Charley's Baptism

Charley Ann Bjarnason was baptized and confirmed by her father yesterday (November 17, 2007). It was a beautiful ceremony and both Ron and Charley did a great job. Charley's two Primary teachers spoke on baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost. They also did a wonderful job. Nana, Grammy Terri, Aunt Michelle, and cousin Anna all flew in for the occasion and many friends from here attended as well. We had a full house! A group of Charley's friends sang a song with her just before she was baptized and they brought many tears to our eyes. Charley was asked to give a talk and share her testimony in our Primary Sacrament Meeting Program this morning about her experience. She did a wonderful job! We are so proud of her! Her brothers were very excited to watch Charley make this step in her life and are eager to follow in her footsteps!

As a side note: Our Primary Program was this morning. All the kids were given speaking parts. They all did a great job. It was especially comical to watch Sam try to climb over the stand, lay on the stand, and do everything he possibly could while singing each song and avoiding eye contact with Mom. He however dutifully announced to me that he was a good boy and did not blow in the microphone during his part like he was instructed. Next year Mom will be more specific on the instructions.

Charley Turns 8

Charley turned 8 yesterday! Can you believe it, I surely can't either. Where has the time gone. Well Charley has been very excited about this day for a very long time. Unfortunately it didn't go as smoothly as we had planned, but in the end it turned out alright.

While getting ready for church that morning my back went into spasm (as the urgent care doctor told us). Ronny helped me into our room and quickly found neighbors to take the kids to church. After sending them on their way we visited the brand new urgent care right around the corner. I explained to the doctor that it was our daughter's birthday and I had a flower cake to frost and needed my mobility back. She examined my back and announced that it should be back to normal in about 3 days. WHAT!!!! (Jonny where are ya when I need ya?) She prescribed same pain killers and a muscle relaxer and sent us on our way. I was of course in tears trying to figure out how to salvage Charley's birthday.

Well Ronny stepped in and completely took over everything (Have I mentioned that I married the world's best husband and father?). Ronny took over the task of frosting the cake and did an amazing job as you can see. Some good friends came over and helped celebrate with us. We gave Charley a pink CTR ring and a watch (I bet you can't guess what color the watch is!). She also received a much needed winter coat from Nana and Papa and is anxiously awaiting a white dress for her baptism that Grammy Terri is making. Dad surely saved the day!

Charley will be baptized on November 17th at 3:00 p.m. All are invited, it will be a wonderful event!

Halloween 2007

This was a typical Halloween for our family. What does this mean you may ask? This means Dad is MIA for most of it if not all and Mom scurries around trying to make sure everything is ready so we can get out the door. Ronny has been serving on a jury all week for the county and the judge decided to give them instructions that kept them longer than usual. (Apparently he didn't have kids to take out Trick or Treating!) A group of parents and friends in our little complex all get together for soup and appetizers for dinner at our community center and then head over to the Church for Trunk or Treating. So I cheated this year and did a quick soup from a pouch and pizza bites for the appetizer. After dinner we walked back home and I finished getting the kids into their costumes. I had to bribe Ben to put his on so I waited until we were headed out to wrestle him in it. As we were walking out the door Ronny walked in so he made it to a little of the festivities.

So here is our little costume parade. Yes by the way, I did make the costumes (all except for Ben's, you'll notice its a hand-me-down). I only wish you could hear Sam growl "Aargh, Matey!" Its hilarious. We named each kid and their costume: Charley Cat, Joseph Hood, Captain Sam, and Ben Dragon. These pictures aren't the greatest but I did my best! Joseph didn't have his crossbow during the picture and you can't see the feather we made for his hat either so you'll just have to pretend. When we asked the boys what they wanted to be for Halloween, they first asked what kind of swords or weapons they could have with their costumes. They are truly boys! The kids all designed their own Jack-O-Lanterns and drew them out so Dad could cut them. Unfortunately Dad forgot to cut Ben's out. Oh well.