SAGE

This last Saturday our family experienced a horrible loss. Lance and I were taking the kiddos out to ride the horses when he got a call from his mom saying to hurry because Sage got hurt and his dad had gone to get the vet. When we got there we found out what we feared the worst. Evidently Bruce went out to feed and when Sage saw him coming her and Mooners tried to beat each other to him. (Our Sage-y LOVED food )They slid on the snow into each other while racing around the horse trailer Sage hit the side of the trailer and went down taking Mooners with her. Mooners was okay but Sage went under the trailer and broke her left front leg. Both bones were snapped and the back one was through the skin so even though she did get up again the Vet said she would never heal and would have to be put down. It was awful! I cried the whole day. I stayed with her until the guys came to take her body away. At least she isn't in pain now. We bought Sage this summer as an early Christmas gift. We didn't have her nearly long enough and I miss her truly. She was an awesome horse. Sometimes moody (like any female), a little lazy and over-weight but fun all the same! The kids loved riding her and so did Lance and I. We're really going to miss our big girl. Sami doesn't understand the concept of death yet so she's still saying that Sage will come back. Maybe eventually we'll get another horse for the kids to ride but I don't plan on ever finding another Sage-y girl. She was a one of a kind in my eyes and I'll always love her. She was my first horse, I waited a long time for her and if you know me you know that my pets are family and its not easy to lose any. I have faith that I'll see my Sage again one day. She undoubtedly went to Heaven with all the other perfect creatures and I can't wait to go for one more ride with her. Love You Sage!!

PICS to go with my last Post

This is Samantha Leigh's Birthday cake I made her for her 3rd Birthday Party!

These are some of Sami's gifts. She got so much stuff!! Thanks everyone! she's already tried on and worn most the clothes, used the bubblebath, doll house, coloring books etc. (no bike riding yet and no painting thus far) and she carries around her candle with her everywhere.

Here's the Birthday girl the next day sporting her new cowgirl boots and not much else. ;) Yes I realize her hair is out of control but daddy babysat that day and when that happens I'm usually grateful she's not running around outside buck naked!

My sweet little baby... isn't he adorable?!?
Here they are showing off Andy's new trick ... (sitting up)
Our trip to the zoo (FINALLY!!) We've tried to go before and actually came really close a few weeks ago, we had everyone available and coming we all piled ourselves, stroller, snacks, drinks and kids into the cars and took off. Unfortunately once we hit the construction zone on I-15 there was an accident of some kind and we were literally in a standstill for 2 hrs!! Can you imagine being in a car, not moving, with four children all 3 and under? I can and it wasn't fun. Three of the kids in Shay's car actually had to get out and pee on the cement barrier separating us from the oncoming traffic. (and if we hadn't started moving when we did I was going to have to join them!!)

Anywho, we made it, most of us, (sorry Maddy and Lauren, we missed you and your boys) and we saw a whole bunch of animals and their babies. Almost everything was out and active and it was so much fun!
This is just a fun pic of me and the chillins.... chillin.

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Here's Andy-Roo and our cousin Trey! Such adorable baby boys!
Halloween for our family was fun!! Sami was Dorothy, and even though she's never seen the Wizard of Oz she was sure to tell everyone who she was and who she got to carry in her basket. Andy Roo of course was the cutest cowardly lion I've ever seen and you can guess at what Lance and my costumes were .... No I wasn't a freakin elephant!!! We were good, although we probably should've coincided with Clay and Lauren because they had the most adorable scare crow ever!! (sorry Lance but its true)
And of course ... Sage! We Love our "Sage-y girl"! Sami and I both love to get on her bareback and just let her walk around.

MiLeStOnEs....

I want to update everyone on how the family is doing and what the kiddos are up to....

