A "BIRTH" DAY AT SEA ISLE BEACH.

Friendship is something that I, or my girls never want to take for granted, and even though it's nice to go places with just our family, it's nice to invite a friend to join in our fun, and who can possibly say no when you invite someone to the beach! Especially when one has a birthday!

I called my girlfriend to ask if she had any birthday plans for her daughter, and luckily they didn't! I mean that in a good way because I wanted to invite them to the beach. I know how much her girls love the ocean, and so we headed on out to Sea Isle. Sea Isle beach must be a magnet for going with friends because the last time I came here was with this awesome lady, and her kids! 

We headed out pretty late in the day, but stayed until about six. I think we were in the middle of a heat wave because man was it hot! I drank water the whole drive down, and then some more when we finally found a spot to lay our blanket on. Wednesdays at Sea Isle don't require beach tags, so it can get pretty packed, but luckily we found the perfect spot to lay out! 

The girls immediately went into the water, and splashed in the waves. With Jon at work, I had my one on one time with Noah in the water. Jon is usually the one who'll take him in the water while I capture a few photos of them, and even though I love to take pictures it was nice to have someone else behind the lens. My time spent with Noah was enjoyable, and having gone in the water to jump the waves with him was the best! He absolutely loves everything about the ocean. He saw the girls from a distance, and noticed how deep they were in the water, and can tell he is looking forward to that someday. He doesn't swim yet, and I seriously need to find a place around here where they offer swimming lessons. Nonetheless I had fun with my cheeky monkey who just loved splashing that salt water on me! 

My girlfriend took most of these photos, and I'm so grateful that she captured these moments. It's nice to not have a camera on hand, and to have someone else take pictures. Especially when you just want to have fun with your kids, and not worry about taking pictures, or getting your phone wet!

^^^ How lucky i am to have this girl by my side, and for her girls to friendship my kids. I didn't capture too many pictures of the girls. They were too busy playing in the ocean! I swear they could have turned into mermaids! ^^^

Good friends mixed with the ocean on a hot summer day is the perfect remedy for motherhood! Looking forward to more days like this before summer ends! 

Happy Friday everyone!  

NOAH-ISMS// TENNIS EDITION.

It has been almost two months since Noah's tennis lessons ended, and as each goes by I try to take him to the courts to practice at least two to three times a week. At the time he didn't have a decent sized racket so now that I bought him one that's his size he's been wanting to play tennis every single day. Watching his sisters play has really helped his motivation increase too. 

There have been times in the past where he will only last like ten minutes on the court and then want to play around. The fact that the courts have a playground next to it doesn't help his concentration on practicing. 

Well, the other day he surprised me by not wanting to play on the slide or swings.

I asked him, "noah, do you want to play tennis first or go on the swings?" 

He said, "yes". 

I said, "yes what? Playground or tennis?"

He said, "I want to play some tennis mom." 

I know for a fact that buying him his own racket has motivated him to play longer than usual, and to ignore the playground. All he kept saying was, "hit it to me again mom, another one mom, one more time mom." After a while of hitting the ball to him I asked if he wanted to play in the park, and he still kept saying, "no mom, no park, one more time. "Hit it to me again mom." Go, mom go!" That "one more time" turned into an extra 15-20 minutes of playing, and that really made me happy. 

And then he went to the swings afterwards. 

AND A FEW OTHER NOAH-SIMS...

It never fails that whenever we pass a horse whether in the city or in the outskirts of jersey Noah will say, "the horses stink with their butts and farts." 

After talking about families, and how many sisters he has--"Mommy all your kids are five, seven, nine and twelve right?" I laughed and told him that the only age he got correct was his own.  

When he had a cold a few weeks ago, he crawled into our bed, and woke us up. I felt his forehead, and it was burning up! It turned out that he had a bit of a fever. Nothing major, but it still worried me. Before we gave him some medicine he said, "i don't feel so good mom, I think I'm dying."

Not that we eat at Dominoes, but every time he sees a car with a domino on top he starts singing, "pizza car, pizza car, pizza pizza car." He's obviously seen the commercial.

When we came home from church last week Noah asked if he could bring his stuffed animal next time we go. I said, "No son. You don't need to bring any toys of any kind to church." He said, "but "Amy" does all the time. I said, "No papa, "Amy" may have insecurity issues, and may bring it for comfort." Noah, "do I have issues?" I laughed out loud!

