Greener Grass

34 Things I Love about Jonathan

2011-04-04T14:10:00.000-07:00

Today is my husband's, Jonathan James Kent, 34th birthday! To celebrate, I thought I would post 34 things I love about him:

I love:

1. His smile
2. His voice -- especially when I get to sit next to him at Church and he is singing
3. That he watches romantic movies with me
4. That he is so handsome
5. That he likes to spend time with his family
6. That he rubs my back even when he is SO tired and not feeling well himself
7. That he doesn't get too mad when I break or lose or throw away something important
8. His great memory
9. That he falls so gracefully
10. His MAD dancing skills
11. That he is an amazing artist
12. His patience when disciplining our children
13. That he is a great teacher
14. That he is good with details
15. That he is thoughtful of others
16. That he is a man of God
17. That he is frugal
18. His humility
19. When he makes me laugh
20. That he is a great listener
21. That he takes creativity to another level
22. That he likes to read manuals and instruction books
23. That it is very hard for him to lose his "cool"
24. That he likes my cold feet. I know...CRAZY!
25. That he is good with the elderly
26. His talent at working smoothly through difficult situations
27. That he is great with colors and design
28. His curly eyelashes
29. That he doesn't stink! :-)
30. How he tells me I'm beautiful EVERY day and I believe him!
31. That he likes to surprise people
32. His love of toy stores
33. That he is a snazzy dresser
34. His gentlemanly manners

Happy Birthday Juanathan, Joan from down the street, JB, J-Bird, JJ, Babe, Sapo Guapo, Daddy, Dah-Dah, Dad...

Gus's baby blessing--Santa Barbara California

2010-07-18T22:28:00.000-07:00

On June 13th, we visited the Santa Barbara ward to support my cousin Ben and his wife Alex. Ben blessed his first baby boy, David Augustus Shadle (Gus for short). It was a really beautiful day in Santa Barbara. Ben did a great job. It is fun to see this friend of mine be a daddy. Alex is an amazing mom. They are wonderful! And now they've moved away to Fresno. I miss them! This was kind of a last hurrah as Ben also graduated from his residency for Surgery that weekend. I really wanted to get some pictures of Gus and Elina since they are destined to be best cousin friends! They cooperated very nicely, even held hands.

Beautiful Alex! Gus has mommy's eye's and daddy's smile.

They seemed so happy to be holding hands. Elina is 1 month older than Gus. She is almost 4 months in these photos.

What I've been up to

2010-07-05T22:31:00.000-07:00

This is what has been keeping me busy lately:

Yes we are foster parents to a dog. I've never had a dog. I am so insecure in my abilities to care for a dog. But she is cute and good. Too bad our neighbor is coming into our backyard when she thinks we aren't home and talking to our Lady about what a poor job we are doing taking care of her. Ugh. Anybody want a dog?
Audrey likes to cook. She is good at it. I LOVE her creativity. I don't like the explosive messes she leaves behind. Workin' on that...

Isaac and Elina keep me busy. Jonathan is my DREAM!

Adalyn keeps me busy. My motto with Adalyn: don't take it personally. I wrote it in my journal.

Holy cow, laundry grows exponentially with each child!

My kitchen keeps me busy. To be honest, looking at this picture, it doesn't seem so bad. I think things have gotten worse since I took this photo.

Feeding the "brutes" (as Jonathan's Gram would put it) keeps me busy.

There's more, but I don't want you to kill me from overdoing it or boring you to death.

I just re-read a talk given by an apostle about motherhood. If you have time, skim it. It helps me remember how fortunate I am to be doing what I am doing. I am happy to be busy! Love love love my "treasures".

M. Russell Ballard, “Daughters of God,” Liahona, May 2008, 108–10

Brothers and sisters, recently my wife, Barbara, had back surgery and could not lift, twist, or bend. Consequently, I have done more lifting, twisting, and bending than ever before—and it has made me more appreciative of what women, and especially you mothers, do every day in our homes.

While women live in homes under many different circumstances—married, single, widowed, or divorced, some with children and some without—all are beloved of God, and He has a plan for His righteous daughters to receive the highest blessings of eternity.

This afternoon I want to focus my remarks primarily on mothers, particularly on young mothers.

As a young father, I learned the demanding role of motherhood. I served as a counselor and then as bishop for a period of 10 years. During that time we were blessed with six of our seven children. Barbara was often worn-out by the time I got home Sunday evening. She tried to explain what it was like to sit on the back row in sacrament meeting with our young family. Then the day came that I was released. After sitting on the stand for 10 years, I was now sitting with my family on the back row.

The ward’s singing mothers’ chorus was providing the music, and I found myself sitting alone with our six children. I have never been so busy in my whole life. I had the hand puppets going on both hands, and that wasn’t working too well. The Cheerios got away from me, and that was embarrassing. The coloring books didn’t seem to entertain as well as they should.

As I struggled with the children through the meeting, I looked up at Barbara, and she was watching me and smiling. I learned for myself to more fully appreciate what all of you dear mothers do so well and so faithfully!

A generation later, as a grandfather, I have watched the sacrifices my daughters have made in rearing their children. And now, still another generation later, I am watching with awe the pressures on my granddaughters as they guide their children in this busy and demanding world.

After observing and empathizing with three generations of mothers and thinking of my own dear mother, I surely know that there is no role in life more essential and more eternal than that of motherhood.

There is no one perfect way to be a good mother. Each situation is unique. Each mother has different challenges, different skills and abilities, and certainly different children. The choice is different and unique for each mother and each family. Many are able to be “full-time moms,” at least during the most formative years of their children’s lives, and many others would like to be. Some may have to work part-or full-time; some may work at home; some may divide their lives into periods of home and family and work. What matters is that a mother loves her children deeply and, in keeping with the devotion she has for God and her husband, prioritizes them above all else.

I am impressed by countless mothers who have learned how important it is to focus on the things that can only be done in a particular season of life. If a child lives with parents for 18 or 19 years, that span is only one-fourth of a parent’s life. And the most formative time of all, the early years in a child’s life, represents less than one-tenth of a parent’s normal life. It is crucial to focus on our children for the short time we have them with us and to seek, with the help of the Lord, to teach them all we can before they leave our homes. This eternally important work falls to mothers and fathers as equal partners. I am grateful that today many fathers are more involved in the lives of their children. But I believe that the instincts and the intense nurturing involvement of mothers with their children will always be a major key to their well-being. In the words of the proclamation on the family, “Mothers are primarily responsible for the nurture of their children” (“The Family: A Proclamation to the World,” Liahona, Oct. 2004, 49; Ensign, Nov. 1995, 102).

We need to remember that the full commitment of motherhood and of putting children first can be difficult. Through my own four-generation experience in our family, and through discussions with mothers of young children throughout the Church, I know something of a mother’s emotions that accompany her commitment to be at home with young children. There are moments of great joy and incredible fulfillment, but there are also moments of a sense of inadequacy, monotony, and frustration. Mothers may feel they receive little or no appreciation for the choice they have made. Sometimes even husbands seem to have no idea of the demands upon their wives.

As a Church, we have enormous respect and gratitude to you mothers of young children. We want you to be happy and successful in your families and to have the validation and support you need and deserve. So today, let me ask and briefly answer four questions. While my answers may seem extremely simple, if the simple things are being tended to, a mother’s life can be most rewarding.

The first question: What can you do, as a young mother, to reduce the pressure and enjoy your family more?

First, recognize that the joy of motherhood comes in moments. There will be hard times and frustrating times. But amid the challenges, there are shining moments of joy and satisfaction.

Author Anna Quindlen reminds us not to rush past the fleeting moments. She said: “The biggest mistake I made [as a parent] is the one that most of us make. … I did not live in the moment enough. This is particularly clear now that the moment is gone, captured only in photographs. There is one picture of [my three children] sitting in the grass on a quilt in the shadow of the swing set on a summer day, ages six, four, and one. And I wish I could remember what we ate, and what we talked about, and how they sounded, and how they looked when they slept that night. I wish I had not been in such a hurry to get on to the next thing: dinner, bath, book, bed. I wish I had treasured the doing a little more and the getting it done a little less” (Loud and Clear [2004], 10–11).

Second, don’t overschedule yourselves or your children. We live in a world that is filled with options. If we are not careful, we will find every minute jammed with social events, classes, exercise time, book clubs, scrapbooking, Church callings, music, sports, the Internet, and our favorite TV shows. One mother told me of a time that her children had 29 scheduled commitments every week: music lessons, Scouts, dance, Little League, day camps, soccer, art, and so forth. She felt like a taxi driver. Finally, she called a family meeting and announced, “Something has to go; we have no time to ourselves and no time for each other.” Families need unstructured time when relationships can deepen and real parenting can take place. Take time to listen, to laugh, and to play together.

Third, even as you try to cut out the extra commitments, sisters, find some time for yourself to cultivate your gifts and interests. Pick one or two things that you would like to learn or do that will enrich your life, and make time for them. Water cannot be drawn from an empty well, and if you are not setting aside a little time for what replenishes you, you will have less and less to give to others, even to your children. Avoid any kind of substance abuse, mistakenly thinking that it will help you accomplish more. And don’t allow yourself to be caught up in the time-wasting, mind-numbing things like television soap operas or surfing the Internet. Turn to the Lord in faith, and you will know what to do and how to do it.

Fourth, pray, study, and teach the gospel. Pray deeply about your children and about your role as a mother. Parents can offer a unique and wonderful kind of prayer because they are praying to the Eternal Parent of us all. There is great power in a prayer that essentially says, “We are steward-parents over Thy children, Father; please help us to raise them as Thou wouldst want them raised.”

The second question: What more can a husband do to support his wife, the mother of their children?

First, show extra appreciation and give more validation for what your wife does every day. Notice things and say thank you—often. Schedule some evenings together, just the two of you.

Second, have a regular time to talk with your wife about each child’s needs and what you can do to help.

Third, give your wife a “day away” now and then. Just take over the household and give your wife a break from her daily responsibilities. Taking over for a while will greatly enhance your appreciation of what your wife does. You may do a lot of lifting, twisting, and bending!

Fourth, come home from work and take an active role with your family. Don’t put work, friends, or sports ahead of listening to, playing with, and teaching your children.

The third question: What can children, even young children, do? Now, you children, please listen to me because there are some simple things you can do to help your mother.

You can pick up your toys when you are finished playing with them, and when you get a little older, you can make your bed, help with the dishes, and do other chores—without being asked.

You can say thank you more often when you finish a nice meal, when a story is read to you at bedtime, or when clean clothes are put in your drawers.

Most of all, you can put your arms around your mother often and tell her you love her.

The last question: What can the Church do?

There are many things the Church offers to mothers and families, but for my purpose today may I suggest that the bishopric and the ward council members be especially watchful and considerate of the time and resource demands on young mothers and their families. Know them and be wise in what you ask them to do at this time in their lives. Alma’s counsel to his son Helaman applies to us today: “Behold I say unto you, that by small and simple things are great things brought to pass” (Alma 37:6).

I hope all of you dear sisters, married or single, never wonder if you have worth in the sight of the Lord and to the leaders of the Church. We love you. We respect you and appreciate your influence in preserving the family and assisting with the growth and the spiritual vitality of the Church. Let us remember that “the family is central to the Creator’s plan for the eternal destiny of His children” (“The Family: A Proclamation to the World”). The scriptures and the teachings of the prophets and apostles help all family members to prepare together now to be together through all eternity. I pray that God will continually bless the women of the Church to find joy and happiness in their sacred roles as daughters of God.

Now, in closing, I want to add my witness of President Monson’s prophetic call. I have known him since he was 22 and I was 21. That’s 58 years. I have watched the hand of the Lord prepare him for this day to preside over the Church as the prophet and President. And I add my testimony, along with all of the other testimonies that have been borne through this conference, of his special calling as President of the Church, and add my testimony, along with all of the others, that Jesus is the Christ and this is His Church. We are doing His work, to which I testify in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, amen.

Audrey and Savannah

2010-07-05T22:20:00.000-07:00

My good friend Annie Thunell was telling me tonight that she reads my blog and I was feeling bad because my blog has been pretty darn boring lately. So, here's a new post I promised Audrey and her friend Savannah I would do SO long ago, I can't even remember.

Audrey and Adalyn got American Girl dolls for Christmas and they enjoy playing with them, especially when the Thunell girls come over.

Here's a few photos of the girls and their dolls.

Adalyn and Elizabeth

Savannah and Kirsten (such a great choice!)

Audrey and Natalie

Cute girls!

Us

2010-04-18T22:34:00.000-07:00

We are existing nicely. To be honest, as we drove away from my parent's home last night: Elina was screaming, Audrey and Adalyn were fighting in the back seat, and Isaac was singing at the top of his lungs to compete with it all, and I was smiling inside, knowing that my life is FULL of this little family that is growing in size and numbers. I remembered to when our Lassen van would pull away from Grandma and Grandpa Beecroft's home at the top of Victoria in Ventura, full of 6? little ones, all screaming and fighting and singing, having left with our tummies full and our heads a little tired and happy memories are all that exist. And now I am the mommy driving away from Grandma and Grandpa's house with screaming, fighting, singing children....ahhh. For just a moment, I was loving it.

Trust me, I don't always have this perspective. Especially when I am tired. I think last night I was beyond tired!

Here are some photos with a recap of our full, busy lives:

February

My sister-in-law Emily came to visit and help take care of my little ones. She spoiled us crazy. This is Isaac marrying cousin Gracie in our backyard chapel. This has happened twice now!

Adalyn releasing her Christmas butterflies

Audrey is holding squishy Elina (1 week) in backyard

March:

Elina at 2 weeks

Elina's first trip to Carpinteria

Jonathan's...
Mustache...

March...
(P.S., I thought this was fun, but don't tell him, 'cause I don't like kissing facial hair). Doesn't he look like a 70's movie's star?

Unkie Erik took us all flying in his friend's Cherokee plane. What a great uncle!

Elina was given a blessing by her daddy in church

Audrey and Elina

Adalyn and Elina

Don't make fun of my smile! It's a fake "smile for the camera but don't be so gummy" smile. I'm working on it!

April

Easter:

Adalyn

Atalie, Cozette, and Audrey checking out their loot

Scotty and Ditte

The dads made their kids jump through loops, literally, to get their Easter eggs this year.

Stay posted for more on US. Maybe in a few months, I'll do this again!

Elina Jane Kent

2010-02-21T22:02:00.000-08:00

Here's some photos of our newbie: Elina Jane Kent
Born Thursday February 18, 2010 at 10:08 am in the Pleasant Valley Hospital
She weighed 7 lbs 7 oz. and was 21 inches long

It is so wonderful to have a little newborn angel in our home.

Photo of the day

2010-02-02T10:32:00.001-08:00

I love Jonathan! He makes me laugh EVERY day! What a SUPERMAN!

Evolution of Kirsten the Mom

2010-02-02T09:57:00.000-08:00

My mom gave a talk in church the Sunday before I left on my mission about seasons in our lives. I'll never forget that talk...well maybe I will when I'm in an older season and I forget everything. But I haven't forgotten it yet! Mom talked about different seasons we have in our lives. I was about to embark on a season of missionary service, where I was able to focus on trying to serve the Lord and his children 24/7. I heard it was hard to serve a mission, but I have to admit, I LOVED it! There were hard days, but so many rewarding experiences, I can't recall the hard days too much.

Let's fast forward a few years to when I had my first little girl, Audrey. Life as a first time mom was humbling and scary. Everything was new and hard to figure out. Nursing, potty training, nap routines, getting a baby to sleep through the night seemed impossible tasks. Lucky Audrey, she got to experience all the "first's" right along with me. And I might add, she will continue to do so as we enter new seasons together. I know I was a little whiny and overwhelmed during this season. When I was on my mission, what I did with my time was still a decision I primarily made. As a mom, my child was "helping" me focus less on myself a little, and more on her and her needs.

Then Adalyn came along 20 months later and I started to feel a little more overwhelmed with my responsibilities of caring for these two little girls full-time. I started to feel like I needed MY time more. I was losing my personality, I thought. I really let it get to me when people would ask what I did all day. What did I do all day? If given the chance to be by myself, I had no idea what I would do. I thought that was a bad thing. So I started to indulge in busy-ness. I must help provide. I must show my worth as a community member. I must better the world through my talents and hobbies. Busy, busy, busy.

Fast forward to today, and I now find myself with a 9 year old, a 7 year old, a 4 year old, and soon-to-be newborn. Gosh, time flies. My thoughts are changing again. Another season is beginning. My kids are growing so fast. Have I shown them each day that I love them? More than I love myself and my wants and my needs and my hobbies? I am constantly fighting to simplify life, not get too busy. I don't like how I feel or how my kids start behaving when I am too busy. I am inspired by others who pick up on this a lot sooner than 9 years into Motherhood. I don't want to completely forget about my hobbies and interests. They add a lot of flavor to life and I can teach my kids some things about what I know. But I want to be remembered more by my children as a mom who took time to be with them, play with them, love them, not as a mom who was busy, busy, busy...helping everyone else but THEM.

So yesterday was Monday. To be honest, I yelled a few times at the kids yesterday. I just had this list of things I was trying to get done...arg. After they were all in bed and I was thinking about how I had messed up again on not loving enough, I came across an idea for Valentine's mailboxes. I stayed up to decorate a manila envelope with hearts and stickers for each member of the family that we can leave love notes and gifts for each other in each day. I posted them on the refrigerator and the kids were all over it this morning. Aren't they great? They are such good examples to me of how to love more fully and think less of myself. Isaac has given everyone a hot wheel's car (appropriate colors for each member of the family). Tonight at dinner, we will see what we have in our mailboxes. I wish I could think of these things myself, but I'm grateful for the idea.

