So it's been a while since I've made any posts to my blog, so here's a quick rundown of what's been happening in our lives.

Jarrett got home in February, took a quick trip to see Justine and then we basically didn't seem him again until about the week before he left to Provo. He worked incessently to earn money to go back to school

Jef & I went to see Jus in March. It was fun but short and not that tropical. We hit a patch of cold weather but it was great to see Justine in her element.

In April, Jef took all of the boys to general conference in Salt Lake and for the first time they were all able to attend the general priesthood session together. At the time we had a deacon, a teacher, a priest, an elder and a high priest. Pretty cool I think.

In May, Jef and I went to Orlando Florida where the BYUH womens tennis team was playing in the national tournament. It was very fun. Del and Daneen met us and we rented Harley's and got to see the Florida coast. I'm sorry, but after the west coast it wasn't that impressive. However, the weather was beautiful.

In June, Justine's roomate Elwin came and stayed a couple of weeks with us. She is from China and really a sweet girl. We had a lot of fun showing her around a farming community. She drove four wheelers, horses and a wagon, a tractor and our jetta. The jetta was the only thing that didn't fare too well, it ended up in the irrigation canal. Jef and I also went on a Harley Trip to the Oregon Coast. It was beautiful. That's where the top picture of this post is taken.


In July we got a new jetta.

In August, we spent a couple of days in Utah for the first ever Heninger family reunion. It was good to be with my family and celebrate my parents 50th wedding anniversary. Later in August Jef and I were able to spend some more time on the Oregon coast and then further north into Washington. We went to the Olympic Pennisula which could quite possibly be one of the most beautiful parts of this country I have ever seen. Really breathtaking.
Jarret and Jack also took up the catching rattlesnake hobby. Not too brilliant but quite fascinating. Then Jarrett left for BYU Provo.


In September, Jack left for BYU Idaho. Jef and Justine took him. I stayed home with the little boys so they could change water which was every 6 hours (including midnight) and so I could teach seminary. I knew Justine would take care of getting things done the way I would if not better so sent Jack off knowing he was in way capable hands. The next week Justine left for BYU Hawaii. She missed two flights getting there, but managed to land safely and comfortably back into her own routine and beach going life. Now I have 3 empty but quite clean bedrooms and I only buy 6 gallons of milk a week instead of 12.

Seasiders Sweep Silverswords | BYU-H

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Okay, so Jarrett is home and it's absolutely great having him here. He's a great person to be around and I believe he did his very best on his mission. I could not be more proud (in a good way) of how he conducted himself on his mission. I think that he is readjusting well to his non-missionary self. He wants to be busy all of the time and the more projects Jef can give him the better. He will be heading out to Hawaii to see Justine on Monday with Nick. Justine is so excited she can hardly stand it. Speaking of Justine, here she is on the BYU web-page(click on the gray link above). I am so happy for her to have had success in her very first NCAA tennis match. I love who she is becoming. I miss her tons, I'm severly outnumbered in this house, and the number of bodily noises these boys can make is staggering. Really, they wouldn't do it with Jus around, she would not have stood for it.

Anticipation

What more can I say. The countdown on the left says it all. I can not begin to describe how completely excited I am to have Jarrett home. We got his travel info last week and he gets in at 1:35 in the afternoon. I haven't been this excited about my kids since they were born. Not that I haven't completely enjoyed all of their experiences, well maybe not all, but this tops them all. Now the big question is where do we put him? Do we have him share a room with Jack or give him the guest bedroom? Jack says the guest room definitely, but I'm leaning towards sharing.

Moto Cross Races

A couple of days ago, Jack got a wild hair with friend Nick to enter a moto cross race in Pasco. I really didn't think they were serious, but evidently they were. Nick's dad says that Nick can do a wheelie for a really long ways, so he thinks he can race. Jack's dad says Jack has really cool graphics on his bike, so he thinks he can race. As evidenced by the two bottom pictures of Jack at the starting line with all of the other racers and then Jack still at the starting line, it didn't go too well. Fortunately for him, he got a second race. The top picture is from that race. He actually did well in the 2nd one, but we're sort of hoping his racing days are over. I'm afraid he just whetted his appetite for more. We are happy, however, that both boys came out unhurt, which for the mayhem at the beginning of a race is quite amazing. Actually, it was a lot of fun to go to and impressive in its own right that those riders (the pros)have invested so much effort into becoming good at what they do. The best was the 3 to 7 year old class.

What happened to the Boggle Game?

So the other night, before Justine left for Hawaii, we were all playing a very heated game of boggle. Actually, Jack and Jonah were enduring it while everyone else got their hind ends kicked by ME! :)Hee Hee. Anyway the "bishop" got a phone call and we were all on hold, and this is what we come up with.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

I know that is still December, but let me be the first to say Happy New Year. I'm very excited for this year. I'm looking forward to hitting the restart button on a few things and setting new and exciting goals. One of my goals is blog more faithfully. I'm thinking that if I make at least 2 posts a month, that will keep things pretty up to date. So there, it's out there, now I have to be accountable.

We did have a very nice Christmas. We got to talk to Jarrett and it was great. I am very excited to have him home. (Notice the change in the placement of his countdown) I think that he will be a calming and peaceful influence in our home. It seems as of late we haven't been too patient with one another, so that is another goal for me.

I personally really enjoyed the Christmas season. I feel like I got into it a little late, so I am already looking forward to next year -- isn't that silly. Another one of my goals is to REALLY learn from mistakes and regrets and not make them again.

One of the highlights of the season for me was a dinner that Jef and I hosted for the ward council. Without sounding to cliche, it was wonderful having them in our home. For me it was a way to express MY gratitude for the support that they give to Jef as the bishop. They help in ways that I can't so I am grateful that they lighten his load. He really could not have success without their dedication and committment to the Lord. I was pleased with the way things turned out, I wish I had taken pictures of the tables and place settings beforehand, but for sure next year. The kids served and did a fabulous job. It's great having older kids that can participate like they did.

On Christmas day we were able to have John & Myra B. come to our home for Christmas dinner. It was great having them. I visit teach Myra who was in a car accident a couple of weeks ago and compressed a disc in her vertebrae making it impossible for them to travel to their children's homes for Christmas. They are a great couple and all of the kids commented at different times how much they enjoyed having them. Justine said that she thought we should always have people over for Christmas.

The kids all seemed pleased with their gifts and I felt like for the first time in a long time we had a controlled amount of gifts under the tree. This is a picture of Jef on the gift he got for me flying a helicopter he got for him. Evidently this box was in the garage for a couple of weeks (unwrapped of course) and not once did I ever notice it. I was a little disappointed with myself for letting it get by me, I usually always know what I'm getting.

Oops, what do you mean there's no oil

After reading Jonah's story two posts ago, I'm sure that the saying he who laughs last laughs hardest might have some meaning. Jo is one lucky bug when it comes to what goes around comes around and today it came around. Jack was getting ready to go motocross riding when for some strange reason his truck just quit. He thought he too had run it out of gas, but no... even worse it was out of oil. Oops. Jo is still laughing about it, as we all are.