We started our 2023-2024 school year on April 17, 2023. So far we’ve been off to a good start, and it’s like running a marathon everyday for me!

We celebrated Anna’s birthday this month, starting with her birthday countdown calendar (based on The Borrower books). As part of the calendar, Anna’s birthday movie was The Wizard of Oz (a book they’ve heard many times) and she received small gifts, a flute lessons, and flowers as part of her daily calendar surprises. She also made her own chocolate cake with almost no help.

We delayed Anna’s birthday dinner one day so Josh would be finished with teaching at the Pastor’s Bible School out of town. Anna chose tacos for dinner and a panda cake. We had a fun evening of dinner, gifts, cake, and then watching a slideshow of pictures from Anna’s 9 years of life.

Anna is a fun loving girl who loves to play and is very helpful with her siblings. She has done very well with her Khmer lessons this year and is growing in her ability to communicate in Khmer. We’re very thankful for Anna and look forward to this new year with her.

We celebrated Holy Week from Saturday to Saturday this year, since Josh had to leave Easter Sunday to travel to teach at the Pastor’s Bible School from Sunday-Wednesday. We started the week with setting up our tree and starting our nightly Lenten Lights readings.

We did Palm Sunday on Saturday night, since Sunday nights are too busy. And then we took a break Monday to have Josh’s birthday and did our reenactment of Jesus cleansing the temple on Tuesday.

Wednesday night we had our Easter Egg hunt (we like to keep that separate from Resurrection Day). The kids had a blast finding eggs – they each had their own color. It’s always fun to watch the youngest find eggs. Then we had a store where the kids traded their eggs for goods. Prices: water guns & bags of balloons – 3 eggs each; instant coffee, shampoo, face mask, pack of gum, Oreo cookie pack – 1 egg each.

Thursday evening we had our Maundy Thursday service with feet washing and remembered the Last Supper. We have the older wash the younger’s feet – and Micah washed Josh’s.

Saturday morning we did gifts. Then we had a special lunch with some other missionaries from Ban Lung. We ended the week with a short Resurrection service in the evening. We thank God for the resurrection of His Son and what that means for us.

A side note – Sometimes people comment about our traditions and how nice they are – true. But it often comes with whining and complaining – the singing is not always peaceful. It’s hot season, and it’s hot and sweaty. Our younger kids are really tired by 7pm, so adding anything extra is hard. I’m often enduring and not so much enjoying, while I try to keep the youngers happy. The night we had our resurrection both younger boys fell asleep in my lap, and it was so peaceful. Anyway – there’s a little view into what the pictures don’t show. But it’s all worth it. It’s not all easy, so if you want to try things like this….be encouraged. It can be hard and tiring work – but you are planting seeds and giving your kids a way of living life that is so worth it. Thanks be to God.

April 3rd we celebrated Josh’s birthday with homemade hamburgers and all the toppings and baked beans. Dessert was strawberry cake. Afterwards we had a piano recital in honor of Daddy’s birthday. This was Clara’s first time to perform in our piano recital – Becca is teaching Clara piano. All the kids did beautifully. Afterwards the kids gave cards and gifts to Josh, and we ended the evening with the cake.

It was a hot day and evening, as we’re in the swing of hot seasons, but even so we all had a good time celebrating Josh’s birthday. We’re thankful for him and all he does in leading and loving us.

The owner of the Nature Lodge directed us to a waterfall that was not a tourist attraction and a perfect fit for our family. The kids were able to explore and swim, and we didn’t have to deal with being a foreign attraction to the other tourist. There was no one else there both days we went. So relaxing.

The second day we went we built a fire and roasted marshmallow. Josh took the older 4 kids to climb up the waterfall several times. There was also a swimming pond. The little boys enjoyed throwing rocks in the water.

We took a week’s vacation to the Nature Lodge in Mondulkiri (about a 3.5 hour drive from our home). Besides the rats keeping us awake at night in our lodging, it was a wonderful trip. (We asked for traps and ended up catching 3 forrest rats and the last night it was quieter but still a little noisy.) It was great to take a break from people and just get away as a family. The A-frame house we stayed in was a great fit, and we didn’t have to worry about bothering anyone. There was a loft at either end of the house with bed. The kids could play outside while we sat on the steps – it was a nice relaxing atmosphere.

The Nature Lodge had a pool and we enjoyed swimming three days and the other two days we visited a waterfall. Both places we ate at had pool tables, and since there were rarely other guests, our kids got a lot of practice playing. We had lots of good Khmer and western food.

The Nature Lodge had penned sheep and 5 horses that wandered around the property. The kids enjoyed feeding the horses (Cambodian ponies) leftover lettuce and carrots we had brought. The horses were quite friendly and when the food was all gone they came up to our lodging and waiting for more.

