The Baileys

We love the Baileys!

Maddy, Zach, Danny, Abby, McKenna, Joey, Katie

We had so much fun a couple weekends ago going down the St. George to visit our good friends the Baileys. We are so glad that we were able to go and glad that they let us come! We had a fun time. The kids had a blast playing the whole time. We are lucky to have such great friends - that are still our friends even when they move far away! We miss you guys and can't wait for our next "vacation" together!

Evidence

Looks like we have some busy little bodies around our house
Here is some evidence I found this evening...

smudges

pen


not sure what this is...

more pen

20-something

22 weeks pregnant with Katie

23 weeks pregnant with McKenna

20 weeks pregnant with Baby #3

and feeling WAY more pregnant than I did with Baby #1 or #2,

but equally happy to be having a girl :)

Halloween

We had a great Halloween! Here are some pictures - sorry the pictures are kind of backwards :) You get the idea though - we had fun!

Our Jack-o-Lantern pizza for Halloween dinner

Getting ready to Trick-or-Treat with friend Grace.

(McKenna = mouse, Katie = Bel, Grace = cat)

So excited!

Katie had a Halloween party at preschool and had SO MUCH FUN

We carved pumpkins too - Katie & McKenna even designed their own :)

Family picture #2 of the year

Hay bail maze at the pumpkin patch

Picking out our pumpkins

Peace, Love, and GIRLS!!!

It's a GIRL

Here's our little baby girl giving us the peace sign in our ultrasound this morning. We are so happy and excited for another girl! I have to admit that I thought it was going to be a boy, but I wasn't at all surprised when we found out she was a girl. We're getting so used to this that I could even tell on the ultrasound before the nurse even told us :) Even though I wasn't surprised, I couldn't stop from laughing. "Of course it's a girl," I thought. "That's what we do!"

Everything looked great and the baby looks perfect. I still am amazed that this little baby is inside of me. What a miracle this whole process is! And I also wanted to reassure everyone who might be concerned, Dave will NOT be shooting himself. Luckily we cleared that up with Katie before the ultrasound so she knows that dad is excited for another daughter :)

Recipe: .Pot Roast Made Easy

Our ward has group that gets together every two months or so and puts together Freezer Meals. It is fabulous! Not only do I get new ideas and recipes, I get my freezer stocked with yummy meals that are already put together and ready to cook. And, the meals feed a large family, so I always half my recipes so I have double of all the meals. So great!

So we met this past Saturday and I made the Pot Roast Made Easy recipe yesterday for Sunday dinner. It was so yummy and I wanted to share it. Like I said, I halved the recipe and it ended up being a perfect amount for our family. Although, next time I will add more vegetables. They were SO GOOD and I definitely wished there were more.

Pot Roast Made Easy

3 lb pork roast
1 pkg. Ranch dressing mix
1 pkg. brown gravy mix
1 pkg. Italian dressing mix
1 cup water
1/2 onion, chopped
2-3 potatoes, cut in quarters
1 lb baby carrots

Cook ingredients in a crockpot on low 6-8 hours.

Another MIX

I haven't named this mix yet, but after finishing it and listening to it I'm realizing that all the songs are pretty depressing. Should I be concerned? I strangely enjoy listening to songs with great music, that can be blasted on a car stereo while singing my lungs out, and apparently extremely desperate and depressing lyrics. Hmm... I'm not quite sure what that says about me...
Anyway, great songs. Check them out if you get a chance.

Stop And Stare - One Republic
Forever May You Run - Gavin Rossdale
Behind These Hazel Eyes - Kelly Clarkson
All Around Me - Flyleaf
Only One - Yellowcard
Glycerine - Bush
Broken - Lifehouse
Everytime - Britney Spears (probably the most depressing of them all)
Big Girls Don't Cry - Fergie
Fall For You - Second Hand Serenade
Catch Me When I Fall - Ashlee Simpson
Love Remains the Same - Gavin Rossdale
The Kill - 30 Seconds to Mars
Fall To Pieces - Velvet Revolver
When You're Gone - Avril Levigne
Wild Horses - The Sundays
Because of You - Kelly Clarkson
Boston - Augustana

I will definitely shoot for a more uplifting theme in my next mix. Until then...enjoy!

