Living Room part 1

Here is the before pictures of the living room before we painted. Blah, yuck, boring. Another view. Notice Spencer on the floor in the process of rolling over.

It feels so much better now to have it painted. See next post. Even though I have a lot of decorating to do it almost feels decorated because there is some color on the wall.

LIving Room part 2

There was a spot on the wall up near the ceiling (Scott gets to do all the ding and hole fixing) that I aked Scott to sand so it wouldn't be so rough when we painted. When he got up there he discovered that there was a hole in the wall nearly the size of a dinner plate. It had been patched with packing tape and then mudded over. So a wall patch kit alone was out of the question since the hole was so big. My ingenious husband used this sign and then the wall patch grid stuff and then mudded over it. I triple dog dare anyone to come and find where he fixed the wall! Taylor and Carter wanted to paint so badly so we gave them some paint brushes and what started out as regular wall painting turned into a mural.

The finished product. The deer on the top was Scott's contribution. We ended up with some people, a frog face, and a dog/machine gun (depends on which boy you ask).

Here is the finished product. There was too much sun coming in the window for the color to be quite right but at leas you can see it is so much better.

The wall I am still brainstorming about. And yes, I realize that there is a line. But, one room is all we could accomplish in one weekend with 4 little helpers.

Vampire Baby

Spencer has gotten teeth way sooner than all the rest of my children. By 4 months he had 4 teeth! But even funnier is the order in which he got them. The bottom 2 came in like normal. Then he got the two on the sides of the front teeth so he was a little vampire for a while. It was pretty funny. He now has 7 teeth (so you can tell how old this picture is) and #8 is slow in coming but that's okay because I am enjoying having him take good naps.

More Catching up

On New Year's Eve we had some good friends over. We had meatball sandwiches on yummy homemade french bread (thanks, Wendy) and our own version of a F'zookie for dessert. For those who have never had the wonderful opportunity to have one it is a piping hot chocolate chip cookie with an ice cream sundae on top. As you can see from the kids plates it was a hit! We had lots of fun playing limbo and other games. I think this was probably the second time since we have been married that Scott and I actually made it until midnight . But barely, though. I had just crawled into bed and the clock hit midnight. I just love cute little Elizabeth. Wendy is pretty cool too.

I think it was on Christmas Eve we made snowman and star pancakes for breakfast.
Here is Carter with a creation.

Scott likes to make one big huge pancake with the last of the batter.

This one ended up being as big as a plate. Guess who ate the entire thing? No, it wasn't me. Rude!

It was Taylor!

Some more of our darling pancakes.

We had a great Christmas and enjoyed being together as a family. Unfortunately, on Christmas morning our batter was dead. Woops! I think we did get one or two videos is all.

Random Catching Up

Okay, this post has lots of random things in it. Life has been busy and I just have not had time to post things. So here is some catching up.

This is Spencer's first time to fall asleep in the high chair. He looked too cute.

One day I told Carly to clean up her room. She went upstairs and not too much later she came back down to say she was done. I went up to find that while her room was now clean, the hall was not!

Oops! I got these pictures backwards. This is pretty much what was left the morning after it snowed. Yep, it actually snowed here.

This is the van the night it snowed!

Aunt Jemima move over!

I Love it Here

So, can I say that again? I love it here. "Why?", you may ask, "does she love it so much in the land of the hurricanes?" I will tell you why by telling you what my children and I did today. First, when I woke up this morning the sun was streaming through the windows (once I opened the blinds), making it a beautiful day. Then, after lunch I loaded up the kids in the van along with everyone's bikes and went over to the boys elementary school to play and ride bikes around the track. The only one wearing a (light) jacket was Spencer because he has a cold. Now I know what you are thinking, "What, it's December 30 and they are out there without jackets?" Just wait, this story gets even better. Then, we came home and the big kids put on their swimming suits, crazy I know, and they helped me wash the van! December 30!!! It is at least 70 outside. So beautiful. Those who know me well know how badly I hate snow and to be cold. Those of you who are being dumped on with snow right now, I am sorry. I know some of you are happy with that and love the snow. Just go ahead and keep it. I really don't mind. So, now you know why I love it here. Just thought I would share.

Jumpin'

This movie is kind of old but it sort of shows how much fun Spence has in the Jumper.

Thanksgiving trip part 2

We had a fun tiem the night before Thanksgiving getting together with my family. Thanks to all those who planned that. The kids had lots of fun playing with cousins, exchaning presents, and eating way too much chocolate.

Carter and Aidan

Carly and Nathaniel playing Barbies.

Mom and Spencer. I never could get a very good picture of them together. Spencer was always tired when mom was around. In this picture Mom is blinking and Spencer is sneezing. Maybe next year......

Thanks to my Grandparents for coming too. It was lots of fun to see all of you (sorry, I missed Grandma Grizzy in this picture)

Thanksgiving trip part 1

We had a GREAT time visiting family and friends at Thanksgiving. Thanks to Laurie and Blake and to Michael and Charlynn for hosting us. You are awesome. You are welcome anytime in Texas. We won't even mind if YOU get US sick. Thanks to Jessica for the fun party at your house. I must admit that I wasn't very good at taking all the pictures I should have on the trip. I was just too tired. But here are a few.

Umm.......Camille, I think Charles needs his own little buddy!!!!

Sorry folks, but Camille won Spencers best smiles when they met. I wish I had had a video camera. When we got to her house they were both so happy. You just had to be there I guess.

Thanks to all those who came to our get together. It was so fun and good to see all of you.

Amme, Jess, Camille, and Kristi.

While we were at Michael and Charlynn's they took us to the Dinosaur Museum. It was ver cool. If you haven't been there you should really put in on the top of your list of places to go.

Here is Taylor pretending to throw a spear.

OOPS! I just realized this was the wrong way.

You cant see it very well, but this is a giant sea turtle. I would have to say it was my favorite.

Thanks again to all those who fed us, played with us, put up with us, etc. We had a great time and were so glad we got to come. Donations are now being accepted to the "Jenkins Fly" account (I never want to drive again, It takes way too long just to get out of Texas).

Trying to catch up!

Okay, so I am really behind with my blogging. But, better late than never right? This post is random but oh well. This picture is of Taylor at school. His class studied Indians in November. He learned a lot of cool things and even the meaning of some pictographs. Each child was supposed to make some sort of project for their "Living Native American Museum". There were all kind of thing they chose to do. There were teepees, totem poles, dream catchers, drums, jewelry, bow and arrow, and Taylor made an adobe pueblo. It was very time consuming but it was fun to work on it with him and we all learned a lot. For instance, did you know that the women made the bricks and did a lot of the actual building of the adobe homes? The picture below is of my awesome neighbors/friends. From left to right: Miss Jill, Miss Deena, and Miss Linda. Well, that's what all the kids call them. In Texas kids put the Miss in front of your first name, to show respect I guess. A very southern thing. So yeas, I now answer to Miss Amme. This is from Haloween. We had dinner at Miss Deena's (center). I love these ladies. they have really become good friends in the short time I have known them.

My camera would not focus well for this shot at all. But you can see Carter was a storm trooper, Carly a princess (her hair was so pretty), and Taylor was a ninja.

Here is Carter digging the seeds out of his pumpkin. All 3 of the kids were whining about how stinky and gross they were. What a bunch of wimps!!!!

Six Inches Off

After patiently waiting for me to stop being sick (I have had strep off and on since the middle of October) Carly was finally able to get her hair cut yesterday. She has wanted to get it cut short for months. There ended up being about six inched on the floor of the salon. She is so excited and loves it. She looks so grown up. No more pigtails at our house for a while. My little girl is officially a big girl- sniff, sniff, sniff.

Coming to Visit!!!!

