It’s true! Though the weather will probably remain hot, the “summer” as we’ve known it officially ends this week. UTA starts classes today, and even though Josh won’t be taking classes, it means that his work as a research assistant now begins. Public schools in the area started on Monday. Last week we took Nancy and Michael to the water play park. We wanted them to enjoy some water fun before school started for them.

The past two Tuesdays we’ve gotten together with our Chinese neighbors. We met them about a month ago, when we took a gift to their new baby girl. Tuesday of last week we went over to their home for Chinese food, and Tuesday of this week we had them over to our home for dinner. We’ve enjoyed getting to know them. Their stay in the States is for three months; they return to China at the end of next month.

We’ve especially enjoyed the extra time with Josh this summer. Even though he’s been busy with research and working, it was nice to have a break from official school responsibilities. From the looks of things, Josh is going to have a full plate as the department chair’s research assistant this year. We’re extremely grateful for the work (and financial aid) the Lord has provided for Josh’s schooling. We’re praying that Josh can complete his degree by the end of Summer 2012.

We love you!

Since moving to our new apartment, we have made friends with our neighbors. I love the fact that we’re out of UTA housing and are now surrounded by families who are friendly and are ready and willing to invite us in if we stop by to say hi. This past week, we’ve enjoyed getting to know our next-door neighbors (Michael, 11; Nancy, 10; and Karen, 4). Most of the summer they (and their mother) were in Egypt visiting their family, but now they’re back for the school year.

Michael and Nancy have started taking piano lessons from me on Mondays. They love coming over, and they all love playing with Becca. It’s so cute to hear Becca call their names. A week ago Wednesday, we took the family to play in the fountains. All had a great time, and Becca enjoyed having other kids in the fountains with her. We’re grateful for the opportunity to get to know our neighbors and to show them Christ.

Speaking of friends, Becca is becoming more and more attached to her animal friends. Flopsie I, II, & III are very important playmates, and Rockco has become a good friend ever since he started being involved in obedience training. I’m finding that it’s hard to keep up with Becca and 4 friends. The other night I had 4 little mouths full of teeth to brush. Fortunately, they were all cooperative.

Last week, Josh was in Raleigh for another week of Jarai research. He met with 6  Jarai speakers from Vietnam and recorded stories and collected language data from them. During his trip, Josh stayed with Lap’s family. Saturday there was a cultural event displaying different aspects of the Jarai culture. If you’re interested in seeing a sample of Josh’s work, here’s a link.

Becca and I stayed home in Texas during Josh’s trip. We survived without Josh but were very glad when he came home to us. Below are some pictures of one of the projects I work on while Josh was away. This was an idea I heard about from a friend. I “built” these in my room first, and then transferred them to Becca’s room. Materials: construction paper, scissors, sticky tack, colored pencil, pictures, and clear contact paper. Hopefully, this will help Becca “get to know” her extended family members.

This week Josh gave me my birthday present from last year. It’s a project he’s been working on since last year, and it arrived on Friday. It’s our first “blog book” (The Jensen Dimension 2008-2009), a collection of all our posts from the first year and a half of the blog. It’s something I asked Josh for, knowing it would take a lot of work, especially with the quality of work he likes to do. Josh did a great job designing the book. We love it!

This week a leaking pipe was repaired. Two weeks ago we had noticed water coming down the wall in the bathroom. We also found that the floor of our bedroom closet on the other side of the wall was soaked. The upstairs water problem was fixed (the tub hadn’t be calked), but the closet floor continued to collect water. So there had been two different problems. We figured out that the pipe taking water up to our shower head had a hole in it. Nice to have that fixed. It worked out that the upstairs water problem helped reveal our shower leak. We’re still waiting for the hole in the closet to be repaired and the carpet padding to be replaced . . . which is no big deal as long as it’s leak free!

Becca loves washing dishes. The other day I let her play in the sink after we were done. She still fits!

Last Thursday night we had a sleepover at the Countryman’s home, so Aaron and Heather could have a night away. We had a good time with all the kids. It’s good practice for having a big family.

