Fun in Texas

We like to have fun anywhere and everywhere.  

Glenn got this little minion in a kid's meal somewhere.  We thought it was so funny.  We decided it would be funny to have this be on our blog, to start this post, showing how much fun we have together.

Convert Baptism

In our ward Paul was called to be a ward missionary.  There was a man, Cyprian, who was investigating the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  We have sister missionaries assigned to our ward, so they needed places to meet with Cyprian.  We loved having him in our home.  We loved having the missionaries in our home as well.  After accepting the invitation to be baptized, we were blessed to attend his baptism on July 27, 2013.  We loved seeing his happiness as he made this new step in his life.

Splash Pad

One of our favorite things we found while we were in Texas were the splash pads.  They apparently have these little water pads all over and it is so great.  It gets so hot here in Texas and it's nice to have several places that we can go to cool off.  And I think I like these splash pads more than pools because I don't have to worry about Glenn drowning or having to hold him the entire time because he doesn't know how to swim yet.

Fire Ants

Texas has a lot of bugs and pests.  We found out the hard way that fire ants' bites really hurt!

Glenn and I were playing outside when he hid behind a tree.  After a few seconds he came out screaming and crying.  I looked down at his feet and there were hundreds of ants all over him.  He got bit so many times and was in a lot of pain.

Lots of Rain

After arriving in Texas, we were expecting the heat...it was the middle of July after all.  Instead we got lots of rain.  It was fun to see different kind of rain.  I felt like in Utah it would start to rain and then be done in only a few minutes.  The rain here would come and come and come.  And come fast!

Back to Texas and Paul

We were so happy to be reunited with Paul in Texas.  He picked Glenn and I up from the airport and took us 'home' to the apartment where we were subletting for the summer.  My mom had a few presents from the previous Christmas that she hadn't sent to us--because of our move and all that craziness.  I also had a few gifts for Paul--kind of some early Christmas and birthday.

A Few More Visits and Good-Bye

Before Glenn and I flew back to Texas, we made a few last visits to other family members in Utah.  Our first visit was with Paul's Gramma J.  She shared some snacks with us as we played a really fun game of Sleeping Queens.  

Extra Pictures from July

Here are a few more pictures that were taken in July.  

Glenn loved playing at Grandma's house.  He also loved watching shows on their big TV.  I like the 'throne' he built for himself to watch Jake and the Neverland Pirates.

Ian's Baptism

Remember the family gathering for my cousin Ian's birthday?  Well it was a special one because he turned 8.  And as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 8 is when you can get baptized.  Ian chose to be baptized and we were so happy we were in Utah still to witness it and be a part of his special day. 

Devin's Injury

After Independence Day, Kirsta and Maren went to a friend's wedding in Wyoming, so Kirsta's kids stayed with us at Grandma Esther's.  We were enjoying a late afternoon rainstorm and the boys were having fun going out in the rain and being goofy.  

Independence Day

We gathered together as a family to celebrate Independence Day.  We also celebrated my sister Kirsta's birthday and my brother-in-law--Spencer's birthday.  They are all close, and since I had finally finished up with the Lehi house and it was on the market, Glenn and I were getting ready to head back to Texas to be with Paul.  We were glad to get together again before leaving.

Fun with Jasper and Freya

At the beginning of July, we had a playdate with cousins Jasper and Freya.

They played inside and outside and had so much fun!

After playing outside in the heat, they came back in, in need of water.  

They drank lots and then played with the rest.

Being a kid is such fun!

Girl's Lunch

At the end of June we decided that a girl's gathering was in order.  We weren't able to get everyone there unfortunately, but we did have a good time with those that came.  My extended Jensen family has a lot of boys in it and so we like to gather as girls when we can.  My immediate family takes up more than half of us that were there. :D  

 Sirie.Kirsta.Mom.Aunt Suzanne.Grandma Joy.Emily.Maren.

We missed Aunt Kirsten, Meg, Aunt Carolyn, Gaby, Aunt Jenny, and Ingrid.

I love all of these women so much!

Swimming at Layton's Surf-n-Swim

My parents' ward up in Layton has a yearly activity at the Surf-n-Swim.  It was a lot of fun.

Symphony at the Park

Another time when we were hanging out with the Jardine's, we went to a symphony in the park.

Ian's Birthday/Harrison's Homecoming

My little cousin Ian turned 8 while we were there in Utah.  My other cousin Harrison returned from his mission around the same time.  So we had another extended family get together to celebrate.

Fun at Grandma Esther's

Even though most of my days were spent down in Lehi working on the house, I did have a few days when I was in Layton with Glenn and my mom.  And we tried to have as much fun as we could on those days.

Don't be fooled by this seemingly harmless laundry basket just sitting in the foyer.  It was a fast little guy and hard to capture.

Fun with Lorenzo

I had another opportunity to play softball while in Utah.  Glenn and I were staying with our best friends, the Jardine's.  Kyle and Emmeline were part of a softball team and they had a game while we were there.  Emmeline said I would be able to play in place of her and she would watch the boys, Glenn and Lorenzo.

We didn't take any pictures during the game because it was super windy and I hadn't brought the camera out from the car.  But it was so much fun to play again.  I did take pictures of the boys (and a video) of them being silly in the car.  In the video you can hear Kyle and Emmeline talking about an awesome hit I had.  Goodness, it felt so good to play again!

Play Time with Cousins

Glenn loved being in Utah and close to his cousins.  He had many opportunities to play with them, especially when I was working on the house.  One time though I was able to watch Kirsta's kids while she and Morian had a fun date.  

Our day together started off with a sort of game/puzzle we had bought recently.  It's all about shapes and how they can fit together to make other shapes.  The kids had fun with them, especially Devin.

The Return of Sunnye

So I don't remember if I mentioned this before, but Glenn left his favorite stuffed animal, Sunnye, in Portugal.

Sunnye (and yes, that is the spelling.  We asked Glenn how to spell it, and that's what he said.) had traveled to many different places with us.  He was a good travel companion for Glenn.  I was amazed that with all of our comings and goings that he always managed to be with us at the end of the day.

Until one day...