What is next for the evolution of Kirsten, the Mom? I am interested to see. I hope I can look back and feel like I continued to improve. Sometimes I feel like I take BIG steps backwards. But, I KNOW that each new day is a fresh new day, and that gives me HOPE. I learned this as a missionary. I also know that just like my mission, I will look back and remember that being a mom there were hard days, but with all the rewarding experiences, I won't recall those hard days too much.

Primary teacher training

2010-01-25T11:15:00.001-08:00

Yesterday we held a training meeting for our primary teachers. They are SO great! The main thing we focused on at our meeting was resources. June Arbon and Mardene Hanson took about 10 minutes each to tell us the resources they use to teach 3 year old's and 8 year old's. They also touched on little "tricks" they've found helpful in their years of teaching. I sat there and listened and wanted to be a better teacher and parent, as well. I have the opportunity to teach 3, almost 4, beautiful children everything I can for a very short time while I have them with me. Daily, this week I want to implement some of the things I learned from yesterday's meetings: love, positive reinforcement, prayer, scripture study, visuals, tangibles, stories, and imagination to teach my kids. I find the scriptures, prayer, and really SUPER friends and family are some of MY best resources.

I LOVE teaching children, but sometimes I forget in all the hustle and bustle and meals and dishes and laundry that I GET to teach children full-time, every day. I am a lucky girl.

Thank you to my friends and family who constantly give me good ideas. Your blogs are some great sources for inspiration. Keep it coming!

El Libro de Mormon

2010-01-15T08:02:00.000-08:00

This morning our family finished the Book of Mormon for our....wait for it...second time! Yes, we are a little slow going.

So, our next feat...to read El Libro de Mormon. I am pretty excited about this. Obviously, or I wouldn't be blogging about it, huh? Most of you know, our girls are in a dual language program at school. Their Spanish has far surpassed my 4 years of high school Spanish. I would LOVE to think/speak Spanish in some form where a native could understand it without racking their brain as to what verb conjugation I am using. So, our reason for reading El Libro de Mormon may be somewhat selfish, and though I am excited, I am also a little nervous. We ordered 5 paperbacks from the distribution center and they came this week!

Wish us luck. Just imagine the Kent household at 6:30am, reading with the gift of tongues...or not.

Daily Miracles

2010-01-13T10:37:00.000-08:00

Mister Isaac survived today's dental trip

Isaac has VERY bad teeth. Originally, I felt guilt as a mother...not doing my job...but I realize some kids just come with soft teeth, or something. I have no guilt. :-) We have a great children's dental group here in town, affectionately referred to as the "Space ship dentists". Isaac had some work done back in October, including having a tooth pulled and a spacer put in. He did not react well to the laughing gas or the medicine they gave him for relaxing. It's almost like it had the opposite effect. So when we went in November to have the other 4 teeth worked on, he flipped out. It was really tough, as I know any mom and dad can relate, to see him so tense and inconsolable. The dentist suggested we have him put under so he can have good "dental experiences" in the future. But anasthesia is not covered. They needed $500 cash. We don't have $500 cash for that right now, so after discussing this with Jonathan and the dentist, our plan was to wait a little while, prep Isaac again, practice putting "tools" in his mouth, have Jonathan take him and have a male dentist do the work (you know TOUGH guys).

Today was the day. Jonathan gave Isaac a blessing this morning before they left. I was pretty anxious, having been with Isaac the last time. I anticipated his return with every car I heard drive by. When they drove up, I met them in the front yard to hear he'd handled everything like a champ. He now has a spacer on one side, a silver cap on the other and about 6 "silver stars" in his molars. What a mouthful for this little guy! He's a bit groggy and crabby, but doing well.

Jonathan and I got emotional as we discussed the little miracle that had occurred today. They seem to occur all the time, especially when we look for them and show gratitude. We are well cared for.

"Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: and yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?...for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." Matt 6: 28-33 This was from a scripture study on Monday, something I really needed to hear that day...another miracle.

Comings and Goings this holiday

2009-12-26T21:14:00.000-08:00

We've had a great Christmas season. I wanted to share some photos of a few of the activities we've been able to enjoy.

We took the kids to the LA temple to enjoy the Christmas lights and the hot cocoa. They were so good and loved the evening. Their favorite part: the hot cocoa. :-)

We loved decorating the Christmas tree on Dec. 1st.

Audrey and I enjoyed a date to Disneyland, something I've been able to do with each child this year. Thank you mom and dad!

Fortunately for me in my current pregnant state, Audrey does NOT like scary rides, so we rode Dumbo, Alice in Wonderland, the Carousel, all Bug's Life rides, etc. :-) It was a really fun day.

We went caroling with the Kents and Lassens and newly returned missionary Steffen!

We had a really nice piano recital at Aunt Ditte's house.

Dinner with our good friends the Garrett's and Thunnell's.

These kids are capable of an amazing pillow fight!

And then there was Christmas Eve with the Lassen's and Christmas day with the Kent's. Here's a picture of the kids anticipating presents Christmas morning:

Merry Christmas

2009-12-26T20:57:00.000-08:00

December 2009 Christmas Letter

This year I thought I would give a brief update on our family and share some thoughts I’ve had recently. I hope you don’t mind the rantings of a pregnant woman!

We’ve enjoyed a healthy and happy year in 2009. Jonathan continues to work at Uncle Milton’s Toy Company as a graphic designer. He loves the environment and the people he works with. He is a Cub Scout leader and word on the street is that he does a pretty great job! We are expecting our 4th child (a girl) in February. I was pretty sick through the summer, but had lots of family and friends that took good care of us. Now I feel great and am taking full advantage of the “nesting instinct” to clean and organize our home. We are really looking forward to welcoming this new baby into our family. I continue to work with the children in church, volunteer in classrooms, teach piano, etc. Audrey (9 yrs) and Adalyn (7 yrs) just started ballet at a good dance studio in town. They love it. They continue to ask me why I FORCE them to take piano lessons. I laugh wickedly in response. Audrey recently won an award for a story she wrote and played the glockenspiel to accompany the primary children in church this past Sunday. Adalyn has a beautiful voice and will be singing for us a lot this season. She recently threw a tea party for her friends and made up a really cute menu for it. She is a very organized girl. Isaac is 4 now. He’s obsessed with Batman all of a sudden. He loves preschool and is so sad when he doesn’t get to go, even on Saturday’s and Sunday’s.

My sister Mette recently returned from a 2-month trip to Germany and Denmark. She talked to us about the Danish term “hygge” (pronounced Hoo-ga, sort of). I’ve had some nice visits with dad and my grandparents about this term the Dane’s embrace. It is a way of living that encompasses warmth, coziness, security, familiarity, comfort, reassurance, fellowship, and simple-ness. I’ve been thinking about this a lot recently.

I have never been one to enjoy the winter. I didn’t like the shorter days. I get cold very easily and let the “gloom” get me down sometimes. This year, I have tried to incorporate the “hygge” more in my life and my home and I’m grateful to report that I feel differently about the winter season now. I recognize that we do live in a pretty mild winter climate, but I feel more comfortable, happy, and warm than before.

I’d like to relate this to life a little. Sometimes it seems so cold. The “storms” we have to go through seem gloomy and dark. It’s difficult to have a good attitude or to feel the warmth and recognize the light. I continue to learn that no matter how dark it is or how bad the storm, our Savior is there to provide light, warmth and comfort to us. That can help us to be positive and grateful during the hard times. Isaiah said, “For the Lord shall comfort Zion: he will comfort all her waste places; and he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the Lord; joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody” (Isaiah 51:3). I’m so grateful the Savior provides this great gift for us. It brings true and meaningful happiness to me.

I have thought about certain things that have increased the “hygge” in my home this season. I am grateful for: singing in the choir, being with family and friends, good church meetings, my Danish heritage, candles and fires in the fireplace, scarves, cookies, mugs with hot cocoa, great music, slippers, good books, sweaters and gloves. In some small way, where ever you are, I hope we can share a little bit of “hygge” with you. We wish you a very merry Christmas.

Love,
The Kents

Christmas Eve 2009
(candid shot!!)

Such creativity

2009-12-09T20:32:00.000-08:00

Jonathan found this letter from Audrey AFTER he mowed the lawn (aka weeds, remember) in our backyard last Saturday. Little did he know that he would be destroying a "fern farm" Audrey had started among the weeds. She was so sad about it, but this letter CRACKS me up!

Our cruise to Mexico?

2009-11-29T21:31:00.000-08:00

Long overdue...here's some photos and a recap of our amazing 10 year anniversary cruise to MEXICO????

Day 1--Saturday: board ship, got lost trying to figure it all out, attended safety meeting, rest, go to dinner, ask to switch tables so we can be with a big group (best decision we made). Met Gene, Karla, Jesus, Kari, Marlene and Charlie.

Gene, Karla, Marlene, Charlie, Kirsten, Jonathan, Kari, and Jesus
(I talked them into taking this photo. Gene was a hoot!)

Day 2--Sunday: attended interdenominational service. Church for 20 minutes isn't such a bad idea ha ha. Found out our ship was turning around and heading toward San Francisco instead of Puerto Vallarta. We were sad. Attended a flower arranging demo and a fruit carving demo. Took naps, read, attended evening entertainment show, a bit of a let down after BYU ballroom dancers!

Day 3--Monday: Slept in!!!! Exercised in the gym, rested some more, walked around, ate, rested, ate, rested...
Before dinner we did a little ballroom dancing and determined we were WAY out of practice and want to take lessons once our baby is born.

Day 4--Tuesday: Instead of 91 degree Puerto Vallarta, we were in 51 degree San Francisco. Loved it, though. Christian and Emily were the greatest hosts showing off their town. We visited the Golden Gate Park, Ghiradelli square, and of course Pier 39. Had delicious crepes with Christian, Emily, Grace and Leif before jumping back on ship. It was fun to go under the San Fran bridge, but SO foggy and cold, we couldn't see it until we were right under it. I liked being off the ship.

Day 5--Wednesday: Jonathan was in charge of Catalina Island. I had never been there. Couldn't para sail due to pregnancy, but found a nice lady who rented us cheap snorkeling gear and we snorkeled for a few hours. Had a great time. I don't like feeding the fish. They are AGGRESSIVE! We shopped in town and got some yummy treats, enjoyed just sitting on the beach, knowing this would be our only beach day. It was beautiful weather.

Day 6--Thursday: San Diego. We just got off the ship and started walking towards Horton Plaza. How often do you get to shop with your spouse without children? I was a little tired this day.

Kari and I at La Bufadora

Day 7--Friday: Ensenada. Yeay for Mexico. I had no desire to go to Ensenada...EVER, but we ended up having a GREAT day. We met up with our neat friends Jesus and Kari. We decided to take a bus tour to La Bufadora, a natural blowhole. We got to experience the mercado, see a really cool blowhole, enjoy the Ensenada countryside. It was pretty. I loved watching Jesus and Jonathan, (mostly Jesus) barter with the locals for the best luchador mask.

When we got back to the ship, Jonathan and I got a couples massage at the Lotus Spa. That was really nice, though I felt SO relaxed from such a great vacation, that I didn't need a massage like I will next month when I'm SO pregnant!

Day 8--Saturday: said goodbye to our friends we met. We had such a great time! I loved being with Jonathan ALL the time. He is my best friend. Thank you to our family for taking great care of our kids. We didn't worry about them once! Is that bad?

Jonathan and Kirsten Oct. 2009
10 year anniversary

I have all these ideas in my head!

2009-11-03T13:10:00.001-08:00

I came home from our cruise and went directly to a GREAT bridal shower for Auntie Doris where my sisters and I were singing 2 songs! 15 minutes practice time for me paid off. :-) Then Sunday was our primary program (a church meeting in which the 3-12 year old's recite parts they've written and sing beautiful songs based on a theme we've been studying all year), where thanks to my amazing counselors and chorister and pianist, went so smoothly and beautifully. And Monday, I was off in the Disneyland shuttle (aka Ditte's van) and straight to Palm Springs for Tuesday and Wednesday.

When I got home Wednesday night at 10 pm, I sat down and wrote 2 pages of things that I needed to do that were swimming in my head: people I needed to call, bills to pay, things to clean, and stuff under categories like Wedding flowers, Church jobs, Mom duty (Jonathan was pointing out that I didn't include Wife duty!), Piano teacher, and Other. Please laugh at me. I'm crazy, right? But it has felt great to start checking things off the list and adding more to it. It just feels so good to not have it swimming in my head.

In summary: I want to blog about our AWESOME cruise (can't even begin to tell you), our fun-filled (most of the time) fall break, and YES we are having another GIRL!!!!!

What to name her? I want it to be Danish this time: some ideas so far: Birgitta, Alina/Illena, Gretta. Jonathan likes the name Chloe, but I don't think that's Danish. Please send your ideas. We need help!

I'll post soon...

Jesus and Kari, this one's for you. Larry, are you jealous? :-)

Reunion and the Proposal

2009-10-11T11:07:00.000-07:00

The next time I saw Jonathan was at the Los Angeles Airport on July 7, 1999. He was there with about 20 of my LOVING family members, immediate and extended. My brother Steffen was the first to rush me with a big hug, followed quickly by Mette, and then others all hugging me. I came to sweet Jonathan and stuck out my hand to shake it. What a brat, right? Well, I was still a missionary at that point and not supposed to be hugging men I wasn't related to.

Awkward moment between Jonathan and I at the airport

My parents had arranged a picnic lunch at a park along highway 1, so I could say "hello" to the ocean again. I was a bit uncomfortable with how I should act around Jonathan, but as I sat next to my Bedstemor (danish Grandmother), she nudged me and said I better go sit and say something to Jonathan! So, I did. After lunch we proceeded to play a game of Frisbee football. I think by this point I had at least changed into jeans and a t-shirt! Somehow, I was in charge of guarding Jonathan and my thinking was that I wanted him to feel like I was comfortable with being with him, so I would pat him and shove him if he was getting in the way! He later told me I was making him crazy. He came home from the airport, and told his mom he needed to get away to think, so he grabbed a surf board and headed for the beach. Poor guy.

Well, my family was aware of the fact that Jonathan was hoping to make things in our relationship rather serious and permanent :-), so they nicely arranged SEVERAL dates for me to go on with other guys that first 2 weeks I was home. All the time, I was thinking I was such a hot commodity, when really my family, especially BEN was probably paying all his friends to take me out.

I just have to share my favorite story from this mad dating interlude. I was staying in my Mission President's home with my great friend Tara for our last night on our mission. We were to have a BBQ in his backyard but were late getting started. Something was holding up the secretary at the mission home. She was waiting for a FAX to come in. Everyone there found out this was a FAX for ME from a very nice, cute guy I admired in our church who wasn't Jonathan. He was asking me in this FAX to go on a date with him to the LA Philharmonic a few days after I got home! I was scared to DEATH. For 18 months I had been focused on serving people around me, serving God, and now on the last night of my mission I was slapped across the face with what lay ahead for me once I left my beloved mission. I remember sitting across from Tara in our beds that night talking forever. I was so distraught. "What are we doing, Tara?" "What comes next?" "Can't I stay a little longer?" Well, my date with this very nice guy was so well planned and thoughtful, but I couldn't help but think of Jonathan and missed him the entire time. That's when I began to KNOW, and I mean REALLY know, I wanted to be with him forever. Often times before, when we were dating, and when we were apart, I would start to pray to Heavenly Father, "Father, should I marry Jonathan, is he the one for..." and it was like I would be interrupted with a thought in my head that it was not yet time to ask. But the right time to ask was quickly approaching.

Jonathan and I started spending all our time together and it felt so comfortable and right and good. I was so happy when I was with him. I was fasting and praying a lot at this time that as we started to discuss our future together that I would feel peace and know what was right for us.

Another cool experience during this time was that on July 25, my youngest brother Hans was born...at HOME...on accident (I mean the "I'm having a baby at home" part). Mom had always had long labors and thought baby number 9 would be the same, but he was a little too quick in coming and so Else and I got to help deliver him, though Mom and Dad were the real pro's. It was a special experience, seeing a loved one give birth. I was absolutely amazed. Mom warned Else and I that most deliveries don't go quite this way!

Look at me, checking out how well Jonathan can hold my baby brother

I thought I would quote from my journal about what happened the week following Hans's birth.

Aug. 3, 1999

"...Yesterday was the most perfect day of my entire life. What helped me prepare for it was Sunday night, after Jonathan left, I read my scriptures, had a nice prayer to Heavenly Father and...had an answer to my prayers. Jonathan is the one I love, my best friend.

I went to bed at 1 am Sunday night and woke up at 4:30 am. Jonathan came by at 5 am and took me to see the sunrise. I thought maybe he'd propose but I didn't want to get my hopes up and then get discouraged. We drove to Sycamore Canyon and parked in their day parking. We walked through the campground and turned down a trail to the left. We hiked a bit, 'til the sun came over the mountains. Jonathan stopped and we watched. We could see and hear the ocean and the beautiful mountains. As he held me he talked to me about a dream he had in a high school about me. When he was in the Missionary Training Center, he had the same dream and he knew all would be okay. He told me how much he cared for me, how I am his best friend. I could tell he was nervous. He turned me around to look in his eyes, he got down on BOTH knees and asked me to be his wife. I said, "of course, Jonathan", then I got down on my knees and gave him a kiss on the cheek. Then he kissed me on the lips -- first time EVER! The whole moment was so perfect and beautiful. I cried in his arms. I was just so happy. He wants me to pick out my ring, but he wanted me to have something to wear. His mom had a turquoise ring handed down from his dad's great aunt. It's from the Navajo reservation and is just beautiful.

