Our new kitty, Phantom.

We got a new kitty on Labor day! Her name is Phantom because of the markings on her face. We haven't had a lot of luck with kitty's at our house so we are keeping her inside until she gets a little bigger. Whitley likes to pull her whiskers, but she doesn't like to have her paws touch her. It is funny to watch. Taggert likes to hold her, too, but he usually ends up throwing her on the floor. When we first got her she wasn't eating and Tanner said, "Why don't you just feed her like you do Whitley?" I was like, um, no. That isn't going to happen.

Betty Crocker in the house!

I am so pleased with my creation! My mother-in-law got 8 boxes of peaches which we have been bottling and making jam out of, and we still had some left over. So, I was going through my cookbooks trying to find anything with peaches in it. I found this recipe in the cookbook my sister-in-law, Kate, gave me. (SEE I really do use it!) This is the creamy peach pie. It was really easy and I have to say it was really good. My boys loved it! They had to have seconds. I have also been making my own bread which my husband says is really good. He said I am becoming quite the little cook. My little family may survive my little cooking adventure yet!!!

Jensen Reunion

Every Labor Day weekend, we pack up the family and head to Kolob. If there is one thing I did right, it is to have married into a good family. We have never missed the Jensen Reunion my whole married life and it is because we have so much fun, and there are so many good people to associate with. Trent's mom has nine brothers so there are lots of cousins and aunts and uncles running around. I love it! I wish my own family would do something like it, but it wouldn't be the same even if all ten of us showed up-just kidding. We do programs at night and have a testimony meeting on Sunday. The guys go shooting, play horseshoes, nap, and eat, and let me tell you, we eat good up there! It is something I look forward to and I am grateful that it has been such an important thing in Trent's family's life.

Trent and Danna

This was Tag's two most favorite places to be in someone's arms giving lovies or on the 4-wheeler

Oh, we are in for it!

Trent went in to get Whitley up yesterday morning and this is what he found. She is standing! She seems pretty proud of herself. Just last week she got the hang of crawling. I am going to have to start baby proofing EVERYTHING!!! I thought it was going to take her a little longer to get mobile because she would crawl just a little and then she would sit back down like she was winded or something. There is no stopping her now!

Tanner starts school

Tanner started the 2nd grade on the 13th! (I am a little slow) He was mad at me because I wouldn't buy him a new backpack. I washed his old one and he decided it would be good enough. He has decided he wants to bring his lunch from home which has worked out pretty good. We are trying to cut back on expenses so he and Trent are both taking their lunches. He has a pretty big class this year so I may end up volunteering to help his teacher out. They do so much and really don't get compensated like they should. I hope he has another good year.

Time for another reflection(:

So yesterday brought on another wave of emotions and life reflections. My little brother just had a new baby girl last night, and just by talking to him, I can tell she's already got him wrapped around her finger. There is just something about having this new little life in your arms that is amazing. I remember when Whitley was born I couldn't stop looking at her. She was so beautiful and perfect. I had so much love for her and to see Trent with her just melted my heart. He was so cute with her. There was just so much joy.

On the flip side of that...Trent's cousin lost a baby girl yesterday. She was just four months old and I can't imagine anything more devasting than losing one of your babies. I found myself looking at my kids a little different yesterday, but especially my baby girl. I looked at her and was so grateful that she is almost ten months old and she is healthy and strong, so grateful that we still have her. I thought about Taggert and all the times that he could have been taken from us. And then trying to explain to Tanner that bad things happen to good people and that God isn't doing it to hurt us. We came here to get a body and to gain experience so that we can return to him one day. We are here to be tried and tested. We have to go through some bad so that we can know just how good it is when we go through the good things in life. I know that it is easier to say it than it is to go through it, but I am so grateful for the knowledge I have that I will be with my mom again. I will see my sister, Kay, and my grandparents, and what a great reunion it will be. I also know that there are things that happen in our lives that only the Savior can heal. There are things that only He can help us through, and he will if we will let. I am just grateful for the Gospel of Jesus Christ that has been restored in its fulness upon the earth. I don't want to think where I would be without it. I have had too many things happen in my life for me to deny the truthfulness of it. I know that my life has been greatly blessed because of it.

I don't know what else to say so I will just sign off now(:

An epiphany!

I had a really hard realization hit me Saturday night. We were at Trent's parents house for his Grandma's 91st birthday party. One of Trent's cousins was saying how cute Whitley was and I said, " Yeah, she's fun. I have really enjoyed her." Trent's sister said, "Well, yeah, after Tag you'd enjoy anything." I said, "It was really stressful." But it really got me thinking. My poor son has only known his mother to be stressed. He had respiratory problems from the start and because of that he was too weak to nurse. He kept having these episodes where his heart would race. I would try and tell the doctor, but either he didn't believe me or didn't think it was a big deal. He'd give me some medicine and send us on our way. We finally ended up in the ER and after numerous tests, Tag and I were on a plane to Phoenix because there was something wrong with his heart. He was so upset and easily aggitated when we got down there. I would try and talk to him and rub his little head, but nothing I did seemed to help so they had to sedate him. It killed me as a mother to know that I could not comfort my son. I thought to myself " he doesn't even really know who I am"

Tag had several tests and we had to wait several days before the doctors could tell us what was going on. Once they finally figured it out , it was almost too much to take. Not only were there several things going on with his heart, they did a genetic test and found out he had partial trisomy 18 (the same thing Trent's sisters have). We had not expected that. The doctors then had the gall to ask us if we wanted them to do anything for him. That's when I stood up and said, "He's not going to be completley incapacitated! He's going to be able to run and play! Yes, we want you to do all you can for him!" They never questioned us again. They fixed his aorta which was pinched off and left the hole in his heart, hoping it would close on it's own. He still has a hole in his heart but it has healed up enough now that his doctor doesn't think it will ever be a problem. So his first year of life was filled with doctors and tests and lots of hospitals. It seemed he would just get over something and get something else. It was a neverending battle. It didn't matter if I kept him home away from everyone, or took him out once in awhile. So, his second year he had his G-tube put in. That cut the hospital visits down, but tube feeding is an experience all its own. He hated and we hated it. His third year he got his adenoids out and tubes in his ears. He also got glasses. He has been healthy and hospital free for a long time now and we took his tube out the beginning of this year. That has been such a blessing!

So, to make a long story short, Taggert probably sees me with Whitley and says, "What the crap, I got jipped! She never fed me like that. She never looked at me like that." So he voices his disapproval by pushing her down when she is sitting up playing or he whacks her in the head with a car or book or something. When I really stop and think about it, I can't really blame him. He did get jipped. I was always so worried about him that I couldn't enjoy him. It was just one thing after another, one specialist after another. One little man should not have to endure so much and the sad thing is, is that it is probably his parents who needed to learn a lesson, certainly not him. And I am still learning! He can be so loving and funny and cute. He is a special kid with a lot of love to give. Maybe when he is pushing his cousins down he is trying to tell me that I need to be more gentle, or when he screams for no reason at all, he is telling me that I need to speak a bit softer. I don't know, but I love him and we'll get this all figured out, and hopefully he'll figure out what the toilet is used for before he goes to Kindergarten next year. I don't think his teacher will approve of him squatting in the corner pooping(: