SOJO 2010

Ronny just after mile 10

Mile 14

Ronny's cheering squad. They enjoyed munching on peaches and nectarines while we waited for him to run by.

Roger from Portland. He was a very entertaining runner and the kids cheered him on all the way to the finish.

Ronny at the finish feeling all 26 miles now. He says he is a big believer in KT tape . (Green tape on his knees)

Ronny's blisters, he insisted I take a picture.
(Just another reason why I will never run a marathon!)

Ronny with his division certificate, he apparently will get a nice plaque in the mail with a picture of him running the race.

The first annual South Jordan marathon was run yesterday. Our good friend Dr. Luce was one of the initial sponsors and begged Ronny to run. Of course Ronny jumped in with two feet, literally! The race sold out with 97 marathon runners and over 500 half marathon runners not to mention all those who ran the 5k and the children's race. The marathon ran right by the temple and through our neighborhood.

The night before the race we watched Dr. Luce's kids while he taped and treated runners at the check-in. Afterwards he stopped by his office to pick up more tape to tape Ronny at home and discovered his office had been broken into. After the police finished up their report he still came over to tape Ronny. It was a late night for them but Ronny sure appreciated his willingness to tape his knees. He said they didn't hurt at all during the race.

Just after 9:00 a.m. the kids and I went down to cheer him on. We saw him pass by in front of the temple and then decided we were having so much fun we jumped in the car and drove ahead and cheered him on again. We ended up doing this all the way to the finish. The kids had a great time and we met some fun people along the way. They also enjoyed the treats from the gas station and from the farm that we hit up during our journey. One of the runners that was near Ron most of the way stopped and requested a picture with the kids as he appreciated all their cheers for the last 16 miles. We found out he had fl0wn in from Portland to run the race and catch the BYU game. (We won't talk about that much).

We made it to the finish line with only minutes to spare to cheer Ronny in. He did great with his time being 3:42. Not a Boston qualifier but he wasn't shooting for that this year he says. It was however good enough to be #1 place in his age group. It helps to be 35 in the 35-40 age group! This gets him a free admission into the race next year. I'm all for that as the admission fee is steep! (I still don't get why you would pay so much money for someone to let you run 26.2 miles!)

We were pleasantly surprised at the finish line with lunch sandwiches from Chick Fil A, fruit, ice cream bars, nuts, frozen yogurt, and water bottles for all those cheering loved ones on. The racers were treated with free massages, chiropractic adjustments and lots of food and water. Ben went right up to one of the massage therapists and asked if he could be next, it was hilarious! It was a great day, way to go Ronny!

No Fun!

What an 8 year old boy looks like after having his second tooth pulled in a week.

While the kids were off track this month we made our semi annual dental appointments. This is always an adventure. Charley had finally lost her last baby tooth so we knew we would be referred to the orthodontist at this visit. It was a surprise when the nurse came out and explained that Joseph was in need of seeing one too. She then proceeded to tell us that he would need 2 more teeth pulled (already had one done this year) and a retainer put in ASAP. She also showed us that his gums were receeding pretty bad on the bottom and would most likely need surgery to correct that. I then went back and started making all the appointments that he would need. All three other kids had a clean bill and were free to return in 6 months (other than Charley's ortho consult.)

Joseph has returned twice to have the teeth pulled and his cavities filled and was fitted for the retaining wire. He and Charley see the Orthodontist tomorrow and depending on what happens there, he will have another dental appointment on Friday to have the retainer fastened in unless he gets brackets put on. The tooth fairy has visited often this last month and is broke! (Especially after she finds out how much braces are going to run for 2 kiddos and a possible surgery, blahhhhhh!) NO FUN! Hopefully their next break won't be so filled with appointments.

The Perfect Day

For Labor Day we decided to pack as much in with Dad on his day off as possible. We started at the zoo. With the kids on the year round school schedule we became zoo members as a way to find things to do while the kids go off track. For the price of two visits we became members and now the whole family can go as many times as we want for a year.

The tigers at Hogle Zoo are very active as far as zoo animals go. Every time we go they are up walking around. Last time we went two cats came and sat just a couple feet from us and then started to follow us as we walked away. The kids loved it!

This is what the kids looked like most of the time at the zoo. We told them a few times to get down but realized quickly we were just talking to the air. The boys were so excited to wear their new "camo" pants and sweatshirts. Two signs fall is on its way.

The faces of the kids pretty much sum up how much fun we had at the zoo. Pure joy!

After the zoo we headed to a park for a late picnic lunch. The weather and the view were amazing! Joseph and Ben thought it was great to "water" a few of the trees while we were there. Boys!

We even convinced the kids to pose for a quick family picture.

After the zoo and the picnic we ventured out to the lake next to our house. With our HOA we can check out canoes, sailboats, and kayaks with our membership cards. This is the view of our house (yellow in the middle) from our canoe on the lake.

We finished our day up at the pizza parlor just down the street from our house. On Monday nights they offer half off pizzas. (They really know their demographic!) We fed our family for a whopping $12.35 and no clean up after wards. Amazing!

Ronny and I would constantly look at each other and comment on how good the kids were. No whining or complaining the entire day! That is worth writing about! After dinner the kids played Wii for a few minutes before bed. They were exhausted and went to bed without even a hesitation. We truly had a great family day. Hopefully we will have many more to come.

Last of the Summer Fun

Sam decided it was getting a little too cold.

Race for the ball that went out of bounds.

Keep Away (boys against girls, unfortunately there were only 3 girls including the Moms!)

As Labor Day approached and the temperature started to drop we were dreading the end of summer. We really haven't felt like we had a lot of it here with stitches, school starting, and moving our summer seemed to race by. Friday and Saturday we were determined to get one last gelato fix and concert and one last day of swimming in before everything closed for the season.
Living in the Daybreak area has a lot of perks that we discovered this summer. One of them is Friday Night concerts. Every Friday night a band or performance group performs out in SODA Row (the small retail section of our community). They have a tent and stage set up in the grass field and families and their pets can enjoy the summer evenings outside. The field is also right next to a big water fountain for kids to play in and a gelato shop is in the space next to field as well. We have enjoyed getting gelato as a family, seeing our neighbors, and getting wet almost every Friday night this summer and look forward to this again next summer and many more to come.

Saturday was warm enough to head over to the pool one last time. We all had a great time even after Ben decided to jump in the deep end without his life jacket with Mom racing after him. Thankfully the life guard was paying attention and realized he was just too fast for Mom and went in after him. Glad to see my HOA dollars at work! We thanked the life guard profusely and after a "time out" and a good lecture Ben raced back to the water. The other kids enjoyed playing keep away with a beach ball a friend had brought and just enjoyed the water.

After swimming we made it home just in time to barbecue some burgers and watch the Cougars beat the Huskies with some friends from our last neighborhood. They didn't get the game so we invited them over to watch. Unfortunately we could not say the same thing for the Beavers but they played well none the less. Great Fun!

First Day of Something

So our kiddos started school the last week of July this year. (year round school schedule) It was so odd to me and Ronny was out of town at the time that I just didn't get their first day of school photos taken. Friday the kids went off track and Saturday was their first day of break so I opted to take their photos then. We also went school shopping just this week so they were excited to put on their new clothes for the picture. We are getting back into the swing of things just in time for them to be home. This is the first year I have all 4 kids in school of some sort. I have 6 hours a week to myself which has already been filled with helping in their respective classrooms. Go figure. I do enjoy it and it allows me to see what is really going on in the classrooms.

Charley tested for the Accelerated Learning Placements program last year. The district takes all the gifted kids and puts them in their own classrooms at one or two schools. We decided to let Charley try it out this year knowing it would be challenging having her at a different school and commuting back and forth. She is enjoying the class and is being challenged which is great to see. She is still excelling and blossoming while making new friends. Mom is getting used to juggling picking up one child and racing home to meet two more.

Joseph and Sam are together at our neighborhood school. They like riding their bikes and making lots of new friends. Most days you can find them out playing soccer with 6 or 7 other kids at one of the parks near our house after school. They seem to have adjusted well to the move.

Ben has started preschool and it has been adjustment for the both of us. The first week was a little rocky as he was acting out and not listening. He is learning to socialize and be patient. He has finally settled in and comes home with reports of playing with friends and having to let the teacher read the book instead of him. Its pretty funny!

Funny Happenings

So before I forget these I need to write them down because they were funny.
1. Ben has recently started preschool. At the end of the second day his teacher came over to me to "chat". She said Ben was having a hard time listening in class. (No big surprise here). I told her we were working on it at home too. We started a reward system for him if he does well at school. Yesterday his teacher came out and reported, "Ben had a great day today, right up until he hit "John with a block". I laughed out loud and asked if that was at the end of the day or in the beginning? Apparently it was right at the end, at least he's making progress.

2. Sam was getting ready for school this morning and then came in and told me his side was hurting really bad. I told him to try using the bathroom and he said he already did. He was completely hunched over and you could tell he was in pain. I had him lay down while I was getting the other kids ready for school. He wasn't running a fever but I couldn't send him to school like this. About an hour after the other kids left Sam came over to me and told me he needed to vomit. I sent him straight to the bathroom. Before I could get in to help he hollered out he was going to try to go to the bathroom again. About 10 minutes later he came skipping out with a huge smile on his face. I asked him if he felt better. He said he did. I then told him to get his shoes on. He asked why. I told him he was going to school. The look on his face was priceless! I then told him he did not get out of school because he had to go to the bathroom. We'll have to get some more fiber in him so we don't have the same thing happen again. When I signed him into school the secretary asked if he was feeling better. Sam promptly told her once he "pooped" he felt much better. The secretary laughed and said she had boys too and totally understood.

Red????

One of the items on the to do list while Nana was here was to have Charley pick out fabric for a quilt that would fit her new bedroom furniture. I knew of a quilt store in down town South Jordan so we headed over before taking Nana to the airport. (pictures to come when the quilt is finished, no pressure here Stephanie).

When Charley picked out her bedroom colors she wanted pink and purple. Perfectly natural girl colors right? Well in the last month or two I think she has grown up and changed her opinions considerably. Before going in to the store I told her she could pick out whatever she wanted as this was her room. As we looked at fabric I was pointing out pinks and purples and complimentary colors that would match the wall colors. She would nod and say, "that's nice but Mom look at this fabric" which of course was anything but what I thought she would like and what would match the walls. We eventually enlisted the help of one of the employees in the store that was off showing Charley all kinds of modern and retro fabrics that Charley was eating up. I couldn't believe it! Stephanie would laugh and look at me like "really" that's what she wants....? I would shrug and say I guess so. You should see the fabric that she picked out for the back. Soooo not what I would have thought she would like. As we were leaving Stephanie looked at me and said that Chalrey did not pick out anything that she would have picked for her but that Charley picked out fabric that her aunt Anjanette would pick out. So, in the end I guess she is in good company.

Last week I took Charley to get her hair cut as it was in need of some serious help. As we were waiting I asked Charley if she wanted to get a couple blond highlights put in that would brighten her hair up a little. She shrugged and said she would think about it. I think she was intimidated by one of the hairstylists who had several different color highlights in her hair and was getting more put in while we were there in between customers. (Random!). While she was cutting her hair the stylist who was working with her joked that she could always put some orange and red streaks in to look like fire. Charley perked right up and asked if she could get red highlights put in. Red???? Where did that come from? I said if that's what she wanted as I had already offered the blond highlights. I gave the stylist strict instructions on what color red she could put in. Charley was thrilled. Red, go figure. They really don't stand out too much but when the light catches her hair just right you can see them. Otherwise you really have to look. Can you tell she is my only daughter??? She really wants her ear pierced like her cousin but Ronny isn't having it. I think that is one of his last hold outs on trying to not let her grow up so fast. I don't blame him. We'll see how long it lasts.

Go Cougars!

Nana called a week or so before her visit and asked for the kids shirt sizes. She wanted to know if we wanted the new BYU football shirt for this season. As we are avid BYU and football fans in general we excited told her absolutely. Besides when we were in OR we bought the kids new OSU shirts so it was only right that they BYU had equal representation right??? They arrived just minutes before Nana had to leave for the airport. Just in time for a picture! (I have a feeling that Charley is going to pass up Nana in the height department in the next few months).

It's Great to Be Eight

Joseph turned 8 years old on August 11th. This was a big milestone for him considering how many times he has visited the ER and found himself in precarious situations during these years. We celebrated as a family on his actual birthday and had friends and family over after his baptism the following Saturday. Joseph decided he wanted a lightsaber cake this year which I was happy with. I had a friend who had done this for her own son and just lined up cupcakes and frosted them according to what color lightsaber he wanted. This made the week so much smoother as we were already busy getting ready for his baptism and having family come into town. Not to mention school and karate activities as well.

Joseph's baptism was wonderful. He had been looking forward to it these last 12 months and has been inviting everyone he came in contact with as well. Our great bishop came over to meet us and give Joseph his baptism interview at our home and asked if we would say the closing prayer. The primary presidency also came over that week and gave us the rundown on how the stake baptisms were organized. The Monday before the baptism the Stake Primary presidency called and informed us our family was assigned the musical number during the stake portion of things. I laughed out loud and told her we were not very musical. She said she knew we had 10 year old daughter. I said we did but that had nothing to do with a musical number. I told her we were not the kind of family that could just pull one out of a hat but that we would be more than happy to provide a talk or prayer. She wasn't having it and wanted me to tell her right then what song our family would sing. Yeah Right! I told her I would have to get back to her. Needless to say I was not very happy! It wouldn't have bothered me if we had a couple weeks notice. Its not like they didn't know the baptism was coming up. In the end our family sang a song out of the Children's Song Book and hopefully we didn't embarrass ourselves too much.
As a special treat Nana brought with her all the Cub Scout paraphernalia Joseph would need to start Cubs. I was thrilled as well as this got me out of a trip to the Scout Store. Joseph went to his first meeting last week and came home so excited to work on the various badges. He will be attending a day long Cub Scout activity this weekend and can't wait!

Disney Concert

The day after my birthday Ronny and I headed to the Park City to meet up with my mom, Dexter, Jen, and Mike for dinner and to see the symphony at Deer Valley. They were having a Disney night. We sat on the side of the mountain and enjoyed the cool weather and some great music. They had a large screen set up down by the stage that played excerpts from the movies the pieces they played came from. We had a couple little girls sitting by us who danced the whole night. They were hilarious. It was a great night with great company!

Weekend Trip

This last month we decided to make a quick trip to CA to Ronny's parents house to restock our meat supply, get our fill of Papa's orchard, and see his sister Liz. She and her cute kids had come from New Jersey and we hadn't seen her in several years. Her oldest son is the closest cousin in age to our children. Her son and Sam are only a month apart and the last time they were together they were great playmates.

We left late Thursday afternoon and drove until the sun went down and the kids were done in the car. We made it all the way to Winnamucca, NV. We even found a hotel with 3 queen beds, real beds, not a sofa bed. This is pretty amazing considering how small this town is.

We made it into Turlock about 5:00 Pacific time the following day and were welcomed by all the cousins minus Aaron's family. Our kids were thrilled. They quickly found the water and were drenched in seconds. Anjanette drove up to from So Cal with Jackson and Deborah and Eric came over from the coast with their three so the house was packed. Thankfully a friend of the Bjarnason's offered for us to stay at her home while we were there. We jumped at the chance knowing this would alleviate the stress of so many using one bathroom and allowing us all the sleep in a bed as opposed to the floor, it was great! She also happened to have a pool which our children made good use of while we were there.

Saturday morning was cousin time and then we headed out to Livermore for Jon's 30th birthday party. We didn't quite realize how big the event was going to be and didn't anticipate spending so much time there but we had a great time. The house the party was at had a pool with a water slide from the back hill feeding into it. The kids had a blast. They were tired and worn out by the time we left, unfortunately we couldn't convince any of them to sleep on the way back.

We left right after Sacrament meeting the next day and arrived home about midnight Sunday night. It was a quick trip, really quick! (We spent more time in the car than we did in CA). We made it home with 3 coolers of meat and one large box of the best fruit you'll ever have! It was worth every minute of it!

Joseph's Finger

This last week we headed to Joseph's surgeon's office in Salt Lake for his final visit. Hooray! Joseph had his stitches removed and had his final exam before the doctor declared him healed.

After about a week and a half of sitting around Joseph had enough of the "no physical activity" clause the doctor imposed. I quickly realized that enforcing this rule was useless and had to come up with other "rules" that would at least keep the finger safe in the event of a fall. Such as: "When running, Joseph you may not have anything in your left hand so that if you fall at least you have one hand to stop you before the right hand hits", and "No rock climbing activities", and "when climbing on playground equipment don't use your bad hand to hold on use your left!", and "swimming is out but water guns are alright as long as your splint and ace bandage are on!". Joseph managed to make it through the 6 weeks without having the stitches and skin graphs redone. Truly it was a miracle!

The doctor said his fingernail may take a few years to grow "normally" like his others, although it may be crooked and will probably grow over the top of what is left. It looks as if its already growing but we will have to watch it. Joseph fussed a little while the surgeon was removing the stitches and cutting off scar tissue. This is a good sign as it looks as if his nerves are already coming back. We were worried he wouldn't get the feeling back on the tip but that doesn't look like it will be a problem. The doctor also told him not to do any real rock climbing for at least a year to allow the tissue and nerves to continue to heal completely.

Sponge Bob has officially been retired and now has a place on Joseph's shelves. Hopefully he stays in retirement and never comes out! As soon as we got home from SLC we put our swimsuits on and headed to the pool! We have all been waiting for his stitches to come out. Our goal is to go swimming everyday we can!

Milestone

The day after we returned from Oregon we met with our Realtor at the title company to sign the papers for our first house. We have hoped, worked, saved (had a little help from my sister), and prayed for this day for the last 11+ years. We are sooooo excited and so are our children. The day after signing we received the keys and started planning on where to put things. I took the kids to Home Depot and let them pick out colors for their rooms (with a veto or two). We set the date to move on June 23rd just a week and half away and wanted to get at least the base coat on before we put any furniture in the house. We set to work immediately on taping, prepping, and finally painting. For family night the following Monday we let the kids get their hands dirty (literally) with painting their rooms. That lasted for about 30 minutes until they were done and then we headed to a park just down the road to finish up the night. Here are a few pictures of the kids rooms and the some of the house now that we have a few pictures hung and the front sod is finally finished.

I promise to post pictures as soon as I find where I put my camera!

Sam's "Graduation"

Sam's class at school has been working on an animal unit in science. While we were in OR their class took a trip to the zoo. We knew we would miss this so we went while they were off track in May. At the end of the unit their class had a project to come up with a "mixed" animal and had to come dressed to school like their made up animal and be prepared to tell three things about this animal. Sam chose to be a "dogen". He was half dog and half chicken. His facts were that dogs were mammals, mammals had live births, and chickens were birds. He had a great time.
At the end of the presentation the teacher stood up and said the kids had officially graduated from kindergarten and began presenting the kids with their certificates of advancement. I had no idea that this was happening and was glad I made it there that day! I was also happy to have had my camera in my purse!

