This is what April 15th looks like

at Jensen Harmon & Co.





























The above are typically the neatest offices in the building.

























Keven's stack of extensions - this will keep a lot of people busy for a very l-o-n-g time. A big thank-you to KK for getting them done!





Filing party, anyone??




























And this is how April 15th feels at Jensen Harmon & Co.

Somewhere today the birds were singing and flowers waved their pretty heads in the breeze; children played in the sunshine and Mother Nature smiled on the beauty of a spring day....


....actually, right outside our windows, but who had time to notice?!?

Dear April 15th - Thank you for leaving. Please don't come back for at least another year. Two or three would be even better.

Happy Trails

Several Saturdays ago Tanja, Brad, Melanee (one of my many adoreable nieces) & I took a little hike. We drove about an hour east of St. George to Hildale (that is a whole different post), and then hiked this amazing trail. I took way too many pictures and I intend to post way too many pictures....I want everybody who sees them to be jealous! The weather was perfect, the exercise felt great, and my hiking buddies were the best!

See the blue, blue sky!

See the natural arch!

See the varied and beautiful colors of the rocks!

(I would love to have a dinner party on top of this massive boulder)

We hiked above the second waterfall and looked down to see....

(double click on picture to see close up!)

Newlyweds...

MelleBelle

The end of the trail.

We wouldn't have minded staying longer but we had an important date at Nelson's Frozen Custard to meet another cute niece of mine, Sister Cheryl Jensen (serving in the Provo Utah Mission and assigned to the St. George Visitor's Center). Oh, and thank you Miss Melle Belle, for the LOVELY chapstick you shared with me. I love to run around with bright purple lips for 2 days....

Sister Kuster (from Brazil), Sister Jensen, Tanja & Brad

HaPpY BiRtHDaY tO kRiS!

Today we helped Kris celebrate his 45th Birthday - it's a lot of fun when the Birthday Boy loves celebrating!

Cards and packages started arriving last week, and he opened and relished each one. He knew that today after I came home from work we were going to go pick out his cake - nope, nothing homemade, but he seemed OK with that - and then meet Keven, Scott & Mary Louise at the restaurant of his choice for dinner, Applebee's. He didn't hesitate to order a (non-alcoholic) strawberry daiquiri, and after the first few sips made sure we knew that it had chilled him to his toes! He was happy with an order of mozzarella cheese sticks and kept the conversation rolling between bites.

At home he served everyone a slice of brownie cheesecake (he didn't consider anything else once he saw it), and then was more than happy to open his gifts. He seemed genuinely pleased with each one, and was quick to give big hugs and thanks to all!









None of the pictures of Kris opening presents turned out very well so he agreed to pose later with his gifts - pretty amazing considering everytime I take a picture he says something like, "Oh you woman, put that camera away!"

Facts of Four

Thanks to Ayrel, who tagged me, you might learn something new here - whether it's of interest to you or not may be another story....

Facts of Four:

Four Shows I Watch:
1. DWTS – this is the only thing I will actually sit down and watch occasionally, don’t ask me why. But if I’m working on the computer I get to listen to some of the delightful things Kris is watching, such as:
2. Deal or No Deal
3. Days of Our Lives
4. Wrestling

Four Things I'm Passionate About:
1. Mi Familia
2. The gospel of Jesus Christ
3. Traveling – especially if I get to be with Mi Familia
4. Um, chocolate

Four Phrases I Say A Lot:
1. Anyone want to go for a walk with the dogs and me?
2. If you can’t say anything nice…..
3. You want to: a)eat it? b)sit on it? c)wear it?
4. Ooops, just a minute – I forgot my a)sunglasses b)earrings c)phone

Four Things I've Learned from the Past:
1. Enjoy where you are – it’s OK to look back, just don’t stare; plan for the future but live in the present
2. Forgive and don’t hold grudges
3. Try new things – say “Yes!” to adventure
4. It's nice to be important but it's more important to be nice

Four Places I Would Like to Go:
1. New Zealand
2. Switzerland
3. Iguazu Falls & Machu Picchu
4. Tuscany

Four Things I Did Yesterday:
1. Took the dogs on a 5 mile walk/run
2. Washed and line-dried sheets and towels
3. Tax rendition extensions
4. Trek training for 4 terrific Ma’s & Pa’s

Four Things I'm Looking Forward to:
1. The end of tax season
2. Sleeping at least 7 hours straight on a regular basis
3. Time to sew, knit and do yardwork
4. Company - anybody, anytime

Four Things I Love about Winter:
1. Living in El Paso and rarely having to wear a coat
2. Making a big pot of stew and bread
3. Hot cocoa
4. Skiing (so hard to do in El Paso)

Four Things on My Wish List:
1. Hands-free device so I can legally talk while driving
2. Finishing our remodel, in particular the deck and outdoor room
3. All the evil in Juarez to go away. OK then, I might as well say it: World Peace – really – because that would mean the Millennium!
4. A family compound in the mountains (near the ocean would do just as well)

Four People I tag:
1. Bobbi – because whatever you write will be funny instead of boring
2. Patti – for the same reason, and so Bobbi doesn’t have to do it by herself
3. Elaine – because I know you will have some amazing insights
4. Brei – Ayrel already tagged you, but you haven’t done it yet. Feel the pressure??

Random Picture #2

2007 - Gabe immediately after being knocked over by a giant wave at a beach in Korea (I promise he was laughing as hard as we were seconds after the picture was taken!)

He Is Risen

Our Lord has written
the promise of the
resurrection, not in
books alone, but in
every leaf in springtime.

~ Martin Luther

River Walk

These three handsome boys and I took a walk along the raging Rio Grande this morning.

 

Jack

 

Theo

 

Tofi

It was a lovely morning, cool and slightly hazy. Jack still doesn't understand why his buds won't jump into the river with him.



They were all so well behaved....until it was time to leash them and head back....
25 minutes later I found them - I think they had crawled through a culvert that went under the road and were running around on the other side, coming back underneath the bridge. They thought it was a great adventure!