Audrey's First Soccer Experience!

Our little soccer-star brother was playing in the Southern Regional Soccer Championship Tournament this last week. The Dallas Texans did really well, and it prepared the whole team for the Nationals in Boston the last week of July!

Aside from the awesome Dallas Texans making this a special event, it was Audrey's first soccer game! Much to her father's dismay, she loved it!

Recently, Audrey has found her fingers... Her mama keeps telling her, "No fingers!" but she just laughs and sticks them back in her mouth-- she's growing up so fast!

Audrey with Grandma and the soccer star, Uncle Trevor!

The Jensen clan... This is the soccer field Trevor's team won on!

I love this picture-- Audrey loves her grandpa!

Today was another "first" for the books. We all had fun at the game. Afterwords, we met up with Spencer at Rudy's Barbecue for some good Texas cookin'.

Good food, good company, good day all around!

Break Out The Marshmallows, We're Makin' Rice Krispies!

Because the men of the Prosper Ward are so sweet, we thought it quite fitting to give them Rice Krispie Treats for Father's Day... So, the Friday before that celebratory day, Nancy Vrska, Cami, my mom, and myself gathered six boxes of the flaky rice cereal, a ton of marshmallows and butter, and got busy--


Lots of cereal...

Super cute cookie cutters used to make heart-shaped treats!

They were really yummy!

We had two big tubs like this, completely full with 135 of these little cellophane-bagged indulgences!

Ezra Taft Benson said, "Fathers, yours is an eternal calling from which you are never released. A father's calling is eternal, and its importance transcends time." We attached this to each of the bags, what a good quote!

I am so thankful for all the fathers in my life... To all the uncles, teachers, home teachers, bishops, grandpas, and father in my life, Happy Father's Day!

Some Great Pictures of A Great Girl

My darling little niece became a quarter of a year old on Sunday. Yes, Audrey is three months old-- that's so crazy to me because I feel like she's been a part of the family forever! Well, I guess technically she has... but we won't get into deep doctrine here! Another time, another place!

Anywho, like with any other momentous occasion in our family- be it big or small- we celebrated by taking pictures! Audrey has become quite the animated little soul in the last three months! It's so much fun to see her smile and giggle! Here are some of the cute shots (even if I am still playing with editing and colors) I got Sunday.

She's such a great girl!
Laughing :-D

Conversing with Grandma. She's such a talker! (You know this is Grandma because you can note the bling...)

I love this look on her face!

She LOVES "flying"!


So, I've been sitting on these pictures for a month now-- the following are photos from her two month "glamor shots" session!

Family pictures-- this was the only one I really liked... but I really like it a lot!

LOVE this dress! The white embroidery just adds so much to the red dress! Oh, and so does the cute little girl who's in it! The shoes were a gift from Grandma who bought them on the first baby clothes shopping trip waaay back in September at Janie and Jack. They are the cutest little leather shoes ever. Cam-- be prepared to share with my little ones!

She looks like she's smirking at a secret...

I think the secret was that she was about to loose it... Even when she's "lost it" she's still as cute as can be!

And in her momma's arms, she's happy again. I'm pretty sure I've gotten this look from her daddy when he's "done" taking pictures...

This one, I love...

What an amazing family I have-- I love you Miss Audrey Kate Jensen! Thanks for making our wonderful family an even better one! :)

"These Are A Few of My Favorite..." Pictures! *Part Two*

Where This Is: This picture was taken in Ireland at the field where Trevor played all his soccer games the summer of 2006 after I graduated from High School.
Why I Love It: My momma and I were so cute in our "matching" jackets that day... This picture reminds me that we are "two peas in a pod"-- even if we sometimes have differing opinions!


Where This Is: This photo was taken in Cooke County Jail... Just kidding!! This is Trevor's pretend mugshot taken the night before we left for Ireland, Summer of 2006.
Why I Love It: My little hooligan brother had been chased by the cops after a neighbor called them reporting some illegal firework goings on in the neighborhood. I would like to say that this event scared Trevor away from his life of crime- but when the cops were in front of our house a couple weeks ago, we sadly shook our heads and remembered this incident. Oh, the foreshadowing!

Where This Is: This was taken Fall of 2005 at my friend Serena's 18th birthday party which was at this cute little deli in Addison.
Why I Love It: These were some of my best friends in high school, and it's fun to look back and see how much we've all changed in four years- yet, how much we're the same! Left to right is Paris, Me, Marissa, Serena, Allie, and Kate Lynn. It was a really fun night, and whenever I see this picture, it takes me back to the carefree days of high school!

