Four Christmases

I love the holidays.

I love being so busy! 

I love the decorations.

I love baking.

I love getting to see family & friends we don't always get to see.

I love getting Christmas cards. 

I love getting to share the light of Christ through celebrating His birth!

I love the music.

I love the spirit.

And I love that because our families are big, spread out, and loving we get to celebrate Christmas over and over again.

Wesson's cute tool belt from Olivia. I love it! It is all felt so he can't bang up my walls!

our highlight Christmas gift. A TRACTOR! Wesson played with it for 45 minutes by himself. at 10 pm. with no nap all day...i'd call it magic but the magic is in the tractor!

this spoiled pumpkin learned how to unwrap presents pretty quickly! and the cutest thing, halfway through unwrapping a gift he would say "tank to anta" (translation: thank you santa)

all the grandbabies at the Jensen family Christmas party. whoever was over there --> is cooler than me evidentially! 

Christmas morning! he was so into his daddy's new pocket knife. Oh dear...

Wesson's highlight of christmas "riding a neigh-neigh" (my brother's poor dog) I should him this picture and he just laughed so hard saying "neigh neigh neigh neigh"

one of the best parts of Christmas, nailing the perfect gift! this is my niece natalee...i LOVE this picture! and this little girl!

"As we seek Christ, as we find Him, as we follow Him, we shall have the Christmas spirit, not for one fleeting day each year, but as a companion always." -Pres. Thomas S. Monson

Rewind...Thanksgiving

This year we spent Thanksgiving the Jensen Clan! 

Ryan's aunt and her girls had decorated the house beautifully, but I didn't take any pictures of that...

The food was fabulous, although I didn't enjoy as much as I would love since Thanksgiving was right in the heart of naptime, wesson struggled to say the least. 

And to top it off, Friday night Ryan and I got a rocking dose of FOOD POISONING! (ryan said it was even worse than the food poisoning he suffered in Mexico..can you imagine?) 

on Saturday we were actually DYING, thankfully we called Grammie & Papa and they wooshed in to save the day,  taking our little man while we slept for 8 HOURS in the MIDDLE of the day! And evidentially he was a monster for them, I called at 6 to say I was feeling up to having him back and I am pretty sure they were at our house but 6:10 (and their house is 20 minutes away) 

:)

but still we owe them BIG!

the worst part, we missed black friday...

you can see the beautiful decor in the background!

but before checking that at look at those cute grandbabies & that sweet papa! they sure LOVE him!

the Malans made the cutest chocolate covered pretzels for everyone,

i think wesson licked everyones...

 but look how happy it made him

my two babes with aunt julie! we love her! and miss her since we don't get to see her as much! she is beautiful and the sweetest heart ever. she used to call me hayley (ryan's sister-in-law) but she ALWAYS knows ryan, even now...

to end the night...trap the little ones in a cage! 

we love spending time with our family! that is the most fun part of the holidays!

California or bust!

Rewind...Halloween

I never blogged Wesson's Halloween pictures

(and since I am struggling to think of anything worthwhile...I'll share them now!)

Shout out to Kellie Hales for the CUTEST Halloween pictures ever! I wish it was appropriate to decorate with them all year long...

 Peter Pan & Tinkerbell 2011

Olivia & Wesson

at the pumpkin patch.

Oh heavens, this boy would have taken EVERY pumpkin home if he could.

I still haven't thrown his away because he loves to run out on the porch and say "umptin, umptin!"

(plus I think Ryan wants to go shoot it or something...)

I don't care how much they weigh I'll take both of them! 

But it won't be too expensive since he is almost 17 months and weighs only 22 POUNDS!

Peter Pan, Hook & Tinkerbell

Wesson, Isaac & Olivia

I love those little guys! I hope this is the first of many coordinated Halloweens, it was SO cute! Isn't Olivia precious?? I am the luckiest Aunt! Not to mention mom, my little man is a sweetheart too!