Breaking Dawn

So, tonight I finally did it. I finally finished Breaking Dawn. I know, I know, it has taken me quite a long time, but I have always been a slow reader and never had the attention span (or the ability to stay awake long enough) to read a book in a day or two. I think I have only done that once (a volume of the Goosebumps series when I was about 12 years old). But tonight I have finished it. Surprisingly enough I managed to make it all the way through without any idea what was going to happen. I had heard several reviews, but luckily no one spoiled the ending for me. And...

I'm not sure I know what it is that some people didn't like about the ending (please don't comment on this in case some readers still haven't read it). I am anxious to talk to some of my "Twilight" reading friends to find out what it is that disappointed them in the end. I thought overall it was a good book. I was definitley entertained the whole time and had no idea what was going to happen. In my mind that's a pretty good book - as long as it can keep my attention and I can't figure out the ending, I'm satisfied. Then again, I do admit that I am pretty easily entertained. There are very few books that I have not liked, few that I have LOVED. Most books I enjoy.

I still think "New Moon" is my favorite of the saga. Being a Jacob fan, I really did love that book the most. Although my feelings towards Jacob changed in "Breaking Dawn," I ended with content feelings toward him. But I LOVED him in "New Moon" and I'm still not convinced that Bella shouldn't have chosen him back in book 2. Then again, the rest of the story wouldn't exist if that was the case...

So, I know this post is rather vague, because like I said I don't want to give anything away. But I do want to put it out there that I am one that liked "Breaking Dawn" (it seems like most people don't like it too much) and feel content about the way the series ended.

I do feel, however, that after these months I've dedicated to Stephenie Meyer and her vampire stories, I should probably go read my scriptures or at least something of a little more substance and value :)

How could they do that to the pregnant lady...?

Tonight, being Priesthood Session, my husband is going to be gone for the evening. He always goes out with some guys in our ward after Priesthood to play video games for the rest of the night. I already was planning on him being gone for the whole night and made plans with my girlfriend to get together, watch Grey's, and eat food. Perfect night! But then...
My husband's cousins called him this morning inviting him to go out to dinner before Priesthood. And where did they have to invite him to go? TUCANOS! Not only is Tucanos one of my favorite restaurants that we go to very rarely, but pretty much all they serve there is STEAK. AHHHH!!!! Which brings me to my point - How could they do that to the pregnant lady?!!! Now I have been planning and scheming in my mind all day how to arrange my evening to include steak. Not just any steak, really good steak. I almost made a reservation for myself to go to Tucanos with the girls after Priesthood started so I would be sure not to run into my husband and cousins, but then decided that would be a bit extreme. I finally decided on take out (steak of course) which I can now bring to my friends house and resume our evening as planned. My goodness. What's a pregnant girl to do?

My answer was to make sure I get steak, and top the night off with MK's famous double chocolate carmel brownies. YUM! Mary, I still LOVE you for sharing that recipe with me!

(BTW...this is post #100 - wow!)

My Turn

One word (or two or three...) answers:

Your {preferred} name: Megan
Your hair? short
Your mother? talented
Your father? wise
Your favorite thing? right now - sleep
Your dream last night? confusing
Your dream/goal? to be happy
Your favorite drink? Mr. Pibb/Dr. Pepper
The room you're in? kitchen
Your ex? no idea
Your hobby? baking
Your fear? tragic accident - especially within my family
Where do you want to be in 6 years? here
Where were you last night? home
What you're not? perfect
Muffins? yes please
One of your wish list items? swing set
Time? flies by
Where you grew up? Needham, MA
The last thing you did? ate
Favorite weather? rainy days (we don't get many)
What are you wearing? jeans
Your favorite book? Siddhartha
Your TV? on
Your pet? Baxter
Your computer? on
Your mood? content
Missing someone? yes
Your car? Jeep
Something you're not wearing? shoes
Favorite store? Old Navy
Love someone? yes
Your favorite color/shade? pink
Last thing you ate? pizza/Mr. Pibb
Your life? great
Your friends? awesome
What are you thinking right now? one word answers are hard
What are you doing at this moment? blogging
Your summer: HOT
Your relationship status: married
What do you do when you can't sleep? drive (in my head) from my house in Needham to Needham High (I always fall asleep before I get there)
When is the last time you laughed? last night?
Last time you cried? Sunday

