May 13-18 our family took a vacation, just the 7 of us. While we’ve enjoyed visiting with people, we were all looking forward to being together as a family without anyone else around. We rented a four bedroom house with a large yard and creek in the back. Very peaceful. It was great to just be together without any extra demands.
The kids loved the break from having to be places or with others doing things. Becca especially loved having her own room and being able to tuck herself away to read. The kids loved exploring the creek.
When we arrived I had a bad head cold. Even though I was bummed out about being sick on our vacation, I was glad to have the extra time to rest. By the last two days I was feeling much better. Josh and I enjoyed the days without a set schedule and enjoyed the extra time we had to talk with each other. It was really refreshing and we both needed it.
On Thursday Josh took Becca horseback riding. Below is an article Becca wrote about the experience.
Becca Nearly Scraped off a Wild Mustang!
In Tennessee, Becca went horseback riding and rode a wild mustang. But it was very lazy. It kept trying to eat grass on the trail for there was no one leading the horse. The horse, Nugget, suddenly ran the wrong way and under a low branch. The branch scraped Becca’s neck. Reporters rushed in from Ratanakiri, Siem Reap, and Phnom Penh.
Note – Publishers admit that the reporters are fictional.
Just let this little boy melt your heart! He’s just as sweet and happy as he looks. He always gets compliments from church nursery workers and regularly naps in their arms. And no, we’re not letting anyone keep him!
Ezra has done great with all our travels. We’re so thankful that the Lord gave us this baby for such a time as this.
The last week of April Ezra cut his first tooth – bottom middle. Shortly afterwards his second tooth right besides the first. Along with the tooth came a bad cold. It was a rough 2 weeks.
Two weeks ago Ezra started sleeping through the night. I wasn’t expecting it to last – but he’s done great since then. I’m one very happy Mama – with the extra rest.
With all our traveling, I haven’t had time to keep up with Ezra’s month posts. So let me catch up.
On April 25th left Wilson, NC to head to Burlington, NC. On the way we had lunch with our friend Nathan Rittenhouse. The next evening Nathan and his wife came to have dinner with us where we were staying.
April 25-29th we stayed in Burlington, NC at the missionary house of Beacon Baptist Church. Saturday ad Sunday we enjoyed visiting with our friends the Councilmans and some of the pastors from the church. We also stopped by the Alamance Battlefield.
Monday morning, April 29th we drove up to York, PA to participate in the Mission Festival of Church of the Open Door. We stayed with my parents that week, since they live nearby. Isaiah got to go to first grade with my mom.
We had a wonderful time at the COD Mission Festival (April 30-May 5th). It was great to see people, meet new people, and fellowship with other missionaries. Josh went to the Bible Museum with the church. Our kids loved the Saturday evening Street Faire – highlighting different missionaries and countries. I enjoyed the special missionary ladies pamper morning. One special treat was being with Rosa, a missionary who I met when I was 17, and watching my kids interact with her – their favorite Tea Lady from the Street Faire.
Tuesday, May 7th, we drove down to Arlington, VA to spend some time with the Gustafsons. It was great to see them again.
Wednesday morning, Mr. Gustafson dropped us right outside the entrance of the National Museum of Natural History. We had a great morning looking at lots of things. For lunch we met our friend Rebekah for a picnic out on the Mall green, rode the carousel, and spent a little bit of time at the Air and Space Museum. The three older kids drove the Metro with Rebekah back to her apartment and the rest of us were picked up by Mr. Gustafson to get back to our car. We’re very thankful for his generosity to us with all the time he spent driving us around.
Wednesday evening through Saturday morning we were with Richard and Rebekah Yamada. We enjoyed getting to spend time with them both. Good to catch up with Rebekah in person and get to know Richard better.
Thursday, May 9th, Josh took the older three kids to Mount Vernon. They had a great time.
Friday we drove to have lunch with Bob and Anne Headley. Bob is the author of The Cambodian and English Dictionary. Josh has enjoyed corresponding with Bob. They were a delightful couple to be with.
Saturday, May 11, we drove to Engleside Baptist Church and spent time with the Smith family. Our kids loved playing with their children. We enjoyed our time with the Smiths and with the church people on Sunday.
