COLLEGE DROP OFF!

 We left a huge piece of our heart in Utah! As we drive home we have lots of mixed emotions! WE are proud of the human we have raised, we feel at peace with her apartment and roommates, her bestie is right there, we love that she has family close by to help, we had a rough two weeks before she left but saw the blessings and gifts from Heavenly Father as we headed up, and now we will say our goodbyes, cry our tears and count down till we get to see her next time! #imnotaregularmomimacoolmom #ibettercallheritsbeen5minutessinceweleft

We blessed Emma's apartment before we left and Jared also gave her a back to school blessing before we left as well: 

Emma bless you to be happy the Lord is looking out for you. You are at a point to receive the fruits of your labors. Heavenly Father is very happy for the decisions you are making. Bless you with a spirit of discernment. Aware of your surroundings and be safe. Notice around you who needs help and upliftment. Bless you to focus on your studies. This room will be a sanctuary for you and you will be able to retreat from worries of the outside world. Pay attention to promptings of the still small voice. When you act upon them you will become more Intune. Your family is rooting for you and loves you. You are leading the way for the Jensens and Rodgers cousins. This is a powerful legacy you are leaving behind! 

Alpine Village #325 - her first apartment and home away from home

Chick-fil-a in Utah still sells wraps - Tyson is super jealous

family time with cousins

Braiding Markhams hair one last time

Teaching Emma with Uncle Bryant how to ride the UVX

Taking the girls to dinner one last time before leave

All the pictures of Emma's back while she is walking is every time she thought she was to cool for her parents - yes including the one inside UVU

Jared working on electronics in her apartment (even though Uncle Blake would have to come and help her buy a new router as soon as we left dang it!)

And Sodalicious Parkway - the newest shop and her new work location!

The lovely very detailed notes Emma's roommate Katie left every where for us when we came inside the apartment! 

When I got back from Utah, Michelle had left me flowers knowing I would be sad about leaving Emma!

The kids had one last sleepover together the night before Emma left!

Somehow we have to fit Emma along with all this stuff in our car to take her to college - ha ha! 

Emma also got a job at UVU working for TRIO. She is a tutor at the college. It pays $13 an hour which is almost double what she gets at Soda. She has her own little cubicle thing and has to wear the lovely vests while tutoring!

SAYING GOODBYE TO THE GRANDPARENTS!

 Saying goodbye to the grandparents before she heads up to school! Emma got to visit Grandma Joyce last Sunday and listen to stories, get advice from her and hear her opinions on certain subjects! Yesterday Emma and Grandma Rodgers got their nails done, went to lunch and then hung out all afternoon with Grandpa Rodgers. Today Grandma and Grandpa Jensen came by for a few minutes to say goodbye. Until December....

LAST CHURCH WITH EMMA!

We have been going to church with Emma for 18 years! Today was our last church services with her before she moves to Utah. Obviously, we will go to church with her when she's home, but this was the last time while she is under our roof! It was perfect - little Jonny Cardon and Charly wanted to go out so Sara turned to Emma and asked her to take them - Emma has been taking them for several years now so it was fun to end in what seems like a perfectly normal Sacrament meeting (even if Jared blessed the Sacrament today and forgot to serve it to our boys - ha ha). 

BLUE BETTY!

 Because Emma's jeep was  so old it would have little problems here and there and Jared was always able to fix it, but with her going to Utah it would be expensive to take it to a shop every time. We tried to talk her into letting us buy her a new vehicle but she loved her jeep! So we told her she would be responsible for the repairs and she didn't care. Fast forward a few months and she went to go leave to go some place and her jeep wouldn't start. She called me crying and asked if the offer was still on the table. I texted Chris Henkel at Toyota and asked if they had anything cheap and good and how much they would give us for her jeep trade in. We prayed it would start so we could drive it to the dealership and try to trade it in for something else. We found a hidden gem there! A 2018 Toyota Yaris with only 12k miles on it. It was amazing! They offered us $5k for the jeep and we only had to pay $8k. We felt so good about it. We took it on a test drive to Sodalicious to show her and see what she thought - she was not very excited at all. But it was what it was. We bought it. She came home from work that night and really checked out her new car which she affectionately named, Blue Betty. She fell in love with it. This was going to be the perfect college car! 

2 weeks before she was supposed to head up to Utah, Libby Jones asked her to watch her kids for her for a week while she went out of town. Emma didn't want to, but felt guilty saying no since she knew she could use all the extra money she needed for college. She did tell her though that she had her schedule already at Soda and so libby worked around that and used Emma Martin for the other hours. Libby's kids were hard and Emma made them a deal...if they did online school nicely then on Thursday she would take them to Sodalicious to get a treat. They behaved and she took Milo and Claire with her and Emma Martin came too since she stopped over early to play the piano before she was to switch off with Emma. 

On the way back from Sodalicious, Milo started trying to open the car door while Emma was driving. Emma was trying to close the door and started to serve on the road and then over corrected to much and hit a sign. THANK THE HEAVENS no one was hurt and they didn't hit anyone else! But her car was totaled. The police and fire came. They interviewed everyone and everyone told the same story...they were not partying, playing loud music, it was all Milo trying to open the door and Emma trying to close it.  After work that night she was still pretty shooken up and stopped by Grandpa Rodgers house at 11pm and got a blessing from him so she could drive home the rest of the way. 

