My Iree is six months!

My little Iree had her six month birthday yesterday. I can hardly believe that she's already half a year old. It's so cliche, but the time really has flown by. She's such a little angel and we are so glad that she's in our family. She's the most easy-going little girl. Yesterday I put her down for her nap and after a few hours I hadn't heard from her, so I went to check on her and sure enough she was just laying in her crib smiling and laughing. I love that! I hope she's always this sweet. This is a picture of her that I took this morning before church. I love this little outfit! Ellen gave it to her for Christmas and I think it's so darling. It's even cuter in person. And don't worry, Jason didn't wear those moccasins to church :) Roman has been so sweet to Iris lately. There was definitely a period of time where I couldn't leave him alone with her for fear that he'd poke her eyes out or break her fingers. Luckily he's moved past that stage. Now he's darn right protective of her. I take them to the daycare at my gym every weekday morning and the girl who watches them says that Roman calls Iris, "My Iree". What a sweet big brother. He really does love her.

Lately Roman's been way into wearing a baseball cap. He loves them because Jason always wears one. So anyway, last week he was walking around the house with his hat and one of his play guys. Iris was laying on my bedroom floor while I was making my bed, and Roman came up to her and put his hat on her and gave her his guy. It was so sweet because he thought she should love them as much as he does. Then he said (in his high-pitched baby voice), "Iree, it's Roman's, OK? I share it." He didn't let her keep them for long, but still...so cute.

Another thing I love about this little angel girl is that she loves toys. Roman was not that into toys at her age. He seemed way more high maintenance. I can put her in her little saucer and as long as she's well-rested and fed, she acts like it's the greatest thing ever. Look at that sweet little smile.

And of course I have to add a picture of her chub. I love that baby chub- look at those cute arms. Happy half birthday, Iree girl. Hopefully the next 6 months won't go by so quickly!

5 years of wedded bliss

Jason and Bethany Jenks on January 2, 2004

January 2, 2009 - We've doubled the size of our family in 5 years!

Jason and I celebrated our 5 year wedding anniversary last week and I've been wanting to post something about it. For those of you who know Jason well, you won't be surprised that he has requested that I not post something too cheesy. He likes it when I'm sappy...just as long as it's not publicly. So, I'm respecting his wishes and I've decided to post about how we met. I love hearing about how other couples have met, so I'll tell you our story. Just a warning, I'm not sparing any details on this one. This post is mostly for me and my posterity. :)

So it all started during my freshman year of college when I was working at the duplication center in the library at BYU-Idaho. There was this cute guy that had to order some stuff for one of his classes. We got to talking and pretty soon he asked me out. Right now you're thinking that I'm talking about Jason, right? Wrong. His name was Dan. (Don't worry...this will all come together). So, anyway, Dan and I go on a date. He picks me up in this blue Audi. Audis just happen to be my favorite brand of car. I was so excited. Then I get in the car and my very favorite song, "With or Without You" by U2 is playing. I'm thinking, "This guy is getting better and better." So I say to Dan, "I like your car, and just so you know this is my all-time favorite song." He kind of smiled and he said, "Well, thanks, but I can't really take the credit. This is my roommate's car and his CD too. But I like this car and song too." Now I'm thinking, "That's good that you like this song and car, but it's not the same. Maybe if things don't work out with you I can date your roommate." Dan and I proceed to go out to dinner and have a fun time. It was the last Saturday of the semester before summer break. I was planning to go home to Wyoming for the summer and he was planning on working for a white water rafting company somewhere. So, while we were on our date we talked a little bit about our summer plans and we said that we'd keep in touch and we exchanged email addresses. (Side note: we emailed eachother exactly once..haha). Back to the story...I promise this is going somewhere. We were done with dinner and the night was still young and neither of us really wanted to go home yet, so he asked me if I wanted to meet some of his friends. I said that was fine. So, he pulls up to these tennis courts and we get out. I see this really cute guy that is playing tennis like a pro. He's all tan and his arms are really toned. He's decked out in everything Polo. Everything from his hat to his shoes was Ralph Lauren. (I've always been good at knowing my name-brands and I can spot a polo horse from a mile away). Anyway, he stops for a minute and Dan says, "Hey, Jason this is Bethany." Jason looked at me and kind of nodded and said hi, but he didn't smile. I thought he was kind of rude. Then Dan turns to me and says, "It's his car that we're driving." So then Dan, Jason, and the guy Jason was playing against start talking and I'm kind of just standing there. In my head I'm trying to figure out this Jason character. I'm thinking that he must be a yuppy. He has a nice car, he plays tennis and everything he wears is Polo. Plus, he didn't even smile at me when Dan introduced us. So, at this point I'm pretty convinced that Jason is a spoiled brat.