It feels like it has been forever since we saw you all when we left home. But, we are coming to visit and would love to see ALL of you. Some of you don't live in the area any more but if you are around that would be great. Also, I unfortunately don't have everyone's email address so if you see don't see someone on the list by all means please forward this to them! If you are reading this it means we love you and miss you and would love to see you. Obviously, we can't stop by and see you all so--here's the plan. If you would like to see us:

When: Monday Nov. 24
Where: Jessica house (If you need her address let me or her know)
Time: 5:00 PM--??
We will have hot dogs on the grill so bring a potluck item to share!!

We are trying to start early so those that have kids in school can get them home to bed.
But, if you can't be there that early, come when you can!
If you can, give a little reply as to whether you think you can come please do so we can get an idea.
We are excited to come visit and look forward to seeing you all!

New Car

It became time for a new car about a month ago when I was leaving my friend Wendy's house. the power steering was making a horrible sound. At first we thought we just needed some fluid but when most of a bottle leaked onto the driveway we knew there was a problem! Scott spent 2 hours one night looking at every hose and connection trying to find the problem. He finally gave up and talked to a couple of mechanics. They both told him it was probably the rack and pinion. It would cost a lot more than we were willing to put into the van since we were planning to replace it in a few months anyway. So, I spent a week glued to the internet researching cars and finally agreed to another van--those of you who know me well know what I would rather have but we won't discuss that right now, sniff, sniff. It is a Honda Odyssey and is a metallic navy blue. The above picture is of the boys in the stow and go area. Hopefully this will allow us to make our trip at Thanksgiving in relative comfort and not be squished.

To make a long story short we ended up selling the white van to CARMAX. They gave us a great price! The Lord was really watching out for us on that one. This is also a Carmax van. Now I don't want to get into a big debate, 'cause I am sure there are people that don't like CARMAX or have had a bad experience there. But, we had a great experience and were very impressed with them. Hey, they need to pay me for all this free advertising. ;)

TAGGED-- Six quirks

Okay, so I have been tagged a few times lately. Sorry to those of you whom I have not followed up on that. My life has been pretty crazy plus I have had strep throat TWICE so I have been pretty much out of comission. But I will try to do this one from Camille since it is quick and easy.

SIX QUIRKS

1--If something happens- just normal everyday things I can't just enjoy it myself I have to call someone (like I called Jessica today to tell her I bought gas for $1.99!).

2--TURN THE LIGHTS OFF PEOPLE. If you are not in a room don't leave the light on!

3--I often don't turn the lights on unless I absolutely have to. I love natural light and keep the blinds open as much as possible. You will not find a light on in my house during the day time hours. Sometimes we eat dinner in pretty pale light or I am doing something with minimal light. I guess it goes back to my Idaho days. ;)

4--I would rather clean the entire bathroom than do the dishes!

5--I absolutely cannot stand long fingernails on little children--eww germ infestation!!!

6--Okay, probably the wierdest one of them all. I swallow peas whole like a pill with water. I like them in soup and salad and such but if there is a pile of peas on my plate I cannot get them down without a big tall glass of water. My gag reflex gets going just thinking about chewing boiled peas!


So, there you have it. You knew I was strange but prbably not that strange.

I tag Natasha, Destiny, Karin, Sharee, Trina, and Victoria

SHE DID IT!!

So, after over a year of having a bike Carly can finally ride the thing! For a long time she just wasn't interested. I told Scott at the beginning of the summer that it was his job to teach her. He gave it a few half hearted attempts, to no avail. We even promised her a new Barbie if she would just do it. But, then it was getting ridiculous and I started thinking that maybe there was some way I had failed her as a mother, or maybe she wasn't strong enough, or maybe she was lazy, or not coordinated, or, or, or.................................................................................. But, then one day I was determined that she was going to learn if it killed me. As I bent over and tried to assist my beautiful princess in getting her carriage moving I heard a strange sound. The tire was flat!! How long had it been like that?!?! I pumped up not 1 but 2 flat tires. No sooner had I done so than Carly hopped on the bike and rode away! Whew! She WAS coordinated and strong and not lazy. I had just failed her because I didn't know the tires were flat. Poor little girl. But she is doing great now and was even brave enough to try Carter's bike the other day even though her balance on two wheels is horrible at this point. Congratulations Carly.