First this Month:

A man told Josh if I hadn’t been introduced as his (Josh’s) wife, he (the man) would have thought I was Josh’s daughter!

Recently, one of our faithful readers responded to my post about helping children overcome their fear of fireworks.  Our dear reader included two $10 bills in a birthday card to me, along with a request for the next steps for firework enjoyment lessons. I’m sure she won’t mind letting others benefit from her contribution.

It is important to note that these steps are not necessarily sequential. Depending on one’s learning style, different technique might be employed. It is possible that only one step will be needed or that completing all these steps will just leave you (and your mommie!) frazzled. Feel free to pick and choose what you use. And a last warning . . . be prepared to have a lot of fun, especially if you’re a young child! Oh yeah, and take time for snacks!

STEP 1: Hide and be really quiet –> then jump up and yell BOOM! really loudly

STEP 2: Use drum sticks and pots to make loud firework noises!

STEP 3: After making sufficient loud unexpected noises, put on proper safety gear. A helmet, protective pants, and a nose guard are essential. Other items can be added as seen fit.

STEP 4: Learn to recognize colors; firework color identification can enhance your observation of the show.

STEP 5: Purchase a snazzy, LOUD, red sports car and enjoy driving fast. An occasional backfire will aid in helping you overcome your fear of loud unexpected noises.

STEP 6: Visit a space center and ride on a rocket. This will make the noise fireworks make seem small in comparison.

STEP 7: Ride on a model firecracker!

STEP 8: Learn how to escape quickly in case of a fireworks-related emergency. Jumping over your stroller and climbing through your chair are both very useful skills to have.

STEP 9: Learn to stick out your tongue at the fireworks and say, “I’m not afraid of you! My mommy said she’ll protect me.” (Make sure that you only stick your tongue out at the fireworks and not other people!)

STEP 10: If all else fails, talk with your friends and get their ideas. If all else fails, perhaps just watch the fireworks on TV with the sound muted.

Hope this was worth paying for, Grandma H! Thanks for enjoying our blog. Come and visit and we’ll give you some more personalized tips!

Firsts this week:

• Mommie: Making yogurt in the crockpot.
• Mommie: Using a dehydrator to make dried apples and bananas.
• Becca: Skipping her nap and just playing in her bed!

Four years ago today the man of my dreams asked me to be his wife. Thank you, my darling, for choosing me to be your wife! I adore you!

One of my strong desires as a wife and mommy is to instill in the heart of Becca a deep love for her daddy. Parenting is not a competition for getting our children to like us better than our spouse . . . to be the favorite parent. We are to esteem others better than ourselves, and I feel it is important for our children to see this between their daddy and mommy. As a wife and mommy, my love for my husband and the way I treat him and talk of him to others has an impact on Becca. I want Becca to adore her daddy like I do. And Lord willing, I want Becca to someday honor her husband in the same way: I want to pass that legacy along to her.

So, how do I instill a heart of love for Daddy in Becca’s heart? Right now we do simple things. We cheer for Daddy when he’s coming home. We practice running to the door and giving him a hug and kiss when he comes home. We talk about how Daddy is great. And most importantly, even right now, I try to always speak positive words about Daddy to Becca. That means I must control my tongue and watch my words and tone. How easy it would be to share with my child (even a 20 month year old) irritations against my husband. And what does it matter right now — she doesn’t understand! But yet it does matter right now; I’m setting up patterns for my life. I desire that Becca will never hear me speak negatively about Josh. This is my prayer.

Speaking of honoring Daddy, my dear husband was extremely sweet to me for my birthday. Wednesday night after church, he made me a little plate of fruit and whipped cream and gave me some gifts. Thursday night he took me to my favorite restaurant — Josh’s restaurant — and made me a delicious meal, including a Brown Derby birthday cake. Josh also made me a watermelon fruit basket.

Friday we went shopping for my present, a nice chair. I’ve wanted one for Becca’s room for reading and cuddling. We found a great chair at the Salvation Army Store – for a great price. The chair is in great shape and is a perfect fit for Becca’s room. It was also issued (notice tag in picture) on July 20, 1994, so we decided that it must have been meant for me since it was issued on my birthday. Yes, I have the sweetest husband in the world!

