Jen

Jen was named after a beautiful song.  GW wanted to name her Crystal, which would have sounded cool with Carlson at the end of it.  But  Jen was our first daughter and I wanted to be the one to name her.   I was so excited to have a girl having been raised with three brothers and several boy cousins.  GW also came from a family of five boys.

Shortly after Jen was born I went out and bought the Barbara Streisand CD that had the song we named her after so I could play it for her.  Her due date was June 10th, but I know Jen was anxious to come to earth so she came May 23, 1992, during the early evening.
GW and I were supposed to have a barbecue with some friends from work for the Memorial Day weekend.  The steaks were already on the grill cooking but my contractions were getting closer and closer.  By the time we made it to the hospital I was fully dilated and the nurses wanted me to start pushing.  I  think I went into shock because everything was happening so fast.  I pleaded for an epidural since my first baby was c-section.  After accidentally kicking the doctor in the ear I was given permission to have drugs.  Jen was a smaller baby, 6 lbs 2 ounces, so I didn't have to have a c-section.

Jake and Jen were fourteen months apart, they were great play mates.  The first time Jen started to cry Jacob looked up at me and started to cry.  He didn't know what to think of the new noise that was in distress.

Our first home in Provo was registered in the historical section of town and we lived by huge old Sycamore trees.  Lots of shade!

First home made Halloween costume.

Christmas Meadows camp spot.  

One summer we camped in a tent by the Snake River near Jackson Hole Wyoming.  I woke up in the middle of the night from a scratching sound on the tent.  I knew it was some kind of animal because it kept rubbing itself around the tent and making scratching noises.  It scared me so I woke up GW and Jake.  I made GW peek out to see what it was.  A skunk was getting into the garbage that I accidentally left out by our tent door.  We decided to stay calm and quiet until it finally left.  Jen slept through the entire ordeal.

First trip to Disneyland.

We moved to a bigger house in West Provo in 1996.  We signed Jake and Jen up for pitch ball and got acquainted with some of our new neighbors.

Mrs. Eldredge   Kindergarten

Jen with ConfiDance Kids.

I liked taking sleeping pictures.  Jen is wearing her snow bibs so she must have really worked hard playing in the snow, or we went sledding that day.

Harry Potter books were consumed in our home.  I remember standing in a long line with Jen to buy one of the new Harry Potter books.  Both Jake and Jen would stay up all night reading that particular book during the summer.

When Jen turned fifteen she started taking horse riding lessons near our home.  She went almost every Saturday for three years.  Then College started and she had to quit. It was a great experience!

Young Women's Camp was a summer highlight.  After camp Jen and Jess would come home singing and acting out camp songs for days.

Jen played the clarinet for seven years.  Not only did she play for all the Provo High basketball and football games, but she also played her clarinet for the musical, "Fiddler on the Roof". 

Jen loved playing clarinet and even played in the Utah Valley University Wind Symphony for two semesters before declaring a major.  We hope to pass it on to Jewels next year.

Our families favorite teacher!

Jen took lessons from Mike Carson for eleven years.  She enjoyed playing hymns in Seminary and Young Women's.

We love our Jenny!  We are so proud of her.  

She is a hard custodian worker at Dixon Middle School and is majoring in Biology at UVU.

Next birthday she is planning on going on a mission like her big brother.

Happy Birthday Jen!