Noah and Chelsea continue to roughhouse a little too much especially when they play outside with their nerf water guns. I saw that Noah had a scratch on his back, and I asked him how he got it. He said, "When Chelsea hit me last year. Chelsea hits me every year mom." I think what he meant to say was, "when Chelsea hit me last time! Chelsea hits me all the time!" Anyway...he starts school this fall so his grammar will be up to par! Also need to nip the hitting between them two! 

Noah and I have a routine of snuggling with each other not the couch before bedtime. On this particular day he didn't want to snuggle with me on the couch which made me sad. I said to him, "you don't want to cuddle with mommy?" Noah then says, "no mommy, you were with sister Hines all day. I want to be with daddy now." I think he was upset because I was gone all day, and we didn't get to play tennis. I said to myself...Payback is a witch! 

Time is certainly fleeting with this kid. I look at him everyday when he wakes up, and i just stare at his big brown eyes, and light brown hair almost tearing up because God has blessed me with such a wonderful child. A son no less! One that looks like me (so people tell me), who is funny, kind, helpful, thoughtful, and affectionate. Never thought I would ever experience raising a boy, and I am loving it, and living it up! 

Now...let's go play some tennis! 

BLUEBERRY PICKING!

When I was a little girl I remember always looking forward to summer. As kids the heat never bothered me, and I always wanted to spend time outside. Now that I'm older it's a bit different, but nonetheless I still love my summer. Jersey summers are warm, but that fact that we have the four seasons makes me appreciate summer even more, and no matter how hot it gets it truly has become one of my favorite seasons. 

I love being outdoors, and having two young children who enjoy being outside is an adventure, and so I try my best to not get worn out so that I can have the energy to take them out on a warm summer day. 

Whether it's the park, or just sitting outside reading a book while their splashing in the little blue pool, being outside in the summer time cleanses my soul from those past brutal months of winter. And it makes me want to be surrounded by nature.

So far, this summer has definitely been the year of picking for the Jorgensens, and this was the first time we've ever picked blueberries! 

Ever since we got back from Palmyra I have been craving blueberries. Fresh blueberries. My girlfriend whom we stayed with gave us cereal for breakfast in which we added blueberries in it. I've never put blueberries in cereal, but I have to say this was really tasty, not to mention super healthy. So as soon as we came home we bought the protein cheerios cereal, and then went to the orchard to go blueberry picking.  I wasn't sure if they were still in season, and they were. The kids had so much fun picking, and pulling. 

Aside from taking pictures, picking and pulling blueberries is literally all that we did! And it was fun!

I'm the type of mom who allows them to do a taste test while picking. I know, probably not a good idea since they're not washed but hey...you're only a kid once right? Noah, to my surprise is not big on blueberries, but just wait until he's older. It's kind of my fault because my counter in the kitchen is never stocked with fruits. Really need to work on that. I've made a goal to have fresh fruit on hand especially during the summer months so that they can have a healthy snack. 

yep...we've definitely become fruit picking fanatics. 


***You can view our blackberry & peach picking posts here, and here. 

SPLASH PAD AT DILWORTH PARK.

When we heard about Dilworth park being renovated with an interactive fountain or as I say it a "splash pad" we just had to go and check it out. These warm summer days have been too perfect to neglect without adding extra energy that requires spending a little bit of our summer in the city, walking, and enjoy what the city of brotherly love has to offer. So this past weekend the kiddos and I took the train into Philly to spend the day, have simple fun, and get a little wet! 

The kids love the city, but I'll tell you they're not used to a lot of walking. We'll mostly drive into Philly, and pay for parking which can be anywhere from 22 to 29 bucks, but not on this day. Noah was telling me how we should take the train more often, and I have to say I agree with him. It's so convenient, and such an adventure. 

An adventure indeed that we did so much walking, but toughed it out in the heat. Every now and then Chelsea and I had to take turns giving Noah piggy back rides. They'd also stop and rest on a stoop for a bit, and make funny faces with each other. I guess that's their way of reenergizing themselves??? Whatever works guys! 

Upon arriving at the splash pad we walked through rittenhouse, and captured all of it's beauty. We finally reached our destination to satisfy our tummies with some shake shack. Can I just tell you how excited I was knowing that they still have crinkle fries! Yum! 

We then walked through Sierra's old stomping ground where she used to attend UARTS, and it was bittersweet walking through familiar territory. Made me miss her terribly! 

We saw this really cool painted sign outside a salon, and because the hashtag is so true I had Chelsea stand smack in front of it to capture all of her beauty. 

Now for the fun part! The interactive fountain at Dilworth park! 