Where This Is: This was taken at my cousin Jared's wedding in November 2004 at the Mount Timpanogos Temple.
Why I Love It: This picture was taken by my sister, and from what I understand (and the way it looks in the picture) it was a blustery day full of wind and rain. My grandpa was being so chivalrous and holding the umbrella for my grandma-- They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and that is why this is my favorite photo if the two of them because it has love and commitment written all over it!

Where This Is: August of 2006 after seeing the Barnum and Bailey circus show, I spotted this little mommy/son duo. I couldn't help but snap a candid photo!
Why I Love It: A baby with a Mohawk... really?!?! Need I say more?

Where This Is: This was also August of 2006 after I had moved up to Utah for my freshman year and Cam had graduated from BYU. This was a fun family barbecue with all the family who were in Provo at that time!
Why I Love It: This is a long-standing Jones tradition. And cousin Jared, not being the exception, has his eight-month-old Mackayla carrying on the ritual! I'm pretty sure if we looked hard enough, we could find a picture of all four Jones uncles doing this with at least one of their kids... And yes, it never fails to make the mothers nervous!

GRATITUDE: -Noun. The quality or feeling of being grateful or thankful

This week I am grateful for:

1. A family who loves me and works together. Kevin, Cami, Momma, and myself planted flowers at the Lantana and Keller model homes Saturday morning. It was wonderful to do hard work with good company!

2. A little brother to tease/advise/love/call my own.

3. A job with good people where I can work hard and earn good money. On the Border has been such a great place to work. I got this job last summer, even though I didn't really need it-- but when I came back home for my internship this semester (that didn't pay) I sure was glad I had made those good connections last summer and was able to start working for them again!

4. A beautiful house in which to live in a beautiful place. This last week, we had a stretch of our famous "Texas summertime tornado" weather-- I was especially thankful for the house being not only beautiful, but strong. And the sunset that followed the crazy weather was to die for :)

5. A cute boyfriend who calms me, and loves me, understands me, and (most importantly) helps me be a better person.

"Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it."

-William Arthur Ward

Strolling Down Memory Lane...

I was going through pictures on my computer, and I realized there are so many excellent pictures with so many amazing memories attached to them. So I thought I would chronicle some of them here- a fun stroll down memory lane, if you will! :)

Where This Is: This was taken in Arizona at my cousin Tyler's wedding in July of 2003.
Why I Love It: My sister A-G-O-N-I-Z-E-D over getting her hair cut. While she was in the midst of this life-altering dilemma, I was carefree and living it up at EFY in Sherman, Texas with one Miss Bethany Malouf. The week ended on Friday, and I was leaving on Saturday with my family for Arizona When the week was over and I was back with my family, I saw my sister's cute haircut and I loved it. I had been thinking about cutting my hair for the couple of previous weeks, and so that night (while I was supposed to be cleaning my room) I took some scissors into the bathroom and went at it. My haircut in this picture was the result of that night in the bathroom. What? You say that it looks pretty much like my sister's? Yeah... she noticed that too. And even though I didn't mean to, she was convinced I purposely copied her haircut. After lots of tears, my dad being mad at me because before he really looked at it he thought I butchered my hair, and a few days of the silent treatment from Cam in Arizona-- we were finally able to stand together and take a picture. Now, its a funny family story we all like to laugh about :)

Where This Is: This picture was taken in 1967 at my mom's Uncle Ken's photography studio in Glendale, Arizona. My mom (the baby) was six, and my Uncle Jay (the oldest) was 17.
Why I Love It: The first time I saw this picture was at my grandpa's funeral, and I fell in love... We dug it out of the old storage shed- I think this is the only picture of my mom's whole entire family I have ever seen while my momma was little, and I love that everyone looks basically the same that they do now! This is a small glimpse into a whole other time!

Where This Is: This was taken in the Plano West theatre lobby my senior year, after the final performance of Little Shop of Horrors. I got to be 'pregnant' in the show... It was a fun costume!
Why I Love It: This was the last show I actually performed in at Plano West, and I had such a great time in it with all my friends! I designed this costume, and I loved the "homeless" makeup. Lots of good memories associated with this picture!

