Oliver the Tractor

As I'm sure you could guess... we really love our little guy! We love him so much... we named him after a tractor. Every farm boy's dream, right?? Okay, well, mostly Terry named him after a tractor. I fell in love with the name Oliver BEFORE Terry told me it was also a tractor brand. So, not only did we name him after a tractor (in a-round-about away) we got him that tractor! 

That's right here is our newest addition. Oliver the Tractor. Spoiled kid.

The previous owners had repainted it and covered up the "Oliver" on the sides, so here's proof it's really an Oliver!

Terry says we really needed this particular size of tractor, and the price was right, it just happened to be a fun coincidence that it was an Oliver! 

Now we have to name all of our children after tractors for all fairness... Mac Don, Allis, Holland.... we'll keep looking....

Oliver and his perfect sized rocking tractor.

Vacation Was (Mc)Call-ing Our Name!

Terry's parents have owned a condo up in McCall for years. It has been tradition for the whole family to go up, but as families grow and move it's hard to get the entire family up there. We have been fortunate enough to go up there for the passed three years. This trip was even more awesome though, because we had TWO weeks up there instead of only one. Terry has been dying to get out and go on a little vacation, and this was just perfect! So, Christmas day we opened gifts, went and visited G-ma and G-pa Jensen, and got on the road! 

Terry and I were stoked to be there, our sweet little boy however, had a bit of a hard time adjusting to sleeping somewhere other than home. We had a couple very long nights, and lots of early mornings, but needless to say we enjoyed getting away. 

As part of the luxuries of this particular condo, they allow you to go to the local gym aka "The Club." We spend most of our time there. Our favorite is to play wallyball (kind of like volleyball but better) and racquetball. Oliver's favorite however was the pool! We have a little fish on our hands. 

Insert Video. Not sure why but the video of Oliver swimming wouldn't upload...

Terry and I were also able to make it up to Brundage for a little snowboarding. It was a beautiful day to go and I wish I had pictures, but I crash constantly (I'm still new) and when Terry does crash it's normally pretty hard, so we decided not to take anything up the hill. We had a blast! 

Anna was able to make it up for Christmas from Michigan and it was her first time meeting Oliver! She was able to go up to McCall also, so Aunt Anna and Baby Oliver got to know each other pretty well. 

We were able to leave Oliver with Grandma and Grandpa Walton and go ice skating with Anna, Tonia, and Lizzy. Lizzy is such a champ, look at her go!

By the end of the trip we were definitely ready to be back home though, especially Oliver, he slept almost 12 hours through the night our first night home. We had a great time in McCall, but nothing beats home!

Christmas

Christmas has come and gone! We went out of town Christmas day for a couple of weeks. Sorry for being so late! Here are a few pictures of Oliver's first Christmas:

Of course, he was more interested in the wrapping paper than any of his gifts! We had a great Christmas and hope you did as well!

A Short Two Years.

Yesterday, Terry and I celebrated our two year anniversary. Terry said he couldn't believe Christmas was already next week, that our TWO year anniversary was today (yesterday), and he feels like he just barely shut the water off for the year. These two years have gone by so incredibly fast! We have had some major accomplishments in it as well! We have had two successful years farming, purchased a tractor, a house, a car, 70 acres of property and other useful farm equipment, and our greatest gift, the birth of our son, Oliver. We've made it two years and we're looking forward to so many more!

The start of our family 12/18/2010.

Our sweet little family today!

Too Pure

Yesterday, after hearing the news of the tragedy that had occurred in Connecticut, I held my sweet baby and caring husband close to me. I cried, more than once, and felt pain for those families that lost a dear member of their family. I wish that there was something that I could do for them. That there was someway that my family could help those who were mourning. As I pondered this, I knew there was nothing that we could do, but through Christ, these families might find peace. Peace in knowing that they will see their sweet baby or devoted spouse once more. Through the Gospel of Jesus Christ, it will be done. It is Terry and my testimony that we know families are absolutely forever, and we hope our children will learn to know this as well.
I read This article that put my feelings into words better than I can. This is not anything put out by the Church of Jesus Christ of Ladder Day Saints, but it is what we know to be true. In this article he quotes our prophet Joseph Smith, "The Lord takes many away even in infancy, that they may escape the envy of man, and the sorrows and evils of this present world; they were too pure, too lovely, to live on earth; therefore, if rightly considered, instead of mourning we have reason to rejoice as they are delivered from evil, and we shall soon have them again." I hope that through our mourning of any soul lost, we can still rejoice that they were "too pure" to live in this cruel world and our Heavenly Father felt it best for them to return unto him, until it is our time to join them.

