Barnacles...Awesome!

I went to see Dr. Bradley yesterday. I always have to force myself to call him because I have a huge paranoia of having him look at me. I have been going to him for about 20 years. My file with him is about six inches thick. I have bad skin. Not zitty skin, just moley skin. I have to thank my mother for that. She has A LOT of moles. The ones she hates most are the little hangy ones you get on your neck. She has a lot of those and has always insisted on wearing high neck blouses or turtlenecks to cover them up. The ones that have always scared me were the ones on her back.... great big black moles..at least that's what I thought they were until I talked to the doctor yesterday. I showed him this crusty thing on my shoulder and some on my side, he said "I hope this doesn't offend you, but those are called aging barnacles") I wasn't offended. I was actually elated! I usually hear "Oh that one doesn't look right...We'll want to take that one off...I don't like the looks of that one..I'm concerned about that one".....I could go on, I've heard them all. So to hear that they are harmless (although ugly and embarrassing) I was so happy I wanted to kiss him.

He said they can freeze them off (tackle about 6 at a time) which involves freezing, blistering, scabbing and healing...good times, so I'm going to do that.

I always have a little life review when I visit Dr. Bradley. I have not taken good care of my skin. When I was young, being tan was pretty important so my friends and I would go out to Hyrum dam about every afternoon and float on our floaties till we were the desired shade of browness. My skin is pretty fair so most of the time I would just burn...but eventually get a tan.

People didn't talk to much back then about skin cancer and I felt pretty invincible so I didn't give it a second thought.

In 1990, I noticed this mole on my leg that looked different. it was quite small but half of it was dark and the other half was light. I had a strong feeling that I should get it checked out right away so I went to see the dermatologist. He removed it, then about 3 days later, called me and told me it was melanoma. Probably about the scariest phone call I have ever received. I remember the blood all draining out of my head and having to sit down on the couch to finish the conversation with him. I went in 2 days later and had the surgery to remove it and all the tissue around it. He took quite a big area around the mole off, then sewed me shut. He called me a couple days later and said that they had looked at the tissue they removed and felt good that they had gotten it all out.

I have had a few other skin cancers removed, but they have caught them in very early stage.

I've been pretty diligent since then to check out all my moles. I go into the dermatologist to have him do a full body check regularly (let me just say that I have to go to my happy place to get through these...he is very thorough!)

Anyway, I understand the seriousness of the disease and I am eternally grateful for the blessing of being able to still be here! My greatest fear was that I wouldn't be able to be here to raise my children. K.C. was just a baby. Well it has been 19 years and the kids are all grown up. I'm so grateful for my life and for each new day I have on this earth and I try to never take for granted the blessing of good health. I made a lot of promises to God when I was going through this and I have tried my best to keep them.

So bring on the barnicles...I can take it!

So we weren't kidding about "operation crazy neighbor." Candice came over after work and we were just sitting around talking when we saw a carload of Mexicans drive up to Larsen's house, then a realtor pulled up behind them. Candice put on K.C.'s ear flap winter hat and went out in the front yard and started dancing around and doing jumping jacks. The people looked at her kind of strangely, shook their heads and went in the house. I thought I was going to wet my pants.

We got a letter from K.C. today with some pictures too. He sounds really good. Still pulling faces for mom. Thanks, I wouldn't want him to be any other way! How cute is he!!! I can't believe he will be leaving for Russia in just two weeks. I hope the time keeps flying by like it has been. So grateful for kind friends and family and the support they have given to him! It means so much to all of us.

So I guess that knock on wood thing really works. When I was up to moms, we went over the hospital to get her Pro-time checked. There was signs all over the hospital reminding people to get their flu shots. Mom asked me if I had had my flu shot. I said "I never get one...because I just hardly ever get sick." I guess that was when I was supposed to knock on wood. Monday I woke up at 2:00 a.m. (not unusual) but I woke up sneezing my head off. I could not stop sneezing so I came downstairs and watched the food channel till about 5:00. I kept on sneezing and my nose was running like a faucet. I felt kind of crappy all day Tuesday, with intermittent sneezing fits. Then that night it really set in. I had chills and fever all night. I was driving myself crazy with all the sniffeling and snorting, I can imagine Kelley wanted to throw me out the window. So I went downstairs and tried to get comfy in the big green chair. My head was just so full of boogies, and my throat hurt, I just wanted to go to sleep, but I don't think I slept more than 30 minutes the whole night. (Got to see lots of 'unwrapped" and "chopped" and Iron chef America.) I came up to bed when Kelley was getting up for work. Bad night.

Anywho..I got a cold. I can't complain too much though because I really do not get sick very often.. I try to take my vitamins faithfully and I think that helps. I need to do better at wiping off the shopping cart handle with the wipes they give you. I bet thats where I picked this up.

