Halloween

Kate, Harper and Savannah spent months preparing their costumes. They had boxes sitting in our garage for weeks, but they really were cute in how they put their ideas together. Those hats were especially awesome!

Their test run had a little smaller body wash!

Torin's costume for school.

It was a weird night for Jared and Dani - all the kids made plans to go out with their friends!

Jared did get to go with Torin, who started his night trick or treating with Brady.

They added a couple friends not long after leaving

and eventually the group expanded even further! It was fun to see Torin together with his friends.

Liam went out with Isaac and some friends, and afterwards, they had a big candy exchange, which Torin got to join since Jared was the one doing pick up.

Jared took the kids out to the Halloween Haunt at Kings Island.

 

Torin was especially excited to see Aragog!

I love the colors of fall!

 

Papa at Bethesda North

Papa hasn't been feeling for a little while. He's had a couple UTIs, which, as it turns out, are a lot harder on the body as you get older. Nana called Jared on a Saturday morning to ask for some help bringing him to the hospital because he was really not feeling well.

Papa spent a week at Bethesda North. For the majority of it, Papa wasn't doing very well. His physical therapist came only a couple times, and barely were able to get him up and seated. Dani spent a lot of time with Nana and Papa, and Jared was able to be there almost every day as well. Nana held up pretty well, bringing treats for the nurses and the patient care assistants. 

One of the hardest parts was that Papa looked so uncomfortable. Another hard part was not knowing in what condition this illness would leave him - and if this would be a regular part of the next years of his life.

The hope was to be able to bring Papa to the rehabilitation facility. All week, they were pumping antibacterial medication, and the infection just wasn't resolving. The day before he was supposed to go, he still wasn't able to sit up very well.

Finally, the evening before, when Jared was over, Papa took Jared's hand and just seemed to will himself up. He seemed determined and proud. We were very excited for that progress - it really gave us hope for him to be able to recover.

 

Passports ... or mug shots!

We are planning a spring break cruise next year, so the kids all needed to get new passport photos.

It was fun to compare Jacob and Claire's to their original passports. Jacob was back in the "Bubba" days!

Liam and Torin clearly haven't had a hair cut in a long time! Liam looks like he was having a mugshot!

 

BLINK 2022

Our favorite Cincinnati event took place again this week, and we went 3 nights in a row.

Dani started on Thursday night going with some Relief Society sisters. They went down and walked around to see some murals - Dani reported that the walking speed wasn't quite her normal walking pace!

 

Jared took Kate, Liam, and Torin on Friday night.

The murals were fun to look at, but we especially liked the light installations.

One unique installation was in Washington Park with a lot of neon strings and black lights. It was one of the installations that you could interact with, and we joined lots of people in the mess of strings. Kate wasn't quite as enthusiastic about the crowd.

Memorial Hall was INCREDIBLE!!! The lights that were projected on Memorial Hall made it look like it was blowing up or transforming or constructing itself. It was incredible to watch!

We ended our night across from Washington Park getting some cookies and ice cream at Insomniac Cookies, underneath yet another lighting installation..

Saturday night, we went with Nick and Jenny Cupps. We got dinner at the Banks and then watched a drone show over the Ohio River

and then walked our way into town to see more art installations. Jared could spend hours longer here! It was fun to spend an evening with the Cupps!

 

Liam in Braces

Today, Liam became the 4th Jensen kid in braces. He's in pretty good spirits. I'm not sure he realizes (or, more likely, is in denial) that headgear is part of the treatment plan.

 

The new painting - and other new decor

Last Christmas, Jared gave Dani a spot on Lisa Jensen's wait list for a new painting, and after months of waiting - it arrived! We LOVE how it looks on the wall!

We have a reminder of Dani's home on our wall.

And on the other wall - BYU!!!

Buds

A couple random pictures of the younger boys and their buds - Torin with Ezra and Troy

and Liam with Isaac roller skating.