Sunday afternoon we normally do something as a family. This week we played in the fountain and in the UTA fine arts building. Becca enjoyed sticking her head under the waterfall and loved playing in the lockers. We’re grateful for the family God has blessed us with and for the time we have to enjoy each other.

Firsts this week:

• first time to have her toenails painted
• given her first pair of earrings (by our neighbors, who just returned from spending the summer with their family in Egypt)

Get the latest Flash Player to see this player.

A very happy birthday to the love of my life! (Becca was afraid she would forget what to say, so she asked me to make a little video ahead of time.)

For the first 10 days of July, we had the opportunity to vacation at the Woods’ home. The Woods (a family from our church) asked us to house sit for them, and we decided it would be our summer vacation. Our vacation home came with a wonderful pool, a grandfather clock, stairs for Becca to climb, games, books, a house-wide sound system, and a Vitamix. And it was only a 45-minute drive from our home.

We agreed that it was the perfect vacation. It was the first time since our honeymoon to get away for an extended period of time (just the 2/3 of us). Usually when we travel we’re visiting family (which we love), but it means we spend less time together than normal. This was one of those vacations where we got to relax, spend extra time together as a family, and we weren’t tired when we got home (and it was very cost efficient!). We’re thankful to the Woods for thinking of us and to the Lord for providing this treat for us.

One of the nice things about our vacation was that Josh was still able to work on his research, so he didn’t have to feel guilty about not getting work done and wasn’t overwhelmed with work to catch up on when we got home. Josh worked on research he enjoyed, swam with us in the afternoons, and spent each evening with me having fun . . . games (Mancala, Cathedral, etc.), movies (Sophie Scholl: The Final Days, Persuasion, and Finding Bobby Fischer), food, and books (The Silver Chair and The Last Battle). Josh also bought us ice pop molds and surprised us with homemade yummy ice pops on Friday.

Becca, too, loved our vacation home. The Woods have grandchildren, so the house was very kid friendly. Becca loved the pool and went swimming twice a day. She always asked to see one of us jump off the diving board. Becca loved climbing the stairs and playing with the toys. She loved hearing the grandfather clock chime every 15 minutes. She even liked using the potty. It was the perfect place for her to spend 10 days.

Even though we were on vacation, we still celebrated Cow Appreciation Day at Chick-Fil-A (as we did last year). I took a trip to the Good Will and bought white t-shirts for Josh and me and found a child’s skirt for Becca. A trip to Hobby Lobby completed my costume search – paint and ribbon. Josh and I painted our shirts and I turned the skirt into a dress for Becca (our vacation home also come with a sewing machine). We had fun making the costumes and enjoyed our free meals for our effort. I’m also convinced we have the cutest little calf out there!

We also took some videos this week of Becca doing nursery rhymes with me. Here’s “Hey Diddle Diddle.”

To celebrate our 3rd year wedding anniversary, Josh and I went to Dallas for a night. It was our first extended time away from Becca since she came home from the NICU. We missed Becca, but it was good to spend some time together without any other responsibilities. Meridith and the Lutz family watched Becca during our time away, and Becca did great! I didn’t do too good at winning any games, but I’ve already won the best prize – Josh!

We were in the pool for about 4 hours for the 4th of July. The pictures on the left show Becca jumping in. We decided the skip the 4th of July fireworks this year. Becca is to the point where she is afraid of loud noises, and we decided it would be better to skip the trauma this year and give her a better experience next year. I’ll soon be starting firework enjoyment lessons….step 1: hide and be really quiet –> then jump up and yell BOOM! really loudly (that’s a free step; if you want the other steps to helping your children enjoy fireworks, please send $10 to our address).

Tuesday, we had some special visitors; Jeremy McMorris and Ben Fetteroff stopped by on their drive to CA. We enjoyed our visit with them.

Our summer is going great. Becca and I are enjoying pools, parks, and playing. Josh continues to analyze the data he collected on his trip to NC.