Bags under my eyes from 3 1/2 hours of sleep the day we got engaged, but can my smile get any bigger?

I still can't believe I'm engaged to my best friend. Gosh, we just glowed all day. We went straight up to Carpinteria and told Ditte first. I promised her I would. Then we made breakfast for the crew, called our parents and announced it to the extended family.

Our engagement photo. My little Navajo friends thought Jonathan looked like Ricky Martin! :-) I married a male model!

We've already started planning lots and now that Jonathan has asked me to be his wife, it seems other things are falling into place. It was like that leap of faith we had to take.

Gosh I love him SO much -- always have! Things are perfect (not necessarily, but we get to be together forever)."

So, the date was set, October 16, 1999, the 6 year anniversary of our first date! Plans for the wedding went well. I have to laugh because I got out my plans I made from that lonely year in college with my roommate Jen, and we went off of a lot of those ideas. My mom, dad, Jonathan's parents and Auntie Doris took my ideas and did ALL the work; mom with her new little FUSSY baby and everything...what a trooper!

We loved our wedding day. There was an earthquake the morning of October 16th. Aunt Elaine whispered to Jonathan in the temple that "even the earth shook for joy at our marriage!" I thought that was a pretty positive way to look at it. We were just trying to show our out-of-town guests a good time! The weather was beautiful. The air had that crisp but comfortable fall feeling to it. We spent a nice amount of time at the temple, taking pictures and enjoying the peacefulness that was there. The actual ceremony in the temple was indescribable. We were surrounded by many people all dressed in white, who loved us. The ceremony was performed by Bro. McQueen. He gave us some wonderful advice about loving each other. He told us to let our children see we love each other. He talked about us both serving our missions and how that would help us. Jonathan and I both cried at that part. When the ceremony was finished, I remember sitting just inside the temple with Jonathan waiting for our turn to exit. We were smiling and couldn't stop. We were MARRIED!

Our exit from the temple: smile, smile, smile

The reception was a big party celebration, just what we wanted. There was delicious food thanks to Auntie Doris, beautiful flowers thanks to Lindann Chenney, all the decorating done by family that loves us too much! We had to have dancing. Jonathan's only request was that we have a disco ball, which we did. The dancing was probably our favorite part of the evening. Jonathan flipped me while we were swing dancing in my wedding dress and ALL. I was so afraid I was going to embarrass myself by falling on the floor, but it was flawless. I like to joke that I was on cloud 9 and I didn't come down from cloud 9 until morning sickness hit. Jonathan's quick reply to that is that he is still on cloud 9. He always says the right things.

One BIG happy family: the Kents and the Lassens

So, that's our story. There are MANY details I left out and still, I hope this wasn't too long and boring.

Our lives are not perfect. Our family is not perfect. We have struggles, just like everyone. It's meant to be that way, but our love story, Jonathan and Kirsten Kent...now that IS perfect.

Kirsten and Jonathan
Oct. 16, 1999
Los Angeles Temple

College and Mission Madness!

2009-10-08T19:11:00.000-07:00

As I started to jot down notes about this time period in our relationship, I realized there was a lot that happened, so even though I am going to simplify, this one may be a little more lengthy.

Some memories of our love story after I left for BYU...I cried...I was lonely...the end...

Just kidding. BYU is such a great school. I was so grateful to be there, but felt like quite the small fish in a big pond of really talented and smart people. Note to others: do not take Calculus your first semester at BYU with 200 other students at 8 am every morning, even if the teacher does start the class with a prayer. Minus the prayer, that combination just doesn't work!

In the spring of 1995, Jonathan came to BYU for a Ballroom dance camp that he participated and competed in. He is such a good dancer. Ahhh...I was able to see him once or twice that week. He came to visit me at my dorm and meet my roommates. I snuck into the Marriott center the night of his competition and watched him having fun from high up in the bleachers and for the first time, I started to feel jealousy towards the girls he was dancing with. In fact, to be honest, I was so lonely and jealous, I left and walked back to my dorm, crying. I knew then I wanted to be more than friends.

Jonathan being crazy Rambo or something in my dorm

While he was there, we hung out with my good friend from home, Jennifer Pettingill. We all went to a religion class together. After that class, Jen told me, I needed to marry that guy, or she just might snatch him up. I always loved her opinion and her advice and again started to think of what a nice future I could almost picture with Jonathan as my husband.

I went home to work for the summer and Jonathan and I started spending a lot of time together. I went with him to his Senior Prom. We were dressed 40's swing style. We had Bro. Daily's 1941 Oldsmobile, a "stake-out" in a back alley, and dinner at a hideaway. After his Prom, we went to the "After Prom Party" which went from 1-5 am. It was great fun. After the party, we had breakfast at his house. We were pretty excited to calculate that we had been on an 18 hour date! After that, we became pretty much inseparable. Jonathan was working construction for Dave Maddux. I was working at Lassen's. Sometimes we'd get up at 6 am to say "good morning" before he'd head off for work. Often we'd go running together in the heights after I got off work. We went to a lot of young adult activities together provided by our church. It was a lot of fun.

Jonathan and I at Prom 1995

The gangsters and their get-away car

As a side note, many of you may not know that Jonathan set a goal as a boy around 12 years old or so not to kiss a girl until it was the girl he knew he was going to marry. That probably sounds really crazy to most people, and my brother Erik likes to tease us about how he'd spy out the front window of our house to see Jonathan kissing my forehead, or me kissing his ear, but we never kissed on the lips until the day he asked me to marry him. I laugh at that now, and yet deep inside, I wish I could inspire my kids to do the same thing! A goal like that keeps a relationship at a different level, one that was good for us, since we were going the distance on this one. :-)

At the end of the summer, I received an acceptance letter to attend BYU Jerusalem Study Abroad for 6 months. I needed to quickly defer a semester of school so I could save money for the trip. It gave me more time with Jonathan and I was happy about that. I left for Jerusalem in January of 1996, thinking Jonathan would be gone on his mission by the time I returned. His 19th birthday was in April. I cried A LOT on that plane trip to Tel Aviv. I loved loved loved my experiences in Israel, Egypt and Jordan. It was an amazing trip, to say the least. I missed Jonathan though, and wished I could share it with him. I remember asking the Linford's (my parents away from my parents for that time) their opinions, crying a few times to them about how I felt. They were so comforting and neutral. They were wonderful. It seems I cried a lot during this time in my life. Is that normal?

Me and Angie Edwards with the BYU Jerusalem Center behind us

Well, Jonathan was still in Camarillo when I arrived home. He was waiting for his braces to come off before he could serve his mission. I was so happy to see him, but this was a bit of a tough time for us. He was preparing to serve a mission for the Lord for the next 2 years and was trying so hard to prepare well. We decided, though I cried AGAIN, to bring our relationship to a "friend" level again so he could prepare for his mission. This was a good but not an easy decision. I left again for college in the fall. Jonathan reported to the Missionary Training Center on Sept. 11, 1996. Consequently, this was just up the street from my dorms. He was there for 3 weeks and then left for Toronto, Canada. At that time, people would trek up to the Salt Lake City airport at 5 or 6am to wish their missionaries off. I was a little unstable about where we stood in our relationship, knowing we wouldn't see each other for at least 2 years, and were we just friends? What does that mean? When I saw Jonathan at the airport, which was really fun, he told me he just knew things would work out, but he wouldn't go into specifics. It was good he didn't. I needed to trust him and Heavenly Father with whatever that meant.

Jonathan and I at a dance the night I got back from Jerusalem

My roommate, Jen Johnson, also had a missionary out. We were SO silly and a bit lonely. We would sit in our rooms and plan our wedding receptions. My theme song for this period of time was Tracy Chapman's the Promise. It's on my play list posted on this blog. Again I laugh at our silly sentimentalities now. Jonathan was really enjoying his mission. Three months into his mission, he was switched to Spanish speaking and so for the rest of his mission, he taught and learned Spanish via Toronto Canada! He loved those people he met and taught in Canada.

Jonathan's mission

I learned from my 6 month trip to Jerusalem that writing was not one of Jonathan's strong traits. This continued on in his mission as well, but I decided to TRY and overlook that, and did date quite a bit that year and a half at BYU and at home.

Lucy, Me, and Cristin (who later became my sister-in-law!!!) on our way to a costume dance

During that time, I also received a strong impression that I should serve a mission. In October 1997, I turned in all my paperwork and a few weeks later, I opened my mission call on the grounds of the Provo Temple. I thought at first I was going to Mexico and was so excited. That was a dream! But then I read that I would be teaching the missionary lessons in English, and quickly realized my mistake. I was going to Albuquerque, New Mexico. I really thought I had pictured myself in every corner of the United States and the world as a missionary, but I had NOT thought of Albuquerque, New Mexico!

I left for my mission January 28, 1998. I loved my mission. I am so grateful I got to serve Heavenly Father at that time in that special capacity and I loved that it was something Jonathan and I were doing together though we were in our separate parts of the world.

My mission

So, the next time I saw Jonathan....To Be Continued...

First Flirtations--candy corn and Sadies Hawkins

2009-10-04T16:07:00.000-07:00

My first date with Jonathan was to a Sadie Hawkins school dance. My friend Melissa Meline was starting to like Jonathan's best friend Adam Reeder, and since she wanted to ask Adam to Sadie's, she asked me to ask Jonathan so we could double. I don't know if Sadie's is a common ritual, but when I was in high school, it was a dance in the fall, where the girl asked the boy, and they came in casual clothes wearing matching shirts.

Our first date

To back up a little...this was fall of 1993, the beginning of my senior year in high school. I had endured a rough summer where all my friends, who happened to be a year older than me, left for college. This included my BEST friend, my cousin Ben. I was so lonely and determined that going to live in Snowflake, Arizona with Grandma and Grandpa Beecroft would be a great alternative and a good place to end high school, a time period in life I was not too fond of. My mom did not agree with my alternative plan and through prayer and persuasion taught me a great lesson I continue to re-learn even today. My mom talked to me about her and dad's role of being my parents. They loved me and felt it was their job to raise me, not grandma and grandpa's and even though I was terribly lonely, if I could look for the "green grass" (sound familiar????) in Camarillo and change my attitude, I might end up having a really good senior year. It wasn't easy, and I'm sure I cried quite a bit, but I decided to give it my best shot, and prayed a lot that I would make some new and really great friends.

My decision to ask Jonathan to Sadie's seemed reasonable considering I'd always thought he was a really nice guy, and I was on the look out for some new good friends. Jonathan was a lot of FUN in high school. He and his buddies got into a little mischief sometimes but for the most part, they loved planning crazy creative dates with big groups of people and were always up for having good fun.

Jason Reeder, Randy Porter, unknown friend :-) and Jonathan showing school spirit

Jonathan's first ski trip with me as an instructor, (true test of a relationship!)

Our date to Sadie's happened to be October 16th, 1993, which NOT coincidentally ended up being the date we were married on 6 years later.

After our first date, we started to run into each other more at friends' houses. The first time I remember "flirting" with Jonathan (gosh I hate that word. :-) was at a birthday party for a girl who lived down the street from me. It was Halloween time, so her mom had set out a bowl of candy corn. A big group of us were there watching a scary movie, and Jonathan and I started throwing candy corn at each other. Later that night, Jonathan had snuck down to my house and left candy corn all over my porch. That started our fetish with candy corn, and thanks to Jonathan's creativity, made for some great sentimental memories. He turned the candy corn into people one time, with toothpicks for their appendages, and had them bungee cord jumping from the antennae of my 1965 mustang, ski sloping down my windshield, sunbathing on the hood, etc.

At this point, we started to mutually like each other, but I didn't realize that Jonathan was "liking" me more than I was liking him. I still wanted to be friends, but his feelings for me were growing deeper and stronger. Around Christmas time, I started to date another guy seriously, and it hurt Jonathan pretty bad. I didn't realize how bad, until later when I saw some artwork he had made during that period. He now fondly refers to that as his BLUE PERIOD! :-)

Throughout the rest of the year I kept busy as most high school seniors do. I got my acceptance letter for BYU, I was in a school play, I was working at Dad's health food store, cruzin' in my 'Stang, and thoroughly enjoying the new friends I had made. The grass felt pretty "green". Jonathan was enjoying his friends and sports, too. He played varsity volleyball and football that year. I enjoyed going to a few of his games. He is good at whatever he does!

Near the end of the school year, Jonathan left me a t-shirt he had created that he wanted me to wear to seminary choir the next morning, signifying that I would go to his prom with him. I was a bit distraught because I knew my cousin Jennifer was planning to ask him, so I didn't wear the shirt. I watched his disappointed face as I walked into seminary and quickly tried to explain. He sighed relief and explained to me that I could go to his prom with him and he could go with my cousin to our high school's prom! We had a great time at his prom. We had a delicious dinner at a friend's house out in Somis. He looked SO cute that night with his vest and pocket watch, two-toned shoes, and really great attitude. Jonathan was content with us just being friends for the present time.

Jonathan's junior prom Spring 1994

I worked hard that summer preparing to leave my family for college far away. I was about to start a very different season in my life, that Young Adult season. It was a very lonely time for me again, and my heart turned to Jonathan, who was never too far away, waiting to be the good friend I needed and wanted. I'll always feel pretty bad for the up's and down's I created in our relationship during the 6 years of dating and not dating and yet, through all the up's and down's, I feel like they happened for a reason allowing growth to occur in both of us.

My "serious" Senior photo, because I am SO serious!

Up close candid photo of the two of us. We both have HUGE eyebrows (poor kids!)

Next segment: BYU and Pre-mission Madness!

Our love story

2009-09-27T20:28:00.000-07:00

Well, I am insecure at what will follow and have a disclaimer (mainly for my brother and sister-in-law) for those who do not like cheesy romance, please don't feel obligated to read, but with Jonathan and my upcoming 10th anniversary, I wanted to document the finest love story I've ever heard! This will be posted in several segments and hopefully end somewhere close to October 16th, our actual anniversary. Even if you don't like cheesy romance, you may have a good laugh at some funny photos, and maybe even enjoy hearing MY side of what has been the BEST thing that ever happened to me!

It started in November of 1988. My family just moved from 449 Belden Street to 1422 Palmer Avenue in Camarillo, CA. This move placed me in a new junior high school as an 8th grader (Monte Vista), and our family moved into the Camarillo 2nd ward. It was the week before my 12th birthday, so with trepidation, I put on my light blue gunny sack dress, lace ankle socks, white patent leather shoes, and did my hair in an oh so tight french braid that definitely accentuated my large ears. I was to attend Camarillo 2nd ward primary for one week before entering their Young Women program. I didn't look around much that Sunday because I was a pretty shy girl, but Jonathan loves to tell the story of how he was sitting in the front row and turned around to see the new girl being introduced as Kirsten Lassen. What he saw was "a really cute girl with BIG ears"! That was his first impression of me. I, on the other hand, can't remember my FIRST encounter with Jonathan, but I remember the times I would run into him at church for our weekly activities and I thought he was pretty cute. Too bad he was so short! As I got to know him better at Junior High school, not only did I think he was cute, but I thought he had to be one of the nicest boys I'd ever met. And that part has never changed.

I had a typing class with Miss Loretta that year and I would go home and practice typing on my parents computer keyboard, when the computer wasn't on: "I love Jonathan Kent", "I love Jonathan Kent" over and over again. I can still type that phrase pretty darn quick! I was worried my mom and dad would be able to see the imprints in the keys, or that the computer would accidentally be on and my big secret would be out. I was one of those girls who NEVER told who I liked. I used to babysit for Bro. and Sis. Speakman (who were high school sweethearts). Bro. Speakman asked me once when I was about 13 if I thought I knew the boy I would later marry. I quickly replied, "NO WAY, I don't want to marry someone who knows me at this age!" Well, that came back to haunt me!

Between our first encounter and when we went on our first date at age 16, I can't remember a whole lot. Jonathan and I were in different grades, and went to rival high schools. I'd see him at seminary early in the mornings. We had youth activities at church together and sometimes were in the same Sunday School classes. His older sisters, Stefanne and Angie, were some of my best friends.

One other significant memory from this time that I can remember was when Jonathan came to hang out with my brother Erik. I don't know where Erik went, but Jonathan and I were playing in the backyard with my little sister Mette. He was so sweet with her and as I hope a lot of young silly girls do, my mind started to go into fast forward mode... THIS guy would make a great husband, and let's see, he's 15, I'm 16. He could go on his mission, I could go on my mission, we could get married when I get back. This could be a really nice plan! Little did I know how nice this plan could really work out!

Cute Jonathan in his 7th grade yearbook

Me in one of my MANY gunny sack dresses

Next segment: "the first flirtations, flying candy corns, etc..."

A New Addition to our Home

2009-08-15T10:21:00.000-07:00

Primary Summer Camp

2009-08-13T18:02:00.000-07:00

This year our primary summer camp theme was "Building an Eternal Family".

We had 6 mini classes that the children attended on the first 2 days:

Scripture Study/making scripture journals/Jaimee and Bonnie were the teachers

Prayer/painting Prayer Rocks/Sara and Nana were the teachers

Following the Prophets/Melanie and June teaching the Latter-Day prophet song

Family Home Evening/Melissa and Debbie Hager had the room decorated like a family room

Family Fun and Games/Sis. Fenske and her friend Debbie had all kinds of games to teach the kids

Keeping the Sabbath Day Holy/Debbie Morris and Kimra helped the kids put together cups of ideas for Sunday activities.

These were 6 things of MANY that help to build eternal families. We had about 50 children there between 1st and 2nd ward. Sister Fenske started the camp off as Sister Builder.

