BJARNSON 2009 LETTER!!

Dear Family and Friends,
I am doing this the lazy way and the cheap way this year. 2009 has been full of events some good and exciting others hard and depressing. We will of course start with the good.

Brandon finished his associates degree back in May at Mesa Community College. He was very excited to get that piece of paper and move onto the next step in the schooling program. He is still at Mesa Community College getting more of the basics out of the way for his degree in Sports Medicine. In the next few semesters he hopes to transfer to ASU so he can get his BA degree. He is still working for the City of Phoenix Police Department on the night shift. During his free time when he is not in school or work he plays some pick up ball with some friends on Thursday nights. He loves to get out and exercise. He also enjoys spending time with his family.

Cammie was working for Rio Salado College until June when she was placed on bed rest due to her pregnancy. It was a long and hard pregnancy but 2 1/2 months later she delivered the precious baby boy. Though the enjoyment of having her beautiful baby boy in this world 2 weeks before delivery her mother passed away. Cammie is enjoying being a stay at home mom and taking care of her new family. She will start working again in January caring for her friends wonderful 4 month old baby girl.

Miles was born on August 31, 2009 at 8:01pm. He is such a fun and amazing little boy. He is full of energy and loves to smile at anyone that will talk with him. He only fusses when he is hungry, tired or has a dirty diaper. The best part is he sleeps through the night which makes his mommy and daddy so happy.

We want to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!! Thank you to everyone for all the love and support that you have given our family this past year.

With Love,
The Bjarnsons

MY MOMMY'S HEADSTONE!!

Here are some photos of my mommy's finished headstone. I think it turned out beautiful and it came together just how we wanted it to. The front of the headstone has a pic of my mom and dad with a boat on the lake with the sun shinning. That was their favorite outing ever. Also by my dad's name there is a "cactus" (family inside joke) so we will always have a good laugh and remember the good times we had when we visit. The back of the headstone has a pic of the whole family when we got sealed in the Salt Lake Temple on May 15th, 2001. It has all of us kids name down at the bottom and than a part of the poem that Josh my brother wrote for my mom. I am so glad its finished and that everyone will know where she has been laid to rest.

POEM BY JOSHUA COOKE TO OUR MOMMY!!

This is the poem that my brother Josh wrote for my mom's funeral. He is an amazing writer and I wanted to share this with all of you. If you click on the image it will make it bigger and you can read it better.

HALLOWEEN FUN!!!

Tonight was a good night. I had so much fun. We have some friends in town from Utah and we decided that we wanted to make some Halloween sugar cookies. It was fun baking I still wish it wasnt so hot outside in AZ so I could do more of it. We topped the night off with some eggnog and Hocus Pocus. :)

UTAH TRIP!!

This past week I was able to go to Utah for my cousin's wedding. I drove up with my dad and Miles on Wednesday and than got home on Sunday. I didnt get many pictures of the trip because as you all know I dont have my camera on me much. But I got a few. I am so happy for my cousin Justin and his new wife Katie. They have worked so hard to get where they are. The temple cermony was so wonderful and I was so happy to be there to celebrate with them. We also went to my mom's grave site and put up some halloween decorations. I hope next time I go up they will have the headstone. All in all it was a wonderful trip.

MILES BABY BLESSING!!

Miles will be getting blessed on November 1st 2009 at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints at 8:00am. The address is listed below. We will also be having a small breakfast afterwards around 9:30-10:00am. All are welcome to come.

1249 S 48th St
MESA, ARIZONA

CHURCH BALL!!

So our stake started a tournament for basketball and Brandon decided that he wanted to join in on the fun. Well the second to last game of the season some guy on the other team could never rebound over Brandon so he decided to put his foot under Brandon and when Brandon landed he would fall on his foot and mess it up pretty bad. As you can tell from the picture below its swollen and bruised pretty bad. The bruising is even between a couple of his toes. No its not broken and the only reason why we know this is because he can walk on it just fine, and this has happened many times before and he got it checked out all they said is its just torn veins and sprained. So when it comes down to it church ball can cause injury.

BRANDON'S BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION WITH THE IN LAWS!!

Over Labor Day weekend my brothers were in town with their family and girlfriends. So one night Brandon and I went to go hang out with them and they did a birthday celebration for him. We had steak, salad, bake potatoes and so much other food it was wonderful. Dad also bought him a cake and we sang happy birthday. We had a great time.

BRANDON'S BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION!!

