Hello and Goodbye

It was an emotional roller coaster this weekend at the Jensen's. We acquired a stray 4 week old male kitten on Saturday. He checked out pretty healthy as far as we could tell. He was negative for Felv and FIV (cat viral infections). He had no signs of upper respiratory (kitty cold) and, although a little scrawny, had a great appetite! He did very well on night #1 with his new family. He loved to snuggle and would cry if you put him down. I think he slept on my chest most of the night. Sadly, Sunday evening he suddenly became very weak and ataxic. It progressed rather quickly and I found myself at the 24 hour emergency veterinary hospital around midnight, hoping he had low blood sugar, a treatable condition. Unfortunately, his glucose was normal and the list of rule-outs for this little guy all carried a very poor prognosis. We said a final goodbye to him this morning.

RIP Baby Boy

Beach Party

I have been meaning to post this video of Aayla dancing her way down the stairs to the beach when we were in Seaside in June. She was in her own little world dancing and singing the entire walk down. This kid seriously cracks me up!

Beach Trip

Aayla and I joined my mom, sister and the boys at Seaside, Or for a mini-vaca this past week. I was only able to stay the first night because I had to work, but Grandma and Aunt Jody were awesome enough to let Aayla stay for a couple more nights with them. The kids had so much fun. These are truly the luckiest kids in the world!

Grandma and her heart.

Aayla's favorite part of the whole trip was "playing in the sand". She also loved running in the water. It was not very warm out, but kids will be kids!

Aayla has the BEST AUNT EVER!! She happily froze her butt off so the kids could be in the water jumping over waves!

THANKS AUNT JODY!
WE LOVE YOU!


There was, of course, lots of sweet treats and rides!


Bumper cars!








Tilt-a-whirl!


Carousel! Aayla and Owen waving!


My stinkerish daughter! I took this picture and when I looked at it I said aloud "Oh great. I got a picture of Owen picking his nose".


So, what do you think Aayla does for the retry picture? Yep, that's my girl...


She, of course, thought it was HILARIOUS! Do I see a class clown in our future? She must get that from her dad!

The best part of the trip was spending time together.


Lucas and Aayla putting a puzzle together.


Jadon and Grandma


My girl and me

Sooo Much....

We have been pretty busy lately! We had a wonderful trip to the Oregon Zoo with my friend Kim and her grandson Maddox. We helped celebrate cousin Matthew's 3rd birthday. Aayla had her very first dance recital. We ventured to nearby Henry Hagg Lake for boating and our first fishing trip. And, Aayla and I enjoyed time at the beach with Grandma, Aunt Jody and the boys. Let's get to it...

Oregon Zoo

It was a beautiful day for a trip to the zoo. Aayla and her new friend Maddox got along great and had lots of fun checking everything out.

Giddy up!

Aayla was a little scared of the T-rex dinosaur.

New buddies.

Us!


Matthew turns 3!
It was a fun party with balloon costumes and a juggling act.

Joss, the birthday boy and Keith


Airplane hat with moving parts.


Butterfly wings.


A princess hat.


Staying Alive!!
Aayla had her very first public performance with her dance class. They danced to "Staying Alive". It was a really busy week with work, group photos, dress rehearsal and the real performance.

Getting her dance on before the big night.

Posing outside the auditorium.



The big performance! Aayla is farthest to the right.



Exploring Hagg Lake
Don, Aayla and I decided to check out the nearby lake. Aayla has been wanting to go fishing and last weekend was "free fishing weekend" at Hagg Lake. We went Friday simply to explore the area. We rented a little boat and cruised the waters for a while.

Aayla has been so silly lately when I try to take her picture. As soon as I say "smile!" she starts doing a wiggly dance.




The hubs and I and the beautiful Hagg Lake.


We're on a boat!


Our first fishing trip!
Aayla has been wanting to go fishing for a while now. Last weekend, Hagg lake hosted a free fishing weekend. After a trip to the sporting goods store, we were ready to give it a try. And by we, I mean Don and Aayla. I had no interest in going, but knew it might be a little tricky for Don by himself. Plus, I didn't want to miss out on a "first". I'm so glad I went because Aayla caught not one, but TWO trout. She also caught the biggest at 13 inches!! By the end of the trip we had six total. Not bad for our first time!!

Settling in.


Don's first catch.


Aayla's first catch.


The biggest catch.



Happy Dad!


Silly girls.