Half the kids really thought her name was Sister Builder after that. Isaac definitely thought that was the greatest! She had big blue prints of our Eternal Home. She had the greatest "tools" in her tool box: goggles to help us watch only good movies, gloves to help us pray, ear plugs to block out bad music, boots to help us run away from evil. The kids had building permits with their names on them and they earned a sticker for each class they attended. So many people helped! How grateful I was for everyone's help. Saturday was our last day and we traveled down to the LA temple where the children got a tour of the grounds and then were invited in the waiting area to talk with Bishop Hales and Pres. Murphey from the temple Presidency. Then we went outside to take pictures, sing "I Love to See the Temple", and have sack lunches. That was a great treat for me. The children were all so well behaved the entire time. I feel so fortunate to get to be in Primary.

The "Wedding Tree"!!!

Uncle Hans and Isaac

Part of my eternal family

Early tea

2009-08-13T17:24:00.000-07:00

I have the greatest neighbors! I wanted to do something for these wonderful women and I wanted Auntie Doris and Bedstemor and Mom to get to know them (though they've met casually), so I decided to hold a tea party in July. We've had such a mild summer and I have the perfect avocado tree over our porch, acting as a natural umbrella. It went so well. Auntie Doris and Else were a HUGE help. Mom took some pictures for me. We had a very nice time. I love these women! Doing tea parties "auntie Doris style" is a lot of work, though, even for a small handful of women! How DO you do it?

Left to right (Jean, Darbie, Bedstemor, Auntie Doris, Jackie, and me...mom is taking the picture)

Darbie and Jackie

The Explosive Child

2009-07-09T09:27:00.000-07:00

This is a great book for anyone who will EVER work with any children. I like when I read a parenting book and what I read sets well with my beliefs. The things Ross Greene teaches do that. He discusses really difficult scenario's with children who struggle with flexibility and frustration tolerance. Through the first few chapters, I was worried the he was suggesting we turn into "push-over" parents, but he quickly set my mind at ease by stating if we implement the "Collaborative Problem Solving" approach, we will be anything but a "push-over" parent. I also have been praying to know how I can deal with certain situations as a parent without having to yell or get angry. I KNOW the Savior would not parent by screaming!

I don't want to give too much away because I want everyone to read this book, but a quick summary is that we can help our children solve their own problems and overcome their inflexibility through empathy (plus reassurance), defining the problem, and make an invitation. Included are countless scenario's or role play's to help us practice this approach. I noticed I was given IMMEDIATE opportunities to practice what I'd been reading. Ha ha. I still need a lot more practice, but see improvement in both my children and myself. Most importantly, I feel like I'm helping my children create a skill (problem solving) while avoiding explosions from my children and from me for that matter. While I read this book for one child in particular, I find we all get easily frustrated at times. There is application for all.

Again the book is The Explosive Child, by Ross W. Greene.

One of the Perks of living in So. Cal

2009-06-21T23:09:00.000-07:00

So we went to our favorite beach (Feria) last Saturday and there was a larger than normal crowd and some pretty big camera equipment around. Jonathan asked one of the camera men what was going on and he said Oakley was sponsoring a 3-day "teach a celebrity to surf" event. As we started to get all our beach stuff set up next to our friends the Garrett's and Peterson's, Jonathan came over to tell us he had spotted Mario Lopez coming out of the water right next to us. Becky convinced Michelle and I to go meet him, so we did. I went into automatic "how to meet a new person" mode and was asking him what he and his girlfriend thought about Feria, surfing, paddle boarding, etc. They were really nice and obliging. The camera guys offered us free Muscle Milk (I didn't like it). And Rance, my friend, if you search for Mario Lopez surfing on Google, there's a photo of him with you in the background! Yup, the perks of living in So. Cal.

So here's the 3 mom's, Mario (aka Slater), and Audrey!

I am wearing the same shirt I was wearing in the previous post. I do have other clothes I wear sometimes...I don't think I should take photos with celebrities at the beach anymore!

That's right kids, smile at the camera

2009-06-20T22:34:00.000-07:00

We have a friend at school who is a photography producer and she has used our family for a few photo shoots lately. I smile just thinking about it because the thought of me being in photos is just hysterical! But I've always thought my kids were cuties. Who doesn't right?

The kids and I had a lot of fun doing this one for Disney Family Fun Magazine for their June/July issue. It was neat to see what goes into creating a photo shoot like this. They let us sample some of the food they made. The ice cream cake was yummy! They were trying so hard to get the fire in the barbecue to light, but it wouldn't cooperate. Audrey was a trooper through that one. The location was a gorgeous home in Somis with 360 degree views. I now enjoy looking at ad's and magazine articles and thinking, I know what goes on a little behind the scene.

P.S. The guy in the picture is not my other husband or neighbor. I don't know who he is! But Jonathan has now done a shoot with us and when I want to make him laugh, I tell him I always wanted to marry a male model!

Yup, we got chickun'

2009-06-19T18:35:00.000-07:00

These are what our 3 hens look like, though these are not ours. :-) Thanks Flickr

The Kent's have joined the ever-growing suburban population of people who are getting into the "chicken growing" hobby! It has been very educational and I must say I'm really enjoying these little pets. I love the fact that they give something to me in return for keeping them semi-safe (no guarantees with the 3 year old boy). Not only do we get delicious fresh eggs, but we now have free organic fertilizer!

That said, thank goodness I'm smart enough to know that one does not get chickens to save money on purchasing eggs. Don't even go there. I love that they are a farm pet. The ones we got are actually quite beautiful. The kids are learning how to care for an animal, and my main man Jonathan has shown STELLAR MAN-LI-NESS by having to kill a maimed chicken the first day we got them. I'm so grateful HE did it! His popularity rating in my book went SKY HIGH!

So, their names are: Pecky, Cleopatra, and Emma, and NO WE WILL NOT BE EATING THEM FOR THEIR MEAT! Just the eggs. :-) And NO WE ARE NOT GETTING A ROOSTER. We like our neighbors.

Books I'm Reading

2009-06-19T17:19:00.000-07:00

Can you tell what's going on in my life a little bit by the books I'm reading right now?

The Explosive Child by Ross W. Greene

How to Build a Chicken Coop by Les Kenny

In Praise of Stay-at-Home Moms by Dr. Laura Schlessinger

Captain Underpants (en espanol)

How to talk to your child about Sex by Linda and Richard Eyre

My friend Debbie Morris asked what I was reading at the beach on Wed. When I told her it was "The Explosive Child", she said, "Oh, nice light beach-reading material".

Any suggestions for nice light beach-reading material? I thought bringing the "Explosive Child" book would be a little easier to explain than "How to talk to your child about Sex"!

I love you mom

2009-05-09T18:49:00.000-07:00

My mom is in Denmark for Mother's Day. I couldn't be happier for her, but I am going to miss her tomorrow, so I'm sending you a blog post, mom! I love you!

I'm Glad to be a Mom

2009-05-09T10:38:00.000-07:00

My Previous Life
by Gayle Sorensen Stringer

In my previous life, before I was a mother of three, I wore clothes that fit and matched. I wore makeup and curled my hair every day.

But no one gave me graham cracker kisses. No one ever told me how pretty I looked in sweats.

In my previous life, I read Time magazine and the newspaper. My repartee of regular television viewing transcended Arthur and the Magic School Bus, and I devoured all the best selling novels.

But no one asked me to read The Velveteen Rabbit at bedtime. No one ever requested The Little Engine that Could.

In my previous life, I had a career and friends who were more than three feet tall. People asked for my opinions and entrusted me with important projects and confidential information. I had conversations where not once was mentioned snacks or potties or play dates.

But no one asked me my favorite color or why the sky is so blue. No one ever wanted me to sing!

In my previous life, I had a life. I frequently attended aerobics classes, restaurants and the theater. I hosted parties where the themes had nothing to do with Star Wars or Winnie-the-Pooh. I shopped for myself and slept late on weekends. But no one made me Valentine cards. No one ever gave me dandelion bouquets.

In my previous life, I traveled, and my destinations did not hinge on theme parks or swimming pools or nap schedules. The Mayan ruins of the Yucatan, snorkeling in the Caribbean, museum hopping in Italy, Kabuki Theater in Japan....these were my playgrounds. I was the queen of the road and my destiny. But no one asked me to push the swing higher. No one ever invited me to splash in puddles or roll in the snow.

In my previous life, I held my emotions in check. I did not stomp my feet or grit my teeth. I could not easily be diminished to tears or tirades. I considered my demeanor as laid-back and easy going. But, no one made me care enough to cry. No one ever just loved me, anyway.

In my previous life, I was free. I could carve my own path and follow my dreams. Nothing stood in my way. But the path was unsure and the vision blurred. No one ever gave me purpose enough to soar. Now, endlessly rearrange piles of laundry, crumbs and toys.

I am pulled and tugged, hassled and harassed, stepped on and sat upon, and desperate for some solitude. I am jean-clad and juice-stained, bleary-eyed and graying, underpaid and overwhelmed.

And, sometimes I wonder who I am and what I've become. Then, one of my children shouts, "Mom, I need you!" and it is perfectly clear! I am the center of the Universe. I am Mom!

Audrey's fabulous breakfast

2009-04-26T21:39:00.000-07:00

One of Audrey's dreams is to be a chef! She has been collecting children's recipe books over the past few years. When we were in Solvang last week, she spent a good amount of money that she had saved on purchasing a children's French cookbook. She has been studying it ever since. I've tried to give her some lessons in the kitchen, but sometimes I'm a bad mom and would just rather do the cooking quickly myself...

Lately, she's learned she just doesn't ask. She'll just come in for breakfast and start stirring the eggs or flipping the pancakes. Isn't she great? Though, it seems when I'm napping she thinks she has free range of the kitchen and will make the most "interesting" concoctions. The best is when she wants me to try some kind of liquid drink she has added yellow food coloring to. YUCK!

I digress. This morning I sat on the couch reading, when Audrey brought me one of her cookbooks and showed me something she wanted to make the family for breakfast. I finally felt comfortable enough for her to have a go at making her first meal all by herself and honestly, I was feeling a bit lazy. She had a few questions here or there and enjoyed having me read the directions to her. She did a phenomenal job and even picked up all the mess she had made. Below is a picture of Audrey and the delicious Apple Puff Pancake. What a sweetie. She is growing up in so many ways. My little future Rachel Ray...

The drive and the dream

2009-04-26T11:09:00.001-07:00

Yesterday, I watched a movie with my kids that was a favorite when I was about 8 years old. It was a TV movie, and I wonder if anyone else out there watched it and fixated on it like I did. It was a movie about the Olympic gymnast, Nadia Comaneci. She was the first to receive a perfect 10 score. Though I only took gymnastics for 1 summer growing up, I was as determined as any little naive 8 year old to be an Olympic gymnast. I worked hard on my hand stands EVERY day, created my own floor routines in the back yard, practiced my splits constantly. Isn't it interesting... the dreams we have to be someone great? I had many such dreams. I'll tell you another time of my plans to be a Disney character voice.

What happens to us that sometimes makes us lose sight of that drive to achieve? Is it pride in not wanting to take criticism? Is it fear of failure? Does it involve seeing things as they really are (realistically Kirsten does not have a gymnast's body type or a Disney characters voice :-)? Or maybe our drive dies out as we determine it's not really eternally important that we have fame and fortune or have to be Number One at something.

I think a pivotal point in my life was my first week attending BYU. I was a freshman from a suburban town in Southern California. All of a sudden I found myself relatively far from any family or friends. I remember all too well walking around campus my first week of classes amidst 33,000 students all of whom seemed to be bigger and better at everything I had thought I was good at. It was perhaps crushing at first and a little depressing, but over time, I found my niche. I began climbing the arduous totem pole of life again. As the semesters passed, I found my world got smaller. I got to know more people and would see them around. I became involved in a few jobs or projects that helped me feel I had a place or a role that would benefit others. I also realized that I was grateful my parents had tried to give me opportunities to experience or dabble in many different activities, sports, travels, etc...I may not know much about one thing, but I know teeny little bits about a lot of things. :-) That dabbling has helped me to a) provide for some good laughs when I try to act like I know something and b) try to relate to people from many walks and avenues.

I now fast forward to today. I find myself back in my suburban town in Southern California, the mother of 3. Life is beginning to settle a bit and I am finding this inner drive coming back: drive to do something...something...I don't know what. Can a 32 year old go out for the Olympic gymnastic team? If you see me doing hand stands in the front yard sometime, just smile and wave. No, honestly, I think I just find myself being able to relate to my girls as I watch them dream of being someone GREAT as they make up their songs on the piano or perform dance recitals in the backyard. They inspire me constantly.

Basically I think the drive to be something great comes from deep within. Something we knew before we came to earth. It is the desire to be all that we are meant to be. Psalms 82:6 "I have said, ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High." It just makes sense.

Monster cupcakes

2009-04-19T16:57:00.000-07:00

For 4 months of the year, Jonathan loves to tease me about being SO old. Now it is April and he has to be silent for the next 8 months because he is 32!!!! Jonathan is a big kid at heart and I am grateful for that because I sometimes think I was born a 32 year old!

Audrey and Addie helped me make some monster cupcakes for a birthday party for Jonathan. We used red hots and circus peanuts (two of his favorite candies).

This idea came from Disney Family Fun magazine. They have loads of craft, cupcake, and party ideas.

Low Tide at Leo Carillo

2009-04-16T21:48:00.000-07:00

This was a quick family outing on a Saturday in March. We love the tide pools at Leo Carillo State beach.

Working with Dad

2009-04-16T21:41:00.000-07:00

Isaac loves his Daddy. He especially loves to work with his daddy. He's got his own tools that he keeps in Daddy's toolbox. He gets giddy excited when Daddy starts working on some project with tools. This is him "mowing" the "meadow" with Daddy (at a safe distance away, unless taking pictures. :-) Jonathan gets the biggest kick out of our little boy.

Blogging blahs

2009-04-16T21:24:00.000-07:00

I'm still here...doing great, actually...just got the blogging blah's. Here's some recent photos of our comings and goings.

This was our snow trip to Tehachapi on Valentine's day. We had a great time with Erik and Cristin, Charlie, and Luke!

Poor Isaac is wearing Addie's old rain boots. Don't tell him when he's older, kay? We're lacking the snow clothes, having been in Cali for 5 1/2 years now!

Beginnings of a Flower Blog

2009-03-19T18:14:00.000-07:00

Ditte started a blog for our "flower business". I use that term loosely. ;-) It is good for us to have photos of our work in one spot and if it helps others in any way, that's always good, too. We have just started it and will be adding things to it as we go. We've found some great internet resources that we will post on the side, etc...

By the way, if you love flowers like we do, there's a great flower arranging article in April's Martha Stewart Living magazine.

Enjoy!

Two Hot Mama's Flowers

Disneylandia

2009-03-12T08:13:00.000-07:00

For Christmas, my parents gave all their children/grandchildren year passes to Disneyland. I was SO excited! We've been 4 times this year so far (not that I'm counting, but I am TOTALLY counting)! I've enjoyed each time, especially knowing I can come back another day, so I don't have to rush to see everything. Last month, my mom, Isaac, and I drove down to see my Aunt Lisa's family. We were only at the park from 10-2:30. We had a nice time!

I will occasionally post photos from our adventures at Disneyland this year. Up to January I had never been to California Adventure, so it has been fun to "discover" a new park. We usually pack one meal and eat one meal there. I'm trying to eat at a new place each time we go. We have found we save a little money by staying away from the Kid's meals, and purchasing adult meals to share around. Any other tips on where to eat or fun things you've done differently, I'd love to hear.

Here's a few photos of our trips thus far.

Jonathan is SO excited to be hugging Minnie.
This was his first time to California Adventure.

Don't you think Theme parks are so OVER-stimulating? Kids sleep great when they get home!

We've got the rainy days at Disneyland DOWN!

They are actually quite nice if you are planning on the rain. Bring ponchos and plan on doing all the indoor stuff you may not always take time to do when the weather is good. There are no lines on rainy days!

We look forward to this fun year at Disneyland. My plans for going next are on Friday, April 3rd. Jonathan's birthday is on April 5th, which is a Sunday and General Conference for our church, and then the next 2 weeks are blackout days for Spring Break. So if anyone out there wants to join us, let me know...

Silly Microwave tip

2009-03-01T09:38:00.001-08:00

I'm so excited to share a cleaning tip, but laughing at myself for doing it at the same time.

If you want to get the yucky splattered food off the inside of your microwave, heat it up for 40 seconds to a minute first. Then use a paper towel to wipe it down. It should come off nice and easy. If you have a really bad situation, try heating up a bowl of water for a minute in the microwave, then wipe it down. The steam should help break down the food particles.

I love clean microwaves. :-)

Overnight with the Shadles

2009-02-27T16:06:00.000-08:00

Ben and Alex were so nice to let us come play with them about a month ago in Santa Barbara. They had fixed a delicious roast dinner for us. We danced like crazy in their living room to High School Musical that night (poor Ben and Jonathan). We woke up the next morning to Aableskievers and beautiful Santa Barbara weather. It was probably 80 degrees that fine Saturday in January. We went to the "castle park", had a mouth-watering mango on a stick, listened to a folk band practice, and visited the pond across the street. I don't have any photos of Isaac, but he was definitely there! Oops.

The turtles were so happy for the warm weather, all 1000 of them were basking in the sun.

From there, we drove down to Feria and enjoyed an afternoon on the beach with Nana and Papa.

What a FUN time we had!

Life Explained

2009-02-27T14:23:00.000-08:00

A boat docked in a tiny Mexican village. An American
tourist complimented the
Mexican fisherman on the quality of his fish and asked how
long it took him to catch them.

"Not very long," answered the Mexican.

"But then, why didn't you stay out longer and
catch more?" asked
the American.