Enough whining. I seriously have nothing. Last night Kelley comes running in the house and said that Jake B had been in a horseback riding accident. The horse had gotten spooked and fell back on Jake before he could get out of the way. That was about all Kelley knew till he got to the hospital. He said Jake had broken his back, ribs, and face. They were getting him ready for surgery. Oh man, I feel so bad for him. He has had some other health problems lately and just recovered from a hip replacement. He is just a really special guy and has been a great friend to Kelley. Kelley said the first thing Jake said when Kelley got there was "How is K.C. doing?"... are you kidding me? But that is just how he is.

Then there is this:

We woke up last thursday and looked out the front window to see a big stupid for sale sign in Larsen's front yard. That seriously just makes me want to cry. My heart just aches for them and this hard thing they are going through. I'm also feeling selfishly sad because I love their family and can't imagine what it will be like to not have them there anymore. They have been the best friends and neighbors anyone could ever ask for. Wish there was something we could do to make things be different. I told Candice I was going to go outside when they were showing their house and act like a crazy neighbor lady (not too much of a stretch) so it would scare buyers off. Candice said she would be happy to host a kegger in the front yard if it would help the cause. Hey, it's worth a try.

Out of Gas???

I went up to stay with mom this weekend. When I was driving up there Brenda called me and said that mom needs to have her pro-time checked before 2:00 because that is when they leave the office. So when I got there, I got mom all ready to go and we headed over to the hospital. I tried to park as close to the building as I could, but it was still a trek to get in there. When we were just about to the front doors, I could see that she was running out of steam. She started going slower and slower and her knees were bending more and more and I knew she was going down. I said lets stop for a minute and rest. I was looking around frantically for a wheel chair, praying that somehow I could get her inside the building where she could sit down. We stood there for a minute, then she said she was ok to walk again. We made it to the elevator doors and she started going down again. Just then I spotted a wheelchair around the corner. I couldn't let go of mother to go grab it so I asked this lady if she would get it for me. She was very nice and helped me get mom in the wheelchair. Mom was so funny though...for some reason, she just doesn't want to use the wheelchair! When the lady brought the wheelchair over, mom said " I don't need that...I am fine!" I was just like "oh yes you do need it!!!"
It was so much easier just wheeling her around rather than trying to help her shuffle along. I think she was even glad for it once she realized how much easier and faster we could get around in it.
We had a nice day together. I went over to town and picked up moms prescriptions, got her some groceries. Then I worked in the yard a little bit and did some watering. Later I made us a nice dinner. I had taken up some of the crookneck squash and tomato's from the garden. I cooked the squash in eggs like she had always done when we were growing up and she loved it. Ate the whole bowl of them.
Saturday morning, when I was trying to fix her hair, we both decided it was time for a cut and color. So I thought I would just run to Macey's and get her a hair color, and I could cut her hair after I put it on. When I got in the car, it was kind of hard to start, the gas gauge had been doing weird things again. It went down to low fuel but when it turned over, it went up to a quarter tank, so I headed down to macey's. Just as I was about to turn into the parking lot, it just stops going. I was pushing on the gas, and the engine was still running, it just wouldn't go. So I coasted to just inside the parking lot. Then it died. I tried to start it again, but it wouldn't go. So I got out, locked it up and started walking home.
Kelley had text me about 5:00 that morning to tell me that Blair had gotten his mission call to
Tokyo. Whaaaaaaat? I had had a pretty rough night and had just dozed off when my phone buzzed. Then he called and said he was going fishing with Dan. So anyway, I knew I wouldn't be able to get a hold of him. Couldn't call mom...what was she going to do? Brenda was down at the peach days in Brigham city. Leslie was up in the Tetons. Anyway, I was feeling pretty helpless.
I talked to Candice on the phone while I walked home and she was pretty comforting...she said she would come and get me if I needed her to, and I know she would have. I text Kelley hoping he might look at it as soon as he had service.
Kelley called pretty quick and we were trying to figure out what to do. We were both thinking it was the fuel pump again because that is what it acted like when it broke before. We started calling repair stations here in Logan but they were all closed! Hello it's Saturday! I called Brenda and asked her if she had any ideas. She mentioned there was a discount tire just about a block south of Macey's. So I called them and they were open! They said I would have to get the car over there though because they didn't have any way to tow it. GREAT! How was I going to get the car over there? Kelley said he would come up there and tow it over there. I really didn't want him to have to come all the way up there to tow the Yukon one block!
Mom said "why don't you call uncle Ken and see if he will help you" I hadn't even thought of him. So I called him and told him what a pickle I was in and he said " I will be right down." So he came down in his jeep and picked me up and we were on our way. It was kind of tricky getting over to discount tire because we had to get on the highway for just a little bit, then turn into their store, and it was really hard to turn without any power steering. But we made it . The guys there at discount tire were really nice and said they would take a look at it and give me a call. Uncle Ken took me back home and said for me to call him when the car was ready and he would take me back down.