^^^ Taking a little break that lasted for about five seconds, and got up for some more. ^^^

^^^ Let me tell you something about these sandals. They are the perfect water shoe, and very comfortable to walk in around all over the city! ^^^

I can't even begin to tell you how much fun we had! It didn't matter to me that my clothes got a little wet while capturing these sweet moments. It didn't matter to me that my bag was soaked due to Noah's wet swim trunks, or that I got my phone a little wet (oops!) We hung out here for a little over an hour, and if we lived in the city we could have lingered on a bit longer. We absolutely loved this day, and languished it with simplicity. We look forward to coming here a couple of more times before summer ends. 

And then in the winter time...ice skating! Pretty cool how this fountain turns into an ice skating rink in the winter. Now that'll be something to look forward too! 

But for now...we are soaking up anything that has to do with the sun, and spending our days outdoors! 

Summer, we are in no rush for you to go away, keep inspiring us with the warmth of the sun! We love you! 

Have a wonderful week everyone! 

A LEGACY OF FAITH: PIONEER DAY.

^^^ Sierra after coming home from trek in North Carolina, circa, 2008 ^^^

"The Lord isn't asking us to load up a handcart. He's asking us to fortify our faith. He isn't asking us to walk across a continent. He's asking us to walk across the street to visit our neighbor. He isn't asking us to give all of our world possessions to build a temple. He's asking us to attend regularly the temples already built. He isn't asking to die a martyr's death. He's asking us to live a disciple's life."

 ~M. Russell Ballard

This quote has been on my mind since I saw it on pinterest last week. With today being pioneer day I figured this would be the perfect time to write about my feelings in regards to how I view this quote, and why this day means so much to me. 

When my oldest daughter sierra was 14 she had the opportunity to experience trek before moving to New Jersey. We were so grateful that the leaders and youth of our ward in North Carolina made the effort, and time to plan this wonderful event.  

When my daughter came home from trek tears of joy began to stream down her face as she she was expressing her stories, and describing her experiences that she endured during those three days of trek. The way she explained her journey was somewhat similar to what the pioneers experienced. There was singing, lessons given by leaders, and lots of praying. Of course it was not as excruciating, or severe as what our pioneers went through such as real deaths, or starvation, or even exposure, but I'll tell you this...the reenactment in those instances really made her appreciate what they went through, and in the end got a bit of a taste of what they experienced. Especially when one of her "sisters" in her "family" became dizzy from the sun that she had to lay inside the hand cart and continue to trek on their journey in the outskirts of North Carolina. It was amazing when Sierra mentioned how at first it was hard to push the handcart with her in it, but then all of a sudden after saying a prayer the hand cart felt light! That was one of my favorite stories that she told us, and luckily Cassie was fine in the end! It truly strengthened her testimony at the time, and I know it has been an experience she'll never forget. 

Just as a young girl shaving her legs for the first time is a rite of passage in their youth, commemorating trek  has become somewhat a coming-of-age rite within the youth of the church, and i hope that one day our children will be able to experience that. 

As i drive around parts of souther jersey as well as areas in Pennsylvania, and how there are areas where we could have it, and how many youth in our stake can benefit from it literally brings me to tears. Regardless of how time consuming it may be, how many phone calls we'd have to make, how many handcarts one must attain, and how much planning it will take I know that in the end it would be beneficial for everyone to experience it, and well worth it! 

My husband was telling us about his experiences as a youth when he did trek with his family. It is something that he will always remember. After listening to his story of his ancestors I realized that there truly there is a legacy of faith that comes through those experiences. His ancestors were part of the willie, and martin handcart companies, and they endured more than we can imagine! But because they endured, and did what they could to survive in their faith, their families have been blessed for it. And for our youth to be able to get out there and reenact that, and to feel the power of that faith, will help them grow spiritually, find their "mormon identity", double their commitment to their faith, become unified, and appreciate all that our ancestors went through. 

I've never experienced trek as a youth due to joining the church at the age of 20, but I guarantee if we ever have one I would LOVE to experience being a part of it! I don't have lineage that goes way back to the pioneers, but I am working on my family history. I'm grateful that Jon has pioneer heritage in both the willie, and martin handcart companies, and because of that I want my children to be able to experience trek while in their teens so that they can grow, and be strenghtened. 

Every youth should experience this spiritual event so that they can truly understand the commitment of what the pioneers when through, so that in return their faith will grow. 

If we have faith in God, and if the pioneers had faith crossing those plains form the midwest to reach their destination to the Salt Lake valley, why not have faith that our youth in every church in the nation can do this. 

We can only hope, and have faith! 

Happy Pioneer Day! 