And, since a movie shows that she can really do it---here you go. This is that first day when she was still kind of figuring out pedalling. She is a whole lot faster now.

I don't like IKE part 2

So, that Saturday after IKE hit after we had feasted upon the delectable hot dogs and sloppy joes Scott and his two sidekicks whipped up in the parking lot, we were told that the church in College Station had power and best of all........................................SHOWERS! It was getting a little too late to pack up and come home since it would be dark soon and our house had no electricity and most cities had curfew from about dusk to dawn. So, we packed up our belongings and headed on down the road to College Station, Texas. At this point we were feeling much like refugees---dirty, tired, SMELLY, and just wanting to be home and know how things were. We had heard from friends that had not evacuated that the outside of our house looked fine, but we weren't sure of the inside. After having a nice hot shower we felt much better and went to bed with wet heads in the too well air conditioned church. But, we tried not to complain since we had just spent the whole day in a very hot and humid one. The next day was Sunday. We woke up and got ready for Sacrament Meeting which is all that was held because all of the class rooms were full of evacuee families. I had taken the kids into the chapel to sit down and hadn't been sitting there for 2 minutes when Jennifer D---think back a few years those of you from the Greenfield ward----came up to me. She lives there with her cute family!!! The church makes the world so much smaller. It was really nice to see a familiar face. We also saw a few other people from our home ward which was nice too. The people in College Station were so awesome. They would come and talk to the ladies who were kind of in charge of the kitchen and say "What do you want to eat tomorrow" and then they would call around and either get it donated or go buy it. One woman brought in a big pot of soup for our Sunday lunch. So many others, just wanting to help but not knowing what to do, brought in cookies, brownie, rolls, etc. I think I put on a few pounds while we were there. There was a lot of hispanic members there who I came to really admire. They took care of that church better than I take care of my own house! After every meal every single dish was clean and the floor mopped--yep, after every meal. I feel pretty good if I mop once a week! The bathrooms were scrubbed every day and everyone just pitched in wherever the work needed to be done. Most of them couldn't speak very much English so it was hard to communicate verbally but their hearts were pure. While I don't know these individuals situations let me tell you what they taught me. I know there is a lot of negativity, especially in our area, associated with those who come here and then don't learn the language. While I still believe they need to learn the language, I did learn a greater respect and love for these people. They work super hard and are happy to do it. And they truly taught the Lord's house as such.

On Sunday night a big truck brought relief items to the church. Scott and I helped unload 2 pallets of water bottles and 1 pallet of food boxes. We all worked together as a human chain and quickly had it all unloaded. The next day I thought I was going to die I was so sore. Too much physical labor all at once for a new mom. But it was nice to help in a small way after being on the receiving end.

On Monday morning we packed up our things to go home. Even though we knew there was no electricity yet we just wanted to be home and check on it to make sure we didn't have any water damage. Thanks to Laurie and Bruce for being so kind to tell us which route to take home to avoid the most traffic. All along the way we saw people lined up at the few gas stations that were open. With nearly 3 million homes and businesses without power there were not a lot of options. Gas stations looked more like parking lots with lines a quarter of a mile long with people waiting to get in as well. We were very grateful that we had a full tank of gas and a full gas can. The picture below doesn't show it very well but the black car is just driving the other direction but the cars behind that are in line to get gas and behind them is the gas station jam packed. Before we went home we stopped in a friend subdivision to check on them. This is what almost every house in her neighborhood looked like. When the shingles and tar paper are blown off then the rain soaks through the wood and leaks down into your attic, ruins the insulation and then soaks the sheetrock in your ceiling which then collapses and everything falls down into the room below. Talk about a mess. All along the sides of the street people had piled up all of the aforementioned materials.
So, on that note we went home to check on our home and neighbors who had requested that we bring them bread from College Station. But, alas, I must leave you on the edge of your seat once more because the young master of the house is calling!

