The Mega-Vacation Post Special

Whew! After over two weeks of traveling, we’re back in Virginia. 

First things first, we’ve thoroughly assessed our house for damages from the two major disasters we missed out on.  The quake only had one victim – a glass picture frame we bought at a dollar store years ago.

Hurricane Irene appeared to have caused no damage; even our clocks were still on, so our home never lost power. However, we are blaming the storm for excessive watering of our backyard, where the weeds can now look you in the eye.

Quake: 1, Hurricane: 0

As for our trip – the end was a bit of a whirlwind. We’re including a blow-by-blow description below for avid-Jensen followers. If you’re not someone we call “Mom” or “Dad,” (in other words a casual Jensen follower), please feel free to just skim through the pictures and leave a comment about how cute Adelaide is at the end.

Over the weekend, we had a great time with the Parkers. We went blueberry picking and attended a lower-level PBR event. Since the event was for charity (and had a high-cash prize), several of the top riders attended. However, with an exciting, last-minute buck-off by one of pros, a semi-pro took first.

Adelaide enjoyed being the taste-tester for everyone's buckets.

Fueled by some of Melinda's mango smoothie, 

Adelaide stayed up well past her bed-time, 

dancing energetically to the music played in-between rides. 

At the beginning of the week, we spent some more time with the Jensens. Matt hung several medicine cabinets, a few pictures, mirrors, etc… He probably put more holes in the wall than was strictly necessary, but it looked great.

 Adelaide modeling an adorable robot shirt 

Jessica made for Melinda's birthday.

We also went to the Portland Zoo. That was a fun adventure. Adelaide learned an appreciation for penguins and developed a new fear of beavers. Matt was mistaken for a Zoo-Teen volunteer. Melinda and Jessica took pictures with every statue they could find. And, Barbara bonded with a polar bear.

Just a cub.

This sea lion gave us quite a show; Adelaide was enthralled.

She was less impressed by the beaver and his 

bright
orange teeth. We can't blame her.

Jessica will be missed.

Then it was off to Provo. We flew in on Wednesday and were able to meet Grandma Donna for dinner. We stopped by the gravesite of Grandpa Jensen to see the newly placed headstone, which looked beautiful.

 Korean food at Sam Hawks.
Adelaide is bummed 

because we won't let her run amok. She had a great time playing 

peek-a-boo across the table with Great Grandma.

On Thursday, Matt helped with a recruitment fair at BYU on behalf of Deloitte, while Melinda and Adelaide played with our old friends Janelle and Devin Martin. Their son Logan was a cutie, and he and Adelaide got along great. 

Then, it was off to Cedar City to visit Grandma and Grandpa Jones. They threw us a big dinner bash and we were able to catch up with most our Cedar relatives. Even a few Goodales (Matt’s Mom’s side of the family) stopped by. It was a blast.

Grandma Jones puts on an amazing spread! Delicious.

Barbara's sisters, Susan and Kristin, just moved to the area
too!  

The next day we high-tailed it up to Hooper, UT to see Melinda’s cousin Dustin and his amazing wife Adrienne. We had an incredible dinner with them and did our best to rile up their kids before bedtime.

 

 Sweet baby Morgan is only a couple weeks old. 

Doesn't Adrienne look amazing?

The rest of the rowdy bunch. 

Adelaide had a lot of fun trying to keep up.

That night we stayed in a hotel near the airport, and the next day we finally flew home. And, that brings us right back to the beginning of this post.  Congrats weary-eyed reader, you made it to the end! We’d like to congratulate you on your stamina, perseverance, and apparent abundance of free-time.