Christmas Report...a little late.

Christmas was a little different for us this year. The move made it a little hurried, with a little less fluff. We didn't' put out all our decorations, the fluff, (Steve managed to put out more than what I wanted) because we were still trying to find a place for all our "regular" house items. We did seem to squeeze in all our family traditions and activity during the holidays. Christmas cards went out late, again...and we missed the Nutcracker. Next year those will be at the top of list. Here is the run down...

Amy telling Santa what she wanted..."I want an orange camera, just like my sister Rachel's."

It wouldn't be Christmas for us without having the Annual Jensen Christmas Party. Even though it was a little hard to pull it off (two weeks after moving) but, it did keep us motivated to get through all the boxes. The kids had their little Christmas get togethers too.

Christmas Eve PJs..not our normal Christmas Eve present however (was mine growing up). Steve and I's Christmas Eve present has usually been a new family game. Steve put his foot down this year and said not one more game. After packing up all our games to move, he declare we had enough. Party pooper!!
Amy's Dora Christmas nightgown made her so happy that night. Two days earlier when she spotted them at Kohl's all she did was cry because I wasn't buying them right then. Patience Amy...patience. You can't see Alec's PJs, but they are Raider ones. He was a little dissappoited because all he wants these days are Colts stuff. He didn't know what was coming up the next day. Rachel's fit her perfectly.

I love looking at the Christmas tree with Steve late on Christmas Eve (or early Christmas morning) when the kids are all in bed and we finished all the present stuff.

Yep...this is the time on the microwave when the older kids got up and wanted to get started. I refused until 7am. Steve is a little more indulgent...and lets them thumb through Santa stuff and stockings.

Alec stoked about his iHOME alarm clock for his iTouch. Anything to do with his iTouch or the Indianapolis Colts...Alec loves.

I know I will be seeing this sweatshirt everyday, all day, until it's just too warm to put it on. Not pictured is his totally awesome Potter Barn Teen AFC logo sheets and navy blue duvet with Colts logo on it bedding and BB gun. It's so cool!!

Rachel styling in her orange sweatshirt that Alec gave her for Christmas. He took one look at that in Old Navy and said, "That's what I am getting Rachel, she'll totally love it because it's orange!"

Rachel is so practical with her wants. She wanted a video camera...so she got a FLIP from Grandma and Grandpa Hibler. It has been used daily. And not just by her. Not pictured is a rock tumbler ( I hate it!) and her Style Savy and Cooking Mama 3 games for her DS.

Ever since her birthday, Amy has wanted an "American Dirl Goll" (remember what she calls it from her birthday blog) bed. Well, Santa brought one. As you can see...she loved it. She forgot all about the orange camera she earlier asked Santa for.

You can't tell from here...but that would be her very own pink DS that Amy is hugging. Not pictured is a DS game, American Dirl Goll crafts.

Amy's top gift? The Christmas marshmallows she found in her stocking. She ate 3/4 of the bag before breakfast.

The kids gave me a much needed stool for around the house. When you are trying to reach the top cupboard...being short really sucks.

If I didn't love him so much...I would kill my husband. We agreed on very simple Christmas presents this year because of all the things we wanted to buy or have bought for the new house. I was completely content with the shutters we were putting the house for Christmas. And he was happy with garage closets and new couches for his Christmas presents. But, no...he didn't listen. And I should have known this from past agreements we have made at Christmas that he wasn't going to follow our plan. You are looking at one of the most special and most thoughtful gifts Steve has ever gave me. But, the necklace is only the symbol of the real gift. He wrote this letter to me that I will cherish forever. So, the necklace just reminds me of the letter and all that was written inside the card. But, it doesn't hurt that the necklace is beautiful too. I LOVE YOU STEVE!

THE END

Christmas Card

For journal purposes I like to post our Christmas card picture and letter we send out to our family and friends that live far way. Here is 2009's:

Greetings from the Jensen Family,

We hope this letter finds you and your family happy, healthy, and enjoying the Holiday Season. Life has been good to the Jensen’s this past year, so we’ll just “cut to the chase” and fill you in on the highlights of each month.

January was full of indoor soccer games. Rachel joined an indoor soccer league with several of her favorite team-mates from past outdoor teams.

February had a little of everything. Father/Daughter Night with Rachel, Amy started ballet, and Alec earned his Life-Scout rank advancement badge. He is now working on his Eagle and hopes to have it within the year.

March brought the best news of the year. Amy’s body has responded well to the shots and medication to treat her Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis. We’ve been able to eliminate the daily ibuprofen and hope to have the disease in complete remission by this time next year.

April brought a surprise trip to England for Steve and Trisha. Steve had business, but we were able to work in several days of driving around the English countryside (last time we mostly stayed in London). Highlights were Warwick and Dover Castle, The Ancient Roman Baths, and all the charming and fairy-tale-like villages of the Cotswold’s (seriously they still have thatched roofs and cute cobble stone streets).

May was the end of several months of training for Trisha. She ran her first, but not last, half marathon.

June marked a milestone for the Jensen’s. Alec turned 13, which gave Steve and Trisha their first teenager. So far…so good.

July brought the annual camping trip to Lake Tahoe, swimming and golf tournaments for Alec. At the Tri-Valley Championships Alec smashed his individual backstroke time, but lost 1st place by only .01 seconds.

August Rachel turned 10. August also brought a trip to Canada for a family reunion and family vacation. We visited Waterton Park, and both Banff and Jasper National Park. The mountains and scenery were absolutely breathtaking. The lakes look like they’re filled with blue PowerAde (due to glacial silt). In fact our Christmas picture this year was taken in front of Moraine Lake, near Banff. We’re definitely heading back up there soon.