For Brandon's birthday he folks came out from PV to take us to Famous Daves for the celebration. We love Famous Daves. We also let them know that it was Brandon's birthday so they gave him free ice cream with whip cream and for the candle they do one big sparkler. It was a great time. We were hoping that for his birthday gift Miles was going to come home, but he had a late birthday present and Miles came home the next day.
I was trying to post the pictures so they were in the action but if you start from the bottom picture and work your way up you can see the action shot. :)

WHAT A MONTH!!

Well I know I havent posted in awhile but there really hasnt been much to posted about. Well actually it has been a crazy month. Yesterday was 1 month that my mom passed away. It really hit me hard yesterday that my mommy wasnt here. I sure have missed her phone calls, text messages and her bugging me about what she can do with baby help. Its funny when she was here how much it drove me crazy but now that she isnt here doing it day in and day out you want it back so bad. I especially wish she were here to see her beautiful grandson. He has been such a joy to our family. Even though we had a rough 2 weeks after he was born with him being in the hospital we sure have enjoyed him around.
I hope things are going well for everyone else and I sure hope I will find something to post about soon. I have been keeping up on Miles blog because he is more interesting than Brandon and I at this point. If you want to check it out go to www.babystuff09.blogspot.com.
Now I need to go and clean my house because its a mess.

HAPPY 26th BIRTHDAY BRANDON!!

I just wanted to wish my wonderful husband a Happy Birthday. He has been such a great husband and now going to be a wonderful father. Happy Birthday Brandon I love you lots.

ELDER TREVOR COOKE'S NEW ADDRESS!!

Elder Trevor Hunter Cooke
6200 Barns Rd Apt. S-8
Jacksonville, FL. 32207

BABY BOY BJARNSON IS HERE!!!

To get the information on baby boy bjarnson go to his blog at www.babystuff09.blogspot.com.

HOME!!

So Brandon and I made it home from Utah on Sunday afternoon. It was a very difficult trip but we also had a great time seeing my family again, and he had a great time hanging out with his friends, and cousin.
We made it into Utah on Wednesday night. I had to fly which made alot of people nervous because of my pregnancy but we all made it safely with no complications. The long weekend started on Thursday with getting the final preparations done for my mom's funeral. It was very difficult to have to plan it all but we wanted it to be the best for her because she was a very wonderful person and was loved by so many. My brother Trevor was suppose to arrive in Utah on Thursday afternoon but he flight was canceled so they had to get him onto a new flight which didnt arrive until 4pm on Thursday. It was so wonderful and yet weird to see him. He looked so good. It was really hard to remember that he was still a missionary and would be returning back to the mission field. We still had a great time though. He went back to FL on Monday morning.
The viewing for my mom was on Friday night. It was so hard to walk into the viewing room to see her but when we did she looked so peaceful that it made it easier to see her. I know now that all her pains are gone and we will be with her again someday. She is now my angel and keeping an eye on my baby boy until he comes into this world. Alot of people showed up some that I havent seen in many years so it was hard to remember their names. It was as if I was getting introduced to my family all over again. After the viewing we just went home and talked as a family.
The funeral service was Saturday morning and it was a beauitful service. We had many speakers that talked about my wonderful mother, and it was so great to have them remember all the good times we had with her. After the service we had a lunchon and than went back home and celebrated the life of my mom and remembered everything about her. It was a time of monoring but also a celebration of her life. I sure do love my mom and will miss her more than anything.
Thank you all for the prayers and thoughts for my family. We are sure grateful for all our wonderful family and friends in our lives.

DONNA JENE COOKE FUNERAL INFO..

April 14th,1969- August 14th,2009


The viewing for Donna Jene Cooke will be held at the Larkin Sunset Gardens 1950 E. 10600 S. Sandy, Ut 84092 on Friday August 21, 2009 at 6:00pm-8:00pm. The funeral service will be on Saturday August 22, 2009 also at the Larkin Sunset Gardens at 11:00am viewing 1 hour before services. The orbuitary will be in Salt Lake Tribune, Deseret News, and Arizona Republic it will also be online for 30 days.

GIRLS WEEKEND!!!

This weekend my wonderful friend Kayleene came into town from Utah. It was so good seeing her and being able to spend time with her even though we really couldnt do much. This is the reason for only two pictures. She just came in to see me and keep me company during the pregnancy. She was hoping the little one would come before she left but that didnt happen and she understood that its still to early for that. She got in on Friday afternoon and left this afternoon. I sure hope she will come down again in 6 months when my brother gets home from the mission so she can see the baby in person. Thanks for coming down for the weekend Kayleene I hope you had a good time.

