Jensen Family Reunion at Lake Tahoe

Here's a video summarizing my trip to Lake Tahoe for the Jensen Family Reunion. It was great to spend some time with my Mom's side of the family. They are a fun and crazy bunch! The only thing that could have made it better would have been if Joe, my Dad, and more of my siblings had been there.

Video beautifully made by my uncle, Mike Jensen.

Jensen Family Reunion | South Tahoe | July 2011 from Jensen Films on Vimeo.

I was able to drive out with my uncle Jared and aunt Christine and their five cute kids.

I have no idea how he could sleep like this, but he was like this for hours!

Nathan and the "lighthouse."

Grandpa Jensen

If you look closely, you can see my Mom giving a thumbs up!

Uncle Kent and a fish!

Beautiful Lake Tahoe

It was a great and relaxing week!

"Nothing compares to the simple pleasure of a bike ride." - John F. Kennedy.

This is Emily. She is one of my besties. We met a year or so ago at church and I knew from the start I wanted her to be my friend. We have a TON in common and our hubbies get along great. Yay! Joe and I convinced Emily and her husband Scott to move into our apartment complex. We like them THAT MUCH.

Emily, Scott, Joe, and I are now a bike gang. We go on bike rides with our awesome helmets. Emily and I have matchy-matchy helmets . . . totally and completely on accident. Told you we have a lot in common. We are still trying to think up a name for our gang. Any suggestions?

Emily is someone I know I can always call on when I need some girl time or if the Hunk and I want to go out with friends. One thing I love about Emily is she sees the good in everyone.

Conversation at Relief Society Enrichment Activity 

(Emily and I have just been moved to a new ward so we knew exactly ONE person there before we came.)

Meg: Emily is quite the quilter. She makes the most beautiful quilts!

Emily: Bashful smile. Thanks. It's just something I like to do.

Allie (a cool girl in our ward that we met): I love to scrapbook. I make tons of cards!

Emily & Meg: Cool!

Allie: So what are your talents, Meg?

Meg: Um, well, I'm not creative, or artsy, or musical, or athletic. Hmm, I can read. Yeah. I read.

Allie and Emily: Laugh politely

Emily: Meg is an organizer. If you need anything done or organized, she's your girl.

Meg: Aw, thanks! Feels so GRATEFUL Emily is her friend!

Isn't Emily just awesome? Love that girl!

So, if you see four people in their late twenties riding around the Provo/Orem area on bikes--just smile and wave or join us if you want!

My In-Laws are the Greatest!

This last weekend Joe's parents came to visit! It was their first trip to Utah and we are so glad they came. We had such a good time and wish that they could come more often. The weekend was filled with:

Hiking in the Canyon

Tucanos 

Bowling (Joe broke 200!)

Family Feud on the Wii

Touring SLC

Visiting the University of Utah

Zupas

Lots and Lots of Pinochle

Red Lobster

Words with Friends

Great Conversation

Beautiful Sunny Weather

I only got some pictures from our hike. We are so glad that Gary (Joe's Dad) had his hip replaced so he could join us! This is the farthest he has walked in three years. It's like he's a new man!

Joe testing the water. He said that the SNOW RUNOFF wasn't cold. Ha.

Gloria and Gary Flager

Me & Joe Flager

(Sorry it's blurry!)

Gary on the bridge

The stream was right next to the trail

Gary, camera-man

We had a great time with them here! We always loving having visitors, especially when they are family. We hope to see them again sometime soon!

I'm not afraid to make the jump.

One of the things on my bucket list is to go skydiving. I especially wanted to do it before I have kids and more responsibility. My mother-in-law bought me a skydiving pass a few Christmas's ago and I finally got to jump when I was in Oregon last month.

This is a look of excitement and sheer terror mixed. Oh, and don't you love the orange jumpsuit. I look like I  belong to a prison street cleaning gang.

The plane is taking off!

This is the target in the landing area. I landed 3 feet away!

The scariest part is right when you jump out of the plane. When you are free falling, though, it just feels like there is a lot of wind.

Exit Altitude: 9800 feet

Freefall: 38 seconds

Average Speed: 135 mph

Maximum Speed: 141 mph

Coming in for a landing!

Landing!

With two feet firmly planted on the ground, and all I want to do is jump out of a plane again.

This is my friend Troy. He was the ONLY person who would go with me. 

This is our instructor. He was great. I had a great time. I want to go again!

We went searching for the sun.

I know that I should have blogged about this a long time ago, but better late than never, eh?  In May, Joe and I went on a Mexican Riviera cruise. We had yet to go on a vacation with just the two of us, and our honeymoon was just two days at the beach. So, we thought it was worth spending our tax return on this getaway. We had seven lovely days on a cruise ship with no places we had to  be and no deadlines to meet. It was FANTASTIC! We stopped at Caba San Lucas and Puerto Vallarta. Highlights of the trip include:

Swimming with dolphins

Kayaking with a glass bottom kayak

All you can eat soft serve ice cream (Joe made sure to take PLENTY advantage of this)

Playing mini golf on the ship

Sleeping in and not feeling guilty of it

Para-sailing over the ocean

Chillin' in the hot tub

Awesome shopping (Well, this was a highlight for me.)

Formal dress-up dinners

Meeting new friends

Wonderfully warm weather

Snorkeling in a coral reef and seeing the most beautiful fish

Reading the entire Hunger Games series

Getting an incredible massage

Zip-lining in the jungle canopy

Towel animals

All you want room service

Being able to spent wonderful time with each other

We had a wonderful time and are so glad that we got to take a break. The only downer was that it ended so soon!

The first day at sea was cloudy, but the weather got better as we traveled more south.

It was mother's day weekend so this guy made an ice sculpture of "MOM." It was cool to watch.

Our lovely room. 

We got a yummy pina-colada in this fun coconut monkey!

We saw this cute guy in Cabo San Lucas.

Our ship: Carnival Spendor

Lovers Beach in Cabo.

Supposedly this is a really famous arch. I thought it was pretty.

I'm not  a fan of salt water, but it was worth it!

Getting ready to go para-sailing! I think Joe was a little nervous.

We had a GREAT time. I hope we can go on another cruise someday!