So I cut moms hair (no hair color this time) and got it fixed nice. Jake Fuhrman had called and said he had some corn for mom...he was a good friend of daddy's and always shares his corn with mom every year. He gives her enough so she has plenty for all of us kids too. So we got in her car and went up to his house to get the corn. I didn't know where he lived but mom said it was just a couple of blocks east of Theurers store. So we drive up there and the store isn't there anymore! There is some fancy home elements store there now. Wow Providence has changed so much, I don't even recognize it anymore. It has filled up with businesses and subdivisions and the old places are pretty much gone. Even the old gas station on the corner has gone all high tech. The post office has been moved down the street to a nice new building. That was one of my favorite places in town. When ever I went on the milk route with daddy, we would stop there on the way home and pick up the mail. We had a cool little post office box that you opened with a combination. I loved the way it smelled in there and there was the nicest man that worked there named Mr. James. He was a tall skinny old man and he kind of scared me when I was little, but I got to know him and he would always wave at me and give me a some hard candy he had in his jar on the counter. We would get our mail and Grandma Braegger's and Pat and Clyde's mail too. Then we would go out to their place and give it to them. We would always find Grandma sitting in her chair watching "As the World turns" and crocheting pretty little edges on pillow cases. She would always have the T.V. turned up full blast too cause she couldn't hear good at all. She always had a big molasses cookie in her cookie jar for me. Grampa Braegger was pretty old when I was young so I didn't get to know him very well before he died. I remember when I went to their house though he would put me on his leg and give me a ride. Then he would rub his whiskers on my cheek. Kind of freaked me out at the time, but I loved him. I remember going to the hospital with my mom and dad when he was dying of prostate cancer. They wouldn't let me go in his room so I sat on a little stool outside his door. I can clearly remember hearing him crying out in pain though and feeling so sad for him.
The old elementary school that I went to has been torn down...well the cool old part with all the stairs and wood floors and bell in the tower is gone. They added on to that part when I was young, then remodeled the whole building when they tore down the old part. The old rock church there on main street has been about everything under the sun. It started out as just that; an old rock church house. Then they turned it into a fabric store. It has been a reception center, an office building and an old folks home. I'm not sure what it is right now. It's a cool old building though with a big winding staircase that comes down into the middle of the room. Anyway, we drove past what used to be theurers store and went a few blocks east and I was waiting for mom to say "there it is..." but she couldn't remember exactly where it was. She said she knew she would recognize it when we drove past. So we kept driving around and around till we had pretty much covered the east side of Providence. I suggested we go home and look his address in the phone book, so we did that and drove right to it...a house we had passed about 10 times. (Oh dear. mom's memory was really bad this visit. She kept talking about Virginia Barnett and said she wanted to get a hold of her to see if she would do her hair. Virginia and Oleen moved away about 35 years ago) Well I went up to the door but it didn't look like anyone was home and he didn't answer the door. So we went home and called him. He didn't answer and mom was pretty concerned about getting this corn, so I kept trying to reach him all day. I hope he will let her know next time he has some. We had a nice tour of providence though and mom told me stories about things she did when she was a young girl growing up there and showed me where her friends used to live.
When I got home the guy from discount tires called and said I could come pick up the car. I said "oh you fixed it already?" he said "ya it wasn't too hard." I asked him what was wrong with it and he said " well I hate to tell you this mame, but it was just out of gas," He reminded me of the Kirby guy on the best two years. He looked and talked just like him. I asked him how that could be because my gas gauge said I had a quarter tank. He said that when the people in salt lake had put in the new fuel pump, they had bent the sensor that tells how much gas you have, so it wont' tell you when your out of gas. I was so relieved! I knew that we could not afford to get another fuel pump put in and was really freaking out about it.
So I called Uncle Ken and he came right down and took me over there to pick up the car. It was pretty embarrassing explaining to him that it was just out of gas but he was real sweet about it. It was good to see him again. It has been years since I've talked to him. He reminds me so much of daddy. The sound of his voice, his mannerisms, even looking at him from the side, I can see a lot of daddy in him. But they have pretty different personalities. Uncle Ken was always really outgoing and liked speaking in front of people and being the center of attention . Daddy was not like that. He was a quiet and humble man and would rather do about anything than speak in front of people. He even skipped out on his own mission farewell so he wouldn't have to speak. He was always helping other people out though, just didn't want anyone to know or get any recognition or fuss over it.
Anyway, the guy that had worked on the car said I didn't have to pay him anything, just for the gas he had put in it. I gave him 20 dollars and wanted to kiss him.
Uncle Ken had mentioned when we were talking that he had gotten a letter that was from K.C. that should have gone to moms address, so he had taken it down to her. I asked mom about it and she said "oh yes I got the most wonderful letter from K.C.". She let me read it and I have to agree, it was the most wonderful letter. We both sat there and bawled while I read it out loud. All I can say is that he is a special young man and I am humbled to be his mom.
It was hard to say goodbye to mother this time. She really has a hard time getting around and I'm so afraid she is going to fall. I don't know how she makes it up the stairs without anyone there to help her. She moves so slow and can hardly lift her foot up to the next stair. She seemed so sad when I was leaving, it was just really hard. I am going to try to go up next week too.