Tired yet? We were! So the next thing we did was to head to our long awaited vacation (see next week’s post). On May 12 we hit our halfway mark for our time in the States. Less than three months until we get to go home!
Due to Grandpa Hess’ funeral, we had some extra time in Greenville from April 8-13. We took a trip to the Columbia Zoo with the Floyds and Mom J.
April 13-14 we were in Wilmington, NC visiting Grace Baptist Church. We had a lovely visit with the Martindales.
On Monday, April 15 we drove to Charleston to visit with friends and family. It was great to see my childhood friend Steffanie and meet her children.
We also spent time with Josh’s childhood friend, Joshua Pregram. Everyone got along so well we could have stayed all day.
Our main reason for visiting Charleston was to see Uncle David and Aunt Sandy. We enjoyed the time we got to spend with them from Monday to Wednesday.
We arrived back in Greenville Wednesday evening. The next morning everybody (minus Clara, Ezra, and me) went to see The Horse and His Boy. Everyone loved it! (Thanks Grandma!)
Thursday evening, I took Becca to see BJU’s Living Gallery. We enjoyed getting dressed up (I didn’t have the proper shoes to wear so I wore my Chaco flip flops that I normally wear in Cambodia. 🙂
Friday morning we decorated eggs at Grandma Jensen’s house.
We enjoyed the Easter service at Hampton Park and then a lovely afternoon with Josh’s side of the family. The kids did an Easter play and enjoyed hunting for eggs.
Sunday evening we had Uncle Joey over for supper.
Monday we enjoyed visiting with the Simpson family again. We had a picnic at the park and ice cream back at our house afterwards. Wish they lived closer.
Monday evening we enjoyed visiting with Michael our friend we met in Thailand. We are thrilled that he’ll be studying at BJU next year with his children.
Wednesday, April 24th, we set off on a 3.5 week trip to NC, PA, VA, & TN. Wednesday evening we visited Peace Church in Wilson, NC.
April 6-8 we were in Florence, SC with our friends at Berean Baptist Church. We enjoyed our time with them. A highlight was using Pastor Don’s canoe!
On Monday the 8th we traveled back to Greenville to attend Grandpa Hess’ funeral. Grandpa Hess was Josh’s adopted grandfather and lived to be over 100. He was a faithful man to the end.
On Thursday, March 28th, we drove from Lubbock to Alvarado to spend a few days with our friends the Martins. We became friends right after we both got married. Our families have grown in the past almost 11 years. So good to spend time with our friends.
Sunday afternoon we drove to the Dallas area to visit with the Kroegers, one of Josh’s PhD advisors. We had a lovely time visiting with them.
Monday we drove to Mississippi to visit with the Parkersons. Tuesday morning Dr. Parkerson checked all our teeth – no cavities. Thankful for their generosity to our family.
Wednesday morning we drove to Atlanta and arrived at Josh’s grandma’s to celebrate Josh’s 38th birthday.
Thursday, April 4th, we drove to Greenville, SC. We had another birthday celebration with Josh’s family.
Saturday as we headed out for another church we stopped by to visit Josh’s grandpa.
Thankful for a good trip to Texas – it was good seeing so many friends. Thankful for time with family.
Our original plans were to head to Houston on Friday (March 22), but Karen convinced us to stay an extra day and have fun in Fort Worth. We had a great day at the Fort Worth Zoo with Karen and three of her grandchildren. Not only did Karen treat us to the zoo – but she also bought tickets to ride the carousel and the train AND bought ice cream. The kids were thrilled. (Thanks, Karen, for suggesting we do that, it was great!)
Saturday we drove to Houston and had dinner with our friends Michael & Katie and their son. So good to catch up with them.
Saturday and Sunday nights we stayed with the Kinghorns. The kids loved learning about honey bees!
We enjoyed our Sunday with North Houston Baptist Church and an afternoon and evening with the Brays
Monday (25th) we traveled back to the DFW area and visited with our friends the Woods. The Rylands came over for dinner as well.
Tuesday we drove to Lubbock to visit our friends the Siu. Lap helped Josh with his dissertation research on Vietnamese Jarai. On Wednesday we visited Texas Tech University Museum. We also visited the National Ranching Heritage Center. The kids loved seeing all the houses from to the old west.