BAKLAVA!!

The other night Brandon and I made sme Baklava for the first time together. For those of you that dont know Brandon's mom is half arbic so they usually make this food every once in awhile. There is this lady that Brandon works with that wanted some for her birthday so he was being a good friend and made it for her. It was alot of fun and I dont think we did half bad for the first time around. We are planning on doing somemore in the next couple of days so I am looking forward to it.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANNA!!

So I am still posting this to early but I wanted to do it before I forgot. I want to wish my wonderful sister in law Anna a very happy birthday. I am sure lucky to have her as a sister in law. I didnt grow up with a sister so having her in my life has been great. I love that we email back and forth daily and if I am having a bad day I can talk with her about it. I love you so much Anna and I am so glad you are apart of our family. I hope you have a wonderful birthday!!

BORING BJARNSON LIFE!!

So I know I havent posted but that is because our life is pretty boring as of right now. For those of you that dont read my baby blog I think by now everyone that reads this blog knows that I am excepting a baby in the next few months. I am 29 weeks as of Sunday so. But I figured I will post something on this blog about what is going on. I have been on bedrest for the last two weeks because I started having some contractions. They have slowed down a bit due to the meds they have me on but every day I have at least 2 good contractions to where they hurt. So because of my bedrest things have been pretty boring.
One good thing about this past week is my cousin Felicia came into town with her husband Geoff and son Allston for a couple of days. It was nice seeing them and I hope she had a good time. She was able to come to my first baby shower that my mom put on so it was good having her join in the fun. They left last Wed and it made me sad but she will hopefully be back when my brother gets home from his mission in Feb.
My day consist of blog stocking, farmville on facebook and tons of TV which is totally boring so if anyone wants to come and hang out or entertain me for a little please do. I dont know how much entertaining I will be but its still fun. :)

I AM SO EXCITED AND I JUST CANT HIDE IT!!

I am getting way excited. On Monday afternoon my cousin Felicia and her family will be coming into town to see me and get to come to my shower. :) Felicia, Geoff and their little boy Allston have been on a family vacation for the last month just touring the USA and they will end their trip here. I cant wait it will be nice to have some entertainment for a couple of days even though we really cant do much. Than again I am sure they are so whipped out that they will love to just relax. Only two more days :)

TO EXCITING!

Well I guess its about time to make a post on this blog. Things have been very crazy to find out why you will have to go to my other blog at www.babystuff09.blogspot.com to get the story. Its to much to type on this post when its already written out. :)

So I enrolled in a summer class this past semester but had to drop it due to the situation that I am in. I am kind of annoyed that I had to drop it because 5 years ago I had to drop it as well. So that means I have to try and take it once again. Hopefully third times the charm for that class. :) It was a world religion class and I was doing so well on it. But its for the best that I dropped it.

Brandon has been busy with work and doing things around the house. But he is still enjoying what he does and enjoying his summer activities.

So needless to say the Bjarnson household is boring, exciting and interesting all in one thing. i just dont have much to post. But just hope all is going well with everyone.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KAYLI!!

So today is my brother Kody's girlfriend Kayli's birthday. I love this girl so much. She is such a great person and knows how to have tons of fun. She is so full of life and energy, and really knows how to take crap and give crap back to my goofy family. I hope you have a wonderful birthday Kayli and welcome to the family. We love you!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY OPA!!

So today is my Opa (grandpa) Nick's birthday!! I hope he has a good one even though he hasnt been feeling to hot the last couple of months. I just want to let him know that he is the best Opa anyone could ever ask for. He has been there through so much with my family and he has been so good to my grandma Rosalie. He is always keeping us on our feet and telling us "Hey no fighting unless I see blood." Love you Opa more than anything dont ever forget that and have a great birthday!!

NEW HAIR DUE!!

So my good friend Jennifer Gee needed a hair model today for her interview with Dolce. The guide lines that she needed to follow was the line needed to sit on the neck and she needed to foil some color to my hair. You arent really able to see the color in my hair but its all good (this is the second time we have tried and my hair just doesnt want to show color). Well anyways here is a picture of the new dew. I really liked how it turned out. I havent had it this short in a very long time but it will be nice for the summer time.

BRANDON'S HIKING TRIP TO GRAND CANYON!!