Samantha Leigh .... our 15 year old.... just had her 3rd Birthday!! I can NOT believe my little baby girl is 3 years old!?!? Where does the time go? So anyway here are some of the things I hope to remember about Sami Sam at this age.... she acts and talks like an adult, seriously, if you have ever had a conversation with my little drama queen you'll be nodding your head in agreement. She's so funny and so smart. my favorite saying of Sami's started when she was about 2 and its "I be not can leive it!" some of the other funny things she says are " it's not a big idea mom" (big deal). If someone is sad (or pretends to be) she'll say "it's ok mom, I will buy you a new one" or " it's ok mom, I love you" (while patting my cheeks or petting my hair) Her new thing lately has been to be my "protector" if her daddy is harassing or tickling or even trying to kiss me she always comes to my aid and yells at him saying he can't do that to her mommy because I'm HER mommy! then she'll grab my hand and say "come on mom, I'll protect you from the beast" (daddy OR ebony depending on the instance) It cracks me up.
Her "maturity" has a funny dramatizing effect sometimes too. Like when she "pouts" I wish I had a picture to post because it is priceless! She'll just all of a sudden walk off with her hands on her cheeks, shoulders slumped and head down. She usually goes to a corner of some wall and just sits that way pretending not to look at anyone until I come and ask her whats wrong. Sami is also at the big girl one minute and baby the next, stage. She's very independent and strong willed but at nap and bedtime she likes her mommy to "carry her like a baby" and throw her on her bed. She'll also pretend to be asleep when we get home and have me carry her in from the car. She knows she's supposed to have her eyes closed but she doesn't realize most sleeping children aren't smiling from ear to ear. =)
So I know a lot of these things are probably only unique and memorable for me but she did develop one quirky thing that is difficult for anyone around her to ignore and that would be ..... "Boobie" .... yes, Boobie! Boobie appeared sometime after Andy Roo was born. She has come and gone through the last few months. Boobie is Sami's imaginary friend who is able to posess my daughters body parts at will (creepy ay?) If Sami gets unbuckled when she's not supposed to or kicks or throws something she's not supposed to you can bet that the guilty limb was "boobie". So what to do? Can you punish a child when their imaginary friend is the one in the wrong? "Boobie" likes to fight with Sam too. She tells Sami things to make Sami mad until I have to put her in time out. Yes... I discipline an imaginary child/limb. For instance; on Sami's Birthday Boobie kept telling her it wasn't her Birthday, that it was Boobie's Birthday until Sami would actually cry .... seriously my daughter cries about what "BOOBIE" says ?!?! It's so funny and everyone who finds out about Boobie thinks its hilarious Sam has an imaginary friend but even more so that she named her "Boobie" Lance laughs and say that Boobie is Andy favorite friend too. Perverse I know ;) But true all the same.

On to the babe... My little Andy Roo B Doo!! He is my prince. If ever you are having a bad day just hold this little cuddle bug and all your worries will melt away ... okay so that's only half true. Your worries will most definately melt away when around the guy but because he smiles and laughs at absolutely EVERYTHING!! Seriously the happiest baby EVER!! Even teething couldn't make this baby fussy! (Yes he got a tooth!!) My sweet little baby has a tooth!!1 :*( Really he's only truly wooped up a good cry a handfull of times before this weekend, when he got two ear infections on top of his vaccinations and teething. But I don't blame the poor guy no one likes to be sick!! Don't let his happiness fool you, while he loves being held and getting attention he will NOT snuggle. He will laugh and smile and even attack your face in some semblance of a kiss (or eating) but he will not snuggle. Even if he accidently lays his head on your shoulder know that this is most definately on accident and will probably never happen again. =) He is a very active boy! He just turned 6 months and he's already reached many milestones. He is 17.8lbs! He's in the 90% for height and 60% for weight!! My big boy!! He loves eating!! We started Andy on cereal when he was about 2 months old to help with his spitting up and he has just flourished with real food! He's eaten everything we have given him with a smile on his face! He's also a bit of a spaz, my family jokes about him having teretts (can't spell). He moves all over the place now. He rolls, scoots and sits up. He's so adorable and such a joy! he loves his sister and always has even though she's just now starting to show any interest in him. He'll laugh at anyone but he always seems the happiest when he has her attention. She's been the only one to make him happy while he's been sick. What a Great Big Sister!!

So these are my kiddos!! I love them and Lance SO much! My little family is such a blessing to me! While we don't have much and aren't rich we are so very happy!! Just lately through this last summer I have truly realized how very blessed I am to have all that I do and I am so grateful! I will try to post some updated pics of all that's been going on with my growing fam as soon as I can!