I don't like IKE part 1

Life has been pretty crazy for us the last month or so. It has taken me until give you all an update on our "IKE" experience. On Wednesday evvening before the storm we decided that it would be best if we evacuated. Our children get a little nervous in a regular thunder and lightning storm so we didn't want to make them suffer through the storm. So we boarded up our windows and packed up some clothes, food, etc. and headed to Conroe, Texas. We stayed in an LDS church there. We were assigned a classroom where we all slept together as a family. I don't reccommend sleeping in a church---at least in Texas anyway!! The air conditioners are set so low that we were freezing.

Taylor, Carter, and Carly thought it was great to "live" in the church. They loved running around in the gym and playing in the nursery all day Friday. Meanwhile, Scott, Spencer and I were glued to the TV watching the news as the storm got closer and closer. We met some new people while there and learned a lot.

(This is what our house looked like all boarded up as we left on Thursday)

IKE hit Conroe about 5:30 am on Sat. Luckily the church is a very sturdy building, the windows were small and the kids were asleep. Scott and I would probably slept through it but Spencer had woken up to eat and so then we lay in bed and watched the blue flashes out the window as the transformers blew. Even though Conroe is about 40 miles north of downtown Houston it still experienced Cat. 1 force winds. Across the stree from the church is a good size apartment complex that had 30 foot tall pine trees on the roof. There were tons of branches everywhere.

The power went out as the storm passed over and so we spent a hot and muggy day inside the very dark church on Saturday. When it came time for dinner we had some meat we needed to use that was thawing so Scott pulled out the camp stove (the stoves int the church are electric) and cooked for us. Sshhh.....don't tell that is one of the rolling carts from the kitchen that we took outsided and put the stove on. Carly and Carter had a great time helping. They are Food Network fans and so they said that Scott was Bobby Flay, Carly was Rachel Ray and Carter was Alton Brown and they were having a throwdown!! I dare you Bobby Flay to make better hot dogs and sloppy joes! And yes, Carly is wearing a dress-up. Before we left we told the kids to each go and get one toy to take with us. Carly chose a dress-up and the boys each took their lightsabers.

Okay, this whole experience is going to take a few posts because it is time to go to the bus and get the boys. Stay tuned for the next installment of "IKE-the J family's experience".

PLEASE HOLD.......

Sorry folks. I know you have been waiting for pictures and info about IKE. But we are still waiting for our internet to get working again. My good friend Wend was kind enough to let me use her computer for a minute today. Just suffice it to say, that we have learned a lot and are safe as is our house.

8 years

September 8, 2000
Eight years ago I had the awesome privelege of being married not only for time but for eternity to my very best friend in the Bountiful, Utah temple. Even though there have been struggles I wouldn't trade one second. Scott is such a thoughtful, understanding, and unselfish husband. He is so super smart and talented, I mean how many girls do you know who get a beautiful song written for them for their wedding???? Like I said, he is talented!!! Scott is such a good dad to our 4 children. All 5 of us look forward to 6 o'clock each day when he comes home. I could go on and on. Thanks for 8 wonderful years. I couldn't ask for a better HUBA-SAND. I love you. Love, Amme

Back to School

Monday was the first day of school. Where did the summer go? I am now realizing how well my children entertain each other. Carly and I are a little bored without the big boys. You can only play Barbies and Polly Pockets for so long! Anywho.... here are my handsome boys on the big day.



I can't believe my little Carter is in school. Some comments he has made, "I like school 'cause we don't have to take naps!" and "We haven't even done any work, my teacher just wanted us to make an 'A' for her."



Second grade! Where has the time gone? It literally seems like yesterday when Taylor started kindergarten in Logan. I think he is excited to be back in school even though he is trying to be is usual nonchalant self. You should hear him read!



Carly wants to go to school too. Notice the scripture case on the ground that she called her "pack-pack". It is nice to be on a better schedule of getting up early and going to bed on time. I enjoy my time alone with Carly and Spencer but I am excited to see Taylor and Carter each afternoon and hear about what they learned.