On Friday, March 15, we crossed into one of our favorite states and the birthplace of Becca & Isaiah – Texas.
I realized I made a scheduling blunder when the day before I contacted the friends we were planning to stay with and found out I had told them we were coming a week later. Thankfully, our hosts were very gracious and still able to keep us for the night. We had a good time visiting with Steve & Kelly.
We left Saturday late morning to spend the afternoon with our friends the Bennetts. The kids enjoyed harvesting, preparing, cooking, and serving onion grass.
From there we went to Arlington to spend Saturday and Sunday nights with the Gamblins. We enjoyed visiting APC on Sunday and seeing many of the friends we had when we attended there.
Monday (the 18th) we had lunch with our friend Leon.
Monday late afternoon we got to Gary’s & Karen’s home, our home for the next five nights. Our kids got their first taste of March Madness.
Tuesday we had lunch with the Olsons.
After lunch we headed to UTA to visit our old stomping grounds. Lots has changed since we were newlyweds – we’ve gone from 2 to 7! Lots of memories. Becca was happy to visit a favorite tree.
Tuesday evening we got to see the Countrymans.
Wednesday we made a visit to my OBGyn. She was delighted to see Becca, Isaiah, and all of us.
We then went to visit the NICU. The nurse at the desk recognized us immediately. They were delighted to see Becca and us all.
Wednesday evening we got to visit with the Johnson’s.
Thursday lunch we met with one of Becca’s NICU nurses.
Thursday late afternoon (March 21) we met with our program coordinator at The Seed Company and enjoyed eating/playing at a park.
And that sums up our first week in Texas! (Tired yet? 😂)
On March 7th, after a three night stop in SC, we headed to Georgia. Our first stop was lunch at the Floyds (Josh’s oldest sister’s family).
Then we drove on to Warner Robbins to spend four nights with our friends the Gottwals and visit Central Fellowship Baptist Church, one of our supporting churches. We’re all enjoyed our fellowship together.
Monday morning we headed to Marrietta to spend two nights with Josh’s Grandma.
That Tuesday, Josh and three three older kids went to Gainesville to have lunch with Great Uncle Ellis.
On Wednesday, the 13th, we drove to stay with Josh’s uncle & aunt. We had supper at a cousins’ home. Four out of five of his cousins in that family were there.
Thursday, the 14th, we started our two-day drive to Texas. Life is an adventure! Thankful for friends, family, and God’s protection.
We left Buffalo on Sunday, February 24, and drove to South Bend, IN to visit some friends for 4 days. They put us up in a lovely B&B. Between our two families there were 10 kids. We enjoyed our time together.
On Thursday, February 28, we drove to Indianapolis IN and had lunch with Dory’s family. Dory and I were friends at BJU. Two years ago Dory was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer. As a family, we’ve been praying for Dory multiple times a day. It was very special to spend time with Dory’s family and for our kids to meet. (9 kids between the two of us!) Anna especially wanted to meet Dory, as Anna has very faithfully prayed for Dory.
After lunch we drove to Dayton Ohio to spend one night with my sister. It was great to see Aunt Emily and Uncle Daniel.
On Friday, March 1, we drove to Cincinnati Ohio to visit our friends the Lyons (9 kids between us both). We arrived right in time for home school roller skating. Our four older kids were excited about trying and we were so impressed with all of them. The next day we went to Jeremiah’s basketball game. We had a great time being with our friends.
Saturday, March 2nd, we drove to Lexington KY to visit our friends there for two days. We had a great time with all of them! There first night we were with then we made smores outside. Sunday we had snowfall.
Last Thursday we left Dover, PA to start our adventure visiting friends and family in America. Our first overnight stop was Syracuse, NY to be with my Grandma. We had a lovely visit. The kids enjoyed sleeping by the fireplace. Friday, we had an incredible morning sledding. It was a great hill that was icy! The kids and I had a blast!
Friday after lunch, we drove to Buffalo, NY to visit our friends the Simpsons. Our kids had a blast playing with the girls and we enjoyed our two days of fellowship with them.