These are not in any order and I wish I knew what all the falls were called. But as you can see its very beautiful down there. Brandon said that the leaders want to go back down with their wives next year, but let me tell you I dont hike however I may have to start getting in shape so I can join the fun.

WHAT A WEEK!!

So this past week has been pretty depressing, fun, lots of work all the above. It started off with Tuesday when I started my first day of summer school. I have decided that I need to keep going with school or I will never go back if I have to stop. I have about 24 credits left that I have to take before I get my associates in arts. I know I know pretty sad that my two year degree so far has taken me 5 years and longer to get but when you take classes here and there and didnt do so hot your first year around it comes and bites you in the butt. But I am hoping I can be done by Dec 2010 if I work my butt off. So I am taking a World Religions class this summer 1 semester and thinking that I might take a computer class online over summer 2 semester but we will see how I feel. I will have to take off the fall semester and than start back up in Spring and will have to take at least 7 credit hours that time, do summer classes again and then finish up in the fall and then i can graduate by Dec 2010. I will make sure I kick butt because I just want to be done. From there I will decide what I want to do with my life. So anyways this class is Tue and Thur nights from 7:10-9:50pm so it makes for a long day but its good for me. I took this class my first year of college but didnt like the teacher so I ended up dropping the class so I made sure that this time around I didnt get the same teacher well two weeks before the class had started they changed it to my old teacher. I was upset but I had no choice and couldnt drop it or I would have been out 228 bucks and I was not about to do that. He is still the same strict teacher that he was my first year but at least I now know what to expect from him. It should be good and I will make sure I keep a great attitude about it.
Than on Wednesday I got ready for the day and went to lunch with a friend from high school that I havent seen in a very long time. It was great to catch up with her and talk about the good old times and the new times that are going on in our lives. After lunch I had to take Brandon to the church to meet up with the young men in our ward because they were going to hike the Grand Canyon and they asked Brandon to go since he has done it three other times before this. He was so excited to go and see the new changes that have gone on down there. For those of you that dont know about a year ago it flooded and ruined alot of the Canyon so alot has changed. He was gone from Wednesday and got back on Saturday afternoon. I will post pictures later this week of his advanture. Since I didnt want to be home alone all week I went to my folks house to hang out with my mom, Kody and Kayli before the two of them left to Cali. It was great spending the last couple days with them. We had a great time staying up late and just playing games as a family. It was sure hard to say goodbye to them on Saturday but they will be back in a couple of weeks for the 4th of July weekend.
The rest of the weekend we just hung out as a couple and had some friends over on Saturday night. My friend Jen cut my hair but its going to go shorter tomorrow because she needs a model and I want a change. Again I will post pictures once my hair is totally done. So that was my long week hope everyone else had a great week.

A TEAR TO MY EYE!!

So its official my little brother the youngest one out of the four of us has decided to venture off on his own and move away from the family. On Saturday he will be moving to Cali with his girlfriend and her family. :( This is going to be a huge step for him but I think it will be good for him but at the same time I cant belive its happening. Its like yesterday he was just a baby and I was the one rocking him to sleep and getting upset when my other brothers would pick on him. Kody and I have become very close over the years specially since it has only been the two of us in the state of Arizona for a long time. He is such a great brother and I hope he knows that I am proud of him and all he does. He also needs to remember that whenever he is ready to come home he can because I wont be sad if he does. I sure will miss him but I am glad its only a short drive if I ever want to go out and do a quick weekend visit. Love you Boof.

PICTURES AND VIDEO FROM MAPLE GROVE!!

So these are just some pictures of the group that came to Maple Grove this year over Memorial Day weekend. I sure hope we make this a family tradition every year because we always end up having such a great time even though the last two years that we have gone the weather has been really crappy. The video is of my Uncle Bill trying to get some balls out of a tree that my niece Brianna got them stuck in. It was pretty funny to watch but we finally got them down. Also there is a picture of Brianna holding a movie that she got for her birthday. She was so excited to get it. My folks went to Salt Lake about a month ago and Brianna told my dad that she had a dream about getting this movie from him for her birthday so when she saw it in the bag she was like "YOU DID NOT" she was way excited. We as a group couldnt help but laughing.
Maple Grove is in a little town called Scipio Utah where my grandma Rosalie's family grew up. It is a very special place to my family. I remember growing up and we would go up there with tons of family on my dad's side and have a family reuion and just fish and have a great time. I sure love that we can contiune going and I hope one day my husband Brandon and my family can go to see why it means so much to my family and myself.