It's been snowing at our house for days now, and we're getting these weird hanging lumps of snow off of the roof in the back yard.  Every once in a while they fall off and make a noise like a body falling off of the roof.  It's not forming them in the front, so it must have something to do with the wind I guess.  I've NEVER seen it do this before in the 7 years we've lived in this house!

Fire............again!

 These pictures were taken Thursday June 28th 2012

 This upper picture is looking Southwest of our house, from the roof.  The line where the fire stops, is about 300-400 yards away from us.

 The lower picture is looking south from our house.

 This upper picture was taken earlier this year from the front porch of our house.

The lower picture is of the same mountain side in a wider view.
 

 This upper picture is looking southeast towards Dry Creek canyon. As of Friday evening, the day after the picture was taken, the rest of the Canyon eastward, was all burnt.

 The lower picture was looking eastward, up the main Oak Creek canyon, and now it's all burned eastward towards the Scipio side of the mountain.

This upper picture is looking northeast of our house.  The fire has passed through here and gone towards Leamington canyon and Nephi as of Friday evening, the 29th.

Family Time - Past and Present

This is Lars & Alyssha's new baby - Owen
He sure is cute! He also looks a lot like his big brother.

Are you in there Owen?
Rion Jenson & his new baby brother

Sophie Lott playing in the office chair
She loves to spin!

Recently I received some long-awaited pictures from a cousin. I had no idea what they looked like. Since I grew up not knowing my relatives, these pictures are really precious to me.
I love this picture! This is my Great grandfather, Carl Godfrey Kirsten. He just looks so kindly. He was born in Germany and came to the U.S. as a young child with his parents and siblings. I was really excited to finally have a face to put with his name.

This is my Great grandmother, Charlotte Elizabeth (Zimmerman) Kirsten
(better known as Elsie)
She was born in Germany & came to the U.S. at the age of 19 with her brother.

The picture above is of my grandmother, Helen (Kirsten) Crother and her brother, Otto Kirsten. There's no date of course, but I would guess they were maybe 8 years and 16 years old.

2011 Happenings

I finally did it! After 10 exciting but long years, I finally graduated from BYU; Lars, Alyssha, and Rion were there to mark the day with me. Jim was also there, but he was taking the picture. I really enjoyed my education, but it was nice to be able to get on with life, and what a life I've had this year. It's been a year to be remembered that's for sure, as you will see in the pictures that follow. I've been really bad at posting. I can't believe it was last March the last time I posted anything! Anyway, I hope you enjoy this year in review. I couldn't post every picture we took, so if you're interested in seeing others, I guess you'll just have to come and visit.

We were in Cedar City for Tana's graduation from SUU, along with Chris and Brooke. She finally did it! I know it was a bittersweet day for her, but now she is teaching band at Mont Harmon Junior High in Price, Utah and doing really well. She has her first big-girl job and is doing a great job, although she often doesn't think so. However, the first year is always hard, so we'll see what the next school year brings.

This is the group we went to Scotland with. Jim and I are on the left, then Ida and Johnny, and Kristin and Dave Spence and their son Bridger. Ida is Kristin's sister. We went for Bridger's wedding but arrived a week before the wedding, so we had plenty of time to pack in lots of sights and experiences. It was the trip of a lifetime. We had so much fun together, whether is was hanging out at the place we stayed or driving down the road or seeing the sights. I want to go back to see some more and go to the places where my ancestors were from. They came from the very north part of the country, and we just didn't have time to go that far.

Castles, castles, and more castles - I can't remember for sure which one this is, but it was among the many we visited while in Scotland.

Me in Todmorden, England where my Crowther and Fielden ancestors lived - I was so blessed to be able to visit there during my lifetime. I would really like to go back again sometime!

The looooong boat we took a ride on down the Rochdale Canal in Todmorden, England. We just happened to be in the right place at the right time - It was really cool to watch the boat go through the lochs.

We had the privilege of attending Gavin's baptism in June. He is growing up so fast, and we miss most of it! Jim also got to see Glenn for the first time but no pictures of that of course............

Grandpa and Xaiden intently watching something while standing in line at Disney World

Lydia and I on one of our many bus rides into Disney World from our motel
Jim and I had never been to Disney World before, so it was definitely an adventure. One of my favorite parts of our trip was just getting to know our grandchildren. I also really enjoyed the fireworks display we saw one night. We were in the perfect spot to view it from all sides.

Jim and I in front of the Epcot Center our last day at Disney World

June 2011 - Ian and Christy and their crew (l to r - Allie, Tori, Lydia, and Xaiden) posing in the parking lot of the Pop Century resort we stayed in when we met them at Disney World
We had so much fun and made lots of memories!