A LITTLE SPEECH TO THE CLASS OF 1990.

^^^ Small class, but what an amazing group of people! Photo source: Carol Gillett ^^^

Last Friday I shared a video on my Facebook that was specifically for the class of 1990, and I hope that whoever viewed it enjoyed it, and didn't get tired of me saying the words "great" and "amazing!" Ha Ha! It was a riot watching my video after posting knowing of the things that I said, but there's no going back because everything that was uttered in that video was raw footage, and there was no editing! Yikes!! 

So for those of you who may have had friends ask you, "hey, did you see Rosie Lara, Jorgensen's or whatever her name is video?" and said, "nah, who cares" or didn't get a chance to view it, here it is on vimeo. 

A little speech to The Class of 1990. from Rose Jorgensen on Vimeo.

I also wrote a few extra words on this blog post so without trying to sound too redundant here's somewhat of a repeat of the things I said on the video. If you're a fast reader you can read this post under two minutes, but the video is about six minutes long. Can you hang for about eight minutes? 

Anyway, here's my post...

I can't believe 25 years have passed since our high school graduation. As I surf through my Facebook feed and see familiar faces I feel as if it was yesterday. 25 years isn't long if you think about it. Life is fleeting, and I count my blessings for social media in that regard. I am happy to see that there are so many that still keep in touch with each other, and are still close now as y'all were in high school, and that is awesome! Friendships are meant to last, and it's great to see those friendships continue on today. I myself am also grateful for the friendships that I have kept since high school! 

Whether we were friends for a week, a month, a year, four years, or since birth we are all in this thing together called life. Whether we were acquaintances or just said "hi" and "goodbye" in passing was good enough to know that I was acknowledged. Whether we hung around in the same click, different clicks or no click, it didn't matter. I was aware of your presence, and seeing your actions is what helped me get through those fun, mostly difficult years through high school. Then again...I mostly went to school to feel loved, and not to learn. Whether we were part of the drill team, the drama club, the band, bookworms, skaters, or even the loners, I want you to know that I paid attention, and that in some shape or form I wanted to be a part of that friendship (#esteemissues.)  It is amazing to see those said friendships continue on today via Facebook, and at times will make me a bit "friend sick." 

I want you to know that in spite of all the bad choices I made when it came to my grades, catty girl fights, and boys (#dumbpuppylove) that underneath the pain I was feeling, and masked that there were some of you who made a very big impression on me, and huge difference in my life after I left Kingsville. 

And I believe that's why I'm raising my children differently, and why I am the way I am today. (#mormonconvert)

So I thank you. 

Being a mother of four I've realized that those are experiences I needed to go through at that time I. order for me to be the person i am today. (Why did that sound redundant?)

And I'm so grateful. 

I have no regrets of all the choices I made, and/or the challenges that I faced (and some of them were pretty scary, and bad), because those experiences taught me a lot, and in return I can teach my children to do better, teach them to be aware of what's good and bad, and to make wise decisions as their growing up.

I am truly proud of those who worked so hard in order to make those wise choices, and not surprised of your successes. 

There were many intelligent folks in my class, and am amazed at seeing doctors, nurses, lawyers, principals, politicians, constables, and numerous educators. 

Extremely proud of y'all. 

Even more proud of the stay at home mom such as myself as well as anyone who does anything freelance (such as I.)

I attest that to good parenting, and having good high school teachers, and counselors made that possible! 

I wish you guys well with continued success, and pray that we will continue to live for another 25 years so that we can attend our 50th reunion (man will we be old!) Hope to make it to that one! 

I want you to know that each and every one of you are worthy in all things, and that no matter how old we get we can do hard things. Especially our children since they are the next generation. Never give up on life, and know that I love ya!

And whether you follow me or not on Facebook thank you for continuing your friendship with me, and that you haven't defriended me yet! And if you have it's okay. I hardly keep tabs on Facebook anyway (I'm an instagram freak!) Overall...I'm grateful for the friends I've kept, and for those that remember me. 

It was so nice to have seen the photos of the reunion that were posted on Facebook recently, and that everyone looks so happy and healthy! 

Salud, and take care! 

HISTORICAL MOMENTS DURING THE HILL CUMORAH PAGEANT '15.

It's amazing how quickly one year rushes into another, especially when it comes to the Hill cumorah pageant. This has seriously become a major tradition even when we don't have our oldest daughter with us. This year we invited the daughters of a dear friend of mine to experience this wonderful spiritual, theatrical experience with our kids and they loved it. 

