Day Trip to Hardware Ranch

I'd always heard of Hardware Ranch up in Logan, but never been there. Mom had the idea to all take a little trip up there one weekend to check out this destination where elk hang out and let horse drawn sleighs come right up beside them. It sounded like something the kids might enjoy and I was curious too.

It ended up being a gorgeous day. Sarah and Natalie posed in their sunglasses.





Now that I look back on this picture, I guess Angela wasn't feeling too great the whole day. I thought she was being cute and snuggling with Chrissy, but I think she's not feeling great and wanted to be carried.

Russ modeling some sunglasses too. Nice. (O:

The kids waiting in line. Grandma gave all the grandkids some cute Valentine bags that had a pair of sunglasses for each of them. They ended up being very handy this sunny day!

Nat using her binocs to check out the wildlife.

There they are - the stars of the whole show. We got much closer than this, but I liked this picture best.

The horses were very sweet and beautiful.



On the way back, we were helping Christine get to an institute choir activity in Bountiful. We made really good time and were going to get her there too early. We had to kill some time, so we went bowling! It was the coolest bowling ally we've ever been to. They had couches rather than hard plastic seats to sit on between turns. And the pins were glow in the dark. The music videos were fun and distracting at the same time.

Angela doing her adorable through the legs form.

By the end of the game, Angela was not feeling well and had a fever. Poor thing. We got Chris to her party, fashionably late (about 15 minutes) and Angela recovered by the next day.

Mary the Basketball Star

Mary is an anomaly. After having three boys, she is the girl my aunt Jill thought she'd never have.

She finally had a girl to dress up and do girly things! But Mary wasn't so into all that. She does not like, or rather hates, wearing dresses. And as she got older and had so much fun watching the Lady Utes play, she found her passion! Mary is an awesome basketball player for Skyline High School. She is not a senior, but she starts on the varsity basketball team. In short, Mary rocks!

Jill laughs about the fact that not one her boys ever really got into sports. She doesn't know where this gift and passion come from. Playing basketball is not a talent that any other Jensens possess - that I know of - maybe my cousin Connor?

I was excited when Jill invited us to come watch Mary play and asked if I would take a few pictures before the season ended. I haven't done many sports "shoots" before. I learned that it is really hard! I wished I had a really fast and long telephoto lens. My 300 mm zoom was great, but my slow (not wide enough) aperture forced me to slow the shutter speed down which is bad for action shots. In other words, it was tricky, but I think I got a few fun ones. It was good practice and fun to see Mary at the same time! Unfortunately, the game wasn't super exciting because it was JV and they CREAMED the other team, Cypress High. I heard the Varsity game was more exciting.


Mary's team let the girls pose with them - they were cute girls.



This is Sarah. She is mad at me in this picture, can you tell. (o: I don't think taking her picture helped. My cute aunt Jill was so sweet and helped her feel better.

Look how cute. The girls hangin' out with Uncle Dave. At some point they got him to take out some money for them! I guess they have him wrapped around their little fingers.

The girls got all dolled up for the game and insisted that I get their basketball camp shirts out from their summer clothes to wear to Mary's game.

Dance Dance Dance

Look how cute - Angela in a leotard and tap shoes. What could be cuter? That's her bud Abbi with the blonde hair. I was so excited to hear about this great dance teacher from Abbi's mom. She teaches in her basement about a mile from our house and her hour long class includes tap, ballet and tumbling. What a deal! Natalie is also taking the same class with older girls. I have been so impressed with Shelly and her fun choreography. And the girls have learned some really good skills. She is great. I can't wait for the recital in May. I had a cute picture of Angela dancing around, but the girl behind her had a problem with her top coming down and was showing a little too much to share.

Basketball Camp!

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The last week of July, all three girls participated in the Melanson boys annual basketball camp. It was such a blast! We love their camps. And I loved that the girls got in some good exercise and learned some great skills.

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Dribbling skills . . . (I was surprised how well Angela did!)

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Blocking skills . . .

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Sarah learned playing with boys skills (she was the only girl!) . . .

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And Natalie learned some other interesting skills during Sarah's camp time! She could teach her own summer camp - 'weird talents with basketballs'.

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This one is my FAVORITE! Impersonating skills!

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And so much more. (o:

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Angela shooting...

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Natalie...

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And Sarah.

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Josh and Dave were the coaches this year - TJ is getting ready to head off to BYU this year. Everyone is growing up these days! What's up with that?

What a fun week - my favorite part was getting to visit with Kayelynn, Kim, and some of the other parents. I was just realizing that all the sports and music classes my kids have participated in these last few months were almost all taught by friends from church. Miss Sally taught ballet, Heidi teaching Nat violin, the Gerbers did the gymnastics camp, Marilyn teaches Sarah piano and the Melansons taught basketball. We have some very talented friends! I am so glad they share their talents with others

Oh! I almost forgot! One of the days at basketball camp, Kim had an envelope for me and Natalie was beaming as she handed it over. Apparently, while I was back home making dinner, Natalie pulled one of her loose teeth out that was bugging her! The week before she had pulled a tooth out at Cafe Rio in Utah. What a funny girl. Kim said Natalie acted like it really wasn't a big deal, but she needed someone to hold her tooth for her. Then she went right back to playing basketball. I think it is funny, for someone who can be pretty dramatic at times, how non-chalantly she just plucks her teeth out when they get loose enough to bug her.

We did have a sad moment when Natalie was admiring her tooth while I talked to some of the other parents and waited for Sarah's group to start. She dropped her teeny tiny tooth in the grass. Everyone immediately stopped talking and started searching, some on their hands and knees. It seemed futile and we started reassuring Natalie that we could leave a note under her pillow and it would be accepted by the tooth fairy as legit. But then I caught a glimpse of it! Natalie was so relieved. Phew - that was more drama then getting the thing out.

Gymnastics Camp!

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Scootering" to gymnastics camp! I love summer! All three girls wanted to do the Gerbers' gymnastics camp this summer and they had a fabulous time! I was so impressed with everything they learned. They did so great and got lots of good exercise for an hour and 15 minutes every day.

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Warming up. . .

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Doing the bridge - impressive eh? (o:

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Angela could live at the Gerbers house - she was sooo excited for gymnastics camp! Thanks Hannah and Rebecca!

Swimming!

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We totally lucked out and got some GREAT swimming lessons this summer thanks to a timely phone call from my friend Tina. Just around the corner there is a neighborhood pool that offers lessons to it's residents. However, once they have signed up for the classes they want, the rest of the classes are open to the public. I got a last minute call from Tina who heard it was the night to sign up and just decided to run over and see what they had. I'm so glad I did! I got all three girls signed up for lessons at the same time and got Tina's daughter in the same class with Angela and Natalie. Pretty lucky considering they have a class size limit of 4 children. It worked out beautifully and I loved these lessons WAAAYY better than the parks and rec. setup. It's small, parking is a cinch and we didn't have to fight crowds. Plus it's closer. This was a fabulous way to kick off our summer for the first two weeks! Not to mention, I was thrilled with how much all three girls progressed and learned. Natalie and Angela made HUGE strides. They went from being totally chicken and scared of getting their faces wet to swimming with their faces totally in the water to their teacher. It was miraculous to say the least! They are now ready to start learning the front crawl. Sarah learned diving and perfected her freestyle. She is ready to move on to the next level and learn more strokes. Not only did I enjoy watching them become better swimmers and being up close for good pictures, but I got to visit with Tina every day at the pool. Good times!

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Sarah's "nose plugged" dive she was doing at the beginning of the week. By the end of her lessons, she learned to 'let go' and dive for real!

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