The Mexican explained that his small catch was sufficient
to meet his needs and those
of his family.

The American asked, "But what do you do with the rest
of your time?"

"I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children,
and take a siesta with my
wife. In the evenings, I go into the village to see my
friends, have a few drinks, play the guitar, and sing a few
songs. I have a full life."

The American interrupted, "I have an MBA from Harvard
and I can help you! You
should start by fishing longer every day. You can then sell
the extra fish you catch. With the extra revenue, you can
buy a bigger boat."

"And after that?" asked the Mexican.

"With the extra money the larger boat will bring, you
can buy a second one and a
third one and so on until you have an entire fleet of
trawlers. Instead of selling your fish to a middle man, you
can then negotiate directly with the processing plants and
maybe even open your own plant. You can then leave this
little village and move to Mexico City , Los Angeles , or
even
New York City ! From there you can direct your huge new
enterprise."

"How long would that take?" asked the Mexican.

"Twenty, perhaps twenty-five years," replied the
American.

"And after that?"

"Afterwards? Well my friend, that's when it gets
really interesting,"
answered the American, laughing. "When your business
gets really big, you can start buying and selling stocks
and
make millions!"

"Millions? Really? And after that?" asked the
Mexican.

"After that you'll be able to retire, live in a
tiny village near the coast,
sleep late, play with your children, catch a few fish, take
a siesta with your wife and spend your evenings drinking
and
enjoying your friends."

And the moral of this story is: .......... Know where
you're going in life... you may
already be there.

Life Explained

I thought this went along well with the "Greener Grass" theme and being a Business grad and Greedy American, I find myself struggling at times to remember what I truly want in life is what I already have been blessed with.

Audrey's perspective

2009-02-04T11:46:00.000-08:00

Audrey went through a phase where she kept telling me she wanted to be an orphan and live in an orphanage. At first, I was offended, thinking, "Am I that bad a parent, that my child would rather go to an orphanage"? Fortunately, I decided to ask more questions and come to find out she had been watching a lot of the movie "Annie" at that time. She thought it looked like so much fun, singing and dancing all day in the orphanage. Who wouldn't want to go?

When Audrey was in Kindergarten, she was so mad that she had to drive home in a car each day. She wanted to walk or ride a bike. We let her ride her bike down and up the hill a few times and she hasn't complained since.

The GRASS does always seem GREENER on the other side. So much so that orphanages sound appealing if you watch the right movies!

Snorkle

2009-01-19T10:49:00.000-08:00

A few of you asked how to play the silly game we put pictures of in my previous post. This is a Kent family game and it really is silly, but the young kids seem to love it. It's called Snorkle for some reason...again, silliness.

One person is it and has something: a tie, towel, or bandanna tied around their eyes and they hold a spatula. Someone spins them around and around and lets them go while everyone else playing tries to hide somewhere in the room, being as quiet as they can. Our little ones cannot possibly be quiet and Isaac has taken an interest in hitting or jumping on the person blindfolded lately. It's pretty funny. But the blindfolded person tries to feel their way around the room carefully with the spatula and if they touch someone, that someone has to grab the spatula and make a pig noise (getting weirder by the moment, huh?) The person who is it needs to guess who it is that is making the pig noise and if they do, then that person becomes the next blindfoldee. :-) Everyone somehow (wink wink) gets a turn and there are a lot of giggles to go around. I hope you can try it for Family Home evening and it is as fun and silly for you as it is for us.

FYI, my mom sent me a great document for Family Home Evenings for the year 2009 that go along with each weekly theme in Primary. Someone put a lot of work into it and I saved it to my computer, but can't post it here. It's 118 pages long! If you'd like it, email me and I'll send you an attachment: kkjjkent@hotmail.com

Happy Martin Luther King, Jr. Day! We're off to the beach. The 85 degree weather continues...

2008 in Review

2009-01-09T15:31:00.000-08:00

I had no drive to write a Family Christmas letter this year and now I am sorry because I thoroughly enjoyed receiving so many family updates and beautiful pictures from friends and relatives. For posterity sake, and a little review of 2009, here is our "Christmas Letter".

2008 has been a great year for the books. Jonathan and I can say, with conviction, it was a year of growth for both of us. Growth is painful at times, but it is so rewarding to look back on and feel stronger and better because of the experiences. We had loved ones pass away who we miss, but are grateful for their legacy. We think about all of them often. We've learned a lot in our service at church. Jonathan has been a Ward Missionary and Cub Scout Committee Chairman. He has done a great job starting up a new combined program and getting everyone organized and on board. I continue to work with the children and have learned some great lessons in leadership (sometimes the hard way).

We have been in our home on West Loop for 3 years now (the longest we've been in one place!). We have loved living here with the avocado trees and the big open yard for the kids. We made a goal to pay off all our debts this year and fulfilled that goal in August. That was a tough but GRATIFYING accomplishment. I could write several pages just on that journey.

I got to take a trip with my mom and sisters to BYU Women's Conference in May. It was uplifting and revitalizing. I loved every moment of it.

Jonathan started a "dream job" of his in July, going to work for a toy company called Uncle Milton's. They are happy with his graphic design work. He loves what he is doing, and our family is adjusting VERY nicely to his new schedule. We love having him home for dinner each night, playing with him on Saturdays, and the girls and I love that he takes them to school each morning. I feel very spoiled to say the least!

We had a great summer vacation at Carpinteria in August. The weather, the beach, the camping, and the family bonding were perfect. Jonathan and I took a trip to BYU in September. It was a training conference for the BYU alumni committee, but we called it an early anniversary trip. We loved the fall colors, the football game, and reminiscing of our days as newlywed's there.

Our children continue to grow at amazing speed. They are such great kids. Audrey was baptized in November. She's loving gymnastics with her sister and has taken a liking to the piano, and still loves to read, read, read. Adalyn is 6 and is riding bikes, growing tall, playing the piano, and excelling in everything she tries. She is a determined and smart little girl. Both girls' Spanish exceeds my 4 years of high school Spanish. It is so fun to hear their little accents and we enjoy quizzing each other on words we may think the others won't know. Isaac is now potty trained. He loves tools, tractors, and every stick in the backyard can be turned into some kind of weapon. He loves to help me with chores and projects. I get a kick out of that.

Our family took an active part with the proposition 8 campaign in California this year. That experience created some serious growth and interesting memories. I'm sad at some of the negativity that has transpired, but grateful for the opportunity for me and my family to discuss and evaluate our belief's and to stand for them even when it is hard to do so.

We have had a lot of fun together this year, enjoying family and friends who have come to visit, play, and party. We had a great Christmas season and look forward to a new year of growth and fun. You can visit this blog throughout the year to see updated photos and read about our comings and goings.

I'll end now with a quote I found at Christmas time that I really liked: "There is no better time than now, this very Christmas season, for all of us to rededicate ourselves to the principles taught by Jesus the Christ. It is the time to love the Lord our God with all our heart--and our neighbors as ourselves. It is well to remember that he who gives money gives much, he who gives time gives more, but he who gives of himself gives all. Let this be a description of our Christmas gifts." Thomas S. Monson

Merry Christmas and a Happy New year to all. We love you,

The Kent's
The pictures I'm including this year are some of my favorite "kandid's". There's been some funny moments...

Kirsten and Ditte at Christmas Eve

Audrey Snowflake Head

Dad sneaks a kiss at Baila Folkloriko

Addie Monkey face

Child Torture (naw, just family favorite game, SERIOUSLY!)

Mommy Torture

Rockin' Guitar Man

Early Morning dance session

"B-Y-U"

Why, Good mornin'!

Young mud princesses

New Year's Resolutions

2009-01-08T21:09:00.001-08:00

I dare not write all my resolutions down here, but I wanted to write about one...

It is to be healthier in 2009. Specifically, my family is doing a Biggest Loser (of sorts). I can't say I have too many pounds to lose, but I want to eat better and exercise more.

Some goals I've set:

Running Monday, Wednesday, Friday mornings

Yoga, 5-minute stomach workout, and pushup's Tuesday, Thursday

Eating a sugar or chocolate treat twice a week only (I know it should be never, but come on, I love cookies, Haagen-daz, and Sees candy).

Two of my tricks for this week:

When I make a salad for dinner, I usually only use 1/2 a cucumber, bell pepper, etc., but I've been cutting up the extra veggies to snack on the next day. This gives me something to grab other than a calorie-filled snack.

I give myself the biggest glass for breakfast and dinner and make a goal to fill it with water twice during the meal.

I'm running the Beecroft run on Memorial day this year. It is a 5K run my Grandpa Beecroft started 30 years ago when he was Stake President of the Ventura Stake. Grandpa was always running when I was a kid. We'd go out on the balcony and watch him run around the field at Poinsettia Elementary right across the street from his and grandma's house. If anyone wants to join us in the run, let me know. It is a lot of fun.

I know there is a PLETHORA of tricks/helpful hints. I sure could use the reminders. Any one have anything different they are trying--to be healthier in 2009? My family, especially...I'll do posts through out the year of things I've learned from you!

Ahhhh...

2008-12-21T19:59:00.000-08:00

It's Sunday night, we've got a fire going in the fireplace, the kids have picked up their room (an amazing task on a Sunday night) and we've been enjoying some hot chocolate/apple cider. Isaac fell asleep at dinner, in his chair.

I like that Christmas is on Thursday. It's nice to have a holiday in between two weekends. We've had all our parties and performances (man, have there been A LOT. I know, I'm really lucky to have fun places to go and things to do). Sigh.

Today I had sharing time in Primary. For Junior Primary, we threw a birthday party for Joseph Smith. His birthday is on Tuesday. He will have been 203 years old. WOW! I shared some stories I found in an old Friend magazine about games he'd played, children he'd helped out of a mud puddle, little childrens' memories of him. We sang "happy birthday" and ate mini Johnny Cakes (a favorite treat of his). Should I leave out the fact that I bawled when I shared his testimony of the Savior? I asked Audrey if she was embarrassed that I had cried. She said, "no, Mom, you just felt the Spirit". In Senior primary, we did a narrative with songs concerning the Restoration. During Sacrament meeting, we sang in the ward choir. Our ward choir only gets together for Christmas and Easter, which is kind of nice. Sister Arbon is our director. I LOVE HER! We sang an ENTIRE sacrament meeting of songs and I watched my kids eat an ENTIRE box of Cheezit's on the 3rd row, sitting with our friend Rance. Poor guy, didn't know we were going to spring that one on him. . . I think I better go by the church tomorrow and vacuum the row my kids were sitting in. Primary sang two songs during Sacrament as well. They did a magnificent job, bells and all!

I just have to say Camarillo 2nd ward is a wonderful ward. It's the ward I grew up in. I would have never thought I'd still be here. There are some GREAT people in this ward. I admire them and look up to them. Some of them have known me a DANG long time, and they're still nice to me!

We had our ward Christmas party on Friday night. Wendy Speakman and her committee threw an amazing party. I can't thank them all enough. You know, being Mormon, we don't get invited to too many holiday cocktail parties. I never even knew eggnog was typically served with alcohol...love that stuff (minus the alcohol, of course :-). So a good ward Christmas party is so much fun to go to, even if the Kent family humiliated themselves...AGAIN! I must have been born with a label on my forehead that says, "please ask me to do some cheezy number for your talent show. I'd be happy to torture myself and all those I know". We performed "Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer". Jonathan was a STELLAR grandpa, and my 3-year old Isaac stole the show with his rockin' guitar and his cowboy hat. I need to see someone's video of it because it was the talk of the town today. Dad Kent did the singing...true KENT-tucky style. Our dumb CD started skipping...but we made it.

Remind me to tell you about when I was a teenager and we sang "Rudolph, the Red-nosed reindeer" IN DANISH! Can you believe someone who knew me then would agree to marry me? I can't! On a good note, two of my little students sang "Mary's Lullaby" right after our crazy number. I was so proud of them.

The piano recital went really well.

Me and Adalyn playing our duet

Our dancing for Relief Society was a lot of fun. I loved the costumes.

No smiling allowed

The gymnastics showcase was nice...Jonathan was hit by another car on the freeway that night on his way from work to the showcase. We feel really blessed that he was not hurt and his car still runs. It could have been a really HORRIBLE night!

Audrey, Coach Patty, and Adalyn

Baila Folklorico had 2 performances.

My girls are gorgeous.

Audrey loved being center stage for her number.

There were SEVERAL school parties, a field trip and other craziness all mixed together and now I sit on a Sunday night, relaxed and sighing a little sigh of relief. Good night to all!

It's Christmas time

2008-12-08T09:26:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas all! I don't have much to write, but I wanted to let you know we are enjoying this season of giving. For those of you who would like to know what we will be doing the next few weeks (tune out now if you're bored with the Kent family's comings and goings) here's a list:

Tuesday Jonathan sings in a quartet and he and I will be doing a waltz and teaching a group of church ladies a circle dance from the 1800's era. (thanks to Alex the great for her help). We'll be dressed in costumes from that era and for some reason I really like period piece costumes.

Wednesday Audrey and Adalyn have their first Baila Folklorico performance of the year. Adalyn is doing a dance from Mexico and Audrey is doing a type of 1980's cheer/gymnastics number (not super Folklorico if you ask me. :-)

Thursday I am making Latkes (potato pancakes for Hanukkah) for Adalyn's Festival of Light's Celebration. Wish me luck with that one. I've never had a Latke.

Saturday we have a piano recital, the Camarillo Christmas Parade and we are making brownies for the Rescue mission.

Dec. 15th Annual caroling fun. The kids LOVE to get their scarves and mittens on (you know, we may actually need them to keep warm in Southern California, just at night, of course).

Dec. 16th is the girl's first Holiday gymnastics show at 6:30 pm

Dec. 19th is our church's Christmas dinner.

Dec. 24th Party at the Lassen's, dancing around the Christmas tree, delicious danish food.

Dec. 25th Christmas day!

Pictures and Christmas letter will be coming soon. If you want to join us for any of these activities, just let me know. We're excited to see some of you this holiday and we'll miss the rest of you! What are you doing these next few weeks?

I love you, Lassen's Health Food

2008-11-19T11:32:00.000-08:00

I am a bit sad today, due to an article written in our county's paper about Lassen's and Prop. 8. You can find the link HERE

Part of me wants to stay inside and lock the door, but another part of me wants to go stand in front of Lassen's with a sign for peace, love, and traditional marriage, wear the Lassen's t-shirt/hat/apron? proudly all week, and smile at my" enemies for they know not what they do". I'll probably end up doing something somewhere in the middle.

I just have to say I am proud of my sister Else. She's the best!

I have a good idea for a comment to the article. I think I'm going to share tips on how to be a life-long Lassen's customer. You'll just have to scroll WAY down to find it. What a hot topic, eh? I love my family and their strength. I love the health food stores. I stand for traditional marriage. It is important to ME.

Amazing Avocado Acrobats

2008-11-17T09:24:00.000-08:00

This would describe Jonathan, Ben, and Alex. They were determined to pick a GINORMOUS avocado that was teasing them from way high up one of our trees. It was like watching a circus act. Alex was ready to catch the avocado. Jonathan was keeping Ben steady. Ben was using his very impressive surgery skills. They were all in their pajamas! Just as Ben cut the avocado, Alex was ready to catch it below, but he used his "cat-like" reflexes to reach out and grab the football of an avocado. Alex started swooning. Jonathan was holding on to Ben with all his muscular might. It was quite an impressive trick. They need to work on their dismount a little, but I will give them a 9.5 for difficulty.

Tea at the Huntington Library

2008-11-17T09:04:00.000-08:00

Auntie Doris took me to the Huntington Library in Pasadena for a birthday tea. We went on her birthday, but celebrated mine as well. It was a fun experience. The grounds are GORGEOUS. I need to go back just to walk around more. The tea itself was like a cafeteria style tea, so we immediately agreed it wasn't the best. Doris does a much better job with her tea parties. We are very spoiled by her cooking, you know!

We had to take a picture of the library and decided right in front of the naked man statute would be PERFECT! (please note the sarcasm) We had a good laugh about it, though. The best part of the day was spending time with Auntie Doris. Happy birthday to us. I love you, Auntie Doris.

Want to know more about Jonathan's Company?

2008-11-16T17:06:00.000-08:00

Here's an article written in today's Ventura County Star about the toy company Jonathan has been working for since July.

Jonathan has really enjoyed working there. He loves the opportunity to let his creative juices flow. We feel very blessed.

Great idea for Family Home Evening

2008-11-16T08:00:00.000-08:00

This article was in the November Ensign 2008, pg. 123. I'd like to use it for Family Home Evening along with a lesson on our Prophet, why we follow him, and talk a little about service. It sounds like a fun idea, so I thought I'd share. Let me know if you decide to do it, too.

A Birthday Gift for President Thomas S. Monson

In his conference talk, Elder Quentin L. Cook of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles said: “When our beloved prophet, President Thomas S. Monson, was asked on his birthday this past August what would be the ideal gift that members worldwide could give him, he said without a moment’s hesitation, ‘Find someone who is having a hard time, … and do something for them.’”1

Children, would you like to give President Monson a birthday present? Think of an act of ser-vice you could do for someone. Maybe your grandpa needs help around the house. Or perhaps that new boy at school needs a friend. There are many people who need help, and many kind children to help them! Tell us about your act of service, and then read about many others in the August 2009 Liahona and Friend—President Monson’s birthday month!

Please e-mail your letter, photo, and permission to friend@ldschurch.org or to liahona@ldschurch.org. Or send your letter, photo, and permission to:

Birthday Service
Friend [or Liahona] Magazine
50 E. North Temple St., Rm. 2420
Salt Lake City, UT 84150-0024, USA

The following information and permission must be included:

Full Name

Age

State/Province, Country

I grant permission to print submission and photo:

Signature of parent or legal guardian

Please respond by December 15, 2008. Children whose letters are submitted should be at least three years old.

