We had a lovely Advent and Christmas season celebrating the birth of Christ. We started on the first Sunday of Advent with our nightly candle lighting and carol singing. This year our three oldest children each learned a few piano accompaniments, and it was a special joy for me to sing while our children played.

We started our Christmas countdown calendar two weeks before Christmas. It included three different ornament makings (we made polymer candy canes this year for our tree…no rats or ants will eat those!), movies (we watched a lovely performance of Handel’s Messiah), cookie making, reading The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, and other activities.

Christmas Day we had the Crowleys over for the kids’ play and Christmas lunch. It was a day full of activities and traditions – sibling gift giving, cinnamon rolls, Becca’s recitation of the Christmas story using Little People, gifts from parents at night, etc.

The next day, Sunday, was a full for us. Josh preached at our church in the morning. In the afternoon we had a neighborhood Christmas party with games, singing, and a piñata. In the evening we had a meal for our Khmer Bible Study.

Monday afternoon we headed to another province, Stung Treng, for an EMU get together. We had two meals together and a wonderful time of singing. Tuesday afternoon we headed home and had our church Christmas celebration Wednesday evening and Thursday morning.

We are thankful for the wonderful season God gave us. Thankful that we could meet with God’s people to worship. Thankful for our kids and our family. Thanks be to God.

We couldn’t make it to the annual expat Christmas bonfire, so we had our own, right in our backyard. My biggest concern was providing enough food so our kids didn’t feel cheated. We had hot chocolate with marshmallows, cut-out Christmas cookies, gingerbread cookies, candy cane cookies, popcorn, banana muffins, hotdogs, and stuffed bread. The kids were stuffed and there was still leftover food (we did eat supper first). After we were done eating we sang carols. A success and perhaps a new tradition…only time will tell.

Advent has begun in the Jensen household. Singing every night around the Advent candles. The Jensen Christmas Countdown Calendar. Baking. Gift-making. We love this time of year!

We had a great two weeks celebrating Becca’s 12th birthday. The Saturday before her birthday we had a visit with the Carson ladies, complete with lunch, 12 cupcakes, gifts, and painting together.

Her countdown calendar included: making tie-dye shirts, watching The Ten Commandments, small gifts, a mommy/daughter sleepover, snacks, and her yearly haircut. Becca decided to try something new this year.

This year Becca chose to decorate her cake based on the book Sweep: The Story of a Girl and her Monster. This was a last minute decision and the first year Becca had something other than a panda or horse. She did a great job capturing the setting and main characters. Pizza was the meal of choice!

We’re thankful for our Becca. She gets up at 5:30 every morning (her own choice) to read her Bible and drink coffee and then practice the piano. This year she has excelled in playing the piano musically. She continues to develop her art and craft skills. She’s been teaching Anna and Clara Sunday school on Sunday evenings – she plans lessons and craft for her sisters during our Khmer Bible study. Becca also has grown in her love for her little brothers – she spent a lot of time this year preparing Ezra to give a poem on raccoons and a presentation on sea turtles. We’re definitely seeing Becca grow in her teaching skills. SO thankful for our firstborn – Becca!

It only lasts 10 days between Micah’s and Becca’s birthdays!

November 16 we celebrated Micah’s 1st birthday! He enjoyed being the center of attention. He loves playing and having fun with his siblings and parents.

Anna suggested we have chili for Micah’s birthday, since he loves it. It was a perfect meal to make our boy happy. He loved eating his cake and getting gifts.

Micah is a very happy and easy going boy. He doesn’t say many words, though he seems to love yelling Ezra’s name. He has 3 teeth – two on the bottom and one on the top. He’s walking and running like a champ. Just recently he’s starting climbing up on things. He loves crawling under our bed with Ezra. The two younger boys are becoming best buddies and partners in mischief. I’m so thankful we have two boys next to each other who can be playmates.

So much to be thankful for in our November baby boy!

Pictures below are a comparison of the kids at 1 year:

October 29th was our 7th year to celebrate Cambodian Coronation Day. We had a fun day crowning our three queens and three kings. I was most impressed that Micah loved wearing his crown!

We had company for dinner – Uncle Jeremy – and he agreed to stay for our Jensen Family Performance Night and ice cream afterwards. The kids each gave a presentation on a different sea creature: Becca – Narwhal, Isaiah – Sea Snakes, Anna – Belugas, and Clara – Sea Lions. Becca had worked with Ezra on a Sea Turtle presentation, but he got stage fright.

I finally fell for a Facebook ad. It was a deal for a year’s subscription to Craftsy for less than $3, and I figured that even if we just took one class it would be worth it.

It’s been great! Most of the classes are geared for adults, but it’s been fine. So far, all the kids took a class on how to make comic books. Isaiah took a class about making pretzels, bagels, and bialys. Becca and Isaiah took a class called Illustrated Nature Journaling. We’re all taking a start-up class on watercolors. And the kids are taking a kids’ class on paper airplanes.

This past weekend Isaiah and Clara took a class on making doughnuts. Yummy! Anna worked on one of the class projects from the watercolors class.

Our littlest man is always on the move and I can’t get him to sit still for a clear picture! Two bottom teeth. Eating the same food as everyone else. Sleeping through the night. Walking everywhere. Almost always happy. Becoming a good playmate. (It’s a lot fun play to play with the two “little boys” together.) He’s a darling!

