After a LONG journey, we are settled.

We have now been in Bismarck, North Dakota for nearly four weeks and fairly settled.  We are diving into activities and school work since we've been sort of 'off' for about a month with packing and moving.  I think we are all enjoying the normal rhythm of our school, work, errands and outings.  Packing and being in upheaval is not that great on three young kids, so it is great to being back in the normal swing of life.

Since arriving in Bismarck we have been overwhelmed with the incredible welcome from our new church family and the amount of great homeschooling families we have meet.  It has been an tremendous blessing and answer to pray for our family!  We have joined a homeschool P.E. class that meets two times per week and at our church there are a handful of families that are in our stage of life that homeschool also.  We are so very thankful for all of this!

We are settled in a cute but small rental house near the YMCA, so we are excited to get involved there during the upcoming cold months.  Also, we are beginning to look for a house to buy, so we are praying that God would bring us a great home for our family and that we would know it when we see it!


Here are a few pictures of our kids.  Cora 12 months, Evie 5 (kindergarten), Leyton 7 (2nd grade).

The Jensen Journey

Photo by Jared

Well, we've done it again.  The Jensen Clan is moving!

After a very difficult month of thinking, praying and soul searching we have decided to move to...wait for it...Bismarck, North Dakota.  Yes, North Dakota, the final frontier.

Let me explain.  We have not been looking for a job or place to move other than possibly buying a house here in Lake Oswego/Portland.  However, our former senior pastor from Omaha recently took a new pastoral position in Bismarck and through the grapevine we connected  about a worship position at his church.  Initially North Dakota was a pretty big deterrent, but once we visited and got our heads around it we began to get excited.  So, after a pretty long process (it's been well over 3 months) we are heading to Bismarck in October.



Jared's will be the worship pastor at the church.  The church is First Evangelical Free Church and it's an established church that is approximately 40 years old and has a Sunday attendance of 500-600.  We are so excited to be around our former pastor and his wife, Bob & Ruthie Thune, and be on staff with them again.



We would love prayer for these things as we transition if you are able to pray with us:

• Housing - very hard to find in Bismarck because of the booming economy
• FRIENDS!  We need friends.  If you've moved you know what I mean.  Please pray for each of our family members, that God would send us each one good friend.
• Classical Conversations - this is our homeschool 'co-op' and it doesn't exist in Bismarck, so I will be trying to direct a new community in the fall of 2013.
• Travel - that our kids would do well and we would all be in good health
• Emotions - leaving somewhere you love is hard.  Pray that each of us would deal well with leaving Lake Oswego as it has been an amazing home and community for our family.

 Thank so for keeping up with our family as we meander around the country!

Summer Travels

Oh...again thank you to the five people who read this blog!  I love reading yours and keeping up with your families, so hopefully I can catch you up on what we've been doing this summer.

We took a 1500 mile trip to South Dakota...in the car.  Yes, that is 3 days there and 3 days back.  As in and total of 6 days in the car with 3 small kids.  We survived and it was great until the last day in the car and things started to break down.  The trip was great though and we are thankful for the chance to see where Jared's parents are in there new house in the Black Hills.


Here are a couple pictures of our adventures.

Washington - swung by the Koethke's new pad, love it!

After passing by Washington, Idaho & Montana's signs we decided

 to stop, while Cora was sleeping and of course 

she promptly woke up the second we were out of the car.  

But...the trip must go on.

 Leyton getting in some good target practice at G&G Jensen in the Black Hills.

 A wonderfully restored one room school house in South Dakota -

 I love this kind thing!  Can you say Little House on the Prairie!?!

 Mt. Rushmore

Sitting Bull Crystal Caverns.  Jared and I went here 14 years ago, 

it was so fun to take the kids.  It's an amazing cave over 300 feet deep!  

 Leyton's souvenir from the trip, a wooden gun from Deadwood, SD.

Wowsers.  It's been awhile.  Can't say that I'll be back in full force, but I love all you friends who check this blog and want to keep posting pictures of our family to keep you in the loop since I am a partial Facebook boycotter.  Here are a handful of snippets from life.  Sadly, I'm giving you the Cliff Notes version, hopefully more details soon!  

Lego Star Wars has taken over our house...

T-Ball!  Rockin' the field!

Cora, ready and raring to get baptized!!!  Praise God for the gift of baptism!  

 Fresh from a bath and happy about it!

Cowboys on the run.

Leyton's temporary braces as he recovers from the bone above his front teeth being broken and his tooth being knocked out of the socket.  Yikes.  Praise God the tooth (left top front) is still alive.  Hoping that the tooth continues to live and we can fix it later with real braces.