My husband is So cool!

2008-11-14T08:48:00.000-08:00

I just want to brag about my cool husband today.

This is a sculpture of a brain he made from a watermelon for the Garrett's Halloween party. (Okay, you doctor's out there, he did it in 10 minutes, so don't try and locate all essential parts to the brain)

This is some political art he created from Arnold Friberg's painting of Captain Moroni for the Yes on 8 campaign (significant to those who know the story of Captain Moroni from the Book of Mormon).

I'm so honored to be married to such a talented and good man.

It's Great to be Eight!

2008-11-12T21:29:00.001-08:00

Audrey was baptized on Nov. 1st, 2008 at our church, by her dad. I have been attending baptisms for a long time and more frequently with my current calling. I love baptisms. I especially loved witnessing my own daughter's baptism. Another milestone in my life...and hers.

A few thoughts on the day:

Friends of ours not of our faith asked me (in kind terms) if we were letting Audrey choose to be baptized. I explained to them that we have been talking to Audrey about this for some time and wanted it to be her decision. We asked her to pray about her decision and let us know how she felt and if she wanted to get baptized. She had been praying for some time and felt pretty good about it, but she had a very nice experience at her cousin Cozette's baptism 2 months previous. We were singing some beautiful songs, and I turned to Audrey to see her crying. She leaned over to me and said, "Mom, I KNOW I want to get baptized. I feel really good about it."

A special moment I had with Audrey on her baptism day was when she was waiting to enter the font of water, I was standing there, hugging her and my heart SWELLED with love and gratitude for my relationship with her and I was proud of the decision she had made. I hugged her and kissed her and told her how much I loved her. She looked into my eyes and smiled. I hope I never forget that tender moment.

Audrey's Nana (Jonathan's mom) gave a very nice talk on the Holy Ghost. She had Audrey bring her blanket, to comfort her, much like the Holy Ghost comforts us. Audrey sang "I am a child of God" with Adalyn and her cousin's Cozette and Atalie. They sounded like angels (I'm a little biased, you know). Grandma and Aunt Ditte led the group in several special songs. Many wonderful friends and family came to support Audrey and for that I am SO grateful. What a sweet outpouring of love for our little girl and a very special day.

Reflections

2008-11-12T21:11:00.001-08:00

Last night I spent about 3 hours doing something ULTRA organized. Who knows if it will be appreciated, but I feel really good about doing it.

Ditte and I have done the PTA Reflections art competition at our school for the past 3 years. We've learned new things with each year. I will probably need to pass this responsibility on to a new person due to some other new assignments in my life, but I took the time last night to organize all files used for Reflections and burn them to a CD. I wrote 3 pages of notes/things to do/things I've learned. I included hard copies of all receipts, reminders/contestant lists, etc. I included examples of artwork, ribbons, certificates, and programs used. I put all of this into a binder and am ready to hand it to someone ready to receive it.

Like I said, it may not be appreciated or even very helpful if people want to change what I have been doing, but I feel good knowing I've tried to help ease the burden of a new person volunteering to do something for our children. You know, the first time you are in charge of something like this, it take an AMAZING amount of hours trying to figure it all out. Then as you do it more and more, it becomes easier, less time consuming. Part of me didn't want to stop doing it because I feel sorry for the next person to have to start all over. But now, I hope "passing the torch" will be an easier experience.

Here's some pictures from this year's showcase. The theme was: "WOW!"

Pete's Pumpkin Patch

2008-11-12T15:55:00.000-08:00

Say that 5 times fast! This is a new pumpkin patch in Camarillo, on a hillside overlooking the fields and the ocean. I'm takin' my pumpkin purchasing business to Pete's from now on.

Why?

They were open late so we could go after Jonathan got off of work.
They tried to convince us our pumpkin was smaller than it was to offer the cheaper price.
They gave us 2 butternut squash and 2 mini pumpkins for free! What a bonus.
They were super nice.
They are local!
They don't charge us JUST TO GET IN!

Don't you just love the colors at the pumpkin patch? Golden hay, vibrant orange, red and white pumpkins.

Here's some photo's of this year's trip:

Family self portrait
(we all got in the shot thanks to Jonathan's amazing arm length)

Jonathan and Isaac at the top of the hill

Father and Son

Audrey and the pumpkins

I like your eyeballs

2008-11-10T21:45:00.000-08:00

Isaac and I have been spending a lot of quality time together lately as we work on potty training. Honestly, I like the quality time, just not the location nor the lack of product placement, if you know what I mean...

Today he kept trying to touch my eyeballs! He kept smiling that smile that melts me. "Mom, let me touch your eyeball".

"No, that hurts mommy".

"I like your eyeballs, Mommy".

"Thank you, Isaac".

Who would have ever thought a compliment from a 2 year old on the toilet concerning my lovely eyeballs would make my entire day? You may say, "Kirsten, you need to get out more", but really, I'm thinking I need to stay at home more!

Tired of intolerance?

2008-10-17T15:33:00.000-07:00

See more videos like this at: Preservingmarriage.org

Proposition 8 in Plain English

2008-10-15T08:22:00.000-07:00

When I see a good video for Prop. 8, I'm going to post it here. I liked this one.

Please pray that Prop. 8 will pass, whether you live in California or not. To us, it is a BIG deal. I pray for our leaders and our nation.

The Best Gift

2008-10-09T10:09:00.000-07:00

Protect Marriage

2008-10-08T21:41:00.000-07:00

For those of you who don't know...Proposition 8 is a proposition being voted for in California this November election which will define in the state's constitution that marriage is between a man and a woman. I have been wanting to post about this issue for a while. Tonight's the night!

I have done a lot of thinking and praying about this proposition and what my stand on this proposition means to me. I don't like to discuss politics or the law much. I fear contention. I hate to offend or hurt others. I don't feel like I know a lot when it comes to the law. When I first caught ear of this proposition, my immediate thoughts were that if I stand for this, I will be called a hateful person, intolerant. I decided I needed to study the issue, ponder, and pray about it so I would not be a fence-rider, as I like to be sometimes, so that I could defend my opinion to stand for something and let my voice be heard.

I believe marriage should be between a man and a woman. It is a divine institution that I feel very strongly about. I'm grateful to my parents and Jonathan's parents who also believed it was a divine institution. Our lives are extremely blessed because of our marriage and our being able to bear children. A man and a woman together make a great team in rearing children. I want to protect this institution.

We have talked with our children about this issue. Our children have been memorizing The Family: A Proclamation to the World (a document from our prophet and apostles on the importance of family). Adalyn, as a child, put it so well when she said, "Mom, marriage has to be between a man and a woman, otherwise there would be no children on this earth". Simple statement from my 6 year old.

I want to peacefully urge ALL to do their research on this subject, to pray and think about what this Proposition means, and then to vote on Tuesday November 4th.

For more information see preservingmarriage.org
I will have more to say about this in the upcoming weeks...

Movie Review

2008-09-29T09:50:00.000-07:00

North and South is an excellent 4 hour movie! Too bad we didn't know it was 4 hours when we started it at 8pm last night! Jonathan and I are temporarily subscribers to Netflix. They offer a lot of movies you can watch instantly on your computer. This was one of them! I remember seeing a preview for it on PBS perhaps, but honestly thought it was about the civil war era. It takes place in Northern England. If you love Pride and Prejudice, you'll love this movie. I would buy it and watch it again and again. It has good character development (well it better with 4 hours to do so) and vividly describes a history in England I was not familiar with. I hope you enjoy...

These are a few of my favorite things

2008-09-25T08:04:00.000-07:00

Who's cute little legs do you think these belong to?

MISTER ISAAC, of course!

Since Isaac has been walking, he has had a fetish for Grandma's pink slip-on's. She would hide them in the deep, dark, back of her closet, but it didn't matter, Isaac would manage to find them whenever he came over. He'd clomp through the house (at least the CLOMPING was manly) wearing Grandma's pink shoes. She had an identical pair in black, but he preferred the pink ones. Time for Grandma to get rid of the shoes, so she passed them on to Isaac. How nice!

Quick trip to Utah

2008-09-22T14:13:00.000-07:00

Jonathan and I had the opportunity to attend a BYU alumni conference this past weekend. We had a great time walking around campus, reminiscing about the good ol' days, meeting a lot of great people from all over the country, and seeing the changes around BYU.

We started our trip Wed. afternoon flying into Salt Lake City at 7:45 pm, just in time for a birthday party for Jonathan's sister, Sefanne. We spent the evening visiting with Stefanne and Angie and their families. We slept at Angie's house and had a nice breakfast with her before starting off for Aspen Grove. We found Trine at one of the off-ramps in American Fork to give her and cute Leyna a big hug on our way.

We arrived at Aspen Grove at noon and went straight into meetings until 8pm that night. Our meetings consisted of training us for leadership in the alumni programs, hosting events, and we heard from a great speaker, Daniel Peterson, on BYU and Islam that night. We learned how to put a tent together with blindfolds. :-) We did some outdoor activities that taught us various prinicples of communication and leadership. The Aspen Grove lodge is a beautiful building with HUGE windows that look out into the canyons and mountains where all the trees and shrubs are changing fall colors. It was a very pretty setting.

Friday we woke up early and had to be at the new Hinkley Alumni building by 8 am for breakfast. Ahead of us was another full day of meetings and training. We met with various affiliate groups that will help us with the alumni program. We met as alumni chapter sizes and regions to discuss various topics and we were trained by a brother in LDS leadership. He had some good tools and stories to share. We made a trip to the bookstore and walked in some of our favorite buildings on campus. Friday night we were able to attend the World of Dance, which was SO good. One of my favorite routine's was one that the Dancer's Company performed with mattresses. It was really funny. We met Andrew the man-drew and Crissy Blikenstaff at the Creamery on 9th for some favorite desserts afterwards. There we ran into Angela Henderson and the Bramwell's from Camarillo. That's a great place to run into people. We took desserts to Trine and Larry and visited for about an hour before heading back to Aspen Grove for the night.

Saturday morning was another early one. We headed back to the Hinkley Center for some breakfast and wrap-up meetings. We ran to the bookstore for some poncho's because it was sporadically raining that day. We attended a tailgate party and the BYU football game where we creamed Wyoming. I love BYU football, especially getting to be in the LaVelle Edwards stadium. We had great seats and were joined by Trine, Larry, Chris and Alex. After the fabulous shut-out, we went to dinner with our siblings. Jonathan and I took a little drive around Provo, Y-Mount, the temple and MTC, then we spent the evening at Trine and Larry's. We were all so tired. My cousin Shiloh and his new wife, Danika stopped by to visit. I'm so glad I got to meet Danika.

We thought of many of our friends and relatives that live in Provo/Salt Lake and were sad we couldn't visit all of you. It was a very quick trip and we weren't sure of our itinerary, but we hope to go back soon. It is a place that hold lots of memories of good times for us.

We've been brainwashing our kids with the Cougar fight song: Oh, rise and shout the Cougars are out...anyone want to help us with alumni events in our area, just let us know. It's going to be a lot of fun.

I know where to go for potty training!

2008-09-12T17:53:00.000-07:00

The Thousand Oaks Mall!!!!

So, today Isaac and I met Jonathan at the newly remodeled TO Mall for lunch and a little fun shopping. The mall is beautiful. I don't go to malls hardly ever, but with a new Nordstrom's, food court, kids play area and lots of fun new stores, I might (dangerously) go more often.

But, the funnest part (honestly) was using the new restroom facilities before we left. Isaac and I and my big jogging stroller first stopped at the diaper changing station. The pads were leather-like, the counters were granite. There was a sink right by the station, a basket of complimentary PAMPER diapers, and a bin for dirty diapers. Doesn't that sound like genius planning? Then we went across the hall to a family bathroom. I've used these before, but never with a boy age 2 who is starting to potty train. Isaac ran straight for the mini toilet and started taking off his shorts and fresh diaper. This toilet was something he HAD to use. He was excited about it! It was the perfect height for him (if you know what I mean...) and it flushed automatically. How great is that? No germs, no unflushed toilets. What more could you ask for? There was a really nice wooden stool for the mini sink, which he LOVED climbing onto, and was excited to wash his hands.

So, in my dream home I will design a bathroom with a mini auto-flushing toilet, a mini sink, a nice wooden stool, and don't forget the leather and granite diaper changing station. Realistically, maybe I'll just potty train Isaac at the mall. The bathroom is right across from the play area. PERFECT!

Friday night!

2008-09-12T08:25:00.000-07:00

It's Friday and we want to go on a date, but don't have any plans. Any CHEAP ideas for a date?

I should write a song about Carpinteria

2008-09-10T08:02:00.000-07:00

Carpinteria is a magical, romantical place for me. It holds a lifetime of summer memories. I'm so glad it's only 45 minutes away. It guarantees we get to go often. I get so nostalgic when we drive through town. Smells I associate with Carp: aloe vera for sunburns, sun screen to prevent sunburns, campfire smoke, the smell of fog and seaweed. Wierd, huh?

For those of you who don't know where Carpinteria is, it's a state park located on the beach just 45 minutes north of Camarillo, or an hour and a half from LA. It's just south of Santa Barbara. It is a quaint community with lots of fun shops, they have some of the best cut flower nurseries in the world (I would know!), but their main attraction is the State Park where thousands flock for good old summer camping on the beach each year.

We have been camping there almost every year since I was a little child. Auntie Doris plans the whole thing and it is very organized, to say the least. It's a yearly Lassen reunion. This year for Sunday dinner we had 65 people there, all family. Set up is a pretty big production as we drive up with vans full of equipment. We used to borrow the produce truck from the store to bring it all up. That was a little embarrassing. "Lassen's are invading the campground". We have a whole outdoor kitchen area set up, making it easy to feed a crew of 65. Each of us take turns with meals. So for the ENTIRE week, Ditte and I were in charge of 2 meals. Isn't that NICE?

Some of the week's highlights were: a train ride to Santa Barbara. Our little family put our bikes on the train this year so we could ride around Santa Barbara. That was fun. We rode the carousel, had lunch at Sambo's, and got ice cream on the pier. My kids have been wanting to ride a train, so they were in heaven.

Trine, Leyna, Isaac, and Me getting ready to board the train

At one point, we had 9 two year old's! Here are 7 of them. This is a record. It made for a busy week. Isaac and Wyatt only got lost once...really Adalyn was being a sweetie and took them to the little campground museum. She just forgot to tell mom and dad.

Adalyn and Lizzie

Isaac and Dad on the "Thomas"
Atalie, Audrey, and Cozette on the Carousel

I digress to a "happy camping memory". The day Jonathan and I got engaged 9 years ago was a day the Lassen's were camping at Carpinteria. He proposed to me at 5 am while we were watching the sunrise from a mountaintop around Sycamore canyon. We then drove up to Carp to feed everyone pancakes for breakfast and announce our engagement. We were on CLOUD 9 for the next 9 months (that's when morning sickness hit :-) We made googly eyes at each other all day. That day the whole family was taking the train to Santa Barbara. We walked around all day, smiling and happy at the world. We picked out my engagement ring at the first jewelry store we found on State street. The first ring I tried on was the one Jonathan ended up getting for me. Gosh, how it sparkled. Incidentally, Cristin got her wedding ring clipped off at this same jewelry store this year due to a bee sting on her ring finger. Jonathan and I had fun remembering the day we got engaged as we were taking the train THIS year, and walking around Santa Barbara. 9 years later, we are a little busier with 3 children to hold hands with instead of with each other all the time, but it has been a good 9 years!

We spent a day up at Solvang, where we reserved an entire restaurant for our favorite Danish breakfast: hard rolls with Havarti cheese, lots of butter, and hot chocolate. We walked around to our favorite but limited kid-friendly shops: the toy store, the candy store, and the pastry store.

Jonathan the Astronaut

Isaac at the toy store

The city hosted a movie at the park, which butted up to our campsite, so one night we watched Little Rascals on the BIG screen. That was a lot of fun.

The rest of the time, we relaxed at the beach, building sand castles, swimming, and MY favorite: SITTING in a chair playing lifeguard while trying to enjoy a good book. What a treat! We had card games going all the time, badminton, and kickball, a campfire each night with a devotional. Showers were a BLESSED time when they were warm. Jonathan and I created a scavenger hunt one day. Cousin Julie had bracelet weaving another day. The park offered the Junior Ranger program, which we participated in at Calaveras. The kids really like this program. They had their bikes and were always riding them around the campground.

Adalyn's WICKED kick

Treasure map

Haans diverting the kids to a WRONG location, so he can keep all the BOOTY for himself! :-)

Digging for the treasure

I loved our trip. I love Carpinteria. Maybe I should write a song, I love it so much. :-) Next year around the campfire, I'll teach it to everyone. Ha ha.

Isaac's a great home teacher

2008-09-10T07:54:00.000-07:00

Jonathan took this picture of Isaac when they went home teaching to the Porter's. The whole experience was SO amazing, it wiped him out. (Honestly, he was asleep when they got there, and stayed asleep through the whole experience, posing with the scriptures and all). But he's so cute...

Sailin' take me away

2008-09-08T23:18:00.000-07:00

July 26th, dad chartered a 42 foot sail boat. He and Allen Jenkins wanted to take their children who hadn't been out much for a fun day cruise. Was it ever? It was so much fun. We had BEAUTIFUL weather (though the sailors will disagree. They would have liked a little more wind, I'm sure). It was calm waters. I think we peaked out at 5 knots when we turned the engines off. We left at 6 am and sailed off to Santa Cruz Island. It is a beautiful island, with crisp clean water. The island itself has been protected from much human involvement. On our way to the island, we followed a pod of dolphins for a while.

