To the Heart of the Matter

We really, really love living in Virginia. Our diverse neighbors come from all over the country and the world. There are landmarks and museums enough to keep even the most fanatical history-buff satisfied. There are four beautiful seasons, but it never dips below zero degrees (or even close). The economy is still good enough that there are plenty of jobs. Yes, despite the outrageous cost-of-living, it’s a really nice place to live.

The only draw back about living on the east coast is that it’s just so dang far from the west coast. Skype is no substitute for proximity when family emergencies happen. And, 2011 has already had its fair share of emergencies.

We were extremely sad to miss gathering with the rest of the family at the funeral of Matt’s incredible grandfather, David Byron Jensen. And, it was hard to be so far when we learned his other grandfather suffered a seizure (doing much better now).

This week was another trial when we learned that Matt’s mom had pneumonia and Melinda’s dad needed a triple (later upped to quintuple) bypass surgery. Even when you are as witty and charming as we are, it’s hard to be relegated to moral support via the phone.

Melinda's Favorite Dad

(The pillow is a kind of creepy, but mostly 

awesome "present" from the hospital.)

The good news is that everyone is now home and recovering. Whew! We can’t wait to visit this August and assure ourselves that Skype is telling the truth and everyone is ship-shape. We’ll also have some Virginia real estate brochures, just in case anyone is interested in flipping through them.

In between waiting for family phone calls this weekend, we took Adelaide out so she could continued to wow the world at how ridiculously cute she looks in a swimsuit. Saturday we went to a spray park in Fairfax for a birthday party. Adelaide was the youngest kid to brave the water.

CHARGE!!! 

Straight into the fountain!

Working the Tutu

She loved getting wet. And, because she can’t walk unassisted yet, we were able to “love” getting wet too.  She manages to get around holding on to just one parent-finger, so it probably won’t be long before she demotes us to sideline towel-holders.

The life of a Jensen is not all glamour and tutus. We’re still trying to finish off the kitchen during Adelaide’s nap time. Only the backsplash to go before the kitchen is done!

It's not white - it's IVORY.

Our goal is to get the bathrooms remodeled sometime this year too...but that might be ambitious. Stay tuned!