Glenn Beck's Tribute

Glenn Beck is a radio and television talk radio personality. Sharman loves to listen to him and got a couple of his books from Santa for Christmas. Recently Glenn paid tribute to President Gordon B. Hinckley which I thought was very touching. It makes me proud of President Hinckley's example and reminds me to be an example to others around me. I wanted to share it with you as well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPaZ65FDBAA

The link will allow you to view his tribute. Glenn is a convert to the LDS faith and I also wanted to share that with you. The link for that is below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKtAPT9KEfM

Goodbye My Friend

Sunday evening as I was sitting in the library reading, I received a phone call from my sister Amy. She told me that the Prophet, President Gordon B. Hinckley had passed away an hour ago. I sat speachless. I was instantly saddened for me and ecstatic for him as he is now able to be with his sweetheart once again.

Shortly after Sister Hinckley's death, Amy and I attended a Time Out for Women presentation in Logan, Utah where several of the Hinckley children spoke. A question was asked about how President Hinckley was doing without her. The children said how much he missed her and asked that we pray for the Lord to sustain him in his service to the church until he could once again be reunited with her. My soul ached for his loss but now rejoices in their reunion.

Finally, I wanted to share my personal experience with President and Sister Hinckley. On October 22, 2002, six weeks before my sweet Sydney arrived, I was given the opportunity to attend the dedication luncheon for the Gordon B. Hinckley building at BYU-Idaho and then attend the actual dedication of the building. I was so excited to see the Prophet. I remember when he walked in that I thought he was so much smaller that I thought he would be and yet he carried such a large and powerful presence about him. Once he walked into the room I started to feel some contractions. Not good considering I still had at least 6 weeks to go. The contractions continued during the entire luncheon and then into the dedication.

As I arrived in the Hinckley building and sat and waited for the dedication to occur, the c0ntractions slowed. Well until President and Sister Hinckley arrived. Once again contractions began. I recall President Hinckley sweetly holding the chair for Sister Hinckley and waiting until she sat down to then sit down beside her. I recall how she clung to his arm as the climbed the stairs to the stage. I recall his tenderness towards her and how much more I loved him for his love of her.

Yes, President and Sister Hinckley, you will be missed. My children have known no other Prophet in their lives. They are at a bit of a loss right now. I remember feeling the same way when President Kimball passed away and I thought I would never love another Prophet the way I loved President Kimball. President Hinckley, you are a part of our family and we love you dearly. We are so happy for your reunion although we continue to mourn your passing in our lives. To honor your legacy we will read our scriptures more and do our best to utilize the blessing of the new temple in our midst. Thank you for the standard you set for us. May we live worthy to see you once again and embrace you and call you Friend.

Brrrrr!

It is absolutely FREEZING here in Rexburg. I don't mean figuratively I mean literally. Zack has had school cancelled the last two days because the weather has been too cold. The highs have been around 18- to 28-. The weather today has warmed to 10-. We feel like it is a heat wave.

Boy are we getting geared up for the dedication of the Rexburg Temple. I feel like that is mostly all I write about but hey, it isn't every day that a temple opens up in your own backyard. Zack is going to participate in the Temple celebration the night before the Dedication. He is going to carry wheat. There is an undertone of wheat throughout the temple so it is symbolic of that.

Sharman finished laying tile and grouting our bathroom. It is nice. I love that he is so handy and can do those things. Now we just need to put in our cabinets and tile around the shower and bathtub. Then we can put in our sinks, mirror and trim around the bathroom walls and we are good to go. There is something to be said for not having things just handed to you but having to try and figure out how they work and make do with what you have. I am really grateful my husband is able to figure things out. Hey, if it were not for his ingenuity, my house would be SO different.

Zack had the space derby at Pack Meeting last night. He made his own rocket and it turned out fine. I was really impressed that the Den Leader started the night off by telling the boys that it was a night to see what we could do. We are not competing and there is no such thing as winners or losers. We are just here to have fun and enjoy one another. That was such a different message than what I had heard during my early years of competing. It was look out for number one and make sure you are number one or you don't count for anything. It was a lot of fun and we enjoyed spending time watching our children race around the room after the rockets.

Work is starting to slow a little but for the most part I am worn out. I forgot how tired I become.

Sydney gave a talk in Primary last week on being a Child of God. She is growing so quickly. She is my little sweetheart that constantly reminds me that...."Mom, I am the princess of this family, Zack is the prince, Dad is the King and you are the Queen." Sometimes it takes the words of a child to remind us to stay focus on what is real.