Blue Betty didn't even have her permanent plates yet on the car and she was a goner. Toyota was amazing and refunded us our warranty money and anything else they could refund. We tried to find her a new car within a week before she left for college, but we had no luck. Our insurance took way to long to figure out if they were going to fix it or total it. 

After praying we all decided the hardest thing to do was the best thing to do. It really seemed as if Heavenly Father did not want her to have a car up in Utah. We got just enough money back from insurance to reimburse us for everything we spent - minus the jeep trade in. So we bought her an electric bike to get to and from work and school. She wasn't excited about it, but she took it like a champ. 

Sunday afternoon she needed to head to Walgreens to pick up her prescription before we headed up to Utah so her and her brothers rode their electric bikes down there. She crashed in the cross walk and jacked her chin. Bless this girls heart! 

FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!

 First day of school was unlike any other and hopefully never again - while it was a good and crazy day - we prefer traditional first days of school where the kids get on the bus and go in person and not go into the BRO and log onto a computer. 

We woke the boys up and while they got ready for the day (yes I made them lay out a new outfit just like we would normally and do their hair, I did not buy new back packs or new shoes - those will come when they go in person) I made them breakfast sandwiches, donuts and yogurt parfaits. 

They finished everything and had some time to kill before school started so we let them go off and do whatever they wanted. As it was nearing start time I blasted the song "Final Countdown" and sang and danced around until it was time to start, Tyson told me, "I'm not going to log on if you are going to be embarrassing like that!" I knew I was doing it right - I knew that I put a secret smile on their face and helped them relax as we were about to embark on this new, crazy adventure. 

9:02am came and we logged all the boys on to their computers and got them up and running. Jared and I spent the next 6 hours running back and forth between boys helping them figure out each class, log in, etc. 

Alyza came over and worked on some stuff and then before lunch we were about done. I took Alyza and we ran to Sodalicious to get some mental break treats for us. 

During everyone's individual lunch times, I made them all their own lunches and then it was back to class again. Tyler struggled being on camera and wanting to talk on it - I don't blame him - I don't like it either so I quickly emailed all of his teachers and all them were so great about it and didn't worry about it as long as he is typing his answers in the chat - they would accept that! 

In between each class or if the class finished early, I would tell them to get up and take a mental break - do some jumping jacks, lay down on the ground, whatever - we just needed to get away from staring at monitor. 

As soon as school was over they were off and running with their friends. Jared and I got them their requested Chick-fil-a for dinner. I would say it was a good first day! It was very different. It was hard. Logging in and getting google meets to work and everything is going to take some getting used to, but since I am writing this 3 days later, I can say that every day gets a little better. Only time will tell how this really goes as pretty soon they will have to actually start learning new things. 

I could have never done this as a kid. I love them for this. I told them this is going to suck. But I also told them we will have the best attitude about it. I told them we will help them as much as we can (they are very lucky that they have the best dad who is currently working from home and can help them while I am away at work) and do our best, but it's going to require a lot of work from them. 

Heaven bless us all! Please get these kids back to in person school ASAP!! 

BACK TO SCHOOL BLESSINGS!

 Emma was at work so we didn't get to do her's with the boys, but we wanted to do her's in Utah so we just pulled the boys aside the night before school started and Jared gave them their blessings. I love that these boys are so rowdy and rambunctious but as soon as we start them, they immediately become so reverent and respectful!  

Eli:

Bless you to know Heavenly Father has blessed you with great abilities to learn and adapt and to know what's needed of you. 

Bless you to know you are an important part of our family.

Bless you as you go through school you will be sensitive of the needs of your parents, brothers and friends. 

You will be shielded and protected by people who knowingly and unknowingly hurt your feelings and when these happen to you, you will continue to be a happy person. 

You will continue to grow in the Aronic Priesthood. Your body will continue to grow and you will be strong. 

You will be healthy, confident in yourself and enjoy your active time. 

Remember what's most important in life; family, school, sports, church and leave less important things behind. 

Tyler:

Bless you to be happy and confident in yourself and in your abilities to learn, socialize and be a priesthood holder. 

While you learn to adjust to this new virtual learning and Jr High, you will be able to focus your mind and communicate with your teachers and parents. 

Bless you to be a good Deacon and exercise the Sacrament. 

Bless you as you socialize you will realize how good it is to surround yourself with good uplifting people.

Be a good example to all the kids you mingle with. Many kids look up to you; you are a good role model. 

Look out for your brothers and be helpful to them and to your parents, friends, family and ward members. 

Bless you to have a successful academic year and enjoy your sports, swimming and hanging out with friends. 

We love you very much. 

Tyson:

Bless you to be able to adapt and focus and be a good student and learn and improve your intellect. 

Bless you that you will be helpful to your friends needing help navigating the virtual school and be loving and patient. 

Bless you to grow physically and mentally and take care of your body. 

Bless you to be sensitive to the needs of your mom and dad and check on them to make sure they are doing ok. 

We love you and love having you around. 

Bless you to be loving to Alyza. She looks up to you. Be a good friend to her. 

Your testimony of Jesus Christ will improve and grow stronger. 

Work with your brothers and stay in touch with Emma through texts, phone calls and facetime. 

We love you very much and are grateful to have you in our family.