Happy Birthday Camille!

Today Camille turned 28! I thought this picture really said it all. What a cute mommy she is! This is Olivia either saying cheeeeeese or possibly giving us scary eyes. Which ever, she is a happy, loving, funny and sweet little girl and I attribute a lot of that to her mom.

Camille is such a good, patient, loving mom. I really admire the way she handles the different things that happen in her life with such a positive attitude. I think it really has a great impact on Olivia and she has learned how to be happy in what ever situation she is in too.

Camille is a good sister! The love between these four is something that you don't see everyday. They are very involved in each other's lives and are always there for each other. It has been a hard thing to be seperated these past few years, but they talk to each other every day on the phone or email or text message, and are able to stay very closeCamille is a wonderful daughter. We think so much alike it's scary.Camille is funny! She has an amazing sense of humor and can always take any situation and make it more fun. She knows how to get us to lighten up and can always make us laugh!

Camille also a good wife and supports Kellen in whatever he does. Kellen is a pretty great daddy too!

Camille brings so much happiness to our family! She has a way of lifting up everyone around her. I think that is why people are so drawn to her. She just makes you feel good.

We love you so much Camille and hope you can feel all of our love even though we cannot be together this year. Hope you have a wonderful day!

Just thought I would post K.C.'s emails. It is so great to see how much he has grown in the past two months. His faith and and gratitude for the opportunity to serve are a great example to me. Even though I am still having meltdowns (took some things down to the basement and had a flashback of all of us sitting in his room the morning he was going into the MTC, as he gathered up last minute things and got ready t0 leave. Katie and Camille were reading his Patriaracle blessing and bawling. I was pretty much basket case but trying to hold it together and not let him see me cry too much. His excitement and positive attitude were amazing! ) Anyway, as I was remembering that morning, I had to sit down and cry for a minute...not like before though, not tears of worry and fear and sadness at his leaving, just tears of joy and gratitude for the opportunity and blessing it is for our whole family to be a part of this special time when he is able to serve this mission.

Date: Tue, 8 Sep 2009 17:11:33 +0000> > Hello family! Hows everything going? Thanks so much for the emails, I love Tuesdays.> Mom- I got your package and those were just the pants that i was talking about thanks so much for the snacks too, i love those cookies. I heard that the toothpaste in Russia isnt very good so I need you to send me a 2 year supply of varrying types of toothpaste...is that too much to ask? and maybe also included in that package could be some more mangos I loved those. Thanks for taking care of my plant to, i knew you would. Hatsumi's address is senamia22@yahoo.co.jp, and you can charge my phone and get her number too it you want. I dont know if blair got his call yet im really excited for that though. Im glad to hear about the tomatoes, hope your not ovewhelmed. I cant believe Nancy and Dave bought you Shopka's! thats way nice of them. Im glad to hear Leah is doing better too, she would try to do her visiting teaching. Tell Paul i love him and that i hope his foot gets better, im glad that I was friends with him too. Love you. ps i have no idea where that remote is, sorry maybe buy a universal one> Dad- I loved your letter, I needed that. I never really realized what a blessing it was to have living apostles in the early until I had that meeting with Elder Scott, I cant imagine what you meeting was like, sounds awesome though and Im glad you had the opportunity. That put a big smile on my face to hear about Brother Myers, I will pray for him, sounds like he love you a lot. Tell Spencer that I have lunch at 11:30 and that I usually eat around the windows on the left side. LOve you.> Candice- you have a birthday card coming in the mail soon. and Tell Megan thanks so much for the email. shes so great, i know shes way busy so it means a lot that she would send me an email.> Kate- Thanks for the mail this week, I read those verses you were taking about in D&C 93, and in class we were reading John 15 and It says something similar, You should read that chapter, its way good. Love you, I Hope everything is going well and that youre happy.> Camille, Kellen, and Olivia- I hope you guys are doing well, and that school is going well for Kellen. Love you guys.> This last week has gone by pretty fast. I have been reading a lot in the Book of Mormon, I cant believe I ever didnt feel like reading it, its my favorite thing to do now. I need to read Preach My Gospel too, but I always end up reading BoM. The language is coming along really good, I think Im starting to really understand it. We'll see though, I taught the 2nd lesson last week which is plad of salvation, and it was the first time that i had really felt the spirit while teaching in Russain, we taught about WoW and it was awesome. This week we are teaching about tithing, Im excited. Im really happy here so dont worry about me at all. I love you guys, tell grandma and grandma hello from me, and the ward.>