ANNIVERSARY

Well, it was 4 years ago today that Lance and I started our family. I remember that day very well: I woke-up extremely early so that my sister-in-law Shayla and her sister Felicia could come to my mom's and do my hair and make-up. After hours of primping I was FINALLY beautiful and ready to go. Lance was supposed to pick me up and we finished just in time .... to wait. Lance did eventually turn up to take me to the temple and he was only about 45 minutes LATE!! Evidently he was under the impression that it was okay to be late because it wasn't like I was going to get married without him (ugh!!) So after I had semi-calmed down we started on our way to our wedding. About half way to Logan I discovered I had forgotten my white shoes, the only ones I had were the dark brown ones I had on. I called some people to stop by my house on their way and grab them but since we were late getting going everyone was ahead of us ... go figure! So we made it to the temple (minus my white shoes) just as everyone else was going inside. I ran with my mom to the brides room and after a lot of rush and a little more trauma (I wont go into) I was finally ready. I remember standing with Lance in the most beautiful room ever before he took me in to the sealing room. We just stared at each other. I was so nervous. Then we walked into the sealing room hand in hand where all our family and friends were waiting and the feeling was remarkable. The ceremony was beautiful, even though I cried through most of it and tried to put Lance's ring on the wrong hand afterwards. That day had a lot of drama with it. Besides being late there were a lot of small things that went "wrong" like: the temple grounds being renovated so that there was no flowers or fountain for pictures . . . . the cake lady having the wrong address and not showing up until after the reception was supposed to start. . . . our tires being flattened as a practical joke right before we were supposed to leave the reception. . . . our wedding video being lost (and never found) directly after the reception. I could go on with these fond memories of not only the magical day itself but also the dinner the night before ;^) but I wont. =) However in spite of all those little things that went awry that day it truly was wonderful and I wouldn't change anything about it .... except maybe the losing of the wedding video :) Since that day Lance and I have had our "ups" and a LOT of "downs" but I'm happy to say we are even more in love today then we ever thought possible 4 years ago. He truly is my eternal companion and I wouldn't have it any other way!! While I know that I could live without Lance I am so grateful for having him every day! We have the two most adorable, beautiful children in the entire universe and LOVE our life together!!

I love you BABE! Lets try for another 4 years at least okay. ;)

MORE SAGE . . .

So Sage has become my new hobby/stress-reliever. She's so much fun and evidently a lot of exercise (for Lance). ;) Every spare minute I have I'm begging Lance to take us out to ride. I would go by myself but have not yet mastered saddling let alone what I would do with the kiddos if there wasn't not another adult present. But not to worry, I am well on my way to figuring all of that out. Hopefully.
I've almost got ALL my siblings, nieces and nephews out on her, even if I have had to walk some of them (no names) . . . . Bry ;). She's great though, especially with the kids. She is a little lazy so it takes some convincing and quite a few kicks to get her to do anything but a slow walk . . . that is unless your 3-month-pregnant-Shayla and are trying to get her to stop, then apparently she runs like the wind. Good job Shay!!
Anywho . . . here's some new pics of everyone taking her for a spin. Except Laurens sisters who also came out and rode when I didn't have my camera. Sorry guys, next time we'll get some good pictures!

Here's Sami Sam and Hazy-nut taking her for a spin "all by themselves"

Haylee and Hazel.
Here's Kyle on Sage and Me on one of Lances dads' racing horses "Mooners"
Hazy all by herself

Haylee all by herself

Breqy

Syd

Shayla and Andy were just hanging out this time Here's the girlie's hanging out. Notice the chevelle in the background . .. this is Lance's "pride and joy" from the old days and is soon to be on the market so long as you don't tell him ;) Give me a call if you're interested :) LOL

Sam and Haz again
Shayla, but this was her first ride so she was more concerned with paying attention to the horse than smiling for pictures. thanks Shay!

here's Bry on Sage "all by himself" hahaha Go Bry Go!! ride'em cowboy!!
Camerin was a little scared at first but really liked it once we got him going!

Dev had No Fear he ran right up and jumped on when it was his turn!! Yee haw Dev!!