We saw 3 pods of dolphins that day.

We got to the island and stopped in Little Scorpion Bay, where I took a nap and Jonathan snorkeled for a little bit. Then we sailed over to Scorpion Bay where we anchored for the rest of the day. Jonathan and Tyler and I had a great time snorkeling. We saw several rays, some sea bass, and the state fish (a Garibaldi)
It was fun, but a little scary to swim through the forests of sea weed. Underwater, it really does look like a forest.
We had little rafts that we rowed to the island and explored. We hiked up to a lookout, where we could see the other islands in the channel.
I really hate showing how funny we looked, but we were roughing it, hiking in swim suits after sailing and swimming...what is behind us is what is beautiful, and we look pretty happy. We were having a NICE time.

We ate delicious carne ascada tacos Spencer and Annie barbecued for us on the boat.

The crew consisted of Dad, Allen Jenkins, Jonathan and I, Lindsey and Brittanie Terry, Jocelyn Jenkins and a friend, Spencer and Annie, Hans, Mette, Tyson, and Tyler.

We got back about 9pm. It was such a nice day. I loved being with Jonathan. Dad may have me hooked on this sailing thing!

Captain Jonathan

Summer tea

2008-09-08T22:51:00.000-07:00

The date is July 30th, 2008. The place is the fairy land we call our backyard. The theme is...you guessed it...fairies.

Adalyn and Audrey wanted a fairy tea party as one of our summer activities. So, we came up with a menu and the girls were in charge of the decorations. Notice the fairies hanging from the trees! It was low key, but they had a good time. My girls love parties.

Isaac brought the Liahona for directions

Audrey, Atalie, Cozette, and Adalyn

Tasty fairy treats
(still gotta have the whole wheat bread, you know)

What to write

2008-09-08T18:44:00.000-07:00

I spend so much time reading others blogs, I don't take time to update mine. I also feel at a loss of what to write. My purpose for starting a blog was to write about the things that make us happy, our "greener grass", but I fear I may appear to be without trials or that my life has no blemishes. This is simply crazy, I just don't want to dwell on that in my blog.

That said, I will spend some time updating travel log style. Life has been good. We feel extremely blessed and busy. I'll post more soon.

I'll end with one of my favorite quotes:
Most stress is caused by people who overestimate the importance of their problems.
- Michael LeBoeuf
So...stop stressing, because your problems aren't that important!

We're debt free!!!!

2008-08-27T11:34:00.000-07:00

Since I'm too scared to call Dave Ramsey and talk to him on public radio...I'll tell all my friends and family what I would tell him.

Dave,

We've been inspired by your radio show and your books and two years ago, decided to get rid of all our debts, trying to "work your plan". (He likes numbers, so humbly, I share ours with you) We had $24,000 in debt from a family vehicle and student loans. Our income was $40,000 at the time we started, and we live in Ventura County, California. We were tight! We said to ourselves many times some of your famous sayings: we've gotta get down "to beans and rice, rice and beans", "live like no one else now, so later you can live like NO ONE ELSE", we're going "gazelle mode". Those are a few. We didn't have cable or cell phones, but learned to cut back on clothes and entertainment, groceries, and eating out. We learned to say "no" when we were invited to do things, take trips, or our kids wanted something we couldn't afford and not be embarrassed to tell our children/friends/family we were trying to get out of debt. I always thought that was a socially UNACCEPTABLE thing to do. It probably is, but we wanted to get out of debt so bad, we didn't care about being dorks. We started driving down the street looking at new cars people got and instead of saying in our heads "wow, that person must have a lot of money", we started saying "wow that person probably has a lot of debt". (now I know that's not necessarily true. We live in a pretty wealthy community, but it made us think differently). Then we would see old beater cars or the pizza delivery guy and say to ourselves: "I wonder if they are trying to get out of debt, too?"

We've had some major setback's along the road. We had some pretty big medical bills that we had to encounter as well as a crooked mechanic who ruined our 2nd car. YOU call that a "stupid tax". After spending thousands on that, we had to purchase another car. We've continued to plow through and feel we've been super blessed.

We have a working budget thanks to my sister Ditte. Thanks to your teachings, we feel like we are on the same page with each other when it comes to money management. That is a big HELP! We have set goals and set dates for goals and continue to meet together regularly to see where we are at. It's still easy to get discouraged and there always seems to be something breaking, but with the emergency money in place, we don't panic so much. We have taken our second "baby step".

We wrote our last check last night to pay off our student loan! That was exciting.

Has it been hard? You bet! Probably one of the hardest things we've done. Does it feel great? YES! We owe no one! We can move on to other goals we've set. Thank you Dave. Thank you family and friends for supporting us, encouraging us, telling us about Dave Ramsey. We hope we can pass on what we've learned to others, to benefit their lives.

Sincerely,
The Debt-free Kents

WHAAA HOOOOO!

When the Sun Sets on Summer

2008-08-26T20:35:00.000-07:00

In high school we read a poem with the above title. I think this phrase sums up my life today: the sun is setting on summer.
I love summer. I love feeling warm, I love being in the water outside. We've been to the beach a lot lately and I have enjoyed the Pacific being warmer than the rest of the year. No need to don a wet suit.
I love being with my children and having a break from hectic schedules. I love going to bed late and sleeping in late-ish. I LOVE standing outside after dark and feeling comfortable! Our friends Randy and Iris gave us a hammock and I'm wishing we had it hanging in the backyard tonight so I could swing between the avocado trees and look up into the sky. I love having the windows open to feel the occasional cool breezes.
I love the memories we've created and the time we've had together.
As the sun sets on summer, I hope I can look forward to what the fall will bring.

What we feed our kids in desperation

2008-07-28T09:16:00.001-07:00

It is a sad sad thing what we resort to in times of desperation. Two observations this week:

First, I was out visiting three friends from church this week. We call this Visiting Teaching in our church. It is a way for us to keep tabs on each other. Because it is summer, I towed my kids with me to each friend's house. I brought with me a basket of books, thinking I had done a good job preparing. I needed to be at the first friend's house at 8:45 am, and in the rush, forgot to grab a CHILD'S necessity--FOOD! I remember my aunt commenting that my grandmother (Bedstemor in Danish) was never without food. In retrospect I now know this was a SMART woman. She wasn't bringing food for herself in case she started STARVING , but for any little munchkin' that might get hungry while around her. I digress. So, by 9:15 my kids were asking for food and the only thing I had were white tick tacks. Boy those things are filling, you know? I handed them out one at a time, while trying to visit with my friends. At one point Isaac grabbed the whole thing, dumped it in his hand, got about 20 tick tacks and threw them in his mouth. A few moments later, he was doing the deep breathing one does when they eat something too hot and white tinted drool was streaming out of his mouth. Cute, huh? Well, somehow we made it through. Those tick tacks were a life saver!

Second, I attended the funeral of a friend on Thursday (which I am very grateful I got to attend, though I couldn't look at anyone the rest of the day my eyes were so red and swollen). This friend was a young mom and had been a wonderful influence and friend to MANY other young mothers. There was one sitting in front of me with her two boys about 5 and 3. She seemed to have forgotten to bring her snacks that day. The boys were getting restless and so she pulled out I'm guessing the only thing she had for them to eat: Halls cough drops. I'm pretty sure I didn't hear ANY coughing from those boys.

So are we resoursful or desperate? Maybe some day I'll actually be as smart as Bedstemor and just always have food on me.

Camping at Calaveras

2008-07-19T09:39:00.001-07:00

If I were to write a review for Calaveras Big Tree National Park, it would get 5 Stars! Despite record breaking temperatures and smokey air from Northern California fires, this area has it all for me! I loved that it is not a crowded destination. The entertainment: camping, fishing, canoeing, hiking, lake and creek swimming, junior ranger program is not expensive. I decided last minute to go with Mom and Dad, Christian, Emily and Grace, and Ditte and Jeremy's family. Jonathan's new job had a little overlap with Lassen's so he was working LONG days and nights that whole week. We missed him terribly and want to take him back to Calaveras.

Camping with 2 year olds is not easy, and there is a lot of working involved with meals, baths, set-up, take-down, etc. Yet there is something so great about all the fresh air, the togetherness, the beauty of the earth. What makes camping so memorable and special? I can't really put my finger on it. Maybe you can help me...

Here's some pictures:

Isaac and Adalyn in front of a Sequoia

Isaac couldn't get enough of the water fountain, even if it wasn't going in his mouth!

Big sequoia tree, so sad they carved it out.

Audrey, and Adalyn show us the big pine cones there

Calaveras is famous for the Mark Twain frog jumping contest. These frog statues in various costumes are all over the place.

3 little munchins trying to catch the poor Blue gills

Adalyn and Atalie are exploring the wild flowers at Beaver Creek

Cute Adalyn lookin' for a little R&R

Adalyn caught the first fish. It was a great story. But I must demonstrate.

Audrey's first fish. He jumped an inch out of the water for the salmon egg.

Mom, Adalyn, Hans, and Dad at Apine lake where we saw a bald eagle, geese, fish. It was beautiful. We felt like were were on top of the world.

Researching summer fun

2008-07-19T09:11:00.000-07:00

I love finding new resources that help me with church callings, being a mom, flowers, etc...

I read a fun article this morning that adds new ideas to my "what do you do in the summertime" list. Here's the link: ABC's

Enjoy!

Busy little Beavers

2008-07-15T19:57:00.000-07:00

I wanted to share some of our fun summer time activities through pictures :

Audrey picking blueberries

Audrey and Adalyn at 4th of July breakfast

Dad Kent and Jonathan getting ready to watch fireworks in Maddux's lot across from the high school

Dirty Isaac after picking blueberries (no, he was running down a dirt hill with Wyatt)

Hans, Adalyn, Cozette, Atalie, and Audrey at blueberry farm

Wyatt about to do a 5* dive

Adalyn at Aunt Gayle's pool

Adalyn digging for sand crabs at Leo Carillo with our wonderful friends Clayton and Griffin

Wyatt and Isaac at swimming lessons

Audrey and Adalyn at swimming lessons

We are having a nice summer. This is not a very inclusive viewing of our activities. I always think I'm taking enough pictures...Tonight I went to a PTA meeting and was reminded of responsibilities that lie ahead once the school year starts....dum da dum dum...

As an informal announcement, I wanted to add that Jonathan has taken a new job with a toy company called Uncle Milton's in Westlake. He is LOVING it. :-) He told me he likes being around people who as adults go to toy stores to check out the new merchandise. All these years he thought he was all alone in that.

Basil: herb of the year

2008-06-29T09:53:00.001-07:00

A post from the garden...

Basil has grown very easily and abundantly in our garden from seed. I thought I'd just share a few hints and ways we've used it in our kitchen. Once the basil gets tall enough, you want to snip it before it goes to flower. You want to snip where you still leave some of the bottom leaves because from them will continue to grow new stems, and you can have a lot of basil through the summer.

I've never used basil much in the kitchen but am really enjoying having it. I know there are COUNTLESS recipes for basil. I'm a pretty simple cook, so no basil sorbet or basil crepes with 4 cheeses from this kitchen today.

We've put it in scrambled eggs with tomatoes, bell peppers and cheese.

We've put it in fresh salad to give the salad a richer taste.

I bought a baguette twice this week to make homemade bruschetta with garden tomatoes, basil, garlic, salt, pepper, and a little olive oil on the bread. Toast the bread under the broiler for a few minutes, and top with Parmesan cheese.

I made a recipe Mette gave me for a fresh corn salad with basil, thinly sliced red onion, fresh corn cut off the cob, salt, pepper, olive oil, and balsamic vinegar. It was pretty good.

I think basil makes me want to be more creative in the kitchen and that creativity has been a bit dormant as of late, so thank you to Basil, I'm naming you "herb of the year".

Oh, What do you Do in the Summertime?

2008-06-12T18:04:00.000-07:00

Monday night we sat down and wrote up a list of things we'd like to do this summer. I'd like to pose the question to all those who read this blog: what do YOU do in the summertime? What did you enjoy doing as a kid or what do you currently do with your kids? Please send your ideas but keep in mind I'm obsessed with not spending money right now, so it's gotta be pretty cheap.

Here's the Kent Family Summertime list:

1. Sewing lessons
2. Swimming lessons
3. Friend's house to play
4. Take the train to Santa Barbara
5. Beach
6. Library reading program
7. Swimming at Aunt Gayle and Uncle Peter's
8. Camping at Carpinteria/other camping
9. Video and s'mores at home (in backyard)
10. Camp in backyard
11. Aquarium
12. Debt-free by July (aquarium will come after that :-)
13. Bike ride
14. Music lessons once a week
15. Cachuma water park
16. Movie theater for free movies
17. Bank to deposit savings
18. Pick blueberries at Underwood Farms

2008-06-11T13:06:00.000-07:00

I Got Tagged

Here is what you're supposed to do. List your 3 joys, 3 fears, 3 goals, 3 current obsessions/collections, 3 random surprising facts about yourself.
Well, I don't really like being tagged, but I like Rebecca, so here are these exciting facts you're all dying to know about ME:
3 Joys:
1) Hearing my children make each other laugh
2) Living in Camarillo, California
3) Smelling the fragrant roses my husband brought home the other night

3 Fears:
1) Someone needs CPR and I can't give it, though I've been trained
2) Unexpected change (I hate this about myself)
3) My loved ones not knowing how much I love them

3 Goals:
1) Keep the sink free of dishes
2) Be debt-free by July!
3) Pray with Jonathan every night

3 Current Obsessions:
1) Blogging
2) Being debt-free by July (definitely an obsession)
3) Getting ready for summer

3 Random Facts:
1) I don't really like ice cream
2) I think Yoga can cure all illnesses :-)
3) My happiest day ever was the day I got engaged to Jonathan, and subsequently our wedding day was pretty great too.

My Lot in Life

2008-06-05T12:27:00.000-07:00

Disclaimer: this may gross many of you out and you may never want to come near me ever again, but know I have bathed. That being said:

I've decided my lot in life is to deal with poop. I have just got to accept it. The thing that gets me is that I really feel all alone in this. Please tell me someone else feels the same way and normal people just keep their experiences to themselves. Perhaps I will become a gastroenderologist someday because I am gaining a lot of experience. I will spare you the MANY interesting experiences I've had with poop, but just share one that happened to me today that made me cry, but thought if I shared it with you, I can start laughing soon.

So, problem numbero uno is that I was mowing the lawn this morning. I've had friends stick their noses in the air at the fact that I mow the lawn, period, but in my defense I have a husband who is quite maxed out at the moment, has terrible allergies, and I love yard work, so why not? Well this is all in question after today. I was weed whacking the front yard along the fence and near the street my weed whacker suddenly came in contact with an ENORMOUS pile of dog poop that I neglected to see. It spat that fresh poop all over my face, my glasses, my clothes, my skin, and I immediately turned off the weed whacker and began to cry. "Why me?", "I will never have a dog", and "what irresponsible neighbor did not pick this up?" were some of my many thoughts. Well, I found a clean piece of t-shirt and wiped what was on my face and glasses, I washed off my arms, got some newspaper and cleaned up the remaining pile, and went right on finishing my job mowing my lawn. I kept wanting to cry every time I got a little whiff of myself, but I was determined to finish my job. I think what Heavenly Father wants me to learn is that when I hit a pile of poop, I need to cry a little, clean myself up, and get back to work.

Jenae and Brandon's flowers

2008-06-02T17:36:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures of Jenae and Brandon's flowers. She wanted peonies in her bouquet and to be honest, this is the first wedding I've done that has worked with the short-lived peonie season and it was great! I LOVE PEONIES!!!! We lived in a house in Springville, Ut that had peonies and if I lived in Utah (hint, hint) I would have LOTS of peonies in my yard. She also really liked Stargazers, so we used a lot of those. She kept her centerpieces simple to save money. No offense to Jenae or any of the other bride's I've been privileged to do their flowers, but I would really love to do a wedding where pink is not in the color scheme. :-) Thank you Brittanie and Else. That selfishly said, it was a lovely reception and congrats to the happy bride and groom!

Large centerpiece for the food table

Arch for the wedding party to stand under

The big bi-colored roses are Bella Vita's. They are HUGE, California grown, and even have a decent scent: one of our new favorites!

Jenae and Brandon's centerpieces

Jenae's bouquet

Also, to my own discredit, I feel like I kind of have the same style all the time. I'd love to try my hand at modern arrangements. Ditte and I have found some fun classes offered through our wholesaler that may help me change it up a bit.

Something about those cucumbers

2008-06-01T21:32:00.000-07:00

I've picked up some tricks with cucumbers. Mine would always do well and then all of a sudden die. I didn't know if it was gophers or what. Cucumbers need extra nutrients when they start to produce fruit, so add some extra fertilizer. There should only be one cucumber plant per mound. They really should be staked, because they like to climb and it's better for the fruit not to be on the ground. I've actually got a few that are 3-4 inches long. They will be bitter if they don't get enough water. They need 1 inch of water per week. I am watering twice a week. Hopefully that's not too much.

So far, we've had some nice lettuce, broccoli, the girls are sneaking all the peas before they get ripe enough. Arg. :-) I'm glad they're eating veggies, right? Cilantro and basil are ready for use. Everything else is still growing.

One problem I've run across is that I have squash plants that have TONS of little fruit on them, but the fruit is not getting longer than 2 inches and then it doesn't get any bigger. Am I watering too much, is it too early in the season? Please let me know if you have any tips. We can't get enough squash. That's not usually the problem for people.

Here's our garden a few weeks ago. See, pretty raw. Like the dead grass? That's our meadow. We're conserving water (sure, that's it!)

