Christmas Letter 2011

(Due to an extremely busy and crazy December our annual Christmas letter was not send out as usual. I apologize. I promise to do better next year! Hope you enjoy in anyway.) Dear family and friends, The 2011 year brought quite a few changes and some surprises for the Jensen family. We are pleased to tell everyone that Aaron graduated with his Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering in the spring and is now currently working on completing his Master’s degree. His Master’s emphasis is in Geotechnical Engineering despite the very many attempts from his father-in-law, brother-in-law, and brother-in-law’s boss to pursue water engineering. His research project looks into a new kind of reinforcement for walls made of dirt. He will be presenting the results to the company funding the project in Eureka, California in February. Apparently a lot of big name engineers will be there representing colleges, consulting firms, and a couple state transportation departments. We are all crossing our fingers that a job offer will surface from this and that he can be done in May so we can get to wherever it is we’re going. We are ready to get out, no matter where it takes us. Elizabeth has been especially busy this year providing our family with a new addition. On September 22, Madeline (Madie) Rose Jensen was welcomed to our growing family. The day of her birth we found out that she has Down Syndrome. Needless to say, we were very surprised and a bit lost. To add to the concern and confusion, she was born with a heart defect. To put it as simple as possible, her heart is underdeveloped and didn’t form the interior walls that would separate the heart into four chambers. So far she has exceeded everyone’s expectations and is rolling over, smiling, growing perfectly, and is right on track for her surgery scheduled in January. She is such a joy to us. James has been growing up too fast for our liking. He will be two in January and is most definitely fitting the reputation…. Honestly, he is a very loveable and happy kid. He loves his little sister to the point of over loving her sometimes. He loves giving kisses and ‘ugs’ and making sure Madie is well covered with blankets, but most of all he loves anything to do with his Papas. Not a day goes by that he isn’t talking about Papa’s ‘truck’, ’niegh neighs’ (horses), ‘og’ (dog), ’eggs’ or wanting to see him on the ‘puter ‘ (computer via Skype). He will even be perfectly behaved for a 2 ½ or 4 ½ hour car drive to go visit his Papas. He has so much energy it is exhausting and he hates being cooped up inside during the winter months. We are already looking forward to spring. We have been so blessed this past year in so many ways and are grateful for our many family member s and friends who have supported us. We are also grateful for our Savior Jesus Christ and his beautiful and wonderful plan of salvation which brings us peace and hope each day. May this Christmas season bring you joy and happiness as well. Merry Christmas, Aaron, Elizabeth, James, and Madeline Jensen