Sami and Breq taking a ride

Little cowboys/girls

Our little cowboys and girls ...

Andy doesn't get to ride Sage quite yet so we just let him don the cowboy hats to make him feel not so left out.
Sami's our little cowgirl. She absolutely LOVES the horses. she'll ride Sage for hours if we'd let her. This girl has no fear, she jumps off the hay, chases the dogs and walks right up to all the horses she even helps feed and brush them.

Here's Haylee and Syd riding Sage "all by their selves". My mom and dad were watching them on Saturday and decided to bring them out for a bit. But we failed at convincing my mom to jump on. Next time mom! ;)

Now I may be biased but I think these are some of the cutest horse-people I've ever seen! If I can just get the rest of my nieces and nephews out riding my life will be full! (hint hint ;))

PETS!!

Well, our family is getting more and more like a zoo. Lance and I decided that we were going to buy a nice broke horse that we can teach the kids to ride on.

So our newest addition to our family is Sage. She is a 12year old red roan mare. she's a little past her "prime" which helps to make her perfect for our little ones and us. She is pretty big and has been hunting a lot so Lance is also planning on using her for that. She's really sweet. She's fat and lazy right now but hopefully we can correct that soon enough. ;) She's slowly getting used to the other horses out there and they her. I think she's liking her new home. Here's some pics of us and our new sweet girl.

This is just Andy hanging out while the rest of us took turns riding.

These are the most recent pictures of the rest of our zoo. this is Sami doing her favorite thing with our poor cat. I have had Cuddles since I was a little girl and he's really patient with Sam and all that her and her cousins put him through. :)

And...Here's ... EBONY!!! she's our 6 month old black lab. (ugh) she's really sweet too. Or atleast that's what Lance and I tell each other on a daily basis just to get us through. You'd understand if you've ever met her. )picture "Marley" from Marley and Me and throw in a wild bear... Yep that's our EB.)

This is Ebbi's chew toy... yes it used to be a red pleather recliner straight from the 60's. Now its ... well... its this :)
So I think the chair in itself would explain why our house is a zoo. But you take whatever did that add 2 kids a horse and an old cat mix it all together with Lance and I and a gold fish and you have the Jensen Family Zoo. We're thinking about charging admission for anyone who wants come and look through our living room window at us if your interested. It's really quite the show!

SuMmEr FuN!!

So here's some random things and pictures of the random things we've done this summer.

These first two are just cutie ones of Andy and Sami that i just had to post.

On our way to the Young Men Young Womens boating activity up at the dam. Sami and Landon got to go because Lance and Anni are in the presidencies.

Sami loved chasing the seaguls at the dam.

Sami and Landon's favorite past time while at the Young Mens Young Womens boating activity for our ward... Having Lance tow them around on this little water rocket thing.

We just got back this last weekend from our annual "Coombs" camping trip. We went four-wheeling, swimming, golfing, bike riding and a whole bunch of other fun stuff up to the Camper World hot springs in Plymouth. It was fun. Almost every member of the two families was able to make it up for some of it. We missed Maddy, Clay and Lauren though :(

Sami and I getting ready for a family fourwheeler ride.

Andrew decided to hang with grandma and grandpa and sit the four wheeling rides out this year.

This is one of the two deer that Lance and I saw, the first night, up on the four wheeler trails.

Sami and Andrew crashed in grandma's trailer while the adults played "snorta" (its amazing this was even possible with how extremely loud uncle Kyle is)

Here is mine and Jana's youngests ... Maelyn (3 wks) and Andrew.(3 mos) You'll notice neither of them are being held by their birth mothers which is how it pretty much was the whole time :)

Sami riding Hazy's bike. They all traded and shared quite a bit.

Syd was getting little Andy-Roo to crack up at her while she goofed off and clicked her tongue. What good big cousins we have! Here's the kids snacking and resting while watching a movie after a long morning of playing in the sun.

The girls found this rock and decided it was a really good place to model and pose for pictures.

Here's aunt Mistie reading to the girls our last night there.
Here's Andy and Sam taking their bath after the long and dirty camping trip. The water afterwards was almost mud. j/k

Here are some random pics of us on the 24th of July