Thursday two weeks ago, Josh left for a 12-day research trip in Raleigh, NC. Josh and Lap (one of his Jarai consultants) spent their time gathering language data from the Jarai that live there. Josh and Lap were able to stay with Lap’s parents. Becca and I didn’t want to spent all our time alone at home, so we took a week visit to PA to be with my family. We had a late-night flight on Friday and didn’t get to my parents’ home until 2:30am. Becca was wonderful on the flights – a ball of energy!

Saturday we visited with Emily. She was participating in a two-week CEF (Child Evangelism Fellowship) summer missionary training camp. We spent time with her during her free time in between training weeks.

Monday we went to NJ and visited with my Grandma and Uncle John and many other Sutter family members. Uncle John made Becca her very own milkshake – she loved it!

While we were in PA, Uncle Joey came home from D.C. to visit with us. Becca warmed up to him, once she realized he would let her play with his phone and computer.

During our stay, my dad got out a drum and cymbal for Becca to play. She loved it! Also during the week, Mom and I worked on some wall hangings for Becca’s room. My mom is the sewing genius; I was just the “factory worker” sewing straight lines, etc. If it were completely up to me, the product wouldn’t have been half as nice. I’m really pleased with what we made and how it brightens up Becca’s room!

We had a great time with my parents! They treated us royally. It was nice to spend time with them without a large number of people around. We kept pretty busy the days when we were there. My dad kept the fridge stocked with my favorite pickles (I’m starting Becca on them too!), made sure we always had a lot to eat (late night fried chicken and Chinese food), and bought tiny ice cream cones for Becca (seriously, they were the size of my thumb!).

But being without Josh for 12 days was dreadful! 12 hours is bad enough, but 12 days! This was the longest we’ve been apart since marriage and I’m not looking forward to the next research trip! I cannot express how delighted we were to have Josh come home Monday evening! It’s good to have my man back!

Today we celebrate three wonderful years of marriage. God has blessed me with the most amazing husband in the world. Darling, thank you so much for choosing me to be your wife. I am honored by your love and so delighted that I am your wife. You are the perfect husband and you show me Christ in so many ways.

Over the past three years, we’ve been through much, and in the midst of every situation, you have shown a servant’s heart as you lead our home toward Christ. Thank you for all you do for our family. Thank you for encouraging me when I’m down, holding me when I cry, being crazy with me, being a wonderful Daddy to Becca, being so romantic….for being my man. Thank you for loving me! I love you with all my heart!

This week we had an unexpected surprise…we got to meet Becca’s newest cousin, Colette Elisse Sutter. Becca absolutely loved meeting Colette. Colette turns 7 weeks this Friday. Becca really wanted to hold Colette, but she was a little nervous at first. We also had a mini impromptu Sutter reunion. It was good to spend some time with family. I love the pictures of my grandma’s and Becca’s blue eyes.

Josh is having a profitable week of research. He’s been able to work with several Jarai speakers and is working on recording, translating, and analyzing Jarai stories. He’s also using the extra time with Jarai speakers to learn more Jarai. On Sunday he went to a special Jarai picnic for a group of Catholic Jarai. He heard the traditional gongs played at a picnic in a park and heard a Jarai Catholic priest speak.

Becce continues to be her very fun self! She’s sporting a new hairdo and is actually not pulling it out! She enjoyed playing the piano with Uncle Sam. A big thanks to Sam for the beautiful pictures he took during our visit with them.

Happy Father’s Day to the world’s greatest Daddy!!! Daddy, as you can see from the pictures, I’ve grown up a bit since Father’s Day 2010. My hair is longer…your hair is shorter. You no longer have to bottle feed me or burp me. Now you get to play hide-n-seek with me, chase me around our home, and take me for walks outside. You are a terrific father and I love playing with you!

Mommy wants to me to tell you that she loves watching you play with me. She’s delighted to be married to such a good, godly Daddy! You are better than the best! Thanks for loving me and taking such good care of Mommy and me. We’re so glad that we are your girls. We love you SO much!