The week before this presentation Sam had his yearly special ed testing. At three years old Sam was diagnosed with ADHD. This automatically qualified him for special ed in the public school system. Before we left OR last year he had all his initial testing and IEP completed so we would have it when he started school here. He has made amazing progress in the last 3 years. So much so that when he was tested this time around he did so well that he was officially kicked out of special ed services. His tests also came back showing that he is "gifted" according to this districts standards. Way to go Sam! He is looking forward to starting 1st grade at the end of this month.

Rocky Finish

Saturday Night after all our adventures with graduation and time with friends and family we finally quieted the kids down for the night. Shortly after midnight Charley stumbled over to the foot of our bed and told us she was not feeling well. Then she puked all over the carpet. About an hour later Ben started. By the time dawn broke Ronny and I were feeling terrible also. We had plans to go to church and spend the afternoon with friends. Those all changed as we hunkered down for a long day.

In the mid-morning I gathered the boys up, headed to the store and bought laundry soap and went back over to Camas Commons to wash some things as pretty much everything we had at that point was dirty due to so many clothes changes. While I was gone Ronny contacted the front desk about our situation and they moved us to a new room so that our previous room could be cleaned. By the time I returned I was really not feeling good. Having so many sick in a small hotel room with one bathroom is not ideal!

Unfortunately we missed seeing many friends and headed out of town the next day as soon as we felt we could manage it. We made it to Boise that night just in time for Joseph to start his puking. Blahhh! We were happy when we finally made it home!

OSU Graduation

Dr. Ronny's OSU Graduation

Here is a picture of just some of the 2010 graduates. Picture 2 more sections like the ones on the left and you'll get a better idea of how many there were. OSU is one of the few universities who actually hand out the actual diplomas at graduation. Can you imagine the logistical nightmare this might be????

Ronny is at the very top left being hooded by one of his major professors Dr. Tadepalli.

Ronny on the jumbo tron walking across the stage and shaking hands with the Pres. of OSU.

Ronny and his good friend Jared who received his Phd in Physics. Jared and Stacey are some of the great friends we made while in OR. They have 4 boys were match up just about perfectly in ages to our own. We had lots of fun playing cars, trucks, trains, dinosaurs, soccer, and countless other activities with them. Congrats to you Jared and Stacey!

After the university wide graduation we headed back over to where we lived the last few years while in Corvallis. Some amazing friends we have there threw us a big barbecue and invited all our friends so we could catch up and see lots of those who made our time in OR unforgettable. These are two of their boys who we feel are family. Our children spent countless hours together. Thanks Heather and Evertt! We truly made lifelong friends while there and learned so much from their true Christlike examples.

This is at the college of EE-CS graduation. This graduation is put on by the students of the two colleges and something that Ronny has helped put together for the last several years. It was great to be apart of those graduating this time around!

Go Beavers!
The end of a very long day of events! We went to the bookstore earlier so the kids could pick out new OSU gear to wear to dad's graduation. The boys and I had terrible allergies while we were there and felt like we were drinking Benadryl as if it was soda trying to just be able to breathe!

Dr. Ronald Vance Bjarnason Jr. and Dr. Ronald Vance Bjarnason Sr.
I love this picture! We are so grateful to Papa Ron and Nana Stephanie for making the trip and celebrating with Ronny. They have lead by great example the importance of education! All three their boys are now Drs. in their own fields of study.

Ronny and Dr. Tadepalli one of his major professors. The other is Dr. Fern however I don't know what happened to the picture I took of him. Sorry.

Ronny and his good friend Neville. We love Neville, our kids especially! Neville was a rockstar on the side of being a grad student. He even found time to teach Joseph a few guitar lessons. Neville is one of the many friends Ronny made in his lab while at OSU.

We did our best to feed these guys as often as we could and our children came to love them all. Many times we would surprise Dad at this office and completely disrupt any work being done by these guys. They were always so kind to stop what they were doing and play with the kids for a few minutes. We even conned a few of them into babysitting a couple times. We did our best to provide a family setting for them while away from their own homes. Many times they were our extended family during holidays when we were so far from our own. We hope as they travel to conferences and on vacations they will stop in and keep in touch!