Jensen Family 2014

The Jensen Family's Top Ten of 2014
(in no particular order)

1. Trips to Canada and Utah to see family.
2. Tom going on a horseback ride with his Dad and brothers.
3. McKenna getting braces, being on the volleyball team, and National Junior Honor Society.
3. Trip to Disneyland!
4. Jill starting kindergarten and making new friends.
5. Brooke doing piano lessons and swim lessons.
6. Trips to Lake Chelan, Silverwood, Seattle, and Portland.
7. Monica picking and canning the biggest, juiciest peaches.
8. Going to the BYU football game and running the Cougar Run.
9. Reading the Book of Mormon as a family now that everyone can read!
10. Popcorn and movie night together.

We wish you the very best this Christmas season and through the new year. As Pres. Monson said, "May we give as the Savior gave. To give of oneself is a holy gift. We give as a remembrance of all the Savior has given. May we also give gifts that have eternal value, along with our gifts that eventually break or are forgotten. How much better the world would be if we all gave gifts of understanding and compassion, of service and friendship, of kindness and gentleness."

Price Family 2013

Merry Christmas! We hope each of you have had a great year!  We have been blessed this year, especially in the last couple of weeks.  Our sweet baby Blake was born on December 5th.  He has been so fun to have in our home.  Katelyn loves to be the big sister.  She is such a great help to me.

Katelyn is in the third grade this year.  She loves to go to school and especially likes P.E. and recess.  She is anxious to take tennis lessons this summer, which I am thrilled about, and is an excellent reader.  She loves to help Taylor and Andrew learn their letters and sounds and is finding out the benefits of being the only girl.

Taylor has started preschool this year.  He asks every morning whether or not it is a preschool day.  He enjoys playing trains and the Wii with Andrew.

Andrew is our mischievous one.  He is always coming up with something new to do and pushing every limit. He is fun, free spirited and very active.  He keeps me on my toes.  He is quickly learning his letters and sounds and often points out letters while riding in the car.  He is a smart boy.  We love him.

Blake is a very sweet baby who gets held most of the day by his siblings.  We can't tell who he looks like yet but we are told he looks like a Price baby.  He is very mild tempered and just a joy to have in our home.

Ryan enjoys working at Adobe.  We love how close it is to our home.  He often comes home for lunch, so the boys get to wrestle with him for a couple of minutes.

I feel so blessed to be able to stay home with our kids.  They are so fun to play with and talk to. I can now see how quickly they grow up and I am trying to hold on to every milestone they each make.

Ryan and I feel blessed this Christmas season for our family and friends and especially for the Gospel in our lives.  We know that it is only through our Savior Jesus Christ that we find true happiness.  We hope that next year brings happiness to each of you.

Jensen's 2013

Merry Christmas!

As always, we have many blessings to be thankful for. Tom graduated from Pharmacy school in June and passed all of the licensing and law exams to become a Pharmacist! We are so thrilled. We moved to Washington state and have really loved meeting new friends and contributing to the ward. Tom teaches sunday school for the 14 year olds and Monica is an Activity Days leader and Ward Community Service Rep. McKenna is in middle school and is doing well! She enjoys playing the piano and has recently picked up running. McKenna also loves to knit frilly scarves and has sold a few to her teachers and friends. She is looking forward to getting braces in the new year! Brooke is in first grade and is a great reader. She started piano lessons a few months ago and loves it. Brooke is losing teeth and a week ago asked her teacher to pull out a wiggly tooth. She was thrilled! We're told this teacher is famous for pulling teeth. Jill loves preschool and all of her preschool friends. She also is learning to read. Jill is full of wonder and amazement, curiosity, and love. Her hair is almost to her waist and I can't help but think of Rapunzel when I brush her hair.
Of all the blessings we have been given, our most important is our Savior, Jesus Christ. We add our testimonies that He came and because He came, we can repent and live with Him again. We wish you all a bright Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Love,

Tom, Monica, McKenna, Brooke and Jill Jensen

Williams Family 2013

Merry Christmas!  This has been a year of ups and downs but we are grateful for this time of year to reflect on the birth of our Savior and enjoy the peace this season brings. 

Jon is busy finishing up his studies at BYU.  He plans to graduate in April with a degree in Information Technology.  We are all looking forward to that!  He still works at BYU and has proven to be a great asset there.  Lisa is still working at Central Utah Clinic in Dermatology as a nurse practitioner.  Jane is a busy two year old, she will be three in March.  She is very smart and fun!  It is a treat to see her personality and hear the cute things she says.  It is a blessing to be her parents.  

