We were up in PA for a missions conference that spread over nines days. It was fun to reconnect with people we knew, hear about their prayers for us, and meet new people. We especially enjoyed meeting the other missionaries who attended and hearing about their work in other countries. Our kids enjoyed attending the conference and made friends with other MKs and church kids.

A special treat was being able to visit with Naomi Glock, a retired Bible Translator. She was driving up the east coast and decided to stop in for the last two days of the conference. When I was 16, I spent a month with Naomi in Suriname helping her with a translation project. It was also a great honor to be given the quilt at the end of the conference. The quilting ladies meet each Tuesday to work on a quilt to give to one of the missionaries units at the conference. I remember when I was 16 and watching the quilt being given away at the conference and wondering if I would be a missionary and receive the quilt someday.

While we were in PA the girls went to school with my mom – Anna and Clara as students and Becca as a guest teacher. Becca taught the kids games from Cambodia and a little about Khmer culture. My parents also gave the kids their birthday/Christmas present – a trip to Sight & Sound to see Daniel. We’ve seen S&S performances online, but this was the kids first time to see a live performance. It was very exciting.

In other news….my mom likes to take photos. 🙂

Our sweet girl hit nine months this week and also cut her first tooth (front, bottom, left). Maria is now pulling herself up and cruising from object to object. She loves feeding bits of food to herself, especially meat and fruit. Maria typically always has a smile for everyone. People often ask, “Is she this happy all the time?” The truth is, she’s not. The more she’s passed around or away from me the harder time she has sleeping at nights. I’ve learned to be pretty quick in getting her back when she starts whimpering, since the more she’s upset at being away from me the less she sleeps in her bed at night. All the traveling and transitions are hard on her, though you would never know by looking at her happy face. We absolutely love this little girl and she loves all us too!

Last week we celebrated Anna’s 10th birthday! The day we celebrated, we went to the York Country Industrial Museum for the afternoon and enjoyed seeing all sorts of things that used to be manufactured in York. The exhibit that fascinated our kids the most was the one with phones to call each other. We bought Anna a car for her birthday!

Anna decided on an ice cream cake for her birthday. Uncle Joey came for a taco dinner. After gifts we tested a game Becca is designing with a goal of marrying well (gaining the most points from a good match!).

One of Anna’s birthday gifts was a shopping trip for new dresses and lunch out. We had fun finding her some clothes for playing in – Anna likes wearing dresses and leggings to play outside.

Anna is a sweet, kind young lady, who is always looking for ways to help. She is especially helpful with younger children and looks for ways to entertain them. Anna is friendly and the first to welcome other girls in a new environment. I love watching Anna interact with others. Clara and Anna are the best of friends, and they love playing dolls and dress-up together.

We visited my grandma this week, and Anna was a champ helping her great grandma. We’re so thankful for Anna’s kindness and tender heart to others.

We’ve had a good week visiting with friends and Grace Baptist of Wilmington. Last Thursday we had a friend over for lunch. We enjoyed seeing him, and he brought games to play with the kids that everyone enjoyed. That evening we had dinner with the Collins family. Friday we fellowshipped with the Ben Fetterolf family.

Saturday we headed out to Wilmington, NC. A highlight of the trip was stopping at Buc-ees! We’ve been to Buc-ees in Texas and were surprised to find out that they’ve made their way out here. It was huge and so crowded – felt a little like walking in NYC!

In Wilmington we met and stayed with Mrs. Spencer, who graciously opened her home to us during our time there. The kids really enjoyed getting to know Mrs. Spencer and playing with her toys. A sweet and lovely lady.

Monday-Wednesday we were in Columbia, SC visiting our friends the Lyons. Michael is a Hebrew teacher at Columbia International University. We stayed in a campus hotel while there. On Tuesday Josh went with Michael to chapel, Hebrew lunch, and to Michael’s Hebrew in Isaiah class. Josh spoke for the first 1.5 hours of class about Bible translation. Meanwhile, the rest of us went to the Columbia Zoo. It was a perfect day for the zoo: overcast, so it wasn’t hot and the animals were more active; and the week after spring break, so not many school groups or people there. The kids loved seeing all the animals – it was the boys first time to be at a zoo (or remember being at a zoo). I had the best time watching Micah’s face watching the animals. One highlight was watching the giraffes run. We’d never seen giraffes running before – it was fascinating.

We had a great time with the Lyons and are thankful for the time we had to spend with their family! (The younger boys especially enjoyed building roads in the back yard.)

Last Saturday we had a Jensen Family reunion with Josh’s dad side of the family. It was great to see his aunts, uncles, cousins, and cousins children (besides Josh’s sisters’ families as well!). The kids had a great time playing together. We’re very thankful for all everyone did to make the gathering possible.

Thursday afternoon Becca and I attended BJU’s Living Gallery. The next day Josh, Isaiah, Anna, and Clara went with Mom Jensen. The rest of us hung out at the snack shop, and when it was over we all rushed off to CPBC’s Good Friday service. Beautiful service.

We attended the Easter service at Hampton Park Baptist Church and the spent the afternoon with Josh’s parents and sisters’ families. It was a lovely day together celebrating our Lord’s resurrection.

Monday we spent the day with our friends the Rodriguez family – we’ve known each other since the girls were about 6 months in Texas. We had a great time at Paris Mountain State Park. We ended with tacos at their house.

Tuesday my sister came over, and Wednesday we celebrated Josh’s birthday at his parents. I took Josh out for breakfast on his birthday….but he paid. 🙂 Thankful for Josh and all he means to our family – especially this year as we travel around so much and don’t have our normal rhythms and norms.

Reflections: A few people have asked about our family Passion Week traditions. It was just too much to try to keep up with life here and celebrate Passion Week the way our family normally does. As Josh said to me when I was bemoaning the fact that I wasn’t even thinking about Lent, “You are ‘lenting’ life this year.” It did give me much to think about with how much people actually focus on the season. I really want to order more of our lives around the church calendar and our thinking about how that effects each day of our lives.