Tuesday, September 01, 2009 11:36 AMTo: Candice JensenSubject: Hello Hey guys! How are things at home? from what I read it sounds like theres a lot going on. Mom, thanks for the email, something about hearing from my Mom just makes me happy. That hacker thing sounds crazy, Im sorry you had to go through all that trouble. Do you know if grandma and Phill got my letters? Phill wrote me a letter and gave me a bunch of advice, how nice. I will send some pictures in a letter soon. Im glad the reunion was fun. I love you . Maybe in the next package you send, could you add that maroonish sweater with the hood thats all knitty and my pair of Jeans? Pretty please. its getting kinda cold in the morning. Thanks for taking care of my plant, i wish i could have seen it bloom. I knew you woud take good care of it.Candice- Happy birthday! sorry i missed it, but it sounds like it was fun. I really hope it was, love you.Dad- Im going too kick Russian in the head. I will pray for Leah and Jake, that makes me really sad to think of them being sick. If you see either of them tell them that I say hello and wish them health. Thats so great that the Meyers came to church, did they come to the Luau? You have a great ability to fellowship people. Also glad to here that the garden is doing so well, how is the pond? Did you get things furured out? ps. your the best rat killer i know. maybe i will use some of the skills i have learned to kill some in Moscow.Camille- Thanks so much fo the package, now I dont need to punch you in the neck. Unless you want it. I loved the pictures, they made me smile a lot. That camel really didnt have legs. Im so glad to hear that Olivia is doing well, Hows potty training? Sore subject? I love to hear that she prays for me, that was the best. and she knows what im doing. I hope your having tons of fun with her all the time. Thanks so much for the mail. ps i love vanilla tootsies.Kate- I love getting your dear elders, it makes my night so much better to know that you are thinking about me. Youll figure out the camera, its not so hard. You can get a manual from the interweb, im looking forward to seeing what you do with it. Love you.last tuesday Elder Scott came and talked to us, it was sooo awesome. He gave the best talk and blessed us, as an apostle of the Lord, with the gift of tounges. How cool is that? And he bore his testimony at the end and it was the most powerful testimony ive ever heard. So i found out that im actually leaving earlier than i was expecting, september 28th. I was excited at first but then i realized that I dont speak Russian and now im scared. But i just need to have faith that the Lord will bless me, I know he will, he already has. Im teaching the plan of salvation in Russian tomorrow and im not quite ready, i need to pratice and pray a lot. I still havent seen spencer. do you know where he works exactly? Last night we practiced talking about the word of wisdom and asking someone to stop drinking and it was way hard, I hope that I get better at it before I have to do it for real because im sure that almost all of the people i teach will have some problem with the word of wisdom.I cant really think of anything else I want to say, love you.Elder Jensen