The rest of us are doing well with school. This is our 13th week and everyone seems to be enjoying our year!

Sunday, September 26, we had a baptism under our house for Isaiah, Anna, and Davi (our Khmer neighbor). Davi has been following Christ for almost two years now and a few months ago she said she wanted to be baptized. We made it really clear that baptism meant she was renouncing all the works of the Devil and turning 100% to Christ. This means no more participation in Buddhist ceremonies or having Buddhist charms in the home. It’s a big step to take. But Davi said she was ready. We were so excited. Due to Covid regulations and the fact that there is no Khmer church in our town, we held the baptism under our house. Davi’s sister, son, daughter, nieces, and nephew attended.

Isaiah and Anna were thrilled for the opportunity for be baptized. They’ve expressed a desire, but being baptized at Jarai church was very overwhelming for them. What a joy for us to see them baptized. This was Josh’s first time to conduct a baptism service. Later in the evening we had the Lord’s Supper. I’m so thankful for these lives! Thanks be to God!

September 17 we celebrated International Talk Like a Pirate Day! It’s our third year making a holiday of it. We spent the morning making clay turtles, pirate dancing, and practicing our Moby Dick play for our evening performance. Supper was hotdogs and beans.

After supper we had our Pirate Performance Night (youtube link below)! Each child recited a poem: Ezra – The Raccoon, Clara – The Goops, Anna – Mr. Nobody, Isaiah – The Blind Men and the Elephant, Becca – Adventures of Isabel.

We’ve been studying sea creatures in science and the kids had listened to Moby Dick (24 hours long). Afterwards we put together a short play for our performance night. The kids did great! Anna played Ishmael, Clara played Queequey, Isaiah played Captain Ahab, and Becca played the Innkeeper and Mate Starbuck. I tried to get Ezra to be the whale, but he wasn’t interested. The play was kept a secret from Josh. I was so proud of how the kids performed for him. A huge success! Pirate Day ended with ice cream and sleeping in the tent. Actually, it ended with me killing a rat in the bathroom with a broom after everyone else was in bed!

Tuesday morning I was teaching the “olders” on the front porch when two police vehicles and a moto pulled into our driveway. Six policeman got out and began walking toward our house. As I told the kids later – no matter what country, nobody wants to see police coming for an unexpected visit. Josh was away at the office all day, so I was hoping I could handle it without calling him away from his meeting.

My heart was racing. I told Becca to pray for me! At first I thought maybe it was a visit to tell us we had had contact with a Covid case and would need to test/quarantine, however it was the Immigration Police wanting pictures of all our passports and visas. And wouldn’t you know it, all our passports were in Phnom Penh. Thankfully, Josh keeps copies of everything on our computer filing system, and I was able to pull each person’s up so they could take pictures of the pages with their phones. It took quite awhile. Just a friendly, random visit to make sure we had all the proper documents. I insisted on a picture at the end, so I could show off to Josh! He said I can have a bonus. 🙂

Today Micah turns 10 months! His biggest news is that his two bottom teeth have started to cut through (hardly noticeable) and HE’S WALKING! He took his first steps on the 6th – 10 days before he turned 10 months. This makes him our earliest walker. Such an exciting time for us all!

Some people ski in snow….we ski in mud! (Until we slip and fall hard.)

I didn’t get around to posting pictures at Micah’s 8 month birthday. He continues to be a fast, fun-loving boy! He LOVES eating anything he can off the floor! The other day Ezra said, “Micah is a good helper. He eats all the paper off the floor.” In July, when we were in PP, I took pictures of Micah back in his “birthing room.”

Micah is now 9 months! He’s been outside with us as long as he was inside with me. He loves to eat, explore, and play. He loves wrestling. This past month Ezra has played with Micah a big more. It’s so cute to hear them laughing together. The other day Ezra was smashing up chalk with his rubber mallet and Micah was eating it. Double trouble! It’s so fun to have two boys close in age.

Our little man is now 3! Ezra celebrated his birthday on Friday, August 13. He started his celebrating 5 days before with his first-ever birthday countdown calendar. The night before his birthday we watched Finding Nemo. (Which worked great with our current science textbook.)

Ezra had fun making his birthday cake. This year he chose a chocolate rabbit cake after his Malone, and we had hotdogs, beans, and mac&cheese for dinner.

Lots of big changes in the past year for Ezra. Such growth between 2 and 3. His vocabulary has grown, and he expresses his thoughts in many unique ways. He loves listening to the Bible when he takes a nap and goes to bed. He tends to choose things from Samuel or Kings. He’s done great at memorizing our Bible verses. He’s completely potty trained. He loves playing with his siblings. And he also picks up all his sisters’ bad habits. Yikes!

Ezra loves playing with dirt and with play dough. He loves going outside to play. He loves making “soup” in the afternoons with a pot of water and some garlic cloves. He has lots of ideas that he’s confident about and willing to share. He keeps us laughing! We’re so thankful for our Ezra!

This month we studied Louis XIV and decided to have a masquerade ball. At first I thought we would just make masks, but by the morning of the ball we had decided to include a feast too. Becca made whole bakes apples, Isaiah made bialys, Anna & Clara made popcorn balls, Ezra made oranges, and I made Deviled Eggs. Everyone enjoyed the dancing and the feast afterwards – except Micah, who was very disturbed by our masks!