The Jensen Family (*Snap snap*)

They had a little baby,

And we all came to see-ee.

Katelyn is a cutie-ee,

The Jensen Family!

Introducing the new granddaughter of Alan and Silvia Morris:

Katelyn Marie Jensen was born Wednesday, December 30, 2009 at 9:28 a.m. She weighs 6lbs 5 oz and is 19 inches long. Both new mother and daughter are doing excellent!

The new grandparents are doing well also!

They died after dinner

And mom thought she was the only one that could knock the boys out with a good dinner...Mom and Lu are in Israel, so Dad and the boys are bach'n it. We also have John B. here. We're looking forward to Dana's arrival from Oklahoma to add a little feminine touch. Lu went to Israel for her work and talked mom into tagging along. It wasn't too hard to convince her since it has been a life-long dream of hers to go to Israel. The only problem is she didn't take dad with here.

Happy Day

We were happy to see Nate, but, he was a little apprehensive about leaving the mission.

2 Years

Well after two years of humidity Nathan has finally returned from his mission in El Salvador!! Our family was lucky enough to go and pick him up. It was such a wonderful and humbling experience to meet the people Nathan has grown to love and know and whom have grown to love him for his service. One of Nate's first families he taught, the Cotos, were so grateful for his hard work and finding their family. The sweet mother cried when we left. It was a great experience for us all! We are very grateful for Nathan's hard work.

(Nick and Dana weren't able to come. Nick moved to Oklahoma to start dental school while we were gone. And Dana is currently student teaching and unfortunately wasn't able to take time off. The lady in the picture is a lady from Nathan's ward who snuck into our picture.)

Our Dad

Ok, once again this is long after Father's Day, but like I said about our mom, we have a wonderful dad. We are blessed with two of the best parents!!

Our dad is a very kind person. He is a soft spoken person, but a wise and strong person. One of his strongest characteristics, that I believe all the kids admire about both parents, is his testimony and unwaivering faith in the gospel. My dad is a great example to learn from.

Our dad has also given a great example of a hard worker. He is a hard worker who is honest and loyal to his work, whether it's a company he's working for or a church calling he's fulfilling. He always puts more than 100% into his work. However, he still realizes that family is so important. He was at all of our extra curricular activities. He was sure to always be there supporting us in our activities.

Our dad is GREAT! And we are all so blessed to have him in our lives!!

SICK!

Well, Dana hasn't been feeling too well lately and with all the recent news of swine flu she decided she should probably go to the doctor. So, it turns out the doctor said she has the EGYPTIAN flu! And in 9 months she'll become a "mummy"!

GOTCHA! :) So, really Dana and Nick are going to have a baby! Wahoo! Weird, but super exciting. Mom and Dad are going to be grandma and grandpa; Nick and Dana are going to be mom and dad; and the rest of us kids are going to be aunt and uncles. As if that wasn't enough exciting news they'll also be moving to Oklahoma where Nick will be starting dental school at the end of this month and where they just bought their first house. Lots of fun adventures starting for them in this new stage of life. They're very blessed and we love them a lot! Congrats and good luck Dana and Nick!!

The Girl in the Red Coat

Ok, so I know it's past Mother's Day, and this post is late, but I wanted all those bloggers out there (I guess mostly the Morris Familia :) ) that we truly have one of the very best mothers!
So, here is my ode (of sorts) to our wonderful mother! (P.S. This was all inspired by a picture of Mom taking a nap on the couch sent to me by AJ :))

Our Mom is a caring generous person: I'm not sure when this trait started for her, but some of the memories that were shared with me occurred when she was 19 years old and trying to make her way in a foreign country. She did all she could to earn money and send it to her family; she was a papergirl, struggling to make her way through the snow and rain, past the fierce dogs, and safely escape the inconsiderate drivers. She worked long hard hours in nursing homes, trying to give the elderly a little love that they so desperately wanted. Then there are the memories that I remember: teaching us the gift of giving on Christmas by creating one of my favorite traditions, secret Santa. Most recently she has opened her home to nieces, nephews, and friends - free room and food - just to help them get by and make the most of their lives.

Our Mom is a friend: The one person who was always there for us at the end of a school day, our number one fan at extra curricular activities, the person who was always there at the end of the day saying "I love you". And yet, not only is she a friend to each of her children and her husband, she continues to be a friend for her siblings. The one person, in my opinion, that they look to for support and comfort. Our Mom is a great friend.

Our Mom is oh so much more, but I feel it is fairly easy to see from her smiling face. Yet, one of her greatest qualities is a teacher, by words, example, and love. The greatest gift she has offered each one of her children is her testimony of the truthfulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

We love our Mom!

Graduates!

Congratulations to Dana and Nick!

They graduated on Friday, April 24, 2009. Dana graduated with a Bachelor in Elementary Education and Nick graduated with a Bachelor in Exercise Science. Dana has started her summer Student Teaching and will be finished August 13th! Then she can start teaching her desired grade (1st). Nick starts Dental School at the end of June in Oklahoma. We love you both. :)

Hello from Lu!

Hi family!

This is my hello to all of you from Japan! I hope everything is well. Love you guys. I wish you could all be here, or I could be there...one of the two. Well, keep sleeping well. I'll talk to you later!

Love,

Lu

Victory, Victory!

Well, for the past 2 months AJ and Lu have been in a bowling league at BYU. It was a 4 person team with AJ, Lu, Eric Pena, and Marky Lindley. Their team name was inspired by the original pilgrims making history...

Ok, not really, it just happened that the founders of the team (Mark, AJ, and Eric) used their first initial to get MAE and added the FLOWER to the end. Well, anyhow, the MAEFLOWER made history again on April 8, 2009 ~ at 11:00 pm. They were triumphant over the only team they had lost to during regular season! Winning the BCS (no, not college football) = Bowling Championship Series. Long live the MAEFLOWER!!!!

(p.s. A special thanks to Daddy Morris who substituted for Mark and helped make our tournament wins possible!)

Nate

Well family, only about 2 months and 13 days till we leave to pick up Nate from his mission! Don't forget! :)

Branding

Mom, Dad, AJ, and Isaac went to Idaho last weekend (March 28th). They were just in time for branding season! Sara doesn't think AJ remembered how much work it was, because at one point he went into the house looking for a distraction but couldn't find any cause everyone was outside working hard. This year's branding looked like it was a success! With the exception that a few cows had to be "de-horned" and at least one had to be casterated, poor guy. But everyone had a lot of fun! **Pictures to come later**