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Family Portrait - May 2006

In an effort to stir the pot and generate some intense sibling rivalry, I am posting my First List of Firsts, with the assurance that I will be given plenty of grief as well as a long list of all the things I have not remembered - so I can post my Second List of Firsts, and so on.

• First stitches – Soren, age 4 or 5. He and Sven were watching me do laundry on a Saturday night. They were sitting on the steps that led to our laundry room and somehow his finger was caught in the hinge side of the door when his brother moved the door. Major bleeding and hollering and a trip to the ER, where he was strapped onto a papoose board. He was very, very brave. Much more so than his mother.
• First one to run away from home – Sven, age 6 or 7. The note he left still makes me cry.
• First one to be a cheerleader AND teach a cheerleading workshop – Ayrel (Go, Cowboys!) I think she was in 3rd grade...
• First one to travel abroad – Sonja, who went to England & Scotland with her high school orchestra. I would have loved to have been a chaperon for that trip, but she was probably glad mom wasn't tagging along.
• First one to fly an airplane – Soren. One of my favorite memories is of a flight he took us on in Wisconsin in a 4-seater. As we came in to land there was a lot of wind and we saw the small plane ahead of us bounce all over the runway. I held my breath and gripped my seat, and our landing was like falling into cotton balls. Smooth, oh, so smooth. When I complimented him he said, “Well, I was doing my best to make a good impression!” He sure did.
• First one to jump out of an airplane – Tanja. I am. So. Very. Jealous.
• First one to make us grandparents – Brei (first grandson and first granddaughter!)
• First one to have a daughter as a first-born – Ayrel. The genes on the Jensen/Tangren side are pretty dominant. The last time this happened was in 1919 when Grandma Hallie was born.
• First one to graduate from college – technically, Sven. 2001 was a crazy and wonderful year - Soren, Sven & Sonja received their college diplomas while Ayrel earned her high school diploma that spring. Sven's graduation was first, from BYU, on a Friday. Soren's was the next day, from Embry Riddle in Prescott, AZ. Sonja's was the following Saturday, from U of U in SLC. Lots of driving to make it all happen, but it was sure worth it. And we got to stay home to attend Ayrel's!
• First one to score a goal for the other team – Brei. She played soccer one season. We learned the only reason she wanted to play was because of the sodas at the end of the games. She was awfully cute watching dandelions grow, though.
• First one to bring us a pet to take care of – Sonja. She has always been a trendsetter.
• First one to develop a liking for crawfish – Tanja. She was sooooo grossed out by the idea at the beginning of her mission, but by the end she could suck off their heads just like a native. She probably even developed a taste for squirrel but just doesn't want us to know.
• First one to administer a hearing test to the prime minister of a foreign country – Ayrel. She stepped up to the plate when a co-worker was too intimidated, and was complimented by her boss on her VIP (very impressive poise) in taking care of a VIP.
• First one to have sheep living in her back yard and fighter jets flying overhead – Tanja. I could be jealous, at least about the sheep.
• First one to almost burn down the Boy Scout camp and the neighbor’s dog house – Soren. He had accomplices both times, though….
• First one to meet Ted Coppell and Sean Connery, who was wearing a kilt, no less – Sonja. Her semester working as an intern for Nightline made for some cool adventures in the nation's capitol, and opened the door for more great adventures working for NBC at the SLC Olympics.
• First one to run a 1/2 marathon – Brei. I wish I had taken her challenge seriously and joined her for the Top of Utah run!
• First one to bag a deer - Soren. Congratulations! Will you be attaching the antlers to the grill of your truck?
• First one to give us the special experience of receiving a middle-of-the-night phone call from an ER doctor telling us, "Your child is going to be OK, but...." – Sven, who had a snowmobiling accident and ended up in the hospital in Star Valley, WY.  Sonja, who usually doesn't like to do something one of her siblings has already done, decided that this was cool enough to imitate. She ended up in a hospital in Paris, ID and had to be transported to LDS hospital. Love those phone calls. Not. Two too many, even today.