The other morning I found McKenna in her crib in the morning completely naked. Yesterday, when I got her up from her nap she wasn't wearing a shirt, and this morning she had one arm out of her jammies. I think we have begun the battle to keep clothes on...

1/4 Century Celebration

Yesterday was my birthday, and yes I have reached my 1/4 century mark. I have to admit, I feel like I should already be at least 25 by now. I don't know if that's normal...but I definitely feel older than I actually am. But the past 25 years have definitely treated me well and I am very grateful.

My birthday celebrations were perfect. My birthday started off great at midnight with "Happy Birthday" sung to me by some of our great friends. Later that morning, after our night's sleep, Katie had preschool so McKenna and I had some quality time together. I really have been loving McKenna time. She is such a fun little girl and I love being her mom. After we picked Katie up from preschool, we met my brother Brian on BYU campus for lunch. He took us out on his Dining Plus card - to the Skyroom - which was awesome, very thoughtful, and brought back a lot of really great memories. He also got me an awesome shirt from the Kenny Chesney concert he went to. The shirt says "She comes from Boston." I LOVE IT (and am wearing it in the pictures below). That trip to BYU was a little tiring for us all, so me and the girls went home for an afternoon nap.
That night we had THIS:

and only this for dinner. That's all I wanted (gotta love pregnancy cravings). Nothing else sounded good - I just wanted to fill up on steak. Haha. It was great.

I was sporting my lovely Pink Eye for my birthday pictures (gross, I know). Thought it was worth documenting both occasions :)

The girls helping me blow out my candles. Steak and cake = perfect birthday meal :)

This cracked me up. Before we even cut the cake the girls had already stuck the fingers in it and McKenna's face was instantly covered (of course). When I told her to say "cheese" for the camera she looked up at me and said "CAKE!" It was hilarious.

The night ended with some catching up on some of my favorite shows that we had DVR-ed. Perfectly relaxing evening. It was great. I was very excited about my WONDERFUL gifts from hubby, moms, and friends, and birthday wishes from everyone. I felt very loved and remembered. Thank you so much for making my birthday special!

Family Reunion Provo/St. George

So, as I was uploading my pictures, I realized that I don't have a single picture from the Hopkin Family reunion last week. Unbelievable! I know my mom took some pictures, thank goodness, because I apparently have none.

Our family fun continued after our trip to San Jose, when my parents, my sister Jen and her family, and my brother Brian all came out to Utah. So fun! We had some time with my parents alone the first week. We went to Cascade Springs, the park, walked by the river, and had fun. Our girls LOVE grandparents! And how lucky that they got to see all four in one month!

Then Jen, Luis, Elena, and Sofia came and boy was that fun too. The cousins had a blast together. It was especially fun watching McKenna and Sofia run around together and have "conversations." We all went to St. George for the weekend for the Hopkin Family Society Board Meeting. Our family wasn't officially part of the board this year, but we couldn't resist the opportunity to be with family and to see Les Miserables. We also were able to visit our great friends the Baileys who live down there. We miss them so much and were happy to see them, even though it was very short. It was a great trip, St. George is beautiful and fun, but man was it HOT. I have a whole new concept of what it means to be hot outside. Provo feels cool compared to St. George!

When we got back from St. George, we still had a week of family fun. Brian came into town that Sunday that we returned. He's heading out here for school - started BYU this week. I am SO EXCITED to have a sibling here again and psyched for time to hang out with Brian. Hopefully I will be able to bribe him enough with food to come see us often.

All in all it was WONDERFUL to have family here just as it was WONDERFUL to be able to visit the rest of our family the week before. It almost felt like we were all actually living close to family for a while there - boy would that be nice. I'm excited that we will be getting another family visit next week from my brother Dan and his son Taylor. We love their visits too and are excited to see them.

