Karen spent her childhood in West Valley Utah. She says she had an awesome childhood. She was the middle of 5 children. She remembers spending her growing up years playing outside, learning piano, and having fun. Her parents were very frugal and managed their money very well. This allowed them to take their children for 4 weeks of every summer to Karen's grandparent's cabin in Island Park Idaho. Karen loved going there and has very warm memories of the time they spent there.
When Karen was 13 years old her parents decided that things were changing in West Valley. It was the early 90's and gangs were becoming a problem in their neighborhood so they moved their family to the South side of Kaysville. From here Karen went on to attend Farmington Jr High and Davis High School.
During her teenage years Karen enjoyed flute lessons and played in school bands, usually sitting at first chair. She also cared a lot about doing well in school. This kept her very busy between lessons, band, her AP classes, her social life and working at Lagoon in the summer. She also made some great friends in high school who are still her friends today.
At her parent’s urging, she started working at Lagoon when she was 15. One of the boys operating rides in her area with her was named Adam Jensen. She even wrote in her journal about him. She thought he was the nicest, funniest and happiest guy. Through the years, he became friends with her group of friends and periodically they would all hang out together.
Karen is an introvert by nature, yet craves and enjoys social experiences. While Karen didn’t love all the aspects of working at Lagoon, it was good for her as she learned to lead and deal with difficult situations, especially as she became a supervisor. She also was able to put enough money away that with her scholarship, she was able to pay completely for her college education.
After graduating from high school, Karen received a schlorship to Ricks College. She began Ricks majoring in Pre-Law and minoring in English. She loved the way her major allowed her the avenue to write, debate, and discuss things that mattered to her. Writing became a joy and an outlet for her. She had great fun learning and attending classes. Karen loves learning and if she could go to school the rest of her life she would be in Heaven.
With all of her AP credits, she was abld to rack up all the credits she needed to eliminate one year of college. This was a bit of a double edged sword for Karen. While it was a great accomplishment, she loved Ricks so much she was sad to leave. Again she made great life-long friends there. She said she and her roommates did the goofiest small country town things like riding around in the potato fields and going out star gazing at night for her astronomy class. She also loved attending school concerts and events.
After finishing at Ricks Karen returned home and began classes at Weber, now majoring in English. She ran into Adam at a mutual friend’s mission farewell. A few days later Adam showed up at Karen's house wanting to know if she would like to hang out as mutual friends. So over the course of the next year, they would spend time having fun together. Karen says this was a great time in her life. She really got to know Adam as a friend without any romantic inclinations involved. She continued to learn about him and was able to see so many great qualities he possessed. She also came to realize she would be very sad if he wasn’t in her life. She loved how she was able to completely be herself when she was around him. She also loved how he fit in with her family so easily.
Over time and little by little Karen started to feel more than just friendship for Adam. He was returning the feelings but was still very nervous and a little hesistant about taking it to the next level. Eventually though he took the step and held her hand. About 2 months after that they were engaged and married 3 months later.
They both continued to attend Weber. Into her second semester of school after marrying Karen became pregnant with their first child, Emma. It was a tough pregnancy and she had to finish the semester on bed rest, doing all of her course work at home. After the baby was born her entire focus turned to her. She decided to take time off of school in order to give Emma (and her subsequent babies) all the attention she could. She is excited to go back to school soon and finish up her major. Or many majors, as she loves so many different things and wants to learn about so much.
After being married three years, the Jensens had their second child Ashley followed by their third child, Gabe. Adam was working full-time at Fidelity Investments and going to school part time while Karen continued caring for their children. While attending a gymnastics class their daughter Ashley was in, Ashley did a somersault with her teacher and as she completed it, Ashley collapsed and couldn't move her legs. Karen rushed to her side and picked her up only to have Ashley scream out in pain. She continued to scream for 2 hours saying her legs buzzed. Eventually the strange episode went away and the doctor thought it was just a fluke (she seemed just fine by then).
However, the incident repeated itself a month later. Their pediatrician then sent them to a nuerologist. The nuerologist subsequently thought Ashley was just fine but just to be sure set up an MRI for a few months down the road. After the MRI was completed, the nuerologist called them back (on Gabe's birthday) to tell them something wasn't right, that there was massive fluid on the spinal cord, and she thought it might be cancer. She recommended they see a nuerosurgeon ASAP. It was a hard day for Karen as she tried to put on a brave face for Gabe’s birthday. Her family made Gabe’s birthday fun and kept encouraging Karen that there was a possibiltiy it wasn't cancer and was treatable. This was when Karen was pregnant with their fourth child, and they had moved into this neighborhood 1 month earlier.
The next week they found out it wasn't cancer but a birth defect where there was a hole in Ashley's spinal cord and the brain stem was getting sucked into the the spinal cord. The surgeons were surprised Ashley could even walk, and without corrective surgery it would cause permanent damage. But it was good news, the problem could be fixed.
The surgery and healing were extremely difficult, and Karen was 9 months pregnant in a very difficult pregnancy. Ashley’s healing took years, followed by a few more surgeries and a final surgery where they repeated the first surgery and installed a shunt to remove the water from Ashley's spinal cord. As this was going on, Jane, the new baby, was having issues with eating and fussing all the time.
Karen says it was the most difficult time in her life. She was worried how she could make it through while not really knowing anyone around her in her new home to support her. She however also says it was ultimately one of the most beautiful times in her life. To grow and come closer to Christ and to watch the goodness in people of this ward. Often strangers, they came forward and picked up the pieces. The Jensens now know that Jane suffers from the same physical aliment as Ashley and will probably be having her surgery at the end of the school year. They also know their other two children are free and clear.
I hope that each one of you will have the opportunity to get to know Karen. She is one of the most positive people I have ever met. She is happy and upbeat. After being around her you will feel that you are a great person because of the generous comments she makes toward each person she is around. We are so lucky to have Karen in our ward and wish her and her family the very best as they prepare for the coming surgery for their little Jane.
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