We celebrated Clara’s birthday the first two weeks of March, ending with leaving on a family vacation the day before her birthday. Clara’s countdown calendar included a movie night, small gifts, a trip to a night carnival with rides and snacks, a peacock helium balloon, and some other things.

Clara wanted a horse cake for her birthday. She made the chocolate cake, and I decorated it per her instructions. She chose spaghetti as her birthday meal with salad and garlic bread. We had a fun night celebrating Clara’s birthday and she said (after gifts) that is was her best birthday ever.

March 3rd we held our yearly graduation and recital to celebrate the completion of the 2022-23 school year! We’re very proud of everyone’s hard work this year.

Graduation & Recital

Seventh Grade – Rebecca Grace Jensen
Fifth Grade – Isaiah Emil Jensen
Third Grade – Anna Grace Jensen
Fun Grade – Clara Grace Jensen
Preschool – Ezra Emmett Jensen & Micah Ebenezer Jensen

WELCOME
Opening Song – The Son of God Goes Forth to War

RECITATIONS
Clara – Poem
The Charge of the Light Brigade by Alfred, Lord Tennyson
Anna – Recitation
John 9
Isaiah – Poem
The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe
Becca – Recitation
The Life of Elisha – selected scenes

Presentation of Diplomas & Certificates
Volcano Experiment
Dessert Buffet and End of Year Slide Show

This is a picture of the kids working on finishing up their Botany Science notebooks. They did some beautiful work on these during the year.

Ages 2, 4, & 10. These boys are a bunch of fun and can be a bunch of trouble. When you hear the younger two laughing hysterically, you can almost guarantee that they are having loads of fun doing something they think they shouldn’t be doing! The other day when I went to investigate this sound, I found one trying to clean the other’s bottom on the toilet. Loads of fun. . . . It’s such a gift to watch them play together, and we’re so happy to have them all!

We have a great view of Venus and Jupiter this month from our kitchen window, as they set around 7PM. This week we tried to use the telescope to look. We got a good view of the moon, but the planets were harder to get.

While Josh was trying to get the planets in the sights, the kids and I goofed around with the camera.

We had our traditional family Valentine’s Day party Tuesday night. Making 6 heart-shaped pizzas and one regular is quite a production. I had the little boys use round cake pans for theirs.

For dinner we had pizza, salad, and lemonade. After dinner we cleaned up and then had to wait for the swarms of flying termites to die down before we could turn the lights back on to continue the party. We had a 20-minute afternoon rain, unusual for this time of year, and it stirred up the termites for swarm mating. In the morning I made heart-cut-out-cookies with the little boys and we decorated them after dinner for dessert.

After we finished, eating the 4 older kids read an original story they have been working on. It was composed of 4 pages – each folded in half. Each kid wrote one side of each page for a 16-page story – the pattern was Isaiah, Clara, Anna, and then Becca. Quite an interesting progression of events during each “page.” After that we exchanged cards, and then Josh continued our tradition of his reading a book about St Valentine.

Josh bough roses for me from Ban Lung and had them delivered by taxi van. He bought each of the girls a pink rose and chocolate bars for the boys.

Right at the beginning of the Christmas season, my electric piano died. It was a very sad day for me because it meant no beautiful Christmas music and no easy fix. We were able to send the piano to Phnom Penh and a good friend took it to a repairman who said the parts were no longer replaceable, due to the age and make of the piano. Sadness. We had an old mini keyboard that floated us through the holiday season, but that soon began to have troubles.

So back in January, my dear husband decided to take the night-bus for the first time and travel to Phnom Penh to buy us a new piano. He left on a Monday evening and was home Wednesday morning with a lovely, better than I would have hoped, new electric piano. We used Christmas money, given to us from supporting churches, to buy the piano. It’s so wonderful to have a working piano in our home again. Four of our children take piano lessons – plus I teach four other children of co-workers piano lessons – so this piano gets lots of use. It’s also what I use when I’m working on tunes for Bible verse songs. We’re so thankful that the Lord provided our family a new piano. I’m so glad to have a working instrument back in our home. And the kids have had many hours of fun playing in the huge box!!

January is always a recovery month for me – and I don’t take many pictures. I always try to get one family picture, but since it’s the one month without a family holiday I struggle to get one. This blurry picture is the best we could get.

Random January stuff: The kids went across the street to help Davi peel and cut her cassava. Besides that we are working on finishing our last 5 weeks of the school year. I also try to prepare for the next year during this time, so I’m not doing school stuff all during our summer break.

