Hello! We made a trip to St. George last weekend for Grandma Jensen's 80th birthday party. It was great to be able to see her as well as so many other Jensens. We drove down to St. George on Saturday morning, and the trip went better than expected. Evelyn has become reconciled to car trips; she slept most of the time and was easy to keep entertained when she was awake.

After a fun afternoon and evening with family, we stayed the night at a hotel with Dennis, Robyn, and Cheryl. I was a little nervous that Evelyn would prove to be a difficult roommate, but she slept through the night and let the rest of us do the same!

On Sunday we went to church at Grandma's ward and spent some at the "Bologna house" (Grandma's characteristically pink winter house) with the family before taking off in the afternoon. This picture is of Evelyn with her cousin, Camille.

We had an amazing time, so thanks to everyone who helped put it together!

Here are some pictures of a happy Evelyn in her duck suit (or are they chicks?).

We started feeding her rice cereal this past week, and she likes it as long as its not mixed with formula. Supplementing with a little solid food has been useful in keeping up with her voracious appetite.

This is her in her fun chair that was handed down from Allen and Giovanna. Thanks guys; she has a lot of fun with it now that she can push the buttons.

She is also showing more interest in the cats, and Tipsy doesn't seem to mind the attention.
The weather has been a bit unusual this past week. We had our biggest snow of the winter earlier in the week, but today it feels like spring. Here are some pictures of a snowy University of Utah Campus.

Here she is! Evelyn has been doing well lately, although I can't think of any new developments to report. She went to the doctor yesterday and is 12 pounds 10 ounces. She got some shots in her thighs and was a little fussy over it the rest of the day. She seems to be over it this morning, though.

So, I got a little carried away on my run today.... There are so many buildings so close to each other down town! I started out at the capital building which is set up on a hill just north of temple square.

This is the view from the steps of the state capitol. You can see the temple if you look close.


The state capitol building is surrounded by interesting monuments. This monument to the Mormon Battalion caught my eye. The sandstone backdrop has lots of interesting relief sculptures.

And here is a building we all know and love. I could spend all day taking pictures at temple square, but my course didn't head that way today.

Here is the famous Eagle Bridge over the intersection of N. Temple and State St.This is the Cathedral of the Madeline. I love the old Gothic/Romanesque style! I still haven't been inside, but the outside is sure something to look at.

My favorite part is the tympanum. Such amazing handiwork!Right next door to the Cathedral is the First Presbyterian Church. It's another building that I'd love to see from the inside.

I am so excited about my new "shoes," although I'm not sure if they qualify as shoes at all. I haven't had many chances to run in them yet, but I like them so far. I'm not sure if I'm brave enough to ever wear them in public, though....

Funky shoes aside, we had a good time with Grandma Marie on Friday and Saturday. She arrived on Friday evening and left Saturday morning. We are very grateful to her for watching Evelyn while we went on our date on Friday. We saw Voyage of the Dawn Treader which we both enjoyed. It follows the book fairly closely (for a movie) and was very imaginative and artistic.

Evelyn is doing well, but I can't think of any updates.... We have some cute pictures, though! She really likes to laugh lately (it sounds like a mix of hissing and gurgling).

Other news: Two of my classes end a week from tomorrow! I will be glad to have them over with, but I'm not sure how I am going to do all of the projects that are due this week.....

Just a quick update.... I had a great birthday! Thanks everyone for your thoughtful gifts and birthday wishes! Clarisse made me a special breakfast and dinner and packed a nice lunch for me too. I know, I'm spoiled. It was fun skyping with Smike and Anne-Marie too.

Evelyn is growing and is now in a new batch of cloths. It's amazing how fast she grew out of the old ones. She's about twelve pounds now, so she has DOUBLED IN SIZE! She can control her hands well enough to suck on them and seems to like to eat her index fingers best.

We tried going out to eat with Evelyn on Friday and found it to be manageable. She attracted a lot of attention (all of it positive)! Sweet Tomatoes was a bit out of the way, but it was well worth it!

Hi everyone! The adventures in Salt Lake continue. I think I’ll start off with an oh-so-rare picture of Evelyn smiling taken this past week (not that she doesn’t smile much; it’s just hard to catch on camera). Other news: Clarisse put on a birthday party for me yesterday evening. A few of our friends from the ward came as well as Paul, Kayley, Glen, and Lauren and Jeff Wall (Lauren Wall=Sister Richards of Lansing Michigan Mission fame). It was a good time consisting of conversation and eating ice cream. I had a traditional cake with candles and had a hard time blowing them out (it must be something about those weird curly candles).

I thought it might be fun to include some of my favorite sites from Salt Lake. While on my run yesterday, I took some photographs of the amazing City Hall building. The gray sky made a nice backdrop for such a foreboding structure.

It was constructed in the early 1900’s, and the style is “Richardson Romanesque.” The style gets its name from the architect who designed City hall as well as the pre-gothic period that his architecture mimicked. Like a Romanesque cathedral, it has thick, heavy walls with deep, ornate entrances. I especially like the intricate carvings on the capitals and arches.

The statue on the main spire is of Columbia with the scales of justice in her hand (although it looks like a cross from a distance). There are four other figures above each entrance, but I have forgotten what they symbolize….

Across the street from City Hall is the library. It’s huge, modern, and tries way too hard to be a mall.

If you look to the lower right in the picture below, you will see several little booths that are shops just before the entrance.

And some random library statues….
And, finally, your photographer on his downtown run.

Hi everyone! I probably don't need to tell you that we are way behind on our blog. I don't think it's really news any more that Evelyn is here. She is about 10.2 pounds now and is getting a lot happier and more manageable. Her favorite pastimes include being held, conversations consisting of goos, being wound up in a tight swaddle, and listening to static on the radio.

She has surprised us recently by deciding to like some things that she didn't before. She use to get upset if we put her in her bouncer, but now she finds it entertaining. She likes to grab and hit the hanging toys which surprised us because she has no interest in holding toys that aren't hanging. She's also decided that she LIKES having her diaper changed, which is a complete 180. She loves the attention and is usually smiley and talkative. We still haven't been able to capture a good smile on camera, unfortunately. I don't have much else to say, but I have lots of pictures to post. Evelyn's gotten much chubbier and has those fun little baby jowls.