I’ve been terrible about taking pictures this week. Part of this has to do with the fact that it’s not easy to take pictures when you’re wet. We’ve been enjoying the apartment pool and the water play area at the park. We’re so blessed to have access to water activities so close by. I’m completely enjoying being a mommy this summer. I can run in the fountains and play in the pool and no one gives me a second look — I’m just a mommy playing with her toddler. I get to have loads of fun without feeling guilty about other things that need to be done, since I’m doing what I’m supposed to be doing . . . taking care of my baby. What a lovely gift God has given me this summer.

Don’t worry, Josh hasn’t been lost in the shuffle of his girls’ summer play. He’s happy that his girls are happy in the sun, and we’re always delighted when he can join us. Josh continues to spend much of his time gathering data from his Jarai consultants. We’re hoping that this summer will give him the bulk of the data he needs to write his dissertation.

Friday, we had our neighbor over for lunch. Friday evening, we enjoyed dinner with the Woods. Saturday, we had one of Josh’s Jarai consultants and his wife over for lunch. Sorry, no pictures; entertaining and watching Becca make grabbing the camera a distant idea in my mind. I did however, take a few pictures in the nursery on Sunday.

Yesterday at The Levitt Pavilion, we saw the Lannaya West African Drum and Dance Ensemble. Becca enjoyed the drumming, especially since I had just given her a drum lesson that morning. She needs a little work on her stick technique. Most of all, Becca loved the fountains. She walked in among them for the first time . . . brave little girl.

Today is the day our little one was supposed to be born, but God in His sovereignty said no. Our comfort is that God is in control of all things, even miscarriages. Our joy is that “Behind a frowning providence He hides a smiling face” (William Cowper, “God Moves in a Mysterious Way). For Mother’s Day, Josh gave me Piper’s book on Ruth. It’s been a great encouragement to me to see God’s hand in Naomi’s life to perform His good and sovereign will for her life and for eternity.

“Thousands of Christians who have walked through fire and have seen horrors embrace God’s control of all things as the comfort and hope of their lives. It is not comforting or hopeful in their pain to tell them that God is not in control. Giving Satan the decisive control or ascribing pain to chance is not true or helpful. When the world is crashing in, we need assurance that God reigns over it all.”  ~Piper in A Sweet & Bitter Providence p. 27

“The life of the godly is not a straight line to glory, but they do get there. The life of the godly is not an Interstate through Nebraska, but a state road through the Blue Ridge Mountains of Tennessee. There are rock slides and precipices and dark mists and bears and slippery curves and hairpin turns that make you go backwards in order to go forwards. But all along this hazardous, twisted road that doesn’t let you see very far ahead there are frequent signs that say, “The best is yet to come. ” ~Piper in A Sweet & Bitter Providence pp. 99-100

Welcome to our new apartment! Last fall, we put ourselves on a waiting list for some two-bedroom apartments near campus. In April, we received a call that a unit was available for us (at that point we were not planning on moving, since Becca was surviving in the closet). After looking at the apartment, we didn’t feel comfortable with moving there, but since we were in the looking mood, we decided to go across the street and see if the other nearby apartment complex had anything available. They did — an apartment that they were redoing. To make a long story short, we signed the papers and prepared for our move . . . but we didn’t think we’d like it that much, since we loved our first apartment.

We now frequently talk about how much we like our new apartment.  We are thankful to the Lord for providing above and beyond what we asked for . . . even when we’d stopped asking! We love having the extra space — Josh can concentrate on his research, we don’t have to worry about waking Becca up when we’re in our room, and people can use the bathroom without going through our bedroom.  We also love having “all bills paid” — living with 75 degree air conditioning all the time is very nice! I was a little worried about using a gas stove/oven — but I love it, and I love having a big window in the kitchen!