We moved back to our home in October after doing a couple updating projects and are happy to be living in a place of our own. 

We hope you all have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Ted and Melinda - 2013

Hi Everyone,

Here we are at our 42^nd Christmas together as a married couple.  Our first Christmas was spent in Mesa, Arizona away from our families.  Since that lonely Christmas we have spend 41 Christmases with family around us.  What a blessing it has been through the years to be with those we love most. 

Last year our greetings came to you while we were traveling the world.  From the day after Thanksgiving to a few days prior to Christmas we sailed from Spain to Brazil, stopping in Portugal and the Canary Islands.  We toured Salvador, Brazil then sailed into the harbor at Rio de Janeiro. We visited the temple grounds at Sao Paulo, Brazil and happened onto a wonderful Christmas musical program at the Stake Center next door. We flew to Curitiba, Brazil where we visited with a family that Ted baptized the last day of his mission (see photos on the right side).  We had family home evening with them.  Ted taught the lesson, in Portuguese (after 45 years)!  Our visit with this remarkable family was the highlight of our trip and one of the most tender and spiritual experiences of our lives.

Ted and Melinda are still serving in the Provo Utah Young Single Adult 11^th Stake. Ted is a counselor in the bishopric of the Provo YSA 158th Ward and Melinda is the Stake Relief Society President.  We love these callings!! The young people energize us old people and they are so fun. 

Ted is retired, but helps out our neighbor with their limousine service.  He has driven the rich and famous and even someone’s cat. Melinda is still teaching first grade.

We have enjoyed a long relationship with Southern Utah University.  Ted has served as national alumni vice-president, and we have hosted events and helped at homecoming and graduation. In October the University awarded us the Distinguished Service Award at homecoming(see below).  Our children were all there, as well as some of our siblings. We were honored at a banquet and at the football game. We were also the grand marshals at the parade.  We were humbled and honored by this unexpected recognition.

This year we had lots of fun with our grandchildren.  We took them in groups on adventures from water parks to St. George to Disneyland. We loved every minute of the time we spent with them.  They are so much more fun than we ever imagined.  We are so grateful for the healthy little new grandson, Blake that was born this month.  There is nothing sweeter than to gaze into the eyes of a newborn baby as you contemplate the birth of our Savior.  We have much for which to be grateful. We are especially grateful for friends and family whom we hold dear.

Ted and Melinda 2012

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What?  It’s Christmas again?  Wasn’t Christmas just last month?  Have twelve months really gone by already?  We must be getting old – time is starting to fly by way too fast.  Our children are busy with their families, work, school, and church callings. Our grandchildren are getting taller and smarter. We don’t think we have changed a bit – then we look in the mirror and see that we have.  Still, this is an exciting time in our lives.  Our children and grandchildren seem to be doing well, and so are we.  We are serving in a Young Single Adult Stake.  Ted is in a bishopric and Melinda is a counselor in the Stake Relief Society Presidency. We have had some time to travel to the National Parks in Utah and Yellowstone, spend some time in Southern California, and ride our motorcycle some.  As you are reading this blog, we are probably on a cruise across the Atlantic from Barcelona, Spain to Brazil.  We have looked forward to this for a while and hope to be able to meet with a family that Ted baptized on the last day of his mission in Brazil.  We love our immediate and extended families. We cherish the memories we have with family and also with all the dear friends through the years.  May you be happy and healthy this coming year, and may we express to you our sincere thanks for all you mean to us.

Ted and Melinda 2011

Dear Family and Friends,
    We greet you with warmest wishes at this wonderful time of the year.  We love the sweetness of this Christmas season when our thoughts turn to the things that matter most in our lives: the gospel, the Savior, our family, and friends. As we contemplate the goodness of the Lord to our family this year, we are overwhelmed by the many miracles, small and large, that have come to us. We are grateful for those precious events and tender mercies and recognize from whence they came. 
    There were many other things this past year that kept us busy and provided opportunities and blessings. Ted sold his insurance business and is now having more time to pursue other things. He says the problem with retirement is, “There are no days off.”  In August he was called to serve as first counselor in a Young Single Adult Ward Bishopric.  Melinda is still teaching first grade and loving it.  In August she was also called to serve in a Young Single Adult Stake as a counselor in a Relief Society Presidency.  We love working with the college age young people.
     Melinda’s oldest brother, Alan, passed away last January. We all loved Alan as a great spiritual influence in our lives.  Her brother Bryce sang the same song at his funeral that he sang at Alan and Joyce’s wedding reception 57 years prior.  Melinda accompanied him on the piano instead of Mom this time, who always accompanied the performances.
      Our family had a great time last summer at Bryce Canyon, and we went on a few motorcycle trips. Ted and Melinda celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary in August and had a fun trip to Southern California. Ted, Melinda, Tyler and his son Jordan (Mandy was home with a new baby), Lisa and Jon, and Mandy’ s parents along with friends traveled to Israel in October. We had always dreamed of visiting the Holy Land, especially since some of our children and spouses had studied there at the Jerusalem Center.  It was fabulous and deepened our appreciation and love of the Savior.  We also spent some time in Petra, Jordan and Paris, France.
    We send our love to all of you and your families.  We are enriched because of our association with you. May all your hopes and dreams for the New Year be realized.  And may every day bring you joy and new adventures.

