$202.73

That's what the second pre-mission repair cost. The rear brakes on the bmw (big mormon wagon) decided to go out this weekend. Good thing they did it before the trip and not during! This repair and the fridge are still cheaper than the repair we made before Johnathan's mission.

Change

I was looking at the three kids tonight and realized that Wednesday we will be down to 2 kids at home. I can't believe it's that time already. When the kids are little you never think the day will come when they leave home, but it does. Wednesday we will drop Tim off at the Missionary Training Center and we won't see him for 2 years. We are excited to see the growth he makes in the next two years, but I think I'm really going to miss him. I have a special bond with Tim. From the time he was born we could communicate without talking. We just know what the other is thinking and can read each other's body language perfectly. I never even heard him cry for the first five weeks because I could read him so well.

Tim and the friends that came to hear him talk today.

The family after Tim was set apart by President Christensen.

Tim saying goodbye to Aunt Linda (aka...second mom)

James took this photo of my front flower garden.

Birthday again

Tim is 19 today! Happy birthday, Tim!

This cake was a result of the service auction we had last month for the Relief Society birthday. Helen Lester made the cake and it was delicious. I'm so glad I didn't have to make all the cakes this year.

Sending missionaries

One thing we learned when we sent Johnathan on his mission is that whatever cost estimate you've heard...double it! About 2 weeks before we were taking Johnathan to the MTC the van broke down. We ended up replacing the fuel pump at the tune of $800. This time we had to call a repairman to fix the fridge. Fortunately, it didn't cost $800. When we realized there was a problem we moved all the freezer items to the food storage freezer, and the milk and cheese into a cooler filled with ice. The problem was the fan had broken down...$148 plus half a gallon of milk.

Another thing we learned was that as soon as Johnathan was set apart, the blessings of having a missionary started kicking in. From that point on and for the next two years, things seemed to last longer and run better. We had a few break downs and repairs (the biggest was crushing my foot and Tom's fall off the ladder), but all in all things went rather smoothly...until Johnathan came home and things started breaking down.

While we were getting Johnathan ready I heard so much about the "sacrifice" a mission was. The boys sacrificing time, schooling, money and jobs. The parents sacrificing money, time, support and their child. I couldn't see it as a sacrifice. I served a mission and I knew the blessings Johnathan would be receiving. I knew they outweighed anything he was giving up. I saw it as a priviledge for Johnathan and for us. It's an amazing opportunity to serve the Lord, serve his children and the blessings received are amazing.

I knew that our family would be blessed for having a son/brother serving as a missionary. As far as I'm concerned the greatest blessing I received was the knowledge that Heavenly Father loves me. He knows me and loves me no matter what, no matter how imperfect I am. I didn't know that before. I'm excited to see what blessings Tim's mission brings.

Never a dull moment

A day in the life at the Jenson Funny Farm

While we were dropping the boys off for the campout they locked the keys in the van. Hannah and I got a ride home with one of the other mothers and then realized that the only house key is in the van and John's cell phone was in the house. We finally found an unlocked window, I got down on all fours and Hannah stood on my back so she could reach to climb in. We would have waited 35 minutes for John to come home, and I couldn't wait...if you get my meaning. LOL

Birthdays

I'm falling behind on blogging this month. It's birthday month here at our house and I haven't written about it yet.

On April 4 we had John at home for his birthday. It was great having him here and celebrating his 22nd birthday together. After two years of not having him to celebrate with we appreciated the time together much more. The fact that it was also Easter AND one of the greatest General Conferences ever was just frosting on the cake. Our friend Pam made a cheesecake for John's birthday and it was delicious. Thanks to Pam for that wonderful service.

Today was James' birthday. He's 15 now. It's great having adult children. All those years of throwing parties while the kids were young...now I get to reap the rewards...LOL. James planned a party at the park, and I talked Tim, John and Laney into being the chaparones for the party. I just sat here for 3 hours doing whatever I wanted and making dinner. The kids came home to eat tacos (a great easy meal for a whole bunch of teenagers) and then I ditched to attend a stake Relief Society leadership meeting while Tim, John and Laney held down the fort at home.

James wanted a spongebob cake so this is what I came up with late last night. (I started before work, but the cake mix cake fell apart and I had to start over from scratch after work.)

Next is Tim's birthday next week.

Bye bye meds!

