West Glacier Trail

We walked part of the West Glacier Trail this evening. We didn't leave early enough to do the whole thing, but it was nice to see a new trail. We want to go back, because Caleb said there is a way you can walk right up to the glacier from the beach...but we didn't go the right way, so we didn't see the glacier up close. I warded off any wildlife with my noisy bear bells...but we did see one squirrel. Isaiah spent the first half of the hike whittling a stick with the pocket knife he won at the food storage fair two weeks ago. He was told that he wasn't allowed to use it unless dad was around, so dad let him use it while hiking....?? It slowed him down a lot, and finally we had to tell him to put it away because he was carrying like three sticks, and whittling, and walking VERY slowly.

Darwin and the kids

Melissa and the kids




London found this root knot that looked like Jabba the Hut. She put it in her hiking purse and brought it home.



I took this picture with the camera on the ground...I love the angle and how it focused on the pine needles and blurred out Isaiah.



There were a lot of mushrooms on the trail...this is just one of several pictures I took of them.



The first part of the trail was pretty wet and muddy. Good thing we all have boots!



Another angle shot...my hiking stick and boot.



There were lots of little waterfalls on this trail. I got to play around with the shutter speeds on my camera again...it is more fun to do when it isn't for an assignment... =)



I love the composition of this shot. The bike was just sitting there, and paired with Brooklin and the slower shutter speed, it made a nice reflection shot.



My favorite of the wispy waterfall shots. This one was taken underneath one of the bridges.

LIFE

I was taking some video off of the camera tonight, and found this video from July 10th. My kids were playing the board game "Life" and I was listening to them talk about the game. Isaiah (of course) said something really funny, so I got the video camera out and had them all tell me about their game.

Soccer and Cross Country

Brooklin and Caleb are both playing sports in middle school. Caleb choose to play soccer and Brooklin is running cross country. Since there are only two middle schools here, and playing any other teams involves expensive travel (ferry or airplane), their seasons are really short. They both started practices on the 2nd. Brooklin had a race last Thurs, one tomorrow, and one next week, and then her season is over. Caleb's has weekly games until the 7th of Oct. and then soccer is over too.

Trusting in the Lord

I personally have felt like I have been through a wringer recently with our hope to adopt. The up and down of it has had me in tears and doubting the feelings that one of our children isn't here with us. I know that this is the right thing for us to be doing, but my patience with the waiting is being tested right now. Anyway, I was messing around on facebook (instead of working on my math homework) and saw a link someone posted for a "Mormon Message" on YouTube. The church posts a new clip on YouTube each week with a message about various topics. The one from facebook was called "What Matters Most", and it was a great message. There is always a list of other videos off on the side, so I started watching some of them. I was getting hungry, and decided to watch one more before having lunch. It was called "Trusting in the Lord". I was not expecting a video about adoption, but it was really powerful to me. The way the woman worded how she felt and what she learned, spoke straight to my soul. I hadn't thought about adoption teaching me this particular lesson and I am grateful I can have a new view of what I might need to learn from all of this.

New Auke Lake Trail

For Family "Home" Evening this week, we decided to walk the new Auke Lake trail. It's a really nice trail. It took us about an hour to walk to the end of it...stopping every few feet to take pictures, and also finding a geocache...and it took us 30 minutes to walk back to the car. Once in the car, we realized we had 10 minutes before the missionaries would be at our door for dinner! We were able to make it back and throw some steak and halibut on the George Foreman Grill and have dinner all the way on the table by 6:25 pm!

A guy water skiing on Auke Lake.




This is a picture of my school! It is across the lake from the trail.



Hunting for a geocache



Isaiah was the winner.




London took this and the next picture.

A giant tree root knot.

The kids in the root knot.

This tree stump looked like a cartoon moose head to me...hehe

Lieutenant Commander Jensen!

It has been nearly a year since Darwin was selected for Lieutenant Commander. (hereafter referred to as LCDR). Basically what happens, is "they" come up with a list of Lt.'s that are qualified to be promoted to LCDR and put them in a certain order based on their graduation from officer candidate school date and some other things. (clear as mud so far?) Then they promote from the list, starting at the top, as higher ranking officers either retire or leave the Coast Guard. We (and I really mean "I" here) sort of anticipated that he would be promoted around April of this year, but because the economy has been in the pits recently, less people are retiring than normal. It took the entire year for this to happen...but we are so excited that it did!

Congratulations to you, Darwin, from your biggest fan club! We love you! Love, Melissa, Brooklin, Caleb, London, and Isaiah!!

Good bye silver Lieutenant bars!
You were good to us, and we loved you for 7 years...but we are excited to retire you now!

Hello pretty new gold Lieutenant Commander leaf!
We are so excited that you made it here!

Darwin with Captain Burt at his promotion ceremony

This is us laughing...the certificate says "this frist day of September"

Darwin's dad got to be here for the promotion ceremony.
(we are all listening as the certificate is being read.)