Last week I moved Micah into the kids’ room. He’s so happy to be in the same room as his siblings, where all the evening action is going on, instead of being alone in our dark bedroom…listening to everyone else be put to bed. We’re also potty training Micah – dry season is a great time to do it, since anything wet dries in a day.

Down in a valley near our team leader’s home, there is a shepherd who keeps sheep. We went for a walk and the shepherd was very kind to let us hold a 1-day old lamb. Later Anna caught a 10-day old lamb to hold.

You open the fridge and poor yourself a glass!

We had a full week celebrating Christmas. Thursday night Josh read The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. We started at the table with frozen smoothies and ended on the couch. I think Ezra lasted a few chapters before he fell asleep.

Friday the kids decorated the giant gingerbread people. It’s fun watching the kids design their masterpieces. I think Micah most ate his candy and frosting, but he was happy and content!

We chose to have our Christmas Eve Monday and Christmas Day on Tuesday, since the 24th and 25th were too full with church activities. Monday night we had our traditional meal of tacos (a friend sent up hard shells and beans from PP, which made it extra delicious). After dinner we sang carols and drank hot chocolate with Christmas cookies. Then we watched The Muppets Christmas Carol.

Christmas morning we had a special breakfast and then the kids exchanged gifts. I made cinnamon rolls – but they were just an extra snack. Becca worked extra hard on homemade gifts this year. She made the little boys Russian nesting animals. We bought the wooden forms and she painted them. Becca made the other kids I Spy Books – she’s been working weeks on setting up pictures for the books.

The Crowleys came for lunch and the kids’ Christmas play. This play is completely put together by the kids, I don’t have any involvement, except for providing some of the costumes.

We had a lovely lunch of buffalo roast, mashed potatoes, rolls, and salad. In the afternoon we played games and then after supper we gave gifts to the kids. It was a lovely day – everyone was happy and content and that makes Christmas special. We’re thankful for the gift of Jesus to us all…for he shall save his people from their sins. Thanks be the God.

Our church has their Christmas Eve and Day service on the 24th and 25th. The evening service went from 6:30 to 10pm, starting with a meal. The service consist of preaching and many different groups getting up to sing.

Christmas Day the service went from 8:30 to 11:30, with a lunch at the end. This year both Becca and Isaiah were in the Christmas pageant, I figured if we were directing I could ask for our kids to be included. Isaiah was a sheep and Becca was an angel. There are two readers and the rest just act. The readings were taken from Matthew and Luke.

The two kids groups and adult groups sang different Bible verse songs I’ve put to music. Genesis 1:2-3. Matthew 11: 28-30. Matthew 9:12-13b. Matthew 1: 23. Our kids sang as well, but since they are taller they are in the back.

Josh preached at the morning service. (Notice Josh behind the boys.)

Afterwards we enjoyed a great lunch and taking lots of photos with friends: children’s teachers & ladies teachers.

It was a good day. We came back and rested in the afternoon. Then we had our Khmer Bible Study in the evening. Because of all the services, we moved our family Christmas celebrations to the 26th and 27th.

December 2nd we had our Christmas decorating night. It was a very exciting night, as this year all 6 kids were putting ornaments on the tree. I divide all the ornaments up beforehand, so each child gets a bag with his/her own ornaments. It keeps it from turning into a grab-for-all. Our tree is filling up with homemade ornaments our kids make every year – it’s so full of personality. This was Micah’s first year to put the star on the tree. He wasn’t sure what to do at first.

We started our Christmas Countdown Calendar two weeks before our Christmas. This week we’ve been making Christmas cookies – one day to make all the dough and one day to cut out and bake all the cookies. 7 batches of cookie dough. 3 types of cookies. We’ll decorate them later this week. This was the first year Ezra rolled out and cut out his own cookies. When you have 6 kids working on cookies, you give up the idea of having perfectly cut cookies. We’ve got some very thick cookies and some very strange looking cookies, and they will all taste great! (Micah spent his time eating his cookie dough…but he was content!)

Wednesday we made wrapping paper. Greet feet-prints and red handprints. 10 large sheets. It’s a very exciting time with 6 sets of green feet running around. We had to spend a little time scrubbing the floor where feet missed the paper.

During the Advent season we sing Christmas carols and songs every night. Each kid gets a turn to light the candles, and every night each person gets to choose a song – that’s 8 songs a night. Four of our kids can accompany a few songs each on the piano, so if those songs are chosen they get to play the piano while we sing. Last night we had a concert with all the songs everyone knows how to play. It took over an hour. We got out the other percussion instruments, so everyone could play along or sing. It was loud. It was chaotic at points. It’s a fun a memory.