Jensen Update 8-23-2020
Time to catch up on the past month or so! I also have some links to some of my blog posts.
First of all, Happy Birthday, Rella!!!! Hope you had a great day!
I shouldn't wait so long to send an update! I have too much to write about! Anyway... here is what has been going on here!
Jared has been enjoying spending time with friends and working. He starts school tomorrow. Here is a pic of him and his friends playing basketball. Apparently one of his friends got all of these jerseys from his mission in Ghana where they are super cheap.
*Basketball (Jared and friends)
*Jaiden got her Driver's License (Hooray!)
*Janika and Brandon went to Yellowstone and had a great time.
*Grub Club
A couple of weeks ago our family went up to Bear Lake. We drove two separate cars since we can't all fit in one car. My car dropped Jared off to BYU where he was meeting up with a former missionary companion. A couple of other former companions met up with them and they all had a great time playing Spike Ball and hanging out. Jared stayed overnight at the BYU dorms with his comp and then caught the train to Ogden to meet up with the rest of us.
While I was dropping off Jared, Rick and Jaiden and Janelle stopped by Mom's to visit for a few minutes before meeting up with the rest of us at Murray Park where we were having a little get-together with the "Grub Club" (a group of friends we associated with when we were dating). All three of Rick's former roommates (at the time he and I were dating) came and another girl who was in the Grub Club group. She and her husband were visiting from George, which is why we set up the reunion in the first place. We see Curtis and Steph all of the time, but the other three former roommates we haven't seen in probably twenty years! So it was fun to see everyone and catch up! Two of the wives didn't come, so that was too bad as we would have wanted to see them too! We met at Murray Park and ate dinner and visited. The only bad thing was that our kids were bored and kept begging to leave and we wanted to keep visiting! We then headed up to Ogden to spend the night before heading to Bear Lake.
*Bear Lake
Grandma Jensen had rented out a big cabin from Thursday night to Sunday morning for the whole family to come stay. Some came for the whole time and others only came for part of the time. It was a great idea and a lot of fun and the kids were able to get reacquainted with their cousins. Perhaps Mom and Dad might want to think about doing something like this for all for the Westra family. :)
Josh had come down with a cold a couple of days before we left. When Rick went to the train station to pick up Jared it was apparent that Jared had gotten Josh's cold (they share a room). We were worried about going to the cabin and being around the whole family without having them tested for Covid first. So Rick called Curtis and arranged for them both to get the rapid Covid-19 test. Meanwhile Allison texted me and said that they were also having Clarissa (Jenna's best friend) tested in St. George at the same time the boys were being tested up here (hers was the regular test so we wouldn't find out the results for three days). Thankfully all three tested negative. Whew!! So although we were still worried about someone catching their cold, at least we could relax knowing that it wasn't Covid. It did put a damper on the trip for Jared though since he didn't feel well the first two days and pretty much skipped all of the activities and stayed in his room and rested. So that was disappointing!
Thursday we left in the afternoon after Rick had returned from the clinic with the boys. I stopped in Logan to see Janika at her office. Now I can picture where she is at when she is at work. We all arrived in Bear Lake around 4:00. That night they had a delicious meal of Pulled Pork sandwiches and salads. They also had this huge snack table literally covered with snacks -- all sorts of candy, chips, and other junk food! The only thing that tempted me was those caramel corn puffs! Yum! That night everyone pretty much just relaxed. Rick led the family with some charade type games outside. The cabin had a ping pong and foosball table and other games.
Friday morning Rick and I woke up early and went for a walk in the cool morning air. We came back to a big breakfast of pancakes, bacon, eggs, and fruit. Then we all headed to Bridgerland Adventure Park, which was less than a mile away. Rick and I had walked there during our walk that morning. The kids had a ball! I wrote more about Bridgerland Adventure Park in the Jensen Journal blog. 
Tonight we had dinner -- macaroni and cheese and brisket. Janika and Brandon headed to the cabin from Logan tonight and arrived during dinner. After dinner Grandma had Jared give sort of a missionary homecoming report/talk. He did a great job (in spite of the fact that he still wasn't feeling well). After his talk he showed several pictures from his mission and then Rick showed everyone the homecoming video he had made with pictures and videos from Jared's mission. We then played a fun game called "Snake Oil." It was a funny game sort of like Apples to Apples -- but more entertaining since everyone had to come up with funny stories to defend their choice of cards. Then we all headed to bed!
The next morning we ate breakfast and then headed to the BEACH. (Click the link to read more about that).
After the beach and attempt at naps we packed up our things and said goodbye and thank you to the Jensen family and headed twenty minutes to the other side of the lake (in Lake Town) to Brandon's family cabin.
