Love from Papa

On one of Papa's last days, Antwin and Papa went shopping for a Christmas gift for Nana. They searched the entire store for a good Christmas present, and Papa kept coming back to one, and they ended up finding the perfect final Christmas gift for Nana - a gift that speaks directly from his heart his feelings about his beloved wife of 45 years.

The "I Love You to the Moon and Back" ornament was placed in a special spot in the center of the tree.

We reflect on this ornament frequently. For years, Papa's ability to communicate through words has been limited, but we could still feel his love through his actions. What felt like his final message to his family will continue to resonate with us. 

Holiday times

Jared started the Thanksgiving Day Big Crossword puzzle on Thanksgiving - and kept going and going and going. The whole family got involved, and eventually, WE DID IT!!!

Winterfest at Kings Island with the youngest 3 while the teenagers were working.

The holiday train - and all 12 days of Christmas

We love all the lights

and tiny-head snowman!

Basketball and flurries

and Torin isn't often interested in throwing a baseball - except, apparently, in the snow!

Some of Papa's last days

We won the lottery for Christmas at Prasco for the first time - thanks to Adam and Megan Christensen, and it was an incredible experience! We enjoyed the decorations, a visit to Santa, the Christmas story, and of course, the candy room. Seriously, the candy room is incredible - it is like a candy store without a price! It has everything - chocolates, sour candies, homemade cupcakes, and so much more. It was heaven to the kids.

Megan Christensen wrote a book called "Christmas at Pasco," and we got a copy. It was beautifully written! It was a fun event to have with Nana and Papa. We took a nice picture outside in the sleigh.

On December 11, Papa's 2nd to last Sunday, Julie Siebach took a sweet picture of Papa supported by some of his biggest fans after church as he was talking with Nana.

Later that week, Nana and Papa joined us for concerts on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday evenings for Jacob, Claire, and Liam. It has been such a blessing to live close!

Dani watched Papa on Thursday, which, of course, meant they found some frozen treats - this time, a Chick-Fil-A milkshake. Yum!

On Friday, Papa came downtown for Dave Witzgall's retirement. It was incredible to watch my dad walk in to what was a hero's reception. There were tears as people expressed gratitude for my dad's influence on their lives. I heard stories from many former co-workers. It was a moment I could understand just how much my dad meant to so many.

Concert season

Liam's cello concert with his teacher Kat's students.

One piece they played involved all the cello students playing at the same time.

Liam is progressing quickly in his cello playing.

 

One Republic

AFG's annual Christmas concert - getting all dressed up and ready.

We had great seats - only a few rows back on the side of the stage.

One Republic was a lot of fun! They sung some of their hits "I Ain't Worried" from the Top Gun Maverick movie, "Apologize," "All the Right Moves," and even a couple Christmas songs. It was fun hearing all the stories Ryan Tedder, the One Republic lea singer, shared about his song writing.

We had a great night!

The beautiful Christmas tree - a wonderful Christmas tradition

The ornaments!

Claire- Santa on a Roller Coaster

Jacob - License Plate

Kate - Girl on a Bike

Liam - Mandalorian helmet

Torin - baptism

Family - Buc-ees, Natural Bridge

It takes Jared hours and lots of strands of lights to get the tree lit up.

Once it is lit up, we get all the ornaments out. We are up to 4 bins of ornaments now.

Jared gets the spinners on - we had 23 this year!

We love sitting by the tree and remembering the meaning of the ornaments and taking pictures in front of the tree.

NHS Inductees

Jacob and Claire were inducted into the National Honor Society. Claire chose Sister Goldie and Jacob chose Dani as their sponsors.

We are proud of these 2!

 

Jacob and Jared Turkey Trot half marathon

Jacob and Jared ran the Cincinnati Turkey Trot around Lunken airport. It was a nice day for a race, and both were happy with the way they ran. Jacob got in front of Jared a 3-4 miles out and held a lead the entire way. Jared started to pull in closer with less than a mile left, but Jacob took off and finished nearly a minute ahead. It was both of their first official half marathon.

 

There were a number of people from the ward who ran - Luke had a fast race

and Anika was the 2nd finishing woman and Bracken ran well too!

Papa comes home in time for Thanksgiving

After a couple weeks in the rehabilitation facility, Papa was able to come home in time for Thanksgiving! The kids made a sign welcoming him home. He is still weak and lower in energy, but he is in so much better condition than he has been for the last 3+ weeks.

Taylor and family came to join for Thanksgiving. We watched the US Men's team's world cup game against England, which ended up in a 0-0 draw.

It was a sweet time that we got to spend 

The cousins had a lot of fun together!

Taylor joined the Montgomery Ward's Turkey Bowl - the Jensen boys were dominant :)

The younger group of boys went fossil hunting at a park in Sharonville and found lots of treasures. We didn't realize there was fossil hunting so close!

The weather was beautiful! One day we went to Glenwood Gardens Discovery Garden. We hiked around, looked at the model trains, and then played tag at the tree house area.

One of the last days of the weekend, Taylor and Jared went outside and played catch with Papa.

It was sweet to do something together again that we had done so many times in our backyard growing up. Papa was able to throw and catch every one!

We are all so happy to have Papa back at home, and we really enjoyed this memorable Thanksgiving weekend. We felt so grateful for the medical care he has received and for the joy of family.