I was a bit worried that we were going to get rained on because the forecast called for rain all week!! I was praying the whole weekend that we wouldn't! Apparently Elder Jeffrey R. Holland was asked to give the opening prayer on the first night of the pageant, and in his prayer he asked that the weather would not affect the pageant, and it didn't rain at all! It always storms every year around pageant time and so having that prayer was a blessing, and truly a gift from God! 

We saw all the historical sites which include the sacred grove, the top of the hill cumorah,  book of mormon publication site, the Peter Whitmer farm, Joseph Smith Farm, and of course I had to take a picture of the kids at the temple. 

In the past I've written separate posts about most of those sites here, here, and here, but this time I decided to put all the pictures with a snippet into one post and I hope you enjoy. 

Here are a few pictures of some our moments in Palmyra...

 ^^^ The clan at the top of the Hill Cumorah. I still can't believe I hiked this when I was seven months pregnant. That was five years ago! This time I was seriously out of breath when I got to the top! Made me realize I need to get back into shape! ^^^

 ^^^ Cute Lexie, and sweet Myesha. This was her first time here, and both she and her sister were so excited. You're probably going to see more pics of these two more than their sisters because they were too busy chit chatting, walking, and having fun. It was hard to capture a photo of them together! ^^^

Noah and Chelsea's favorite part of the pageant is going on a "prophet hunt" to talk, and meet some of the people portraying them. Here a few of their favorites...

  ^^^ Lehi. ^^^

King Noah may have been a liar, and overall a bad person, but Noah only likes him for his costume. The fact that he's tall, and stands out makes them want to take a picture with him even more. It isn't easy getting a photo with Joseph Smith. There's always too many people waiting to take pictures with him. We got lucky. 

  ^^^ Nephi. ^^^ 

  ^^^ Now, these two are among my favorites...Mormon, and Moroni. ^^^

  ^^^ The valiant Abinadi. ^^^

  ^^^ and another one of Noah's favorite...Samuel. ^^^

^^^ see, I told you you'd see more pics of these two. ^^^

As much as we wanted to do a session at the temple we didn't make the time, and besides...it's always filled to capacity! A little FYI...always make an appointment. We were lucky to have done a session the last time we were here! Still...it's nice to walk on the temple grounds, and take in the spirit. It truly is beautiful. 

 Taking these pictures really made me miss my Sierra. So looking forward to seeing her at Christmas!

This year we finally had a proper tour of the Book of Mormon publication site. In the past we normally would just walk in, read all about the history on how the Books of Mormon were printed, and look at all the tools, and machinery they used to make it possible. It is so amazing how all this came about in printing, and publishing so many books of mormon. 

 Can anyone guess who this is? For those of you who went to BYU, or read LDS books, or listen to audio Cd's will be familiar with this face... 

^^^ It's John Bytheway. The last time I saw him was almost nine years ago when I was at the Salt Lake temple. It was nice running into him here. Small world! ^^^

FOOD!! 

Driving around, and doing all that touring made us hungry!! We normally eat at a place called Chill and Grill, but instead we had this pizza which was delish, and then a couple of hours later had ice cream and "chilled." 

^^^ That pistachio tho. ^^^

The Peter Whitmer Farm is one of my favorite historical sites. I get really sentimental when I come here. The fact that this is where the church started is amazing! Who knew it would form with just six members, and grow in numbers. There are now at least 15 million members worldwide. Truly amazing! 

 ^^^ this boy on this particular trip was a little hard for him to look at the camera! still a cutie with his sisters.  ^^^

I didn't take too many photos inside the sacred grove as I was deep in thought depicting Joseph Smith kneeling and praying to God. Truly amazing what happened here, and how it has changed so many lives...including mine. 

 ^^^ Noah was pretty much carried the whole time sitting on Lexie's shoulders. He says he can see the trees better when he's high on top! ^^^

^^^ I couldn't end this post without thanking this lovely lady...my dear friend Emily. Her family is amazing, and she is such a wonderful host when we come visit and stay with her. She's so fortunate to live in the heart of it all. Sometimes I wish we could just pack up, and move up here! ^^^

Going to Palmyra every year is always a treat for our family, and in all honesty I never want to leave this place. This whole area has such a strong spirit, and I'm so grateful for the spirit that it brings. One that'll make anyone who's visiting whether LDS or not wondering why they're at peace mixed with feelings of appreciation of where it all started. 

At least that's how it is for me. 

"The best way to obtain truth and wisdom is not to ask from books, but to go to God in prayer, and obtain divine teaching." 

~Joseph Smith

Happy Monday, and hope your weekend was great!