Oh DEER!

Friday night after work Zack and I went on a date. Sydney and her Dad went on a date while we we gone. Zack and I went to eat at Dairy Queen followed by a trip to the movie theatre to see "Martian Child." It was actually a really good movie. I was pleasantly surprised. Amy...you will love this movie. There were several times I could almost hear you laughing out loud.

Sydney and her Dad went to eat at Fongs and then ended up at the same movie. It was kind of like a double date.

When we were pulling into the driveway, there standing in the middle of the driveway were six female whitetail deer. Needless to say they didn't stick around. They bounded off towards Kendon and Lisa's place and then later on Kendon said he spotted them out by the treehouse. It was kind of fun to see them so close.

All in all the night was kind of magical.

Miss Me?

Ok, so I know it has been about a million or so years since I last posted, but it is the first week of school at BYU-Idaho and life here is absolutely crazy! I haven't yet pulled all my hair out but I am getting closer each day.

Sharman started off the week by shooting a skunk at midnight so I headed in to work and was there from 1 a.m. until 4 a.m. as the smell was so bad that I literally could not breathe. Not exactly good for customer service either. Needless to say, I do not think he will EVER do that again.

It has been really fun having students return to campus and to see them again especially if they were not here during the Fall semester. It is wonderful to see them as freshman and now as seniors ready to graduate. I can honestly say that this is the world's best job. I see true growth in the students who come and stay here during their education. Some marry and start families. Others plan on graduate programs and still others do what I did and end up settling down and staying here. All in all this week has been a good one though very busy.

The kids are keeping me on my toes and keep coming up with really funny things. Zack and I are headed out for a date night tomorrow night. He has requested a night at Dairy Queen so we will probably do that and MAYBE a movie. Depends on how tired I am. Sydney will go on a date with her daddy and that way each kiddo gets a night out with undivided parental attention without competing for some individual time. We have found that the kids enjoy this as much as we do and we get to develop a stronger bond just them and us.

Well it is just about time for work so I am headed out but hope your first week of the new year has been as fun and event filled as ours has been.

Preview Rexburg Temple

Click on the link below and then click on the video icon under the "by" line to see some of the interior shots of our temple. They are absolutely AMAZING!!

http://www.kidk.com/news/local/12840652.html

The Best Gift?.....The Gift of Self!

Christmas was good to us this year. Santa hit our house and hit it hard!! You can see that even though the Jensen kids were threatened (many times I might add) with coal, they stepped it up just in time for Santa to bring them EVERYTHING a kid could possibly want.

But what do you get for someone who is hard to shop for? You know the kind...the person who can and does buy what they want. Or better yet (this one is me) the person who says they really don't need anything and they are fine so they don't bother with a list.

This year Sharman MADE me the best gift ever! For those of you who do not know, I have a brother who committed suicide three and a half years ago. It has been tough without him and we all miss him terribly. When we had to go through his personal items I took a coat, hat, belts and a shirt of his. My sisters were a little grossed out by it, but when we did the last pour of concrete on our home, my brother Ben was there to help us and he was wearing some of these items. I wanted to have them to keep a part of him that had once been in my home with my home still. For years Sharman has said that he will get me something to put it all in. Well, this Christmas that something finally materialized into .......

a custom made shadow box! The top lifts off and the glass slides in. He made the box and then carefully placed the items inside to be opened by me Christmas morning. I could not have asked for a better gift!!

The kids kind of got into the giving of self this year as well. Sharman and the kids had purchased this photo frame. Then, when my sister Amy came for Thanksgiving, Sharman had her take black and white photos to put in the frame. There are photos of many of my family members on both sides. I still need a photo of Tammie and her family and Kendon and Lisa and their family to have everyone but for the most part I have photos of both sides. It means so much because I really value each member of my family. They each represent a special part of my life and who I am. I even have a photo of my brother-in-law and his wife (Kelly and KaYa) who are in Korea. This was pretty cool to have in the frame as well.

For years, I have looked forward with eager anticipation to our family gift exchange. My sister-in-law April is extremely talented. She has made denim quilts, baby blankets, sweaters, recipe books, photo trays, food items, blankets, etc. You name it, she can make it. I am really grateful for each of my family and extended family members and the things they do to bless my life. Mostly, I am really grateful for the gifts of self that they extend to me, not just during the Christmas season, but throughout the entire year. This is what I love most about family.