I am a lame mom and have no action shots but Wesson loved to "treat and treat" he would go up to the kids out trick-or-treating and say treat-and-treat, he was so confused why only the people at the doors gave him candy, shouldn't everyone give him candy?

The Christmas Mitten...

i am overwhelmed my pinterest.

i am overwhelmed by successfully crafty people.

i long to be one.

i lack the ambition, commitment and attention it takes to truly succeed!

(however, in my personal progress mission i will guaranteed improve!)

the young women were asked to be in charge of table decorations for the ward christmas party. 

our president had a baby last sunday.

she asked me to handle the tables. 

i panic. 

i look to pinterest

i cry.

and this is what i came up with...

THANK GOODNESS for:

-a fabulous mother in law who collects pine cones...

-sweet women in the young womens who have more Christmas decorations then I do! (weird because I totally think we are all the same age!! :)

-and no themes or anything like that for me to work with so I can't do it wrong! haha

and a heart warming tale for this Christmas season:

when Ryan and I found out we were having a baby boy we went to Sportsmans Warehouse

There was a cute little came glove and hat combo camo set.

Ryan HAD to have it for his little man!

Well this winter it KINDA fits our little one! Yay!

When we took him to Christmas village on Monday night I was 99% sure he dropped his mitten. It made me sad because it is pretty much the only clothing Ryan has picked out for Wesson (well he has a whole set of camo that will fit him when he is like 12 but that is besides the point!)

So I went through EVERYTHING and could not find it anywhere. 

So I said a little prayer and look what I found today. 

In a place we didn't even play on Monday night...

weird...

or an answered prayer!!!

this may sound lame but I was so excited I called Ryan- and he was really excited about it too...

i'd say there is a perfect person for everyone in this world!

family pictures 2011

for starters,

is my kid the only one that HATES to smile when I have paid someone to take our pictures?!!

my goodness, that boy is a stinker!

but I would say we got a few keepers!

seriously, that is my little blue eyed beauty!

he is the sweetest thing ever.

 and he gets all his goodness from his daddy!

that, my friends, is the happiest smile we were trying to capture!

Background: I have served in the Young Women's at church for 4 1/2 years. Prior to that I had been a member of the Young Women's program for 6 years (age 12 to 18) I had a one year break for college (woohoo!) In all this time (10 1/2 years) I have still not completed my Personal Progress. 

Lame right?

 How long does a girl need?

...So I am turning over a new leaf and made a goal to finish my Personal Progress by November 2012. (cheer!) I have been working on my experiences, reading my scriptures, polishing up on my good habits (prayers, scriptures, family home evening, etc.) and coming up with fun, challenging and spiritual projects for each value. I have gotten creative, taken the opportunity to learn new skills, teach skills I already know, serve and LITERALLY progress physically and spiritually. 

I kept having a nagging thought of an area where I knew I really did need to grow, mature, learn and again, progress! I'll start by saying I have been SO blessed. I have been given much, oh so much! And am grateful for everything and everyone who touches my life for good...BUT...I have a serious problem. One my husband, LOVES, to remind me about. I struggle to live in the moment. I am constantly planning for the "next" thing. I struggle to enjoy what I am given when I am given it. I used to think this was my blessing to be a "planner" but I have come to learn it is truly a lack of faith. I am scared to not have control. And if I am not ready something might happen and I won't have a "plan" but in living like this I miss the happiness of the little moments. So to teach myself to savor the little moments, to have faith in my Father In Heaven's plans for me, to be content where I am, I have created my Faith value project. 

I am going to document SOMETHING every day. Some one, a recipe, a thought, a place, a story, for 365 days I am going to be content, celebrate my "little" blessings...

My motto:

Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. 

Philippians 4:11

so..in case you think, "wow, Jessica sure is blogging a lot" now you know! and come November 2012 I will wear my cheesy necklace proud (and who knows, maybe get released!!)