                        Ted and Melinda

Ted and Melinda 2010

 

This year has been wonderful for Ted and Melinda. We have been able to renew old friendships, make new ones, and enjoy the love of a good family. We added a new grandson, and we look forward to another granddaughter to be born in 2011. Our children all live in Utah County now, and so we have the blessing of spending time with the cutest grandchildren in the world. Ted ‘s Allstate Insurance Office keeps him busy, as well as his calling as High Priest Group Leader, and his work as SUU National Alumni Vice-President. Melinda still teaches first grade and loves to have a grandchild, McKenna, attending the same school.  She was just released as Ward Young Women President (which seemed more like a wonderful career than merely a calling).  Melinda and Lisa occasionally do wedding flowers as a fun hobby. We have been able to spend time riding our motorcycle.  We especially love riding to Bryce Canyon, our favorite National Park. In September Ted and Melinda rode a 4-wheeler to the site in Southern Utah where the pioneers cut a hole in the sandstone rock to construct a passage down to the Colorado River (a truly amazing feat). On Thanksgiving Melinda’s brothers and their families enjoyed a wonderful dinner together in Beaver, where there were 80 in attendance.  This December we had a great time with some of our children in Disney World. We finished reading the Book of Mormon by the end of the year (a challenge from our Stake President).  We love the Lord, the gospel, our heritage, and our family and friends.  May every wish of your heart be a reality in this new year- 2011.

Ted and Melinda - 2009

We are always excited for Christmas time to be with family and enjoy the season. We look forward to having Lisa and Jon, Tyler, Mandy, and Jordan, and Monica, Tom and family with us this Christmas season. Christa and Ryan will spend some time in Idaho, and we hope a few days with us.

We are happy to welcome Jon Williams to our family. Lisa and Jon were married in Jan and we are so blessed to have them living close to us in Orem.

We went on the trip of a lifetime with Lisa and Jon this past summer to Africa. We traveled to Mozambique where we spent some time with Jon’s father and his BYU students. We then accompanied the group to Swaziland, South Africa, and Kruger National Wildlife Park. It was a most amazing experience to witness all the African animals you see at the zoo in their natural habitat. Needless to say we took lots of pictures on this photo safari (over 2000 stills and video). We spent several days in London on our way home. If you would like to see some of our photos go to twhitaker.smugmug.com.

We also enjoyed a cruise to Mexico in October. We encountered a tropical storm as the ship rounded the tip of the Baja. There were twenty-foot waves hitting the ship. We met some new friends and saw tons of whales swimming along side the ship.

Melinda’s brother, Alan, suffered a brain injury in April. He was unconscious for several weeks, but has been home for several months and is on the road to recovery. We feel blessed to have him with us still and that he continues to improve.

Ted serves as High Priest Group Leader in our ward. Melinda was called to be the Young Women President in January. (How does someone my age have the energy for such a calling?) We enjoy our church service and hope that we can fulfill our callings honorably.

The older we get, the more we realize how things that matter most to us relate to our relationships with our Savior and with precious family members and friends. Thank you for your friendship, fine example, and love.

Ted and Melinda - 2008

It has been a fast, but good year for Ted and Melinda. We were called as stake youth conference chairmen for a trip to Martin’s Cove, Wyoming. We worked intensively for most of the year to provide 350 youth and leaders transportation, clothing, food, and activities prior to and during the trek. We had a marvelous spiritual experience. We felt the hand of the Lord in every aspect of this calling. This year we joined a gym and are getting up at 5:30 a.m. (nod, nod) everyday to exercise. We enjoyed visiting the national parks from Yellowstone to the Grand Canyon. (Sometimes from the seat of a motorcycle.) Most of all we enjoyed spending time with our children, grandchildren, extended family members, and friends.