TV just thrown in her backyard. Em had a dog named Porky growing up and he was always sitting on those concrete steps by their door. It was kind of sad to see the house not as we remembered it!

I love this picture because ot shows the sidewalk that has miles and miles of running that Em and I did to each others house. Em's house is directly behind those tall trees begind where she is standing. We had secret handshakes that we'd do before we'd go home and we even tried having those cheap walkie talkies at our homes to try to talk at night, ya- didn't work that great! You know- that was back before cell phones and emails and all that good stuff-

The best part was as we were picking up to go, soemone walked out of the Armstrongs house. Em and I weren't sure who it was. Then Em said, "I think it's Mike. I dare you to yell Mike." You know, like we're 12 again! Of course I accepted the dare and yelled "Mike!" Sure enough it was him. He and his wife are living with his parents while in transition with school. It was just like the old times. Being in Glenmoor with a friend of ours from the past.

I had a great growing up life. Great friends, great ward, great family and most of all a great place to do it all. Glenmoor is kind of a magical place in the sense that a lot of who I am is because of experiences I had there. When I was 15 I found out that a friend of mine had died and it was in the greenbelt that I was told that. It was in the greenbelt that I first starting liking boys, it was there that I saw some of my friends start making different choices and I had a choice to make then too. I'm glad for my friend Em who always helped me make good choices but who always had fun and laughed while making them! We had the best time and it's funny how when I talk to people now, in person, on facebook or wherever, Glenmoor is always talked about as being a great place to grow up!

The Amazing Race...

Last Saturday, Shane and I were invited by our friends to participate in the 1st Annual Amazing Race. Our friends next door, Kenny and Cherice, decided that they would do a trade with her sister- if they would create an amazing race for Kenny and Cherice and friends then they would create one for them in return. There were 6 teams with 2 couples per team. We were the yellow team and we were paired with our really good friends Bryan and Katie Byrge. I think we laughed the entire time. They made our entire day so much fun!
We started up at the Cottonwood Complex and 2 people had to complete a game of Suduko while the other two were blindfolded and had to write numbers where they were told to. It was hard, but we eventually got out of there.
Then it was up to Snowbird to their Alpine Slide. Everyone had to ride the slide in order to get the next clue at the end. Then it was back to SL to the library. Then to Deveraux's mansion by the KSL building for lunch and a mandatory stop. We had to complete different tasks at each stop in order to get our next clue of where to go. We rode tracks and ran and talked to all kinds of people asking for directions and if they knew where certain things were, etc. It was a great time!

Here's Shane and Bryan stretching before the race! Our team definitely won for the best attire!

This is the suduko game - not a huge suduko fan!

This is driving up to Snowbird! Bryan is NUTS! We made the decision to catch 2-15 over to the canyon, little did we know there was road construction and traffic was at a complete standstill. Bryan decided he would turn on his hazards and drive on the shoulder to the next exit. Katie and I were in the back totally dying. We were ducking totally embarrassed and actually suprised we or should I say HE, didn't get a ticket! WOW! He did save us 45 minutes though. Atta boy Bryan!

With Shane having his heart condition, running really isn't his thing! He was such a good sport and tried to run as much as he could, but when Bryan saw this shopping cart along one of the streets in SL he told Shane to hop in and he'd push him. Katie and I were behind them running- it was SO funny. Thanks to Bryan for working a little bit harder on Shane's behalf- he's a great friend and I'm glad Shane went along with it!

After lunch we had to make our way to Liberty Park and complete a few tasks there and then we ended up at Gilgal Gardens. Where's Gilgal Gardens you ask? Who the heck knows- somewhere north of Liberty Park. It was fun to be downtown since we really don't get down there much. Thanks to Donnarae and Jon for all their hard work in putting such a big task together. We had a blast! This picture is of a group of our friends here in the neighborhood. We feel so lucky to live where we do and have the friends that we do! I'm not sure what place we took, but I do know it wasn't first! But I would dare guess that our team had the most FUN! So until next year's Amazing Race...

Are we crazy???

Are we crazy I ask? Probably yes! Shane and I have had 2 previous dogs, both black labs. The first one, Durango, bless his little heart, died in the Arizona heat. That wasn't a very fun day for us. Then our next dog Haus, well let's just say, bad timing along with a difficult personality, so he was sent to a hunting outfit in Canada, or so we think! But our kids continually are asking for a dog. We've always pushed them off and then the talk started up again a couple months ago. So Shane and I started wondering what kind of dog would be best for our family- big, small, yappy, quiet, indoor or outdoor? So many decisions to make! Anyhow, we decided that we really thought Yorkies were cute and that maybe we should try a smaller indoor dog this time.

Shane started looking on ksl.com and we found this little guy, Scooter. Okay, Shelby found him on ksl.com. She wants the credit! We went to the owners house here in Riverton and the kids loved him, of course. He's 7 lbs. and 6 months old. I don't think he'll get much bigger. He's so cute and has been really fun to have. Hopefully that lasts! Anyhow, isn't his cute little face adorable?

