Baby Girl Shower

These dear friends threw me a baby shower.

                     They decorated everything so beautifully.

 I was so overwhelmed by the generosity of all those who came!

 So many sweet girly gifts!

Even though I had protested having a baby shower for a 5th baby, I was so touched and grateful for the sweet memory of that evening and of all the support of my neighbors and friends.

Halloween and Anniversary Celebrations

 This year for Halloween Wesley was a Padres baseball player, Adam was Elmo, Keller was Batman and David Was a football player (in total he played for 3 teams on 3 separate days).
                          

The week of Halloween was really busy; on Thursday I hosted a preschool Halloween party at our house for Keller's Class, on Friday I volunteered in Wesley and David's classes for their class parties and later that evening we went to a Halloween party at the church (dressed as BYU football fans), the next evening we took the kids trick-or-treating.

For our anniversary this year the kids surprised us by decorating the house with little hearts while we were out to dinner.  It was such a sweet surprise.  It was so fun to see their little faces as we came home watching for our reaction to their surprise.

 

Happy Birthday to Baby Adam!

 Adam Celebrated his 2nd birthday on September 7th.  What a dear little soul he is turning into.  Now that he can talk, he says such charming things (and of course a few very naughty things too).  He is very thankful and never misses a chance to say "thank you", I then say "you're welcome" to which he responds: "you're welcome". When he is in a really good mood it seems the answer to every question is (in a sweet tone): "Yes".  The answer to everything is "no" when he's missed a nap, or feeling grumpy.  He is adored by his older brothers who teach him how to make forts in the basement, play football and be "tough".  Little Adam is such a sweet little prince and so much fun to be around!

Here is a picture of Adam with the one present he got (with funds donated by both sets of Grandparents and Mom and Dad)


 Some of Adam's hobbies include drawing.....  

Helping to clean up.....


And hanging out with Mom (I am hoping he does ok with the new baby coming in January!)

Back to school

I always have mixed emotions on the first day of school...I know that being in a structured learning environment is beneficial, and I know how much my kids love learning and seeing their friends, but I still cry every time they get on the bus for that first day...


Wesley Started 3rd grade this year and is still enrolled in the gifted program, which he is enjoying.


 David started first grade which means ALL day school.  As a last minute change, he was put into a different class than the one we went to visit for the open house just before school, this was pretty emotional for a little person who had friends in the other class, but we all survived the emotions and he is now feeling great about his class and teacher:)


Keller is doing his second year of preschool before he starts kindergarten
I
I am loving that I still have these little guys at home with me for a while.  They are a joy to spend time with (well, mostly!). 

A Review of Summer

 Since I was so sick this Summer with this pregnancy, I wasn't that great at keeping up with our blog.  I decided to do a post highlighting our Summer activities.  

To start things off David graduated from kindergarten.  Each child wrote a story for their "Author's Corner" presentations.  Most kids wrote about a favorite toy or a trip they had been on.  David wrote the sweetest story about Derek called "My awesome Dad", watching him recite it in from of all the parents was priceless!

                                            I cut about 5 inches off of my hair and got some layers:)

Keller went to a birthday party that took a tour of the fire station.  He got to meet some real firemen and try on their cool uniforms.
The kids had a blast playing organized and neighborhood sports.  Wesley played on a Baseball team this year and got some home runs and a grand slam. David Played Soccer and score all 13 of his teams goals in one of their games. 




The kids got a kick out of watching the cement trucks and the workers as they laid the cement on our back patio.
We added a sandbox in the back for the kids to get dirty in, it has also been a hit with the neighbor kids.
We bought a trampoline which the kids loved to play on (especially little Adam), until one day when the wind picked it up and carried it away.  When we found it in the field behind our house it was completely crumpled!


 We enjoyed a visit from one of my former students Ernst and his wife Helga from Switzerland (the kids enjoyed the Swiss Army knives they brought as gifts!)
  I helped decorate a for a friend's daughter's wedding and had fun realizing I can make something that is not exactly my style and have fun doing it.  For more photos of this wedding go to: http://interiordesignbysara.blogspot.com/2010/08/summer-wedding.html 
I had another wonderful year at Stake Girl's camp (where I am in charge of the music).  After camp we were able to attend the baptism of Angelica, one of the girls who attended camp with our stake.
Our family went on a little outing to Idaho Falls to see the display of some amazing photos taken by the Hubble Telescope.  The Idaho Falls visitor's center was second in the world to get the display after D.C. 
 Wesley and David Celebrated their birthdays in July.  Wesley turned 8 and David turned 6. While I was in Utah fixing up our house, Derek ran David's entire birthday party by himself (what a champ!).  The Summer's highlight was witnessing Wesley's baptism on July 3, 2010 performed by Derek.  What a special day that was (see post below for more photos of that day).