I am no longer taking Blood Pressure Medicine! My last day at half a dose was Saturday and so far my bp is staying within reasonable levels! However, now I've had the corresponding increase in my weight and my body is adjusting to not having the diuretic part of the meds. It's ok. It's part of the process. I'm just happy to not have the meds anymore.

When I talked to the medical doctor about this process of getting off the meds she told me that I would probably have to lose 30-40 more pounds before I got to this point. I went home thinking "YES, it's tied to my weight, BUT it's MORE tied to the health of my heart." How much have I actually lost since talking to her? 10-12 pounds. As much as I hate to admit it...I would have never gotten to this point without the supplements the naturopath has given me to support my heart so it can heal. I was on a slippery slope under the care of my medical doctor. She was doing the best she could, but I was not going to improve on that track.

April Fool's

Thank goodness, April Fool's day is over.

The best thing about April Fool's day is that it's my sister's birthday. Happy Birthday, Ruth!

But April Fool's day is not my favorite. I like to surprise and shock people with witty things I say, but I'm not a practical joker. The witty things just happen when they happen and I can't confine them to one certain day per year.

A couple stories:

When I was 15 1/2 my youngest brother, Nate was born. I loved carrying him around and practicing "mom-hood" on him. One day when he was still less than one month old I carried Nate into Young Woman's. The Young Women turned to watch me and asked, "Whose baby is that?"

I replied with, "Mine!"

Their shocked looks were priceless, however, when I got a little older and realized that I was old enough that Nate could have been mine...I got embarrassed. LOL

Second story: During my third year of college, my roommate got engaged. We had a screen door that was kinda tempermental and you had to open it just so. One day my roommate's fiancee came to visit and was having a hard time opening the screen door. I made some smart comment and the room became silent. Then everyone started to laugh. My roommates told the fiancee, "Now you're one of the family."

Last one: I returned from my mission at the end of April 1986, and started school again September 1986. Tom and I were engaged at the beginning of September 1986. One of my roommates had served in my mission and was constantly running into people we knew in Honduras. She loved (and I did, too) to tell them I was engaged already. It never failed that they would stop and say, "Hermana Bright? Quiet, shy, Hermana Bright? Engaged already?"

Anyway, back to April Fool's day...

It is not my favorite day of the year. I have a couple sons who are real practical jokers. I won't go into all their exploits, or mention their names. (Their names start with...Timothy and James!) It never fails that at least one glass of water will be balanced on top of a bathroom door, the kitchen sprayer will be taped in the on position, and ketchup packets will be stratigically placed under the toilet seat.

And it never fails that the cup of water will land on me, the water will spray me in the chest, and the ketchup will be left for me to clean up.

In all fairness, James did warn me. He was trying to get Timothy or Hannah yesterday, but he failed to realize that I'M THE ONE WHO USES THE KITCHEN SINK 99% OF THE TIME! So, although he warned me, I got sprayed.

Oh, well. At least April Fool's day is over for another year.

The best thing this year...I got James! I made "special" cookies and James took a bite. I was hoping to get Timothy, too, but James made too much fuss about the extra salt before Timothy took a cookie. They didn't expect that from their Old Mom!

Melt your heart and miracles

First...Melt your heart

A couple of people have given Timothy some money for his mission. I mentioned writing thank you cards and he said, "I was thinking about doing that." This morning I addressed the cards for him and read what he said. Ah, it just melts your heart. No wonder all the high school girls loved him. He is so sweet and kind! I'm so proud of my boy.

Second...Miracles

Laney arranged to borrow the MAV (aka...Frankenstein) so she can drive to Rexburg to tour the BYU-I campus and bring Johnathan home for the weekend. However, when Timothy told her about the warts of the MAV he forgot to remind her that the driver side window won't come back up if you roll it down.

So we get a text..."When does Mr. Tom get home? I need help getting the window back up."

We went to the hotel to work on the window and it was stuck. We couldn't get it to budge. So we decided to drive it home and see how much work we needed to do on it. As we were passing Kimble Motorsports Tom saw Rich turn into the parking lot. This was well after closing hours. Rich was able to get the window up in 30 seconds.

Miracles come in all shapes and sizes, but to meet Rich at the shop after hours without prior arrangements...that was a huge miracle and happened just when we needed it.

The trick...hold the button in the up position and slam the door. The window will go up a couple inches each time you slam the door.