Chris is coming down the mountain fast as he tries to stay upright on his bike
This was the first time I had ever attended a mountain bike race, so it was pretty exciting for me. I only wish there was a way to see the whole race. Thanks for inviting me Chris!

September 2011 - Yvette Smith on the right (my cousin) and I visiting a 95-year-old Great Aunt in Eudora, Mississippi - We had a great time gathering genealogical information together!

We were there! Dave's induction into lawyerdom at Abravanel Hall in Salt Lake City on Halloween Day.

Gavin analyzing his stocking stuffers!

Baby Glenn chillin' on the floor

Christmas morning at Grandma and Grandpa Jenson's
Sophie Lott and Rion Jenson

Plants, Plants, and More Plants

I'm having so much fun tending my little plants! We got some grow lights for starting plants indoors. Some of them are doing really well, as you can see. Those are the vegetables mostly. I can't believe that all six of the watermelon plants came up and are doing well! It's sad that only one cantaloupe came up because we love cantaloupe. I guess we'll have to buy some plants when it's time to plant outside.

Not very many flowers have come up so far, but maybe they haven't germinated enough yet. Some of them take up to 21 days to come up. We'll see............some of my seeds were over 10 years old. The little round disks that I planted the seeds in worked really well. I'm going to have to see if I can find more of those for next year. Because I went to all of this effort to start the plants indoors, I think I'll be more attentive to them once they're outside. The fact that school will be over will also help! I just hope they survive while we're away traveling all over the place in the next few months. Brooke helped me plant them and gave me a list of instructions. Thanks Brooke for getting me started!


(Don't mind the mess you see in the picture. That will be fixed also once school is over!)

A Trip Down Memory Lane with Grandpa

Our Grandpa
We lost him last Monday, and it's just really sad, but I remember all the good times we had. When we first moved to Delta, he was the water master for the Sugarville area. The kids and I would go for rides in his truck every few days to "help" him check the water. What a carefree, fun time we had back then. He always kept everything running well around the farm, even our cars that Jim didn't have time to work on. He loved to take us all out on the desert for picnics, Easter egg hunts, wood cutting, and Christmas tree finding. On Christmas Eve he pulled the old wagon with his tractor with us all piled in just to drive a half mile up the road in freezing temperatures to sing a Christmas carol or two at the neighbors. One of his favorite things to do was to fix people breakfast in the morning. His specialty was pancakes, but you never new exactly what he might put in them. They were always good, but sometimes they were a little different. I can't count the many times that he paid to get us out of a bind. He didn't really give us money very often, but he'd fix something that was broken or lend us a car for awhile. Both he and Grandma were the best grandparents a child could have, and we're going to miss them. But we do have our happy memories.



Tana and her green nightgown! I don't know whatever happened to it, but she wore it every time she spent the night with Grandma and Grandpa.

Grandpa with hair? When did that happen?

All the kids loved their Grandpa!

Celebrating Grandpa's birthday. Everyone had a birthday celebration that usually included Grandma and Grandpa.

Grandpa was always out in "the barn" fixing something.

Lydia with her great Grandma and Grandpa. It's just too bad that she won't really remember them except through pictures.

Chris and Brooke on an exploring trip with Grandpa.

Grandpa loved to take his family out on the desert, to the mountains, etc. as long as it was away from civilization.................I think this was a Christmas tree hunting trip in 1987.

Everyone loved Grandma & Grandpa's swing, including Gavin and the cat!

Wow! They look so young!

This has always been one of my favorite pictures. Chris and Lars were such little munchkins......

It's hard to believe Ian and Shelbee were ever that little. They loved living next door to their grandparents!

Changing of an era

February 21 2011, the passing of Dad/Grampa
Well, all things change, that's the constant in this world. Now, my sisters and I are officially orphans. Mom and Dad are together again. We'll miss them, but, I'm happy they are together again, in a better place. They can watch over the future grandkids, and visit with family again. Memories are what we have left, in place of visits. Waiting till we meet again.

Are you out there?

I sometimes wonder why I bother to write on this blog. It appears that no one really reads it. Not one person has commented about anything since last October! But they say writing is theraputic, so I guess I'll keep writing anyway for my own benefit.
This last week has been pretty eventful. I went to a genealogy conference last week where I won an i-Pad. I really didn't have a clue as to its worth or exactly what I could do with it. Lars immediately wanted to buy it from me for a reduced price, but I wasn't willing to give up my prize, at least until I knew just what I was giving up. I have since been informed of a few things that this new toy will do, although I haven't had time to play with it much yet. I've always said that I was not very computer literate, but I've decided that I'm basically technology challenged, especially with anything new. I can master most things if given enough time, but I come from the "paper age," which seems less complicated to me. I know that gadgets are supposed to save us time, but they only do that if you know how to make the gadget do what its supposed to. I know how to make a pencil and paper work!
After reading Dave's blog post today, I too am thinking about how much I will miss school with its paper and pencil work, as well as computer work. I'm also excited to finally be done. I'm sure I will adjust, but I can assure everyone that I will NOT be bored. There are so many things that I want and need to do. I'm not sure I even remember what it's like to be bored. How can you be bored when you're never home!