September brought work, work, and more work for Steve as the fiscal year came to an end.

October’s highlight was the “girls” vacation to L.A. to the American Girl Doll Store and Disneyland. The men stayed home and went to the President’s Cup Golf Tournament in San Francisco.

November we listed our home on the market and sold it within 2 weeks. We thought we’d take advantage of the soft market and upgrade our house. We bought a new home we had been looking at for over a year.

December 4th we moved into our new house. Our new address is 2728 Rivers Bend Circle, Livermore CA 94550. It’s only about 1 mile away from our old house. We love it and are busy moving in and making it into a “home”.

That’s the quick summary of 2009. If you want to follow the Jensen’s more closely check out our family blog. www.trishajensen.blogspot.com

We would like to wish your and your family a Merry Christmas and best wishes for the New Year.

Love,
Steve, Trisha, Alec, Rachel, and Amy

Our baby Amy is 5!

Wow...what a celebration Amy had turning 5. It started out with human candle lighting at school and chocolate chip cookies to share. It ended by falling fast asleep on the couch from pure exhaustion and a few unforgettable things in-between. It was a birthday that none of will ever forget. I never wanted a baby around the holiday season, but what's fun about Amy's birthday being during the Thanksgiving time is that during the holiday week...it just feels like her birthday. Something I can't say about any another of our birthdays. The absolute highlight of her birthday is her reaction when she opened up her very own American Girl Doll. She never saw it coming. It was priceless...and I missed filming it. Fortunately...we have many photos of the event to demonstrate how much she loves her "American Dirl Goll" No, that isn't a typo...that is what Amy calls her doll. She has switched the D and G around...why I don't now. But, it's just too darn cute to correct.

This is at her birthday celebration at preschool. She gets to wear the birthday vest and a birthday hat. All the kids stand in a circle and Amy walks around and claps her hands in front of each child and they clap their hands above their head and hold it like a candle that is lit. Once everyone is "lit" she blows out each of the "human candles". They sing happy birthday and then Amy passed out her treat of choice...chocolate chip cookies. I scored on that easy treat.

All Amy wanted to for her birthday was to go swimming. So, that is what we did. She invited a small group of friends and we went to Fremont Swim School. It's a small indoor pool in Livermore. They swam for 1 1/2 hours then we went back home to have cake and presents.

Each of the kids got a swim academy shirt for coming to the party. L to R is Libby, Alice, Madison, AMY, Zion and Matthew (Abby and Jack couldn't come).

Here's the clan at home around Amy's cake Steve made for her. Amy requested a "Fish Cake" because fish swim and it would "match her birthday".

Another master piece from Steve.

I think this birthday dinner requested actually came from Rachel and Alec. Regardless, it was very yummy and Amy loved getting sung to.

Opening of the American Girl Doll...I mean American Dirl Goll. I will just let the pictures speak for themselves.

Calling Grandma and Grandpa to thank them for the doll. All other gifts (even from her own parents) didn't stand a chance against this one.

At the end of the night...she didn't even last a 10 minutes into the movie before she was off to dreamland.

How much!?!?!?

I'm still trying to pick my chin up off the floor...after finding out how much these two babies are going to cost us. I knew we should have planted a Money Tree instead of a Birch Tree!

Moving....

We did it! We sold our house after only 2 weeks and bought a new house. The good and bad news is that we move December 3rd. Oh my gosh...I knew that it would be crazy, but after 3 weeks of lenders, brokers, realtors, inspections, repairs, packing, plus all my other regular day to day stuff, Thanksgiving, Amy's 5th birthday party, and Christmas shopping, I am frazzled. On top of all that I have been nursing a horrible cough for 3 weeks. However, at this point it's better off me being sick than anyone else. I have to keep reminding myself to take a deep breath here and there, because at times I think i am going to drop dead. Luckily, my calvary, my mom, is coming Friday morning. Not only for an extra pair of hands, but for moral support. There is nothing like mom to make it all better.

Happy Halloween

One of my favorite months of the year is October...I get this from my mom. It's so fun to dig out the fall decorations and Halloween garb. There is something about black and orange... However, this October was much different for us. With our house for sale...we didn't do much decorating. We put out mostly fall and harvest things. And even that was at a minimal. We went to the pumpkin patch, corn maze and haunted house (Alec and friends), carved pumpkins (the night before...who does that?), school parades, and trick or treating. Next October, we will resume normal activities and cram as much into October as humanly possible.

1 of 2 pumpkins carved this year...lame!

Alec was a masked biker dude with disco glasses. (LOL) For the second year in a row Alec went trick or treating with his friends Tristan and Scott. Taylor and Devin had family parties to go to...Alec was a little bummed about that. Although, the 241 pieces of candy cheered him up.

Rachel and Kirsten were "colored" witches. Rachel orange...of course, and Kirsten purple. Even though the whole colored witch idea is silly, it was better than a dead bride. Kirsten came with us for first half of night. Then Rachel went over to Kirsten's neighborhood for the remainder of the evening.
Matt and Amy

Rachel at the Annual Sunset Halloween Parade.

Amy got to dress in her costume for ballet class earlier in the week. Notice the cat ears lost out to the flower bonnet...and why wouldn't they?

Preschool Halloween Party. It is so funny to me how we insist on providing a "healthy" spread for the kids to eat at the party, when all they really want is the sugar cook with 3 layers of frosting and a bottle of sprinkles on it. I made super cute jack-o-lantern jello jigglers for the party...it took a over a day because I only had one mold that held 4 jack-o-lanterns. All of this for most of them to be tossed in the garbage. Why do we do this to ourselves?

Group photo of all Amy's friends at Cottage Preschool.

Here is Amy standing tall on the block showing off her costume.