"He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds." Psalms 147:3

Lazy Mornings

Every now and then Oliver will sleep in until 8 or 8:30. We just have to make sure he is completely exhausted the night before. I was sure that we would get lucky and be able to sleep in this morning. However, I couldn't have been more wrong. 5:50 rolled around and our alarm clock went off. I was hoping that if I fed him, he would fall back asleep. Unfortunately, he was one wide-eyed boy and ready for the day! I pawned the kid off to Terry, and went back to bed for a few minutes. Terry came in a short twenty minutes later and headed out to the tractor, and I got the baby. I laid him down next to me on the bed, while he babbled along I continued to "rest my eyes" a little while later there was complete silence. I look over and there was Oliver fast asleep! He doesn't fall asleep like that.... ever. I grasped the opportunity and tried falling back to sleep myself. Sherri (my mother-in-law) has told me that Terry used to fight lions in his sleep, rolling around, tossing the sheets, waking up on the opposite side of the bed. I believe that Oliver will be fighting tigers and bears in his sleep. Oh my. For the 45 minutes he slept, he was kicking, grunting, and talking the entire time. He has been like that since birth. I sure pity his younger siblings that will have to share a bed with him whenever we go on vacation. Terry grew out of it though, maybe there is hope for Oliver!

This was the best I could do with the wee light from a lamp.

Weekday Get Away

This week we have been lucky enough to get away from the house. Terry has been a bit stir crazy with the rain, so this little "trip" couldn't have come soon enough! We were able to attend the Idaho Farm Bureau Convention that was held in the far away city of Boise! See what I meant by little trip? It was a mere 45 minute drive or so to get to our destination. We stayed at the Riverside Hotel, and because Terry was competing in the State Discussion Meet, all of our expenses were paid for the one night we stayed. Terry's dad is on the State Board for FB so we were able to spend time with them as well!

Did you know that Farm Bureau isn't just insurance? They've got Women's Committees in each county to help do service and other deeds for their community, they offer a Young Farmer and Rancher program that Terry and I participate in. We really enjoy YF&R we are able to meet other people around the state that are our age that are in an Ag related profession. Like I said Terry's dad is on the State Board, they try to work with legislature to make appropriate Ag related laws. The Governor actually spoke at this convention. I always thought that Farm Bureau was just insurance, but apparently I have been wrongly mistaken!

Here is a little bit of info on what a Discussion Meet is, after all, that was the main reason we went.
It is almost like a debate, but instead of going back and forth it is literally a discussion between 5 or so people. They will be asked one question that they will discuss for about twenty minutes. There is a District, State and National level. The top two proceed to the next level. Terry placed 2nd in our District. This was his first time making it to State so he wasn't really sure what to expect. The other contestants are serious about winning this thing, but I can't blame them they win a four wheeler as well as their trip paid for to Nationals, which is in Tennessee this year. Terry however, didn't even make it to the finals. He did great for his first time though!

Some how our almost seven month old managed to get kicked out of the bar at the hotel too. I had asked grandpa to hold Oliver while I watched Terry in his last round in the semi-finals. He had been talking some people in the lobby, but who knew that half of the lobby was a bar? Terry's dad was asked to leave the bar because Oliver was under age. I was wondering why he was so wiggly when I got him back.

We ended up having to leave early because Terry caught some sort of bug, so we weren't able to get a family picture. I was able to snap a quick shot of the view from our hotel room though, it's too bad it's December instead of spring! We heard ducks all night.....