This past Sunday was our last Sunday at our church in Saom Kaning until we return mid-August. We leave for our 6-month furlough this coming Monday night (actually the plane takes off at 12:20am Tuesday morning).
Sunday evening the leaders of the church had a goodbye meal for us with all the people who serve in the church. We were greatly encouraged by their show of love for our family. People who have never said a word to me were all teary eyed at our departure. For them 6-months is a long time. It’s long for us too, but we’ll be so busy it will fly by for us.
In some ways I feel like leaving our home here is harder than when we left the States to come live in Cambodia. We have grown to love these people. They are our friends. Our children have friends. This is our home. I’m so thankful we get to come back.
One of the sweetest things as we drove away that night was our kids’ love for our church. Isaiah put it like this, “If we could take our church to America, it would be the best.”
Thanks be to God that He has bound our hearts together with our Jarai brothers and sisters. How we will miss them. We have truly seen Jesus’ words, “
In two weeks Ezra will be 6 months old, so I guess it’s about time for me to record his birth story. Each of our children has a unique birth story (premature emergency c-section, scheduled c-section, scheduled c-section turned into a surprise VBAC, and bathroom delivery) – Ezra decided to join the ranks – forced admittance to the hospital and Water Birth!
I should start by admitting that this was not an easy pregnancy for me. Ok – starting out with a car accident, memory loss, and a concussion was not a great way to wade through first trimester. My concussion recovery, which took about 8 weeks, plus afternoon/evening sickness, plus taking care of our house (I didn’t have any house help until I was about 7 months pregnant), and being mommy and teacher to our four kids was exhausting. And then there was the varicose vein leg pain – for a while I couldn’t stand for very long to prepare food or do other tasks. I started doing most of my food prep sitting on the floor. And then there were the Braxton Hicks, which start for me before 20 weeks, occurring mostly during the night.
When we arrived in Thailand, I was exhausted and hadn’t even really had time to think about actually giving birth! We spent about two weeks in Thailand before Ezra was born. And they were two uncomfortable weeks for me, especially at nights. (I was probably actually contacting during several of those nights….but who knows.)
Since I had only had ultrasounds and some basic blood work done before arriving in Bangkok, I was concerned that my doctor was going to make me go through a bunch of testing like she made me do when I met her for my first appointment before Clara was born. I was very thankful she didn’t make me do any extra testing, especially the glucose tolerance test (I always fail the 1-hour test and then have to take the 3-hour fasting test). She did have me take the StrepB test and thankfully it came back negative. My doctor’s main concern was that I was going to have a repeat Clara birth experience and end up unable to make it to the hospital. She even talked about admitting me to the hospital if I got too close to my due date (August 18th). My doctor did tell me that if I did come to the hospital soon enough I could try to have a water birth, if they had time to fill the birthing pool (but she said she doubted they would have time, since she expected me to go quickly.) I think she was trying to convince me to come to the hospital early!
On Monday, August 13th, I went in for my normal
weekly appointment. I took Anna with me for the outing, since I was letting
different kids accompany me on the doctors’ trips. When I complained about having
discomfort at night, my doctor asked to check me. I was dilated to a 4 – which for
me seemed like no big deal. I wasn’t in labor. But my doctor made a huge deal
about it and said she couldn’t let me leave the hospital and would admit me,
break my water, and then she promised me I would give birth that day.
This is not what I wanted to hear. I had my 4-year-old daughter with me. Our friend who was going to stay with the kids was coming the next day. I asked if I could take my daughter home and come back tomorrow. My doctor would not hear of it – and I’m not very good at insisting on my own way with doctors. So I found myself in a wheelchair (they wouldn’t even let me walk) with Anna riding on my lap. I felt ridiculous! I was trying to text Josh to let him know what was happening. All these people were staring at me and I wasn’t even having contractions. We were ushered into a very nice birth-room designed for natural child birth. And there I was left to wait. So there I was – with Anna – just sitting around – not in labor – being admitted to the hospital. Thankfully, Josh was able to get in touch with a very nice couple, Steve and Martha Wilson, whom we met at the guesthouse and had recently asked to be our “back-up plan” in case I went into labor before our friend arrived. Then Josh waited with the kids until the Wilsons came. At that point he came to the hospital and took Anna home and then came back (all this had to be done by taxi).