Where This Is: This is my joy school class in March of 1993. I was the only girl, and the tallest one by about a head and a half!
Why I Love It: Oddly enough, I actually remember this picture... I was five, and we had learned about doctors. After we made little doctor kits, stethoscopes, and headlights, we took this picture. I had so much fun with all these boys- mostly because they let me boss them around. Maybe that's where I got my need to be in charge?!

Where This Is: This is at the Dallas Museum of Art. I think we weren't supposed to take pictures... But we did anyways :)
Why I Love It: We always joke that Nick is like an old man, and when we saw this picture- It was like we got a glimpse into what Nick will look like in 60 years!

Where This Is: This was taken in San Diego when we were there for a LeSueur family reunion.
Why I Love It: This was the first REAL family reunion the LeSueurs had. My grandma wanted it in San Diego because that's where she and my grandpa took my dad and his two brothers when they were a young little family! This picture was taken outside the San Diego Zoo- this is me, my siblings, and all of my cousins except for three... I love this photo!

Stay tuned... More pictures to come!

Scripture Chase

Bethany, my best friend since third grade, spent many faithful years of our youth sitting beside me during young women's, seminary, Sunday school, firesides, girl's camp, etc. And as long as I can remember, I have always asked her to help me find books in the bible. The conversation would always go something like this,

Teacher: "Please turn with me to Amos 4:12"
Me: "Bethany, where's Amos...?"
Bethany: "It's between Joel and Obadiah in the Old Testament."
Me: "Huh? Where?"
Bethany: "Page 1141."
Me: "Thanks! I wonder if he's the same Amos that created Famous Amos cookies..."

Well, in my ongoing quest to perfect myself (it is proving to be quite a daunting task!), I am adding to my scriptural arsenal of knowledge by reading the Bible all the way through. Chronologically. Daily. Lance and I are doing this together, and after completing the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price, we know we can do it! It's interesting to critically read all these bible stories I grew up hearing about in the context the Bible has them in. Who knew Lot fathered his own grandchildren!?

We've been reading the different books of scripture together almost every night since last October (ish?), and after going to stake enrichment classes last week, I knew it was time to step our scripture study up to the next notch! There was a class on using the Preach My Gospel Manual to enrich your personal scripture study as well as the studies of your family. Download the online version here. I left that class completely inspired. So, I called Lance, and together we came up with a plan to implement all the things we should be studying from weekly but "don't have time" to.



I was struck by the missionary schedule (found at the beginning of Preach my Gospel) because they start every morning out with two hours of enriching scripture study. One hour is spent studying alone, and the second hour is spent with their companion. Using this as our inspiration, we decided the best time for us to study the word of the Lord is in the mornings, before his classes start, to give us a leg up for the day. Half an hour of personal study begins at 7:45 and half an hour of "companion" study at 8:15. So, as of the beginning of this week, this is our regiment:

Monday- Preach My Gospel Manual
Tuesday- The current Ensign
Wednesday- Missionary standard works (Our Heritage, Jesus the Christ, etc.)
Thursday- The upcoming week's Sunday school lesson
Friday- The upcoming week's Relief Society/Priesthood lesson
Saturday- Topical study from the scriptures
Sunday- Talks/previous ensign articles on LDS.org

So far, we are loving it. I can definitely tell a difference in my day when I start it with such an uplifting hour! It sort of takes me back to high school seminary... but I'm learning where all the obscure books of the Bible are this time around :)

Two Days of Bliss

Lance starts summer classes this Tuesday, and in order to get all moved into his new apartment, he left today for Waco. Sad. BUT, we did get to hang out all day Tuesday and Wednesday! Here are some of the highlights- starting Wednesday and working backwards :)

Wednesday night, after having lunch with his wonderful Grandma Clark and (successfully) searching for Lance's new dresser at Ikea, we went to color me mine and painted a "you are special" plate and some way cute salt and pepper shakers- these pictures were taken after we painted them, but before they were glazed... so the colors will be more vibrant than the pictures show, but I think everything turned out so super duper cute!

Lance's salt and pepper shakers are so darling all inversely painted!

I think my plate turned out pretty cute too! The idea is to use this plate for dinner, treats, etc. whenever someone has had a hard week or has done something awesome- I'm so excited to use it in my family now, and for my kiddos in the future!

Our messy table!

Here we are with our masterpieces! We both LOVE Color Me Mine!

Tuesday Night was my half-birthday celebration-- my halfie was really on Saturday, but since it was Memorial day weekend, I couldn't take off work, so we celebrated Tuesday! Lance took me to the Dallas aquarium, and then we met up with our friends Drew and Ashley to watch the Yankees get pummeled by the Rangers! (Still working backwards) here are some pictures from that day!
We had awesome seats right behind the bull-pen. It was so cool to see the pitchers up close!

