It's Been Too Long!

With the move to Salt Lake, I have been slow to get back into blogging.  A lot has happened and I should be keeping track of it all.  The batteries in my camera died, and we just haven't got around to replacing them, so I'll have to go through all my phone photos to try to get caught up.  I guess I have a lot of photos from before the batteries died, so I need to get on the ball!  To get things started again, I'm including a copy of an article I was asked to write for the Ensign Peak Ward Newsletter to introduce our family.

The Jensen Family

In June of this year, the noise and activity level in Vanja Watkins’ home greatly increased (much to Vanja’s delight, of course) with the arrival of the Jensen family.  Emily is Vanja’s youngest daughter, and grew up here in this neighborhood.  What a fun thing it’s been for her to return to her old stomping grounds, this time with her husband, Sean, and their three children, Soren, Gabe, and Brooke.

Sean was born in Salt Lake, but moved to Las Vegas with his family when he was eight.  He played football for Dixie College before serving a mission in Columbus, Ohio.  After his mission, he attended UNLV where he graduated in Secondary Education and History.  He started work in Las Vegas as a high school history teacher and football coach, which he continued for 13 years.  During that time, he received two Masters Degrees in Teaching and Educational Leadership.  For the past four years, he has been an administrator at Nevada Virtual Academy, which is an online K-12 school.

Emily’s college education took a sampling from several Utah schools, including Snow College, LDS Business College, University of Utah, BYU, and Utah State, where she received degrees in Sociology, Secondary Education, and Coaching.  In between her schooling, she served a mission in Spain, Las Palmas (Canary Islands).

Emily moved to Las Vegas in 2001 to teach PE and coach basketball and softball in middle and high school.  In 2005, Sean and Emily were set up by a woman who was the mother of one of Emily’s students, and also a dear friend to Sean’s mom.  Sean resisted being set up for a while, but when this woman persisted, he finally gave in and after the first date, Sean and Emily were together nearly every day!  They were engaged after a month of dating, and married a few months later in December of 2005.

In September of 2008, they became parents to their first child, Soren James.  Not long after he was born, they were surprised to find out they would be parents again.  Gabe Magnus was born in October of 2009.  It was tough for Emily to leave those cute boys with a babysitter each day, so it was a huge blessing when she was able to resign from teaching in 2011 to stay home with her children.  In June of 2012, they added their baby girl, Brooke Louise to the family.

Soren will be five in September.  He just missed the birthday deadline to start kindergarten this year, so he will have one more year of preschool, which he loves.  He is inquisitive and curious, and has just learned how to whistle, so we can often hear him whistling a little tune.  He also likes to play his harmonica and electronic drums.

Gabe will turn four in October.  He is quite the negotiator, and always has an excuse or reason as to why he can’t do what is requested of him at the moment.  He is also curious and loves to explore and look for snails and bugs.  He likes to sing the Spiderman theme song from the old cartoon series, and knows just about every word.

Brooke is 14 months old and currently seems to be the busiest of the three children.   She doesn’t like to hold still for very long.  She loves to be outside playing in the grass, rocks and dirt.  She is quite a climber, and usually has a bump or bruise from her latest climb.  She is tough and can hold her own with these older brothers.  She is usually happy, especially if she isn’t being held back, and loves to wave at people and jabber.   

Sean and Emily recently decided it was time to leave Las Vegas.  It was tough for them to leave good friends and a good job behind, but they were hopeful and faithful that the right thing would open up for them in Utah, so they packed up and moved in with a very cooperative and loving Vanja!  So far, the job search is still on for Sean, but they are still feeling hopeful, and know the right position will open up soon.  They are very appreciative to family and friends here for welcoming them and supporting them in this leap of faith!

Shortly after arriving here in Salt Lake, they discovered their family of five was actually going to be a family of six!  Emily is pregnant with baby number four, due in February.  Not sure yet if the numbers will even out, or if the boys will continue to outnumber the girls, but either way, they are excited to welcome another child to the family!