The Stupid Things We Do

I decided I should write about my adventures of the last week or so. First I tried to give myself a concussion. Earlier in the day a little over a week ago, I had gotten my long plastic wrapping paper container out from under my bed so I could wrap Tori's birthday presents. I was already late in sending them, but I wanted to at least wrap them before I went to work. Well..........I was in a hurry, so I didn't put the wrapping paper away. That night, when we went to bed, neither one of us turned on the light when we went into the bedroom and didn't notice the long plastic box still sticking out from underneath the bed. Jim got in bed first but wasn't asleep when I came in to go to bed. As I walked towards the head of the bed, I tripped over the plastic box and fell forward, scraping my leg on the box and hitting my head on the wall. I cracked the plastic plate covering the phone jack and dented the wall. It hurt a lot! Jim heard the noise of course and asked if I was all right, but I said, "Noooooo.............I'm not all right." At least I didn't break anything (no body parts anyway, but the next day a bruise began all up and down my shin and one near my hip. I still have both of them, but they are starting to go away.

Well, all of that wasn't good enough I guess because I tried to break something again a few days later. It was last Tuesday, the day I go to my class in Provo and then spend the night in Salt Lake so I can do my six hours of research at the Family History Library. For the last six months or so, the stairs I usually climb to go to class have been closed. They've been redoing them, and I've had to walk a long way around to get up on campus. Well, last Tuesday, I noticed that the barricade at the bottom of the stairs was gone and people were going up, so I followed. Several people were a ways ahead of me and one guy passed me from behind. I didn't really pay any attention to where they went. I was just intent on climbing the 147 steps. When I got to the terrace close to the top, I noticed that the next small staircase up to campus was blocked by a large metal gate that was leaning against the opening, so I retraced my steps a small ways and tried to go up the other set of stairs on the left. However, it was blocked also. I thought it was really dumb that the bottom was open, but the top was closed. I could have gone back down and around the way I usually went while it was closed, but it would have taken me a lot longer, and I was in a hurry to meet with someone about a presentation we had to do. Anyway, I decided that if I moved the metal gate just a little bit, I could squeeze through. Well, I squeezed through all right, but the gate was too heavy and I moved it a little too much. I couldn't keep it from falling, and when it fell, it landed on my foot. I tried to get out of the way, but I just wasn't quick enough. Of course, it made a huge crashing noise and everyone looked to see what was happening. My foot was throbbing! I tried to life the gate up, but it was too heavy,so I just turned around and limped away to my classroom. When I got to the room, I took off my shoe and sock to see what the damage was. Just below my big toe, there was a long dented spot that was all blue! I was envisioning having to have surgery to repair my shattered foot because it was aching so badly. Someone gave me some pain reliever, and another lady got me a baggy full of ice, so I kept the ice on it during the 2 1/2 hours of class. I'm sure those two things helped a lot. At least it was bearable, but then I had to walk a long way to my car! On my drive to Salt Lake, I couldn't step on the brake very hard without it hurting, so I used my left foot. When I arrived at Marilyn's house, I took my shoe and sock off again to see what it looked like by then. It was red and sore and starting to become discolored. Marilyn happened to have a podiatrist in her ward, so she called him and he agreed to look at it. He was really nice, but it definitely hurt when he did certain things. He said he didn't think it was broken, but without an x-ray, it was difficult to tell for sure. He wrapped it for me to give it some stabilization, which did help some, although the next day I couldn't put my shoe on with the wrap because it hurt too much, so I just left it off. By the next morning, it was feeling somewhat better than it had the night before, but I continued to limp for a few days. I'm really surprised that it's not broken! (at least I don't think so) I think if it was really broken, it would hurt a lot worse. Tomorrow will be a week since it happened, and it is still pretty sore and bruised, but I can walk fairly normal now. The podiatrist was worried that I had ruptured a tendon, but he found it in one piece. I hear those take a long time to heal. I'm sure it's going to be another week or two at least before it feels anywhere close to normal, but I'm grateful I'm still in one piece. I guess I bounce better than I thought!

Lots of Teeth!

Look at all my teeth!

It has been really fun to spend time with Lars, Alyssha, and Rion. They live in Provo, so we see them a little more often, although with school and homework, we don't get there as much as we'd like to. I visited a few weeks ago and took some pictures of Rion. He looks so grown up now, especially with a whole mouth full of teeth and full head of hair.