Brandon's mom, Barbara, gave us a tour of the cabin -- it is amazing! They have a big front yard of grass and a back yard grassy area and then the beach! I should have taken some pictures of it! I am not sure how many people the cabin sleeps, but it is a lot! The house has many bedrooms -- all with king sized beds. There is also a room with two sets of bunk beds and another twin bed. Upstairs in the loft there were several more bunk beds.
Barbara fixed a delicious meal for everyone of Hawaiian Haystacks and fruit and ice cream for dessert. Brandon and his brother-in-law, Adam, then took the kids boating. They had a blast being pulled behind on the boat on giant tubes! Rick and I went to watch them and take pictures and videos (although working the camera on a fast moving boat made me really sea-sick and so I had to give the camera back to Rick). The kids loved it and we got some great shots!
We weren't able to be out on the boat very long since it was low on oil and wasn't working quite right. Thankfully they were able to get it fixed up for the rest of their stay that week. Peyton and Taylor (Brandon's nieces) were really excited to be able to play with the girls and they all slept in the room with the bunk beds. 
That night the kids played and the adults visited. I would have liked to stay up and visit longer but I was literally falling asleep after getting little sleep the night before. Thankfully we slept great tonight!
Sunday Barbara treated us to a delicious breakfast of bacon and eggs and fruit. We had a nice sacrament meeting with the Jensons. Then we took some pictures and headed out. Peyton and Taylor were so sad to have the girls leave and Peyton was crying. They are such sweet, cute girls!
We headed to SLC where my mom had prepared the fixings for lunch. Thanks, Mom! Shane and Alicia and their family joined us and also Jeni. The kids were excited to see their cousins! We would have liked to stay and visit longer but we had a long drive ahead of us and a big week coming up.
When we arrived home Jase and Ellen were over at our house with a bunch of their friends. Jared had moved his and Janelle's cars in the garage when we left on Thursday and so we had no where to park! Our driveway was filled with cars! Then Jared's former missionary companion, Cole Bolton, came over with his wife to visit Jared. So we had a houseful! We unpacked and then went to bed! A few days later we did Father's Blessings and the kids started school!
*Back to School
*Jared in Koosharem
The same day the kids started school Jared and a group of his guy friends went to stay at this unique home in Koosharem that is owned by the family of one of the guys in the group. He said that they had a blast!
We are now a week and a half into school. The kids are doing fine with school and masks -- except for having to wear them in choir and weight training and activities which require more breath. Josh has XC in the mornings and has to be there at 5:30 (sometimes 5:50) in the morning! He rides his bike to school at 5:20. Ugh, early!
Almost all of the teachers wear face shields (instead of masks) and then the governor announced that only masks were allowed. It went back and forth for a few days, but it looks like they worked something out so that the teachers can still wear the shields. They might not be as effective than a mask, but they can teach much more effectively since the students can actually hear their teachers. At Rick's work they put up a big sheet of plexi-glass around the podium so when he is behind the podium he doesn't have to wear a shield or mask, but when he walks around the classroom he puts on a mask.
Janelle is doing an internship at Vista with the speech therapist. Next semester she is trying for an internship in Occupational Therapy.
*Bryce Canyon
Janelle had the opportunity to go to Bryce Canyon this weekend with her friends (and their family). She wrote all about her trip HERE.
I was actually really nervous for her to go ever since I saw a picture of her sitting on the edge of a huge cliff when she went hiking with friends. I about had an anxiety attack when I saw this picture!
This wasn't the only time. So now she isn't allowed to go hiking unless she stays away from the edges of cliffs! I prayed the whole time she was in Bryce Canyon and was glad when she was safely back home!
Other news from this weekend is that Jaiden got asked to Homecoming!! She is really excited!! (It is on September 12th -- and had better not get cancelled!)
Also, Josh had his first soccer game yesterday -- 3:00 in the afternoon in 105 degree heat!! I can't even stand to walk to the mailbox in this heat! I am not sure how these boys played soccer for an hour and a half! At least they won! Rick and I didn't go since we had an online interpreting workshop and I would not have wanted to be out in the heat anyway.
DSU starts tomorrow for Jase and Ellen and Jared -- and me and Rick (since we will each be interpreting a class there). I am happy to be interpreting there again and hope school stays in session. I am also interpreting at Dixie Tech and the hours will increase starting tomorrow. So I am pretty much back to a normal interpreting schedule.
Well, it is finally raining (a downpour) here! Yay! All of the kids are running around in it! So much for getting them to bed early!
Have a great week, everyone!
Wendy
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