This sign made me smile all night! In case you can't tell, it's a needle with the word A-FRAUD written on it. hahaha. It still makes me laugh!

Only in Texas... This guy was pretty entertaining to watch!

Tuesday Morning, after making breakfast together, we headed to downtown Dallas for the aquarium... I have wanted to go for such a long time, and we finally went! It was such an awesome place- I highly reccomend it :)

Behind it was the waterfall, and below us were a bunch of sea turtles and manitees and really really big fish. Awesome to see them all up close! It was really humid inside, so we both left with our hair looking lovely...

Here is one of the super cute manitees, trying to eat a root off the tree. Isn't he just darling!?

I love being able to spend time with Lance. Since he lives about two and a half hours away from me most of the time, every minute we spend together is precious-- even if it's a comfortably quiet ride home, or sitting on the couch watching some TV, or taking a walk and talking. I love this boy, and I feel so lucky we were able to spend so much time together these last two weeks!

There is Beauty All Around...

Another marvelous week has passed. Already it is nearing the end of May, and I'm finding myself asking---Where has the first half of 2009 gone?!

It was a good week- here are the highlights:

1. The weather today is so beautiful. 75 degrees. Not a cloud in the sky on this bright and sunny day. Love it :)
2. Lance got home from Baylor. We went on a date to Chili's and then to the Angelika theatre to see Sunshine Cleaning. Good food. Good movie. AMAZING Company! Nick also got home this week from CA/his uncle's wedding in New Orleans. We went shopping before I had to be at work, all the while listening to the summertime CD he made me!
3. Ashley, Spencer, and Sophie arrived Thursday to get Spencer all moved into the apartment in Richardson where he'll be staying while he has his summer internship in Dallas. I've had so much fun playing with their daughter, Sophie-- I see architecture in her future-- She has become quite the Lego-tower-builder/Linkin' Logs-house-constructor! Sophie and Buddy have become best friends these last couple of days... Even if she does boss him around!
4. I got to stay with Grace and Linus Saturday till this morning while their parents were out of town. I have been watching them for the last six years- They're such a wonderful family, and we always have the best time together! Last night we watched "Bedtime Stories" with Lance and Nick after spending some time in the pool. It was a fun night staying in!
5. I started my dolly on Friday- you know, the one I bought the pattern for at the beginning of May... Ashley came to my rescue when she saw me cutting the pattern apart because she helped me realize the pattern doesn't have to be cut flawlessly on its own. It's perfectly acceptable to pin the jaggedly-cut pattern to the fabric and cut the pieces out nicely as you cut the cloth to the shapes it needs to be. What a wonderful tip!

I've been really grateful this last week for my family. And the gospel. And the blessings we can receive if we always keep the temple in sight. I love all that I have and all that I am--

I am truly blessed.

Even if I am the middle-child
:)

My Perfectly Perky Perspective of Last Weeks Events

This last week was a whirlwind of family togetherness- It was awesome, and I loved it! Here are only five of the many good things that happened last week:

1. I learned from my Tick-Tock Grandma how to make strawberry freezer jam, I learned from my Papa-Bama Grandma how to make bread, and I have been enjoying the taste of my newly-found skills!
2. I bought a vogue doll pattern and a way cute apron pattern! I told Audrey I would make her her first dolly... and with all my friends who are getting married this summer, I certainly have my work cut out for me as far as the aprons go! I'll be getting busy on these two projects soon!
3. When I got to work on Saturday, the first thing my manager said to me was, "Oh, thank goodness you're here!" They needed another server there who actually knew what she was doing-- and that server was me! It is such a good feeling to know I am appreciated and a valued employee! :)
4. We had a lovely Mother's day, and I was delighted to be able to spend it with my momma, my two grandmommas, and the newest member of the momma's club- my sister! We had a delicious shrimp/corn/potato boil, and garnished our dinner with the watermelon we bought at the farmer's market!
5. Cami and Kevin finally announced they would be starting a family blog. Not an un-blog. Not an email with weekly updates. But a real live blog! It will be set to private, but if you want to know about the happenings in the Jensen family from someone besides Auntie Chelsea, have them add you to their list of blog readers!

"For today and it's blessings, I owe the world an attitude of gratitude!" -Anonymous