Anyone else wanna come visit? If we plan it right, we could have family around almost every weekend, or every other. We would love it!!!

Family Reunion in San Jose

We had a fun Jensen Family reunion in San Jose this past August and for some reason I am just uploading the pictures of the trip onto my computer now. That just goes to show how busy this month has been and how quickly time has flown by! So, finally I am blogging about our trip to San Jose.

The reunion was so much fun. Everyone (minus Elder Steve of course) was there. We had a great time catching up with everyone, including cousins, Aunts & Uncles, and friends. Everytime we are around family we wish we lived closer to everyone and could get together more often. Once or twice a year just isn't enough.

We had a fun reunion day on Wednesday while we were there. Grandma planned a fun water game for the kids, we had a family dance, swimming, and then had a yummy BBQ and family night. It was perfect and felt really good to just be together.

Dave was able to go visit his best friend Jason Honey and his family in Roseville. This is the girls with their cute son Jacob.

On Monday of our trip (sorry for the mixed up chronology) we went to the Children Discovery Museum in downtown San Jose with Grandma. The museum was prefect for our girls. Every exhibit they loved. We spent most of our time in the water station. Both girls loved it. It was a blast!

Everyone with the purple museum with the Alice & Wonderland rabbit

The bubble station was a huge hit

Tea party in Alice & Wonderland exhibit

McKenna LOVED the rabbit hole. She could've crawled back and forth all day.

The Beach!

When we were in San Jose we had a chance to go to a beach in Santa Cruz. It was so fun!! We don't get to go to the beach often so it really was a treat. This was McKenna's first time, and it had been a long time since Katie has gone - she may not even remember ever going. It was a little chilly so we didn't swim, but we had a blast playing in the sand, collecting shells, and walking in the water.

Happy girls!

Very rare family photo op

Even if it was 150 degrees, I'm not sure I would've wanted to swim in that...

There were an insane amount of birds!

This video is priceless to me. McKenna's first time at the beach, first time feeling sand on her feet, and first time seeing the ocean. She was a little unsure at first, but quickly loved it.

I Can Feel It Comin In the Air...

Ok, call me crazy, but even in the midst of this 90+ weather I can feel fall just around the corner. I love it! I know that by the end of every season it seems like I can't WAIT for the next one to come. That's why I say "Thank goodness for four seasons!" I LOVE LOVE LOVE fall. I love the sunny, but cool days with cold mornings and nights. I love the fall colors, the smell of burning fireplaces, and getting cozy in hoodies or sweaters. I love it! And for some reason, fall really reminds me of home, even if I'm not enjoying the brilliant New England fall colors. Fall always has been my favorite season. It reminds me of after school snacks, Saturday morning soccer games in the cold, the anticipation of all the Holidays (including my birthday!), jumping in huge piles of leaves, and all my favorite things about living in New England. Even being so far away, all the smells, sounds, and feelings that fall brings bring me back to my most wonderful memories of home.

Jensen Summer 2008

We have had a great summer so far - part of the reason why it's been so long since my last post! We have been busy this month doing all sorts of fun things. The great news is that I think we've found a great formula for summer fun . . . (see following posts)

Visit From Grandma - Check

Thanksgiving Point petting zoo - SO FUN!

Build-A-Bear was also a huge hit!

Thanks for all the fun Grandma!

Pony Rides - Check

American Idol LIVE - Check

Mom & I went to the American Idol concert while she was here and it was AWESOME. I got some great videos of David Cook - but I couldn't get them to upload. I guess the files are too big. Anyway, it was awesome and we had a good time.

New Trick - Check

Swim Lessons - Check

We successfully completed our first session of swim lessons and they both received certificates to prove it! Katie completed Pre-Level 2 and McKenna completed Mom & Tot. Way to go girls!

Before swim lessons Katie was pretty scared to go in the water alone and would never have done this. What a champ!

McKenna's Mischief

She knows that with a face like that there's not much I can do...