The Jensen Jungle

December 2012:
Christmas time is about family and fun, so we try to blend those things a lot. This Christmas we had fun: making cookies, seeing Santa, riding a carousel, visiting the museum, playing in the snow, running, hanging out with family, tubing, celebrating New Year's Eve, and rocking out.

November 2012:
I'm thankful for my family and for the calmer month of November. Sometimes it's nice to relax.

Monkey: Finished up his first basketball season, dressed like a Grease cast member for school Decades day, built a snowman with his sister, and had fun with cousins at Thanksgiving.

Panda: Played with Niko, had tons of fun in the snow, built a snowman with her brother, snuggled with her bears, and played with cousins at Thanksgiving.

Mouse: Had fun in the snow until her little hands got too cold because she wouldn't stop picking up the snow, had fun touching Rufio the Hedgehog (she's braver than me because he's pokey), hung out with cousin Jace, and was scared by Grandma Chicken Bunnie (which is ironic since my mom is scared of birds).

Mr. Tigger and I: Didn't do to much. Got in some cold runs, played in the snow, and hung out with family.

October 2012:
October is one of our family's favorite months. Here are the highlights, and lots of pictures.

Monkey: Finished up soccer, started basketball (which he loves), still doing school, and was an incredible Iron Man! We painted his face for school since they aren't allowed to wear masks.

Panda: Cute as a button and getting cuter, loves to look at books, enjoys going on walks, has the best laugh, and is a terrific Thor!

Mouse: Turned one this month and got her very own bear cake for the occasion. It was a long, fun day and she fell asleep mid-cake. Best baby Hulk ever!

Mr. Tigger and I: Had fun running the half marathon at the Utah Marathon. It had a huge hill, but it was fun to run by the capitol. Dressed up and ran in the Halloween Half Marathon (incredibly fun marathon but a killer downhill section…ouch). Dressed up as the Avengers for Halloween and had lots of fun, even won a couple of work costume contests.

September 2012:
College football season is in full swing in September, which always makes me happy. It also isn't too cold yet and it isn't too hot. It's a pretty great month as far as months go.

Monkey has been playing soccer and having a great time. He also really enjoys backpacking with his dad. They have a lot of fun together and get to experience our gorgeous mountains. Monkey has also had fun at football games, going to the Mad Hatter's tea party, and looking at gross Halloween stuff with his dad.

Panda wishes she was out on the soccer field. We usually have to bring an extra ball for her so that she can kick it on the sidelines during the games. Panda loved going to the Mad Hatter's Tea Party this year. Any reason to dress like a princess, is a good reason.

Mouse is getting bigger and more adorable, if that's possible. Big news: she is officially out of her helmet and is loving life. And I'm loving the sweet smell of my baby's head. I can kiss it whenever I want now. Also, we decided to do something a little risky this month and took Mouse to her first BYU football game. We thought that she'd make it through halftime at best. Turns out, we were wrong. Mouse loves BYU football. We stayed the entire game and she was happy, cheering, and loving life. She was the best fan out of all of us. Go Cougars!

August 2012:
Summer fun continued in August with time in the pool, playing on the playground, camping, playing outside, and ice skating? Panda loves to ice skate so we take her on occasion. The only weird part is when you leave the rink and step into 90 degree weather.

We had another Back to School Banquet to mark the return to school for Monkey. This year we went with an Olympics theme for the party and chose our family's theme for the school year: Faster, Stronger, Smarter. After the banquet we took the kids outside to participate in a little family Olympics with sprint races, skill tests, and water sports.

Monkey is in the 1st grade this year which means all-day school. I'll miss his cute personality throughout the day. We ride our bikes to drop him off in the morning, which will continue only until it gets too cold, and the girls love riding in the bike cart. Monkey has had a fun summer full of park playing, bike riding, swimming, hiking, and camping.

Panda is going to miss Monkey now that he is back in school. They have had a lot of fun playing together. Panda enjoys everything that is active, and she is quite adventurous. She isn't scared of anything besides bugs.

Mouse is still as cute as a button. She got a new helmet this month and is enjoying the extra room. She loves to swing, she enjoys baths but hates swimming pools (I think they're too cold), and she loves to laugh.