This is Isaac's plot of dirt. He cracks me up. Some of the plants have been pulled out in the name of "weeding". Superman PJ's are his gardening clothes of choice. It's fun to see what's coming up. P.S. Lettuce grows really well under squash plants because the big leaves from the squash hide the lettuce from direct sunlight and the lettuce protects the soil from drying out so quickly. See, kids are brilliant gardeners!

Field trippin'

2008-05-29T14:38:00.000-07:00

Isaac and I walked with Adalyn and her class to the new Camarillo Library. We happened to run into Aunt Emily and Gracie while we were there. It was quite a walk, fortunately not a hot day. Adalyn is a cutie pie. It was really nice to spend the day with her.

Adalyn and Soraya Martin

Can you find Aunt Ditte?

What a treat to have a new library. It is gorgeous inside. The children's section is SO cool, it has part of a boat worked into the decorations, with large portraits of Peter Pan and Captain Hook.

Anyone for Soup?

2008-05-28T20:43:00.000-07:00

I thought I'd share a recipe we had tonight. It's a family favorite, though Isaac mostly picks out the chicken. This delicious soup recipe comes from Ditte. Serves 4-5 adults

Ingredients:
2 whole boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into cubes
2 tbs. olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
4-5 juicy limes
8 cups chicken broth (I used the organic free-range cartons tonight. They were good.)
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup cilantro, cut
1 tomato, chopped
1 avocado, cubed
1 bag corn tortilla chips

Heat olive oil in fry pan, and add cubed chicken and minced garlic. Cook until chicken is done, salt and pepper to taste. While cooking chicken, heat up chicken broth in large pot and add juice from 4-5 limes. You should be able to really taste the lime. Then add chicken to pot and heat for about 10-15 minutes on medium high. Serve with tortilla chips, avocado, tomato, and cilantro. This cooks up quickly and is a nice healthy dinner for our family. Hope you try it.
Sorry for the crude picture, posted just to give you an idea.

Wicked

2008-05-11T21:42:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we saw Wicked in Los Angeles with a group of 50 friends and family. We were up in the balcony and grateful for binoculars. It was a really great show. What gets me is that these people are singing and dancing LIVE for my entertainment. I thought about how I used to dream of being in a big production like this, but now have a different perspective. It would be hard to do it 8 times a week realizing that for many in my audience it would be their first time seeing the play, and I need to make it seem real and special AGAIN!

After the show, we took the girls down to see the orchestra pit. We went to the side of the theater to get some autographs of the actors, but were only able to see Fiyero and one of the dancers. The witches don't get out of costume before the evening show. We walked along the stars and ate at a Pizzeria on Hollywood Blvd with Aunt Mimi and our friends the Patterson's. As we were walking back to our car, I wanted to sneak in for the evening show. I'd go again, especially if our seats were closer. I'd love to see the costuming and the facial expressions more up close.

What shows/plays are your favorite?

Below are some pictures from the evening:

BYU Women's Conference

2008-05-06T09:42:00.000-07:00

My mom treated my sisters and I to a fabulous trip to BYU Women's Conference. This was my first time attending. We flew up Wednesday and flew back Saturday night. I had such a great time with my sisters and mom. We got a little goofy when it got too late and poor Larry had to put up with 7 women in his home! Ask him about it sometime. Women's conference was so uplifting. My favorite talks were by Sheri Dew and one on being a mother to young children. We were able to hear from MANY great speakers: Pres. and Sister Bateman, Sister Beck, the general Young Women's presidency, and others. President Monson was the closing speaker. I know he's a prophet of God. He really does reach out to the individual, just watching him put his hand on the shoulder of a sister in a wheel chair on the stand, and whispering some kind words to her.

It was a treat to be on BYU campus, my alma mater. A lot has changed. The Hinkley Alumni Center is beautiful. I took pictures of the decor, because I like the warmth of it. Funny, huh? The Tanner building is expanding. I spent many a late night in that library studying accounting and finance books. I had a flood of memories come back as I always do when I visit Provo.

A neat trick we learned about navigating Women's Conference was that if the room we wanted to go to was full, we could go to one of the other buildings on campus, where they had service projects going on and we could work on those projects while watching the class we had wanted to attend. This proved to be nice, as well, because sometimes I pay better attention when my hands stay busy. I learned how to loom hats for the homeless and colored ABC learning books for children in need.

We ate a ton of good food: mint brownies, chocolate cinnamon bears (can make you a little sick, really), Tucano's, California Pizza Kitchen, Cafe Rio, and the good ol' Cougar Eat. We walked and walked and walked (good thing, after all that eating) and had a little time for shopping.

What I took away from this week, that I hope to apply was that I am what the Lord needs me to be. So many good people telling you you're great and doing a good job, just kind of helps the self-esteem, you know? Sister Dew inspired us to "Come unto Christ" by not allowing the world to influence us but instead being an influence for good to the world. Many other great things were learned, but you may have to ask me about them in person! I'd recommend this to any and all who were considering it. I'm really thankful my mom would want to do this for us. I felt sincerely spoiled.

Go Dodgers!

2008-05-06T09:31:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, we took the kids to their first Dodger's game for Family Home Evening! Thanks to Uncle Haans, who got us free tickets. One of Audrey's favorite teachers is a HUGE fan, so Audrey has been wanting to go for quite some time. I feel really lucky that our kids have gotten to have some pretty great experiences in their youth. A Dodger's game is definitely one of those experiences. :-) Jonathan had a good time explaining to the girls how the game is played and Isaac enjoyed the first half an hour. Unfortunately, the Dodgers lost that night, but we still had a really nice time together.

What a beautiful field!

Audrey in Cinemagic

2008-05-06T09:19:00.000-07:00

I have a little catching up to do, so feel free to skim the next several blogs.

Audrey was in a local children's production called Cinemagic. This year's theme was "Out of this World". She played an alien at Space camp.

She did a wonderful job. She had a speaking part and was center stage quite a bit. I'm very proud of her because she has been a bit of a shy kid. She told me she likes being on stage, though. I'm working on posting the video.

Happy memories

2008-05-05T21:25:00.000-07:00

Jonathan was helping Audrey with her math homework and he asked her what 8+8 was and after she paused, he broke into song (some song I didn't remember hearing). It was from the Hans Christian Anderson movie with Danny Kaye, so I had to find it on YouTube to show the kids. Did anyone else ever see this movie? We are big Danny Kaye fans. I love YouTube!

That led us into a great walk down memory lane, which I will provide for you a taste of here:

Benji, this one's for you!

A good mother makes a happy home

2008-05-05T21:00:00.000-07:00

I was asked to speak in Sacrament about a "gem" I've learned in my few years as a mother. I thought I'd share. It's a recent "gem", starting with a desire to change. About 8 months ago I found myself not happy being so busy, struggling with choices I had made that were keeping me very busy. I liked the things I was doing, but I didn't like what it was doing to my family. I am often motivated at any chance to make money, or help in programs by offering my time since we can't help so much with money right now. I also struggle with saying "no" when someone asks me to do something. I attended a World wide leadership training meeting in February 2008 where the leaders of our church candidly spoke about how we can protect and strengthen our families. So many good things were said that pertain to us all, no matter what station we are at in life. What I felt was a desire to simplify, to be a stay-at-home mom that stayed home more. I have been slowly and continually making changes to meet these desires. I've had to give up certain things that were in MY priorities, to change them to what were the Lord's priorities. I am far from perfect and it is a constant work in progress, but I feel peace and happiness. I notice a difference in my children's behavior, my patience in teaching them, and in my ability to be a better wife to Jonathan. I feel healthier and (most importantly) closer to God. So, that's my "gem" for now, for me.
I know we are all in different situations, but I also know that we can seek the Lord and he will teach us and help us with whatever difficulty we may be facing: laundry, fighting children, depression, anger, gophers in the garden...:-)

Jonathan's Birthday

2008-04-08T20:56:00.000-07:00

Jonathan's birthday was on Saturday April 5th. We got up to clean the church that morning and take Audrey to a Cinemagic practice. Jonathan had hoped to go surfing on his birthday, but weather would not cooperate for a family outing to the beach, so he decided to take us to the Kidspace museum in Pasadena. Aunt Ami came along and we met our good friends, the Patterson's down there. It was such a nice trip.

Adalyn the Monkey

Isaac on the tricycle

Adalyn, Emma, Audrey, Ami, and Isaac Spiders

We got back just in time for Jonathan to attend our church general Priesthood meeting. Afterwards, the local family members got together to have cake and ice cream with him. He got a special present. It is an iPhone. He has loved playing with his new toy. Anyone who knows him knows he is a "mac" man. So, to keep with his present, we made him an Apple cake for his birthday.

"Apple cake"
(disclaimer, not a cake decorator)

Our SUPER men

He ended the day with a movie with the "guys" at Tyler's house. It was a great birthday for ALL of us.

Happy Birthday JB! I love you SO much.

Tehachapi is the Spring Break destination of CHOICE

2008-03-29T19:58:00.000-07:00

So the girls were SO excited to visit Tehachapi for Spring Break. This is all because Aunt Cristin and Uncle Erik are SO much fun. Really they are so great to let us come play. Some of our activities included: petting zoo/farm with the kids playing in a pit of corn,

Cristin making a music video of Audrey and Adalyn acting crazy, going to the park to ride bikes, a drive to find snow (or dirty ice, really), their favorite is Aunt Cristin's treasure hunts which end with the treasures being silly string and glow-in-the-dark necklaces, hot chocolate and Hard rolls from the German bakery, watched the Bee Movie.

We had such a nice time. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Leprechaun Trap

2008-03-29T19:49:00.000-07:00

Audrey is our creative genius. She loves crafts A LOT. She loves projects and parties.

For St. Patrick's day, she made a Leprechaun trap, certain she was going to catch one. It was so cute, I took some pictures. She made a bed out of construction paper.

She used some string to hang from the chimney, that would trigger the trap door. Sure enough, a Leprechaun of sorts left her some gold.

Sugar Snap Peas

2008-03-23T08:35:00.001-07:00

First off, let me say, the more I think I know about gardening, the more I realize there is SO much I don't know about gardening, but I enjoy it, so I'm willing to experiment. Give it a try. It is so rewarding to plant a seed and watch it grow.

Garden tip: Sugar snap peas. Do you love them? A rule of thumb for planting peas is they love cold weather. They don't do well once it turns too hot. So, in Utah, my cousin told me a rule of thumb for planting sugar snap peas is to get the seeds in the ground by St. Patrick's day. Never fear Trine, you're close enough that if you do it this week, you should be okay. Here in Southern California, your time to get the seeds in the ground is extended because it doesn't get so hot near the coast, and you can plant the seeds as early as January/February because of the mild winter.

Peas are great because if you get them in the ground in time, they're fairly easy to grow. Make sure you have fresh seeds. Some seeds can last more than a year but for peas, you need to get new seeds each year, otherwise your crop will not be as fruitful. Pea plants are also good for your soil, full of nutrients. You can actually plant peas in the same spot year after year, without worrying about the soil depleting.

So, plant some peas this week, make sure they are sugar snap peas for that super sweet, snappy pea flavor that will make you want to plant more next year. I'm up to 4 rows this year, gotta share some with Bedstemor. She loves them.

Garden is in the ground

2008-03-21T21:05:00.000-07:00

This year's garden is a "co-op" garden with Aunt Ami. She purchased most of the supplies and I dug and weeded and planted. She is also doing "starts" at her house, which we will try and transplant. It's working out great because she thinks she has the better end of the deal, but I think I've got the better end of the deal.

I go out to my garden every day to see if any seedlings have popped up yet. Our soil in the heights of Camarillo is sandy, but rich with composted avocado leaves. I have not wanted to spend the money to make square foot gardens because this isn't our permanent home, but that is the way to go, really. I've stayed pretty basic. My edge is made from left over pipes from an old clothes line, I have rows for watering, mounds for some of the plants, but I do draw up a plan each year to rotate plants in various spots and to keep track of what seeds are where.

My biggest garden destroyer this year is not the gopher, but the ISAAC. I just need to get the garden cultivated a little and then he can play in it again, but for now, the mounds keep becoming tractor pits and the rows keep getting run over with the quad. I dug up some grass right next to our garden and put pavers around it and keep coaxing him to "Isaac's garden". Sometimes it works. He is learning though and trying to be more careful about where he steps. I love that my kids love to be out there with me. Audrey has planted a plethora of unknown seeds in her garden and I'm interested to see what comes up.

If all goes as planned, in our main garden we should have lettuce, carrots, beets, green onions, parsley, basil, cauliflower, broccoli, green and yellow squash, cucumbers, 4 rows of corn, a few variety of tomatoes, sugar snap peas, peppers, and green beans, along with flowers here and there. Well, if I get 1/2 of what I planted I'll be a happy little gardener.

I will try and take some pictures, but it is not a "pretty garden" or a "show garden" by any means. My goal is to feed my family some organic fresh vegetables and who doesn't LOVE garden fresh tomatoes?

While I'm out there working, I see some interesting wildlife. We get the playful squirrels, crows and blue jays (they get peanuts from a neighbor and come plant them in my garden). I've found some weird kind of snake that lives in the dirt. That creeps me out. This week we've had several swarms of bees. I can't tell if it's just one swarm or a few. I've consulted with my father the bee keeper already. We have woodpeckers that like the dead wood on the avocado trees. I try to kill the gophers, though they're amazing to watch from my kitchen window (I try not to curse at them). It's really nice to feel like I'm out in nature when I'm in my backyard, I mean "the meadow".

Another wedding

2008-03-11T21:57:00.001-07:00

I thought I'd share some pictures of flowers we did for Josh and Yanelli's wedding this past Friday. Their colors were hot pink and baby pink and the bride liked gerber daisies. She also wanted gardenia's in her bridal bouquet for sentimental purposes. I believe her mother had them in her bouquet. The bouquet smelled DIVINE!!!!!

Yanelli's bouquet

Topiary on food table

centerpieces

bridal party table (great job Ditte!)

Cake and arch

I Am the Mother of a 2 year old

2008-02-28T10:50:00.000-08:00

This is the third time for me to take the role of a "mother of a two year old". This time with a boy is a little different than with the girls. Let me divulge.

If you were to come into my house you may find a few things to be a bit odd. My knives are all in the food cupboard on one of the highest shelves. My scissors are all in the cupboard above the stove. Going into my bathroom, you would find the toothpaste, and all other toiletries of importance in the medicine cabinet above the sink. My cosmetics are in my top sock drawer in my dresser. The cleaning supplies are in the highest cupboard in the house by the back door. Glue and all markers....another 7 foot cupboard. My front door will be chained, but not to keep you or scary people out, it's to keep Isaac in as he seems to prefer the front yard even at 6 am. My keys and purse are hanging on a hook in the hall closet (out of reach). All of Jonathan's tools must be locked up in the garage (UP HIGH). The toilet bowl brush and plunger are with the cleaning supplies. If I ever forget (or my girls or husband slack) on putting things in the proper place (UP HIGH!!!), we may have a catastrophe: quilt pieces cut up, precious library books missing pages, hammer marks in the only nice furniture we own, permanent marker on the sandstone fireplace, toilet water from the bathroom to the bedroom, Isaac in the car with my keys at 6 am, toothpaste decorating the bathroom cupboards. I'm sure you get the idea.

Yes, I am the mother of the cutest two year old boy on the planet and though he keeps me on my toes, I can't think of anything I'd rather be doing more than rearranging my house to keep him (and others) a little more safe.

Hiking in February

2008-02-10T08:02:00.000-08:00

After having spent 8 winters living in Utah, we came back to Southern California in 2003. I really, really appreciated the weather here in about February when I took my little girls for a walk to the park, all of us wearing flip flops. I still remember February's in Utah and am still grateful that (for now) we can take walks or hikes in February. It has been decently cold here lately and we've had a good amount of rain, which makes for blue skies and green hills: perfect backdrop for a little hike after school on a Wednesday afternoon.

We drove out past the University towards Mugu Rock and just across from the Sea bee's shooting range, we pulled over to a little hiking trail they have right there. Jonathan and Jeremy both had Wednesday off, so we all went together. It was gorgeous! We hiked about a half an hour straight up, starting at 11 feet elevation, and went to 600ish feet elevation. (Jeremy had his GPS with him!) Isaac and Wyatt went about 15 minutes and then got in their daddy's backpacks. The girls were great and wanted to keep going, but we needed to be back down before the sun set. We hit a nice summit and had our granola bars and apples. Hiking brings back lots of memories for Ditte and I of MANY family Saturday outings. I love watching children explore nature. They soak everything in! The nice thing about this little hike was we were climbing right by the ocean so we just had to turn around every few minutes and get an AWESOME view. Here's some pictures:

Four best friends: Audrey, Cozette, Atalie, and Adalyn

Adalyn and Atalie

Father and Son

Wager and Kent family at Mugu trail

My brother-in-law does work hard!

2008-02-08T14:19:00.000-08:00

We were offered FIOS internet and phone for the same price we were paying for DSL, so we couldn't say "no". My brother-in-law Jeremy is a FIOS technician for Verizon and he was able to get our order number and be the one to install it on Monday. The FIOS is great and it was A LOT of fun to have Jeremy working at our house. Isaac could not leave him alone, with all his tools. It was really fun to make Jeremy get into his bright orange crawl suit and crawl through the spiderwebs under our house (we have a raised foundation). He only found 2 dead rats. That creeps me out. I could not do his job just for that. So, YES, my brother-in-law is a hard working man. Here's some pictures to prove it.

Jeremy going under the house, reminds me of Wizard of Oz for some reason

After he's crawled under our house

Yucky spiderwebs

Where can I get one of those ORANGE JUMPSUITS????