Alena's first pinewood derby

Part of Adventure Guides is the pinewood derby race.  Alena drew out a pattern she wanted and I cut it out on Grandpa Ed's bandsaw and got it weighted correctly with some melted lead.  Alena had to do all of the sanding and painting.  It was a cool looking car....

....and it was FAST!  It got first place!  Running at 173 mph!  Great job Alena!

Just because it's funny

Valentine's Day Feast

Nothing says Valentine's Day like fruit skewers, pigs in a blanket, and a living room picnic and movie.  So sweet!

Snow Family

The entire family, including the cats, a beard, and boobies.

Birthday or dining room fire?

Mommy needed the help of two girls to blow out all of these candles.  Count them before the cake melts!

Holiday season - a flurry of activity

December is always a blur looking back.  So much anticipation and so much to do for that Christmas Day.  Here is how the Jensen Family spent our December getting ready and celebrating Christmas this year.

Decorating the tree - tis the season - and even those with height challenges, no matter their age get some free help.  Here you Noodle, I'll lift you up to the top of the tree!

Mixing cookies with Grandma.

Decorating cookies....clearly a couple amateurs.

Let the pros do some decorating!

The Fire and Ice Parade!  The first time they had big inflatables....when did we get to NYC....feels like the Macy's Parade....big leagues!

Staying warm at the Parade with the Thatchers.

Christmas Day at the Ossman house.

Does Nora look excited?

It's mistletoe, Alena, pucker up!

Gift opening at the Jensen house - looks like Santa was happy here!

Matching outfits made by Grandma....just for this one photo op.

November

First snow at the new house

Little wallpaper stipping helpers

Jones doesn't seem bothered by anything

The girls have enjoyed wearing their underwear on their heads for quite some time

We went to Mall of America with the Minnesota cousins.  They replaced me with this Lego person that looked a little like me.

Daddy took the wooden sash down from above the kitchen window after our Thanksgiving meal.

Halloween

We went trick or treating at the Cahalans' house this year.  Alena was a cheetah, Nora a purple kitty (she chose her own fabric and pattern), and the Cahalan girls were all Elsa from Frozen.  Nora was the most eager of the kids and she ran from house to house.  They got quite the haul.

Alena designed and carved her own pumpkin this year.  She did a great job!  It took some effort to convince Nora to stick her hand in to scoop out the guts.

Alena's Birthday

On Alena's birthday she had her friend Maya over to play.  The next day was Sunday and we had a party with the family.  Alena is still in love with cheetahs.  She received a giant cheetah from Grandma Dee.  She saw it in a toy store, and Grandma picked up on the very subtle hints.  She loves it!  Grandma Diane sewed her a cheetah jacket which is very styling.  We gave her a new bike, and Aunt Melissa refinished a desk for Alena to put in her room.  Now the cheetah (Seetah) has to sleep in Alena's bed.  Seetah gets more room than Alena.

The big move

We moved into our new house on October 10th.  Thanks to Jeff and Juston, along with the help of families, we moved in pretty quickly.  Alena liked playing around the waterfall.

School is just under a mile walk.  On the way home we stopped at Bever Park to play.  The girls wanted to pose in the new Bocce court.

I needed to escape the stress of the move, so we went back to Marr Park for a camping trip.  They had the Halloween hike with jack o lanterns and luminaries set up all around the lake's trail.  Grandpa offered to sleep with Nora.  She was so wound up she refused to settle down, even though she was tired.  She left his side of the camper and then we didn't hear her.  She wasn't on our side and she wasn't on Grandpa's.  We were really confused when Daddy located her sitting against a sleeping bag, sound asleep.  The next morning we found her wedged up in the corner.

Ta Da! with Grandpa.

The girls show off the new kitchen.

We have a great new climbing tree.  Uncle Andrew had to show off his climbing skills while Lucie and Nora played in a leaf pile.