Meanwhile a nurse came in and told me that my doctor had
said I wanted my water broken. I smiled at her and said, “Do I have any choice?”
She just sympathetically smiled in return. Thankfully they agreed to wait until
Josh was back.
They started filling the birthing pool as soon as I got
there (probably around 11:30am). Every few hours they had to empty some of the
water and refill it to keep it at the right temperature. It was kinda funny.
I was very concerned about having my water broken. Lots of resources
on having a VBAC will tell you that the key to having a VBAC is staying out of
the hospital as long as possible. Once they break your water, you are typically
only allowed 24 hours until the baby must come out. If my doctor broke my water and nothing
happened, the chance of having a C-section would highly increase. I was quite
stressed about this. I was hoping that I would make good progress before my
doctor came to break my water, and thankfully she was very busy all afternoon
with her other patients down at the office.
Around 5:30 my doctor came and checked me again – I was at a 7 and they were amazed that I wasn’t having much discomfort. I didn’t think it was anything to be concerned about. Around 6, she went to break my water – she couldn’t find it. She told me to go play with all the birthing toys. I felt so dumb – there I was playing on the toys but not feeling like I was in labor. She came back about 20 minutes later to try again and this time she found it.
My doctor was expecting things to move fast and just sat outside
my room at the desk – ready and waiting. I’m not sure about the timing, but
soon I started feeling stronger contractions. And very soon after that I knew
it was time. Josh went to call for help and people came fast. I got in the birthing-pool
and a few minutes later with just a few pushes out came Ezra into the water. We
lifted him up out of the water and I saw he was a boy – surprise! He had his
cord wrapped around his neck and I helped get that off. He was still covered in
vernix – that waxy white substance coating the skin of newborn babies – I ended
up having it all over my arms. I was so relieved and thankful for another VBAC
and found it amusing that it was another unique birth experience (forced admittance
to the hospital and water birth).
Time for another confession – I was not a quiet, controlled mother during labor. I had read that it was better to moan and groan during labor, versus tightening your muscles; and let me tell you, I felt quite free in expressing my discomfort. I think my favorite phrases were, “This Hurts!” and “I don’t think I want to do this!” Once those contractions hit – they are strong! I only spoke strongly once. My doctor kept wanting me to sit down on the bench in the tub – but I couldn’t. And that’s what I told her, “I CAN’T!” One thing that made it laugh during labor was the song that came up on my playlist. I had created a Labor/Delivery playlist with some of my favorite songs to help me remain calm. Somehow the Michael W. Smith’s Christmas albums got tagged on the end. So as I was in the last stage of labor, I heard Michael singing Christ the Messiah, God is with us, Emmanuel. How appropriate, I thought – I birth song.
My doctor pretty much let me labor and push at my own speed. Once Ezra’s head was out she asked me to push one more time. Besides that she let me be in charge and I let my body be in charge. (For those of you who are wondering, I was the only one in the birthing pool – everyone else was standing outside.)
And there he was – I drew him out of the water. Our second son. Ezra Emmett Jensen.
And one last confession – my doctor was right…I probably
wouldn’t have made it to the hospital. I would have waited too long until I
felt like something was actually happening and then it would have been too
late. So I thanked her for making a good decision for me (though bathroom
babies are really exciting!).
Josh was a great support during the entire birth. I was so
relieved once he got the kids settled and got to the hospital. He brought
Subway sandwiches, since I had missed lunch. I was so hungry. We were so
thankful are kids were very happy with Steve and Martha Wilson and so thankful
for their help to our family. Josh did his best to help pass the waiting time
away – as I was stressed and didn’t feel like doing much at all. Josh was able
to rub my back during the water birth and be a wonderful support during the intense
labor. So thankful for him!
So thrilled with Isaiah’s reading progress! He finished All About Reading Level 2 this month. We always have a party to celebrate whenever our kids finish a level of reading. Isaiah chose to play games. Then we had brownies with Hershey’s chocolate syrup on top. Isaiah was given his first ESV Bible. It’s so fun to hear him reading it at night!