We really like our apartment manager. He lives on site with his family (wife and 4 kids) and is very friendly. When the building’s air conditioning broke, he was out there at 11PM and then again the next morning trying to fix the unit. One evening last week, Josh and I were in our bedroom working on our computer (since we have wireless access on that side of the apartment — legally, since it’s UTA wireless from a nearby building), when we heard banging on our window . . . it was our apartment manager saying hi and telling me I had put our outgoing mail in his box instead of the outgoing box! [And I think it’s cool that he shares a first name with the found, ruler, and emperor of the Mongol Empire! -Josh]

The past two Wednesday mornings, Becca and I have gone to the free kids concert at The Levitt Pavilion. She doesn’t really enjoy the music, but she does enjoy the fountains. We plan to go every Wednesday this month for the kids’ concerts. Friday evening we went to a park that has water play. Becca loved it and we all enjoyed getting wet.

Becca is enjoying helping in the kitchen. She likes scrambling eggs in the mornings and really enjoyed helping me make pizza dough and brownies recently. We have lots of fun in our new apartment and are enjoying running around. Becca continues to fill our house with joy. We are so blessed to be married to each other and to have our precious little gift, Becca Bear. What a kind and gracious God we have!

The month of May has flown by for us. We began the month with moving to our new apartment and then leaving for our trip to SC. Before we left on our trip, we had everything unpacked and put in its “place” — only the pictures remained to be hung on our return. I hope to post pictures of our apartment next week for those who have been asking.

Josh graded his students’ final exam when we returned and is now working some hours for the adoption agency and continues to collect Jarai data for his dissertation. The picture on the left is Josh with Hendy, one of Josh’s Jarai consultants. During the school year, Josh met with Hendy on Saturdays; now that they both have more time they are meeting twice a week. On Memorial Day we attended the Jarai church picnic. We both enjoyed meeting more Jarai speakers.

I’ve spent my days playing with Becca. I’m delighted that she has finally learned to say “mama” – I love hearing her little voice call me. [When Amy is gone, Becca walks around saying “Mama! Mama!” –Josh] She loves going outside and now enjoys being in the pool. We got together with Yani and Amaris last Tuesday, and last Friday we went to a ladies and children’s pool party at the Woods’. We were also able to mingle with some of the Special Olympics – Texas players. They held an event on campus last weekend.  One of Becca’s favorite things to do is playing in the waterfall fountain on UTA campus.

One funny Becca story. This past weekend Becca and I were looking at the pictures in The Jesus Storybook Bible. We came to the picture of healed Namaan and I told her how Namaan was happy.  Then I turned back to the picture of Namaan with leprosy and Becca lost it – had a breakdown – yelped and turned and hugged me. She hates the picture of Namaan with leprosy. When she sees it she cries and flails her arms. It’s rather humorous. She continues to dislike the picture . . . but she still asks to see it by saying “illlllll” – what I said when I showed her the picture. (See video on facebook)

On Memorial Day (after the Jarai picnic) we had the Countrymans over for our own Memorial Day picnic. Josh grilled hamburgers and hotdogs and we all enjoyed dinner, water balloons, and swimming. Memorial Day weekend, Josh and I attended an outdoor concert to hear the Quebe Sisters Band. They specialize in Western Swing and sang like the Andrew Sisters. We enjoyed our evening out — thanks Yi Ling, for babysitting!

Gary and Karen Isham had a lovely graduation reception for me at their home. Everything was beautiful and very classy. I was honored to be given such a nice reception with our friends here in TX.

That pretty much sums up the month of May for us.

Thanks to members of our families who love to take pictures, we hardly took out our camera during our SC trip but still  have over 700 pictures from our time with family and friends. I’m using this week’s blog to highlight pictures from our time with both sides of our families. A big thanks to all who took pictures for us that week! Uncle Joey takes great pictures with and of Becca!

Visiting with Uncle Jon and Aunt Ashleigh. Becca loved their house and enjoyed doing a rain dance with Uncle Jon in his fire pit.

Grammy and Granddaddy Sutter

Aunt Emily – who always makes Becca laugh!

Meeting Cousin Colette Elisse Sutter. Becca is very happy to have another cousin! Becca also enjoyed her time with cousin Bella.

Visiting the mountains of GA with Grandma and Grandpa Jensen

Great Grandma Martin, Great Grandma Buecher, and Great Grandpa and Great Grandma Jensen