Tuesday, August 25, 2009 11:27 AMTo: Candice JensenSubject: HEllo family Hey Familiy! Thanks for all the emails, I just got done reading them. Mom, what happened to your email address why did it get hacked? I never recieved any answer on that. Im so glad that the Luau went well, thats always kinda stressfull, hopefully you guys didnt get too stressed. I wish I could have been there to enjoy some of that food...im sick of mtc stuff. Candice, I hope you supported Rick with his PT cruiser with flames idea, hahahaha did you keep a straight face? I dont think I could have. I would love it if you would log on to my face book and get a photo from Erica Takagi, there should be one of all of my friends at our church. I would love that. And this morning I went to the temple and ate at the cafeteria there, which is delicious. I got an omlette and some oatmeal for only 2.75$. ya loobloo hhrahm! thats i love the temple in Russian spelled in english letters so it looks way weird. Mom, I didnt recieve an email form you today but I have heard that you are writing me quite the letter about Eternal Marriage, and I cant wait to translate it, it should be good practice. I got your package yesterday and I like all of the ties that you picked out, thanks so much for bread too, it was great. Love you. Kate, you could never send me too many letters, so dont worry about that, just keep them coming. I got your package and I appreciate the oreos! Ya loobloo oreos! If you wanted to pray for something specific I can think of a couple. First, I have to memorize this really complicated chart in order to speak Russian and not sound like Im dumb, so if you could pray for me to remember the things on that chart that would be great. And second, for me to be more bold in sharing what i know is true, Im just not that bold like that, you know me, but I need to be, so please pray for these things, thanks so much. I see Jeff just about everyday, its really nice to have a little bit of home here, you know. And i still havent seeen spencer. :( Dad, Nice job with the Luau it sounds like it was big success. You and MOm always do a great job. Tell Leah that I hope she gets better and that I will pray for her. How sad! Im actually surprised that this is the first thing that has actually broken on the boat, with you and DAn combined it really is a miracale. How are things in the ward? I love you.Things are really good here at the Mtc, we taught our first lesson in Russian last wedness day, and it went awesome! I love Russian. I just wish it wasnt so hard. I realized the other day what makes it hard. The thing is that they dont say the same things that we do at all, so you can rarely transtlate each word from english and have it make sense. for example if you have a question you have to say "At me exists a question" and to say you like something you say" To me it is pleasing..." so when ever you learn a new word it seems like you cant use it unless you know a new grammar rule...kinda frustrating. But its coming along. I feel like im forgetting lots of stuff, i get letters from you guys all week and i think "oh i need to mention that in my email" but then when it comes time to do it i forget...so sorry if ive forgotten something. But i appreciate all of your letters. and this is a warning to camille if you dont write me letters im going to puch you in the neck! Love elder jensen

Tuesday, August 18, 2009 11:36 AMTo: Candice JensenSubject: Hacked? Mom, How did your email get hacked? Maybe one of Colenes free things? Anyway, I cant beleive you guys got to have such a great experience with Elder Bednar! I cant wait to hear more about it.( I print your emails off and read them while im logged out, so you dont have to make them super short, just say what you want to). Things are going really well here, I cant beleive its been a whole week, time flies. This morning my Elder O'Bryant and I went and did sealings of the temple, I did this because I wanted to gain a stronger testimony of eternal families. This is such a beautiful thing! I deffinitely want to go back and do it again. It deffinitely helped with my testimony, but I had an Idea, maybe mom and dad and camille and kellen could tell me thier testimonies about eternal marriage and families and i could translate it to russian to share it with the people over there. because ive never been married before, but I think the real experience of people who are will bear strong wittness to the truth of this principle. so could you guys do that for me? and Kate and Candice can to because they are also part of an eternal family. Just an idea. So this week all of the Elders who have been here for 6 weeks longer than us left to Russia and Ukraine. and they had to leave a bunch of stuff behind so their bags could be light enough. so basically our room is littered with lots of junk and food and random stuff. Its been pretty fun. I got your package, thanks for all the stuff. My companion loved the popcorn balls. We sat and enjoyed a few together. I Miss your cooking. Ive been having fun here, there is this one elder in our district who tellls crazy unbelievable stories and then expects us to beleive him. so we laugh at him a lot. on s he told us that his baby sitters cat (first of all never start off a story with "my babysitters cat") got run over by a car, so they burried it and then 4 days later the cat was up walking around their house and it lived for 9 more years. hahahahaha I love him, but that one was kind of hard to believe. Tell stacey thanks for the email, i appreciated it. Maybe in the next package you send you could put some more of my ties in it...im kinda sick of some of mine. We are teaching the 1st lesson in all Russian tomorrow. I think we are pretty well prepared though, so im not to worried, pray for me to have the spirit while I teach. Because I know that with out the spirit the lesson will be no good, and the spirit also helps us remember the truths we need to testify of and it works in Russian too so that helps. Kate, I did bring vitamins and I got even more from the "free box" so im good for a while with those. And I love the stationary, since when can you make your own stationary? Mom, its really true that we cant pay the Lord back but I feel like I'm doing my best right now and it feels good. Candice, sorry about the teeth, that sucks way bad, but my wisdom teeth didnt really hurt at all, just be sedated. Dad, I cant wait for that letter telling about your meeting. Camille and Kellen, Hows Life? I am going to need to hear more from you. Hows olivia? potty trainied? Love you guys. I still have like 2 minutes left but I dont know what to say. I know that this is the Lord's Church and that he loves all of his children. Temple work is the best, it really just shows that he love everyone. Elder jaekjrawnr