Darwin's dad and I got to put on his new rank boards for him.

LCDR & Mrs. Jensen

LCDR Jensen with his father

First day of 2nd, 4th, 6th, and 8th grades!!

My house is amazingly silent this morning.

It took me a good two weeks (or more) of summer break to get used to having my four little people home from school...the elevated noise level in the house and little someones was always needing me for something. This morning, I miss the noise.

All the kids got up at 6am, and dressed in their new school clothes. They ate breakfast without me (I was showering and getting dressed during that time) and then ran around the house, letting out some of their nervous energy. I made four lunches, combed hair, and took their first day of school pictures. We left the house at 7:40 am, and walked to the elementary school. We found Isaiah's classroom, and then London's. They were happy to be back. Isaiah was put right to work by his teacher...she needed to plug in a computer to take attendance, but couldn't fit under the table the computer was sitting on to get it plugged in. Isaiah happily volunteered for the job. =)

At 8am, Brooklin, Caleb, and I walked out of the elementary school, and down the road to the middle school. It was nice to spend some extra time with them. Typically, I walk with (or drive) Brooklin most of the way to school, and then she would walk the final distance herself, but since it was Caleb's first day of middle school, I walked all the way to the front doors with them. I asked them how long I should stay. They both said I should stay until they at least found their friends. Brooklin was quick in finding her group, and went off to greet her friends. Caleb saw a group of kids from his elementary, but didn't go over to them. I asked him if he wanted me to stay or go, and he would just shrug his shoulders and say, "I don't know." Then the nerves got the best of him, and tears squeaked out of the corners of his eyes. His emotions have always been right under the surface. Brooklin, who had been visiting with her friends, came over and said, "Hey Caleb! Come over and meet my friends!...wait...what's wrong?" I told her he was just nervous, and she gave him a big hug, wiped his tears, and told him it would be ok!! I was so proud of her, I almost cried. She gave him another hug, and told him a joke so he could laugh. She stayed with him, until he had control of his emotions again, and then he went over to meet her friends with her.

The doors to the school were finally unlocked, and kids started to go inside. Caleb looked a little nervous again, but just then I saw his good friend TJ, and said, "Caleb! Look! TJ! Go get him!" With a big smile on his face, he ran off to meet up with his friend. I took that moment to step back...and walk home alone.

London is thankful for...

...irons.

I was ironing everyone's clothes for church this morning, and London was watching me. She marveled out loud at how before, the clothes were "bumpy" and how the iron made them smooth. Then she said' "I forgot to write that down."

???

I asked her about it. She said she forgot to write down that she was thankful for irons at school. She said that they had a paper and she was supposed to write down things she was thankful for, and she forgot to put down irons. So....I guess she appreciates freshly ironed clothes!! It was just too cute.




London always comes to church with scary hair, because I leave early with Brooklin to go to choir practice, and she comes with the boys an hour later. I don't ever seem to have time to fix her hair before church, so I spent an hour or more curling her hair this morning. She really liked the end result, so we took a few pictures of her with curly hair.

Just an update, I guess...

We are all good here in Alaska. Summer ended abruptly this week...last Thursday it was hot and sunny, like in the 70's, and then it all went downhill. Sunday and Monday it poured rain...really poured. The Mendenhall River broke out of it's bed, flooding some areas right off it's banks. It hasn't made it above 60 this whole week...mostly it has been hanging in the mid 50's.

Darwin has been gone a lot this past two weeks as well. He went to do inspections in Gustaveus on the 12th and 13th and then was in Sitka for some training from the 17th to the 19th. He came home last night, but is leaving with Caleb on the ferry at 3pm to go on a rafting trip with the scouts in Canada until Sunday afternoon. Darwin was called to be the Scoutmaster 4 weeks ago, and this trip was scheduled before he was called. Caleb isn't technically old enough to go...but both Darwin and the Young Men's president have 11 yr. old boys, so they both get to go because their dads are going. Caleb is really excited.

I finished up my summer English course on Aug. 1st and ended up with a 96%! I really hate writing papers...especially for English...but it isn't reflected in my grade. I started one of my fall classes on July 23rd...piano lessons. The teacher is wanting to get my class done early since she has another commitment coming up and won't be able to teach during the end of the fall semester. I have signed up for 10 credits in the fall. I will be taking Math 107 (the last math class I am required to take for my degree), World History, the piano lessons, and a Spinning class. I thought that maybe if I was getting a grade for exercising, I may actually do some! ha!! I am still really having fun going to school, and like the challenge.

I am ready for the kids to be back in school. They begin on the 31st (and I start classes on Sept. 3rd). I can't believe I'll have two kids in middle school this year! So crazy...and next year I will have a high school student!!!

Well, I need to go. I have to go have some blood drawn this morning. I had my cholesterol checked last month (and it was great) but they found that my calcium levels were low, so they are going to check them again and see if something needs to be done. Have a great weekend!


***I got the results back from my blood work, and my calcium levels are normal...so everything is good. ***