NEW YORK CITY- DAY 4

Day 3 started off with sleeping in. We were so excited to just sleep in. It was so great after 3 days of non stop! By the time we left the hotel it was late morning and we decided to head over to 32nd Street (I think), the shopping district. I thought where we had already been was the shopping district, but I was wrong. There was shopping everywhere. I was in the market for some jewelry, new shoes and a few other things so we began another couple hours of shopping. It was so fun! I'm glad that Shane enjoys shopping, maybe more than I do, so I didn't feel like I was holdong him back or anything. While we were walking, Shane all of a sudden stopped and started talking to this man- I had no clue who it was or how Shane would know somebody on the streets in NYC. But it was Lenny from the Today Show. He's their #1 fan and is always on the plaza every morning. I couldn't believe Shane picked him out of a walking crowd. Shane talked to him for a minute and shook hands, like he was a celebrity or something. Kinda funny! Shows what kind of Today Show fan Shane really is!!!

While shopping we realized we were right by the Empire State Building, so we decided to take the tour inside and up to the top. They offer this "Skyride" thing on the 2nd floor. It was kind of expensive but we thought what the heck, let's check it out! Oh my GOSH! Have you ever been on a horrible ride that made you want to throw up? This was a ride straight out of the 49th Street Galleria- you know the simulation ride where you're sitting and while you watch the movie you feel like you're flying through the sky and then your chairs move too. Holy cow- I think everyone was reaching or looking for barf bags after that stupid ride! Shane and I are were like "Are you kidding me? That's the best the Empire State Building can do?" Lesson learned- NEVER opt for the sky ride pass at the ESB!

Once we made it to the top we felt much better. We needed fresh air- BADLY! The skies were clear and we could see all across the city and it was amazing. In one of the pictures you can see the Statue of Liberty out in the harbor. It was cool being up there. Something you do once just to say you've done it!

After staying for a little bit we headed home and got cleaned up and relaxed for a bit. We had reservations at Bobby Flay's "Bar Americain" restaurant. Shane and I love the Food Network and so it was fun to eat at a restaurant of someone we were a little familiar with. The food was so delicious. Not that any of you care, but Shane had these awesome pork chops with apple chutney on top- delicious- and I had a Philly Cheesesteak inspired steak. It was so yummy with cauliflower au gratin! mmmmm...!



After dinner we were right by 7th Ave. and they had all these vendors that lined the street. They were selling bags, jewelry, scarves, food, smoothies, you name it! We walked down the street and more than anything I just loved to people watch. Every single kind of person can be found in NYC. It's great!

We made our walk back to Times Square where we had tickets to "In the Heights". The concierge at our hotel told us that this play won 8 Tony Awards this year for best new play and a bunch of other stuff. It was really really good. One of the main characters rapped through the whole production and there was lots of street dancing and it was really entertaining. I would recommend it! With all that being said, I and Shane too, still say that Wicked was our favorite!
The next day was our travel day home. I will say that I was ready to come home to a simple life with my husband and 4 little girls. I absolutely LOVED New York City. Everything about it was entertaining, a new experience, and educational. I think you learn alot about life through travel and I definitely learned a lot while being there from the Statue of Liberty, to the World Trade Center, to The MET, etc. Someday I would love to go back when my kids are a little older and take them with me. The experience for them would be so awesome. So until that day comes, I'll remember these fun times that I had with my husband in a new and exciting place.
I have to say a big thank you to my brother Scott and sister in law Julieanne for watching my kids and taking care of them through all their drama. And to my sister Mindy and brother in law Shea for watching them too and for taking all of her kids and mine to church on Sunday- that's right, 7 kids under the age of 8! WOW!
Times to always remember!!

NEW YORK CITY- DAY 3

Day 3 started nice and early with a jaunt up to Rockefeller Plaza where the NBC Studios are. Shane and I wake up every morning and watch the Today Show- I guess you could say that we are fans of Matt, Meredith, Al and Ann. (yes, we're on a first name basis! haha) We ended up being on the show and didn't even know it. We were watching through the window behind where they sit at the news desk and you could see Shane and I walk up and look through the windows and then walk away! We recorded it here at home so we realized it after we got home. Hilarious! It was fun to see them live out on the plaza and watch the shooting process through the windows. It was fun to see-

After the Today Show we stopped at this little cafe for breakfast and it was to die for! I had a stuffed ham and cheese croissant and Shane had a breakfast sandwich and they were both so YUMMY!!! ( I have to write about the food because it was all something to be remembered!) Then we began our trek along and through Central Park to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. WOW! Talk about a lot of walking and it was actually a chilly morning. Central Park is awesome. It's so beautiful and green and full of all kinds of people. I loved seeing all the people running and jogging and on their bikes and roller blades. It looked like so much fun!
The MET was a really cool museum. You could probably spend an entire day there, it's enormous! Shane and I were lost half of the time trying to find our way around. We really enjoyed the Egyptian Art and the Coats of Armor. They were really interesting!