cha cha cha changes

Last night I went to my first meeting with the new stake Young Women's presidency. It actually turned out to be a meeting with the stake young men's presidency and high council reps. Andrea Miller is the new president and her counselors are Ida Hunt and Nikki Priest. I had never met either of the counselors before but they seemed real nice. Ida brought her daughter that is about one to the meeting and it was pretty hard to keep her entertained for two and a half hours! She ended up leaving before the youth committee even got there. Then only about four kids came to the youth committee meeting to plan the next activity. Sometimes those meetings are really lame. I could tell Andrea was getting pretty irritated by the way things were being run. She is a "real get down to buisness" kind of girl and I don't blame her. So much wasted time and just goofing around !!!!! We finally came up with the idea of having a standards night with a speaker. They wanted to have Mark Scharman talk about choices and consequences. I think that would be good if it works out. After the meeting we were trying to find a time when our presidency could get together to plan the upcoming stake leadership night in october. Everyone is so busy or going out of town or has things with their kids. We finally came up with next tuesday night later after other things were over. This is going to be a big change for all of us. Andrea has been the stake sports director and they still haven't replaced her so she is doing both jobs. No wonder she is way stressed out!
I know I need to give it time to get to know these new ladies. There was just a different feelling there...I miss my girls. Shawna and Jody and Kathy were so very committed and wanted to give 100 percent in everything they did. It was just an amazing experience to be able to work with them. I learned so much from them and will miss my association with them... I think after you have served together like that you have a bond and a friendship that you can't get any other way. We had some pretty special experiences together and I will always treasure the time we had together.

Ya loobloo hats!

Yesterday afternoon, Nancy called and asked if her and Dave could come over and visit us. They have been on a Scandinavian cruise the past few weeks and were able to go to St. Petersberg. How sweet of them to think of us and bring us back these Russian hats! Nancy is real thoughtful like that. She said the one thing K.C. is going to miss in Russia is his mother's smile. She said they do not smile over there. I hope that will not keep him from smiling. He has a beautiful smile and a warm heart that I know will reach out and draw in the Russian people.
Candice can pull off any hat. Me...not so much.
p.s. K.C. told us in his last email that ya loobloo was english sound for Russian words "I love"

In the Garden...

I actually heard that song on the radio as I was coming home from church yesterday and it was such a beautiful version. That has got to be one of my favorite songs that us girls sing together.

Anywho... we have been" in the garden" quite a bit these past few days.
For such a long time, the tomato's would not get ripe. Everyone else in the neighborhood was eating their tomato sandwiches, and we had nothing. There was plenty of them on there, just not red yet. Then a couple of them started getting a little pink, so we were watching them with much anticipation, checking on them everyday, waiting for just the right moment when they had reached tomato perfection and we could pluck them from the vine and also enjoy our own tomato sandwiches.
Then one day, we went out one day to find a great big bite had been taken out of the only ripe tomato. A big rat bite. Ooooooooooo that makes me mad. The stupid rats come over from the canal and feast on our garden. We had this problem last year, so we knew just what to do. We put out the rat traps. But apparently, the rats got smarter and faster this year, because they just took the bait and ran off with it. So Kelley got some rat poison. Desperate times require desperate measures. We set the bait out there and then wait for them to eat it up. It disappeared right away. Not so smart now are you rats! It's kind of gross, but then you just start looking for dead rats.
Victory. Jensen's 3. Rat's 0 (not counting that first tomato they ate)
After that the garden went crazy. Lots of huge beautiful tomato's, peppers,( every kind of pepper you can imagine) cucumbers, squash, pumpkins, and potato's.


This pumpkin was growing on the other side of the fence, so Kelley picked it up and set it on top of the fence. We tried to get it to sit on a little stand, but the vine wouldn't reach so Kelley was going to build a stand for it where it could reach to. I had a bad feeling about it, just knew it was too tempting for people to leave it alone. We went out today and found someone had pushed it off the fence and broken it to pieces. So sad. We only had a few pumpkins this year.

Isn't he cute with his basket of peppers.

He roasted them on the barbecue grill. It worked out real good that way.

Then we made salsa. Lots of salsa. We used a recipe of Mark's this year that you don't cook. It has a really good fresh flavor!

This was what was left over after we made salsa and took three big baskets of tomato's to church for people to take home. I was glad when Nancy called this morning to see if we had any more. They always have a big garden but she said this year her tomato's didn't do very good.

Beautiful tomatillo's! We made two batches of green salsa and haven't even begun to use them all. Anyone want some?

Lizzy supervising.

We made some pickles too. It's a lot of work and takes a lot of time! Lots of soaking in pickling solutions and other stuff. Don't' think I would do it again. I had these great cucumbers in the garden though and wanted to use them. I hope they are good!

Kelley and Candice came to the rescue when I was getting pretty discouraged with them and wanted to throw them out the window.

