Clean for 24 Hours

That's right! No more of this:



Only this:



His binky went, "bye bye" and poor litte, Devin is going through withdrawls. Should we have taken it away earlier? Yep, he is too old... however, I am not going to make any excuses. It made my life SO much easier and I will miss the binky just as much as he does.

Notice the "after" pic, the swollen nose and black bruise? (I guess you can't see it too well in the pic). I took him to the mall to play on the wee (his language for slide) and he fell and bumped his nose. I have blood all over my sweater from the bloody nose and he has the swollen, bruised nose to prove it. I took him to make him forget about his binky for a little while... such a good mom aren't I?

A Lazy Sunday

Yes, we are evil parents. Today is Stake Conference and we decided to skip it, and stay home. It has been a Jensen Jammy Day.



We pulled out a train set and played together as a family. Alex was put in charge of building the bank and pony express buildings.


Ally was in charge of keeping the robbers from stealing the gold out of the train.


Devin was in charge of whatever he chose.



He liked to destroy everything.


Which made his sister mad.


We also spent Devin's 2 hours of nap time playing Wii bowling. So what does the evening have in store? Probably some Muddy Buddies and a Christmas movie... how blessed I feel to get to spend time with my family!

Temple Square

Today has been a fun day! First of all, my mom watched Devin so we could take Ally to see the new Disney movie, The Princess and the Frog. She loved the movie, but Alex and I easily found it lacking the other Disney charm.

Then we headed to downtown Salt Lake City to see the Christmas lights at Temple Square. It was so busy downtown that we had to park 5 blocks away and walk in. It was pretty late, so I was worried Devin would fall apart, but luckily he saved it until the last few blocks on the walk back to the car. Here are a few beautiful moments we spent together as a family. No commentary needed.

Never a dull moment...

A few days ago I ran to the restroom, leaving Devin in the family room. When I came back he was standing on the kitchen table, stirring the syrup from Ally's plate she didn't put away before school. I snapped a quick pic on my camera phone.


He also loves to explore everything he can climb into (once again a phone pic).


He also thinks that putting his dinner down his shirt sleeves is much more fun than actually eating it (another phone pic)...


He thinks his sister's doll stroller is his personal jungle gym...


Luckily, she is a sweet sister and doesn't mind.


He never sits still...


But he knows how to melt all of our hearts...

I Love Christmas!

I love this time of year! I love the snow (however, not the cold... can't it be warm and still snow???). I love wearing layers and layers of clothes to "try" and stay warm. I love curling up by the heater with a big blanket covering the vent. I love the lights and decorations. I love buying the gifts and wrapping them up in pretty packages, and the excitement of waiting to give that present. I love spending extra time with family. I love the good food and parties. I love saying, "Santa's watching you," and getting an instant behavioral response. I love the excitement in my children's eyes when they see the lights and get caught up in the small moments.





But do you know what I love the best about Christmas? The name says it all. Christmas is about Christ. It is about the celebration of my Savior's birth, and his willingness to come down to earth. It is about the beauty of Mary holding her son in her arms for the first time, knowing he was the Chosen Savior, and feeling that love that comes with a new birth. Can you imagine what she must have felt? She knew what He was to become one day, and she must have felt the unimaginable weight that it held. Or do you suppose she could feel nothing but love and be so wrapped up in the moment that she pushed those thoughts away? I can only imagine the tears the filled her eyes with awe at what she was to be responsible for.

It is about a humble carpenter, who was to be the surrogate father to the Son of God. I am sure he fell in love as soon as he touched his tiny hands. Do you think he counted to make sure there was all ten toes? Did he worry about the day that he knew would come in another thirty years?

It also about the Father that watched from Heaven, as he gave his greatest gift to mankind, his Son. Do you think his eyes filled with tears of pure joy or pain?

It is about the small infant, the gift, who was purely innocent and opened His eyes for the first time. I wonder what he knew in those moments, and what he remembered. And I can not help think of that baby that would grow into the man... Jesus, the Christ, the Savior of Man. How I love Him, and what He did for me... and how much He loves me. So perfect. So beautiful.

And that is what makes Christmas, Christmas.



("Be It Unto Me" painted by Liz Lemon Swindle)

'Tis the Season

We put up our Christmas tree on Thanksgiving... and as pretty and fun as it is to have it up, with Devin around, I can't WAIT to take it down this year!






I made Alex sit still so I could hold the camera up and get a couple of pictures of us together... a rare occurence!


(Doesn't he look thrilled?)

I really need to figure out the timer on my camera so I can get better pics.

Today was the first "real" snow storm we've seen since we moved back. We only went to Sacrament meeting as Ally still isn't feeling that great... STILL!!! After church Devin headed out with Alex to see the snow. He LOVED it!!! Ally wasn't feeling well enough to go play. :o(





I couldn't get him to sit still long enough to get a good picture.

Brrrrrrrr!

Sick of Sick

Moving back to Utah has killed us this winter... so much sickness!



It has been 12 full days of so much sickness, and when will it end? Ally got sick first, followed a couple of days later by Devin and I, Alex came down with it the next day. Devin and I are still trying to get over it, Alex was the lucky one and is pretty much better. Ally was finally starting to feel better but has had a fever for the last 48 hours... so it starts again. WHEN is it going to end!?