The second greatest highlight,  was being able to be with our extended family at the Keller Family reunion.  I was put in charge this year which was quite a lot of work, but a very cool experience for sure (see below for more photos of our week at Bear Lake).

The kids and I went on an outing with some neighbors to the Idaho Falls Zoo.  It's nothing like the San Diego Zoo where we had taken Wesley as a baby....but it was great and the kids loves seeing all those wild animals close up!

And.....it's.......

A Girl!

I am trying to recover from the shock. I didn't put down my own prediction, but I really thought it was going to be another boy. I am thrilled to think that there will be a little girl coming into our lives and a little nervous; will I know what to do with her after all this boy training? When the midwife told us it was a girl I laughed and then cried and then smiled for a long time as I saw her sweet, healthy little body on the screen. Later I went to Walmart and wandered past the baby clothes, I immediately looked at the little boy things, then realized I could finally pick out something pink, so I did! Then I glanced over at the teenage girl things and realized that I was in for way more than just switching newborn pajama colors, and planning a totally sweet, feminine nursery; I would someday have a little girl who would become a young woman, who (I hope) would become a mother and grandmother. There is so much to learn. Derek does such a fantastic job of teaching our boys how to be the model father. Will I be able to do the same for our little one? It's not too shameful that I am horrible at football and baseball because moms get points just for trying, but will I be able to teach my daughter how to cook and organize, sew and budget and more importantly, will I be the kind of role model she needs me to be? Will she say someday as I say so often "I learned it by watching my Mom". Will she want to become a mother someday because she sees in me all the joy that comes with motherhood? Will she want to hold fast to her testimony because she knew that her mother held fast to hers? Will she want to know the Savior because her mother sought to know Him? I can only do my best, take things one day at a time and pray that I can be all those things I think a little girl deserves in a mother.


p.s. here is the breakdown of the votes:

Girl predictions: 13
Boy predictions:11 (12 if you count my own)
Neutral: 4

Five little boys or a little sister?

Yes! For those of you who don't know we will be welcoming a new member of the Jensen Family into our home in early January 2011. This little one was a delightful surprise for us and we are sure that the timing of this baby is meant to be. This has been my hardest pregnancy by far, but fortunately I think the worst is behind me. The big question is...will the baby be a boy or a girl? I am not sure if I am more intimidated by the idea of having 5 boys or of having a girl after having all boy babies.





This Thursday I will get my ultrasound! Anyone who wishes to
make a guess as to the gender, comment below, I'll make
sure to post the ultrasound results!

Wesley's Baptism

Wesley was baptized on July 3, 2010,
just one day after his 8th birthday.
It was such a beautiful day!

Those who attended the Baptism included: Derek, Sara, David, Keller and Adam Jensen, Grandpa Ivan Keller, Nini (Grandma Judy Keller), Grandpa Jack Jensen, Uncle Burke Jensen, Aunt Debbie and cousins Jasmine, Garrison and Victor Paquette, Aunts Becky, and Chrissy Keller, Aunt Stacey and Cousins Abby and Spencer Thompson, Vaughn and Liz Stephensen, Teresa, Kylie, Hallie, Ester and Miriam Moldenhauer and Sister Erica Hill from the Primary presidency and Brother Andy Johnson from the Bishopbric.

Uncle Nate (who was in Europe) asked us to record an interview of Wesley telling us his thoughts about baptism. I was so glad to hear his sweet testimony about why he had made this important
decision and of the importance of baptism.

Because it was the fourth of July weekend, we had fun celebrating the holiday by going to the parade, eating out at Wesley's favorite pizza place and setting off some fireworks.


Some of our guests traveled very far to come and others came despite extremely busy schedules and car trouble. We felt so loved and blessed by each one who sacrificed to be there.