I love the summer, so I'm always sad to see the end of August because it means fall is on its way. It also means that my little Monkey goes back to school and that we don't do quite as much stuff outside. This August we spent plenty of time outside.

We had fun at Grandma Bunnie's impromptu party, complete with bounce house. Who needs an actual reason for a party anyways, we sure don't! The kids also had fun rock climbing, playing with cousins, swimming at 7 Peaks, etc.

We also had our Back to School Banquet. This year we had Mary Poppins as our surprise guest. She let us know the family theme for the year: In Every Job that Must be Done, There is an Element of Fun! Plus she led the family in a march around the yard, taught umbrella twirling, helped shoot confetti, and did a little magic. It was so much fun! (My kids still aren't quite sure if Mary Poppins was me or not.)

Monkey is headed into the 2nd grade and is smart as a whip (whatever that means). He's excited for school and to see his friends, although he's a little bummed that summer vacation is over. He has enjoyed swimming and camping with his daddy.

Panda started up soccer this month and she's a natural. She runs up and down the field kicking that ball like crazy and she loves it. She scored a goal in her first game and was so excited.

Mouse loves being outside and running around. She'd run all day if I let her. Mr. Tigger keeps wanting to put a pedometer on her to see how many steps she takes in a day because she is going from the minute she wakes up until bedtime.

Mr. Tigger had fun camping this month and I had fun with another surgery (my third of the summer). I got to have my expander put back in and now we just need to stretch out that skin graft until it matches the other side. I was excited because I got healed up enough to go on three runs before I had this surgery and was back to doing nothing.

July 2012:
We have two birthdays in the first half of July (Monkeys and mine), so with the addition to the 4th of July, we have a very busy and celebratory month. We have family BBQs, watch parades, become pirates, go camping, turn into scottish highlanders, and play in the water.

Monkey really enjoyed his birthday party this year. He got to be a pirate captain with an entire pirate crew fit to attack and pillage any other ships on the sea. Luckily, there's a playground nearby with an entire pirate ship so we had his party there. The kids had fun dressing up (complete with pirate makeup), running around on the pirate ship, sword fights, whacking an enemy ship piñata, and going on a treasure hunt where they had to actually dig in the sand to find a buried chest full of pirate plunder. It was a lot of fun and we all had a good time.

Panda enjoys wearing masks and isn't afraid to use a weapon, so you better watch out. She also enjoys swimming, being a pirate, running around with cousins, fireworks, and being cute.

Mouse is still rocking the helmet. She got to get a new one this month which is a little bit bigger, so she is pretty happy. She loved the 4th of July. She really enjoyed the parade, which was super cute, and she also liked being with cousins, and sleeping through the fireworks (thank goodness).

Mr Tigger's favorite things were going camping with his brother, and diving off a huge cliff, and going to the Scottish festival. Any place where he can wear his kilt, is a good place to be.

My favorite things were the 4th of July (it's my favorite holiday) and doing the Do Life 5K. It was cool to meet the guy being the Do Life Movement. He was pretty cool, but I actually liked talking to his dad more. Shhhh, don't tell anyone.

June 2012:
I love it when it's hot and school is out. The days are longer and filled with fun outside activities. We had a fun June that started with Art City Days, which meant hot air balloons, fire station pancake breakfast, cool cars car show, and the carnival. I love Art City Days!

Monkey has been busy since school got out with swimming lessons, baseball, library activities, car washing, and playing in the water and sun.

Panda has also been involved with swimming lessons (which she loves), library activities, and running around in the sun.

Mouse has been busy with the rest of us. The hot sun makes her helmet more of a problem. I frequently have to take it off for 5-10 minutes just so her head can air out and stop sweating. And her head pretty much smells like a locker room now. It's sad, usually you like to smell a baby's cute head but mine just smells like a smelly sock. It's still cute though.

Mr. Tigger turned the big 30 this month. Fortunately, he now looks like he is no longer in high school. I figure by the time he is 60, he'll look 35. Lucky me. I really am lucky though. He's probably the best husband ever! He washes dishes, changes diapers, reads stories, cleans the house, etc., and still has time to tell me that he loves me every day. I'm definitely lucky.