I love my mom's sweet pickles. I could just sit and eat a whole bottle of them. They are also a favorite of Rick's and he has been paid in pickles by my mom for putting her sprinkler system in a few years ago. She has not forgotten his kindness and often mentions how much she appreciates Kelley and his good friends putting in her sprinklers.

Yesterday Kelley got off work a little early and because we wanted to go fishing. We went out to meet Dan and Brenda and rode up to Strawberry with them.

I was so glad that Brenda came with us. It was nice to be able to visit with her and catch up on each other's lives.

When we got there, Kelley and Dan needed to do some repair work on the boat. Last time Dan was up there he had a little accident (ran into the dock with the trolling motor) so they were trying to repair that. It was pretty windy so Brenda and I were glad we could be inside the boat while they worked on it. I don't think they had a lot of success, but were planning on bringing it home next week so they can do some work on it.

We didn't have much luck fishing ...in fact there was only one good bite. We had just stopped in a new spot and were getting our lines out. Kelley already had a pole in the water and Dan and I were getting our's ready. Dan had a new secret weapon in the orange garlic cheese, so he was baiting his up and saw Kelley's pole wiggle. So he said "you guys better try some of this cheese.. (now he wants to share?) I asked Kelley if he would put some on my hook cause it was reeeely stinky and I didn't want to touch it. So Kelley comes over to help me and Dan grabs Kelley's pole and reels in a great big trout. From then on it was all out war.

We have sure had a lot of fun at Strawberry this summer.

We've spent many happy hours up there ...sometimes catching fish, sometimes not.

Enjoying the beauty and wonder of the Lake and surrounding mountains.

Laughing my head off at the things Dan does.

Listening to the sounds and watching all the different birds there are up there.

Watching K.C. fish.

Enjoying the peace and stillness in the evening hours.

Being able to see the excitment in Olivia's face as she drove the boat and held her own fishing pole.

Searching for, and sometimes finding the "Perfect Spot" where the fish are plentiful and hungry. The feeling of getting a good bite on your line, actually hooking it, and bringing in a fish!

Then watching it swim away again after we get it unhooked.(When I say we I mean Kelley or Dan unhooking the fish...I am just afraid I will make things worse for the poor fish if I try to reach in his mouth with those plyers...maybe next year that will be my goal...to unhook my own fish. I did get the hang of baiting my own lure...don't mind the worms or smelly cheese, or sometimes when I don't feel like it, Kelley will do it for me...what a peach he is.

I also learned how to cast a little better this year. Although 90 percent of the time, it just goes about 5 feet and plunks in the water.)

Hiking in the magnificient mountians around the lake.

Seeing how happy it makes Kelley to be there and to be able to relax and have fun with his family and friends.

But mostly just enjoying each other's company, talking, laughing, telling stories, listening to music, getting excited for whoever is catching a fish, teasing whoever gets skunked.

Later in the afternoon, the wind calmed down and we had a lovely evening driving the boat all around the lake. We went up through the narrows, enjoyed looking at the beautiful mountains, saw a few deer, and fished.

It makes me kind of sad to see summer coming to an end. It seems like it just went by in a whirl wind. Hope we'll have a nice warm fall so we can spend a few more heavenly days at the lake.

Happy Birthday Candice!

Ok, so just to start things off here, this is what you get as a FREE gift if you spend a gozillion dollars at Dillards. No kidding. I was so excited. Especially when Kelley wanted to wear it. Thats all I have to say about that.


What I reeeely wanted to blog about was my sweetie Candice. It was her birthday on Sunday. She turned 23!
She came over and we had a little party. I hope it wasn't too lame with just the three of us there. We got Katie, Camille and Megan on the phone to sing happy birthday.

Monday night we went out to dinner at the Spaghetti Factory. Candice's favorite. We were talking about times when we made our mother's mad. I told a little story about when I was a little girl and I was pretty naughty and yes I made my mother plenty mad. It's one of those times that is forged into your memory that will never leave no matter how old and forgetful I am. Anyway, they found it quite amusing and pretty soon Katie and Camille knew all about it too. I am sure Kelley would have text K.C. if he could. Kind of wish I would have kept that one to myself.

These are all of Kelley's attempts at taking our own picture. (He has the longest arm, you would think he would be the best one for the job)

Then Candice gives it a try...perfect first time.

Sure glad that Candice is part of our family. What would we be without her? She makes us laugh and is about the most loving, thoughtful person I know. She is super supportive to her siblings and to Kelley and I. I can't stand to go a day without talking to her. She makes me happy!Candice has been through a lot in her young life. She has had her ups and downs, but she has worked though them and become stronger because of them. She has grown into a beautiful , confident, funny, loving, sensitive, and delightful young woman, and I'm always proud to call her my daughter...my friend.