OK, so fast forward to almost exactly a year later. It was February 2003 and I was in my second semester of my sophomore year. I had just met a guy named Ryan and we were just starting to date. I was pretty excited about him. He was cute and funny and so far we were having lots of fun together. One night we were at his apartment and his roommates came in. One of them looked familiar. Then the one that looks familiar notices that I look familiar. Then he says, "Hey, aren't you Bethany?" I say, "Yeah, you're Dan's friend with the Audi, right? What's your name?" He says, "Jason Jenks." (Keep in mind that Jason sometimes pronounces his last name like "Jinx"). Then I make this really funny comment...or so I thought. I said, "You mean jinx as in, 'jinx you owe me a pop?'" He stares at me blankly and I'm trying to explain that when you say the same word at the same time as someone else then you say jinx and the other person owes you a pop. He tells me that he's never heard of that before and I'm completely shocked. So anyway, we start to talk a little more and I'm beginning to think that he's not such a snob. He was asking me about myself and acting like he was actually listening. Then Ryan starts telling me what a great cook Jason is and how he makes the best homemade soups. So then we talk a little bit about cooking and that was about it. Ryan and I continue to date and we end up hanging out at his apartment a lot with his roommates. This Jason character was really starting to grow on me. He was crazily obsessed with sports which was pretty foreign to me, but everything else about him just seemed so great. So what does a girl do when she really likes her boyfriend's friend? She sets him up with her roommate. Ryan and I set Jason up with my old roommate, Katie. We all went bowling and Jason and I had a great time...with eachother. I remember during the date feeling like it was me on the date with Jason instead of Katie. Soon after that Ryan and I broke up and Jason started coming by my apartment to visit. Winter semester was almost over and I was going to stay for the summer term. I was kind of bummed because none of my friends were staying. Then one day I was talking to Jason and I mentioned that I would be staying and he said he was staying too! I was so excited...I would have at least one friend!

Once the Summer term started, Jason's visits became much more frequent because Ryan had moved out and I wasn't "off limits" anymore. We started hanging out on a daily basis. He was wining and dining me every night (minus the "wining" that is). The only problem was that I didn't know what we were. At first it was like we were just friends, but then I was really starting to like him. He was really slow in making a move though. I had never dealt with a man like this. He kept taking me out, calling me, stopping by, but he wouldn't even hold my hand!? I was very confused. I'm not one to make a move either, so for 2 1/2 months it went on like this. Now Jason says he waited so long because he wasn't sure if I liked him. He had never been with someone like me...he always left the move-making up to the girls. Anyway, a guy I worked with asked me out. I wasn't the least bit interested, but I figured it might be a good way to let Jason know that I wasn't just going to wait around forever. So, while I was on my date he came by my apartment ( just like I knew he would). My roommates asked me what they should say to Jason if he came by while I was on my date and I said, "Tell him I'm on a date." So, they did. And my little plan worked. He finally got up the courage to "make a move". After that, we got serious pretty fast. I drove to Washington with him in August to meet his family. Then in September we went to Wyoming so he could meet my family. In October he proposed and in January we were married. Four moves, two kids, and five years later, I'm so glad that I gave that yuppy a shot. He's turned out to be the most non-yuppy not spoiled man I know. My firsth impression couldn't have been more wrong. Jason really does have the kindest heart I've ever seen. He's a great husband and dad and I better stop now before I get too cheesy. And that's how Jason Jenks and Bethany Bennion came to be Mr. and Mrs. Jenks (pronounced jaynks, not jinx).

My Happy Birthday and Merry Christmas

I've been meaning to blog about my birthday and Christmas for a while now, but I've been putting it off because there's so much to write about and I'm going to have a hard time editing it all down. I turned 26 a few weeks ago. I had a great birthday. Jason always goes out of his way to try to make it special. He took me to dinner and got me a gift certificate to get my hair cut and high lighted. As you can see in this picture, I was in desperate need of a makeover. My hair had been so neglected. Anyway, after dinner we went to my in-laws' house and had this delicious cake that Amber made for me. It was sooo good. She's the best. I think her baking skills haver surpassed mine :) On the 2oth we made the long trek to Wyoming to spend Christmas with my family. We had such a great time.

Here's a picture of my kids in their Christmas outfits. Iris' bow might be a little ridiculous. It has a little bell on it and Jason kept threatening to cut it off because he couldn't stand the jingling sound.

My dad's birthday is on the 23rd, so it's been a tradition in our family to have Santa come visit on Dad's bday. This year he came and brought an early Christmas present for everyone. It was so fun. Roman is deathly afraid of Santa. He burst into tears when he came in the door. He kind of warmed up to him though. This was as close as he would get to him. Iree didn't seem to mind...

Here's my dad getting ready to blow out his birthday candles. This is all of my parents' grandchildren and then Danna, Cicily, and me.

Like I mentioned we spent Christmas with all of my family. I have six siblings, so with everyone's spouses and children the grand total was 22 people. Look how many stockings there are!! Luckily, my parents just built a new house in October and every couple had their own master suite with its own bathroom. That makes such a difference to have your own bathroom! Plus there's a big room upstairs for the grandkids. There was 3 bunk beds and they had their own bathroom too. The kids absolutely loved it. This was our first time at the new place. It is so beautiful. My dad has been building for 30 some years and he does such great work. I wish he could come build me a house in a few years.

We did lots of fun things while we were in WY. My little brother, Kimball and my little sister, Cicily are pretty good at Rock band. Roman loved watching them, so they let him "play" on the drums for a little bit. He thinks they are pretty cool.

But so much playing can wear a guy out..

Christmas morning was full of lots of great gifts. I didn't think Santa could pull it off, but he ended up finding a football helmet AND uniform for Roman. He thinks it's pretty cool, but he still puts on his knitted hat and calls it a helmet. I think it's because the helmet's still a little too heavy for his head. By the way, that's Roman with my little sister, Cicily. She's gotten so old! She's 15 now and I can hardly believe it. She's such a pretty girl and she's so sweet with her neices and nephews. Roman still asks about her everyday and we've been back for a week.

Here's the kids with my parents, "Mama and Papa Ben" as Roman calls them. I just have to thank my mom and dad again for the great time that we had. There's nothing better than spending time with your family. My mom and dad were so great. They had yummy meals and fun things to do and they didn't even complain about all the kids ransacking their beautiful home. We had a great time and we can't wait to do it again.