This is my favorite picture of Shane. He looks just like that statue, doesn't he?

This was on the roof of the museum. The balloon dog was so cool! The view up there was amazing. New York has such a great skyline!

After the museum, I must say we were a little burned out. We love the arts, but all in moderation! So we decided to catch the subway back to 5th Ave and shop! This was so much fun. We shopped all afternoon and ate at the Carnegie Deli, which was so GOOD! Their sandwiches were huge and delicious and the cheesecake- well let's just say, nothing can out do Carnegie Deli's cheesecake. Absolutely AMAZING! With their sandwiched being so big, Shane and I could only eat half of ours, so the waitress insisted that we pack them up and take them with us. We weren't about to argue with this New Yorker, we knew we'd loose that battle so we packed them up and thought we'd give them to some homeless person on the street. The first bum we tried to give them to refused! What? How can a bum refuse food, especially from Carnegie Deli? But then the next one we came upon was SO excited to have it. We did our good deed for the day!
After a long afternoon of shopping we headed back to the hotel and took a little nap- we were exhausted. Since we ate a late lunch we decided that we'd eat after "Wicked" that night. Wicked was AMAZING! We were on the 2nd row and to story is so cute and funny and the music is awesome. Shane and I loved it!

AAfter "Wicked" we stopped and ate some NY pizza and walked around the shops a little more. We definitely had a eventful day and doesn't it sound like all we did was walk, eat and shop? Well, I guess that's all we did do this day- my kind of day!

NEW YORK CITY- DAY 2

For warned- these entries are LONG!
Day 2 began with our first adventure on the subway headed to Battery Park and the Statue of Liberty. The subway is such a fascinating thing to me. With everything being underground and the people- there's so many people. There's no such thing as someone's personal space on the subway. It's all about getting as close to someone as possible. NUTS!
After our fun subway ride, we walked towards the shoreline to where you could see the Lady Liberty. It was so amazing to turn the corner and see her out in the water and to know the history of her and why she was there is so awesome. We loaded onto this Ferry and went to the island. Once on the island, Shane and I rented these head phones that you can listen to that tell about all the history of the island and the Statue of Liberty. We were so impressed by the size of her and especially with how she was built. Truly amazing! I can't even imagine immigrating from Europe and seeing the Statue of Liberty and knowing that you had finally made the journey. What a feeling she must have brought to so many people!

Then we got back onto the Ferry and headed to Ellis Island. I'm sure I learned about this place in American History or something, but I didn't know much about this island until actually going there. What a crazy place this must have been during the time of immigration. Everyone had to come through Ellis Island and they all had to be checked medically and physically and the officials determined whether or not they felt like they were fit enough to come to the U.S. Some stayed while others were sent back to Europe. What a crazy but exciting time in history it must have been. Seeing the Statue of Liberty and going to Ellis Island were definite highlights of the trip!

After getting back from the Statue of Liberty, we decided to walk through the financial district. We saw Wall Street, the big bull, some of the big financial buildings, The New York Stock Exchange, etc. These buildings are so close together. There's just these 2 lane skinny roads that go between these enormous buildings- it's so crazy! Really cool to see these places. Then we knew that Ground Zero was somewhere close so we started walking figuring that we'd come across it. And we certainly did! There's not a lot of construction sites in NYC so when we saw a big hole in the skyline and cranes all around we knew we had hit ground zero. Not to mention there was a completely different feeling there too. I told Shane that I almost felt emotional being there because I so remember 9/11 and will never forget that day.
We ate at this cafe that was across the street from where the twin towers once stood. The owner was there and Shane and I talked to him about that day. He was working there that day and said it's still so unbelievable to him. His cafe and the one a couple spots up from his were the only ones where people didn't die. He account of that day was amazing and one I'll never forget. It definitely was sacred ground and I was glad to see the new construction and would love to see the new buildings some day. The surrounding buildings are so incredibly tall but to think that the towers were twice the size is really unfathomable. It was really impressive to me that there was such a different feeling there. Amongst all the craziness of the city there was this feeling of peace and calmness there. I was touched by that place and was so glad that we took the time to go there. Amazing place!After Ground Zero we hit canal street. I didn't take any pictures but Shane and I had a blast there. We were taken into so many back rooms and I've never had to be so sneaky to make a purchase. It was hilarious! I got a bunch of bags and Shane got a few things himself and it was a lot of fun- a whole other world, that's for sure!
Then we headed back to the hotel to drop off our shopping bags and then off to the Bronx for the Yankees game. We road the subway there with all those die hard Yankee fans- quite the ride! That stadium is over 100 years old and you can definitely tell. This was the last week of home games at this stadium and next year they move across the street to the new stadium. It was fun to be there. We ate our Nathan's hot dogs and hot peanuts and had a great time! Did I mention that Derek Jeter is HOT!

We caught the subway home that night and took in a few shops on the way home. Day 2 was really eventful and fun! I swear we walked miles and miles through that city and my body was really tired that night. Had to get to bed because day 3 started early with the Today Show!