Everything Jensen

The last time Melinda's parents flew into town, Adelaide spent the entire day in agony; "Are they here now? Wahhhhhhhh. How about now? Wahhhhhh...." We were determined to avoid another round of meltdown madness on Saturday as Adelaide awaited the arrival of her Parker grandparents (who will be out for her birthday). So we convinced our friends the Rahlfs to join us downtown to see the Smithsonian Folklife Festival. This festival was one of our favorite events pre-children. With the kids, it's a lot harder to speak with the people at the booths, read the signs and experience the visiting cultures. However, so far as serving to distract and exhaust our kids, we give it an A+. Both kids still think riding on the  metro is exciting and in no way boring. The Thomas Jefferson Memorial, however...  Eleanor was totally unimpressed.  Making cornhusk flowers in the kid's tent in the Hungarian section.   Thumbs up! Being hat artists ...

Last Saturday we were privileged to attend the wedding of Matt's little sister, Kristin, and her best friend, James Hilton. It was a beautiful, sunny day. In addition to adding an incredible new brother-in-law to our family, we were also able to catch up with many long-lost relatives that came for the event. Okay, that's not quite fair. Technically, we're the long-lost relatives, since we are the crazies that moved out to the east coast. Either way, it was a lot of fun seeing everyone. Mr. and Mrs. Hilton! Melinda's brother and his wife drove all the way down from Rexburg, ID to help Matt's sister Jessica watch the kids while Matt and Melinda attended the ceremony. But, though the girls truly love their aunts and uncle, they firmly insisted that Mommy stay with them. Pretty please, don't leave us Mommy.  It would be so nice if you stayed outside.  So, only Matt went inside for the temple sealing. But, that's okay. We were just hap...

Instead of spending his 30th birthday partying with friends, or even drowning his sorrows with a cold root beer, Matt spent the day hauling small children and heavy car seats through the airport on his way to Utah. Happy 30th Birthday! Matt's little sister Kristin got married last weekend and we couldn't be more thrilled for her and her new husband, James. That special day will get it's very own post. But, this post is about how we kept busy on days in which vows weren't exchanged. Our first day in town, Matt's birthday, we headed up to Hooper to visit Melinda's cousin Dustin and his amazing family. Dustin's wife Adrienne surprised Matt with a birthday pie! And, her kids made sure that we were all appropriately accessorized for the occasion with party hats and noisemakers. Dustin went above and beyond and even hung up a piñata. All our kids, from youngest to oldest.  Snow cones from Dustin's sweet Shred Shack truck. The party team...