Life Is Good!

All I can say is it's over. What is over???...... a semester of calculus is behind me. I probably need to tell you that a semester of Statistics is behind me too. Are these not the two classes that all college student have troubles with? Ugh. I have had no life for several months. It made me very sad to see the last time I visited my blog was August of last year. In just a few short months August will be here again. While I am on a short, short break between semesters I am seeing how much I can accomplish and it starts today with a blog post.

Let's see what have I  been up to? Nothing but studying and work but I have a very, very busy and adorable nephew who is growing up so fast that I can't hardly believe it. Amber and I have a great time with photo shoots and Brayden is a trooper. Here are just a couple of shots I have taken over the last several of months. These are family/friend favorites.



Amber put this one in a baby photo contest. Where is Brayden?????



One of my favorites. Love the hat Peanut!

A serious moment.

Ahhh, so many more to post but I needed to get something out here. Will is giving me a hard time that I haven't updated in a long time. Now that I have this one done I will see what else I can get out here. Hmmmm, Ireland, London, Walla Walla wine tasting. Just a few things to share. Cheers and until next time.

JET

B.Y.O.P.

It's Summer, it has been hot and Brayden decided to come to Aunties for a play date and bring his own pool. He just has the best time in his little pool and I hadn't had the chance to see him play other than in pictures. He loves to splash as you will see in the following pictures. Now that he is getting even more mobile it is a challenge to keep him in the pool. He is curious as to what is around him. So fun to experience all these new things with him. The simple things in life make you really reflect on what is important. Hope these pictures make you smile!!!

Look at him splash! He just gets so excited. I didn't mention above but I have said before I am jealous I am too big to sit in the pool but there is no need. When you are watching him you get plenty wet with all of the water that leaves the pool. He has figured it out too as you can see by the picture that you have to close your eyes or else you will get water in them. Smart little man!!!

Swimming and watermelon? Life is good!!!

Time for a watermelon break. This little thing is the best invention. You just stuff the fruit in the little bag and then the babies can suck on it and get the juices and some of the fruit through the netting. Brayden loves it!!!

Our sweet Brayden showing us his two teeth.

 It was a fun afternoon for us all. He is growing up so fast it is crazy. At six months crawling, playing in the pool and teeth. Time really does fly when you are watching these little guys grow up. Hope you enjoyed these pictures as much as I did. Cheers and until next time.

JET

Happy Birthday Josiah!

Wow..... where does a year go???? It dawned on me I haven't posted anything on my blog yet about my other nephew. Will and I have been blessed with two nephews in a year and we are having such a fun time. We are so lucky to have Josiah Andrew McCourt in our lives. A year ago, May, we received a call from Will's siter Erika saying that her and Joel were chosen to be adoptive parents to a new baby boy. The mother had chosen Joel and Erika and off they drove to Little Rock Arkansas. Josiah was born premature and was only around 4 lbs. He had to stay in the hospital for several weeks but proved to be a strong cookie and passed all of the tests he needed to to come home. The rest is history. I am a bit jealous as he probably has more frequent flyer miles than I do but that also means I have got to see him a lot. In May we flew back to Arkansas for his 1st Birthday. Since I have not posted anything from the past year I will include a couple photos to re-cap the year. He is just so handsome and his eyes will get ya everytime. We just love him and can't wait to see what he does this year as a one year old. :)

Happy Birthday Josiah! We are so thankful to have you in our family!!

Proud Mommy and Daddy!!!

Photoshoot cause I am just so dang cute!

Josiah's 1st Christmas

Auntie loves taking pictures of me up close. I am not so sure about that.

Training Josiah early for skiing. He is practicing sitting on the Orange Bubble Chair at The Canyons!

Our Birthday Boy!!

Look I am taking some steps!!

Doing what I do best...... Being Cute!!!

I best be a better Auntie and keep up on my blog posts so I don't have to do year re-caps all the time. I hope you enjoyed looking at this post and seeing how much he has changed in the last year. So exciting for all of us. Cheers and until next time.

JET

Proud Auntie!!!

Since I am way behind on my posts I am going to lump all my baby news in one post. Wait.... no baby news for Will and I. :) I guess that doesn't quite read right but for those of you who do not know yet Amber and Jerad welcomed a little baby boy, Brayden Douglas Becker, into the world on January 26th. He was born at 4:53PM and weighed 7lbs 9 oz and was 21 inches long. I'm an Auntie and a very proud one that that!!!!

In November Mom and I had a Baby Shower for Amber and we had too much fun. Amber got to see several friends she hadn't seen in quite some time. It was a wonderful turn out and a great day. The following is my photo story from the Baby Shower to Brayden's Birthday and beyond. :)

Amber's Baby Shower



Amy Parsons, left and Amber "Bebe" Becker, right

 I had a fun time decorating for the shower. Mom did the cake pops above and they turned out so cute. Amber was doing an alphabet theme in Brayden's room so we stuck with that for the shower. The colors also coordinate with Brayden's room. Many of the decorations were gifts to Amber for his nursery.



Amber with all of her guests.

Happy Birthday Brayden Douglas!

The big day............ (January 26th, 2012)

Amber had a support team which included her ever so calm hubby, a very nervous Auntie as I don't do hospitals, an excited Grandma, an amazing best friend and a fabulous supportive cousin. The nervous Grandpa and excited Uncle played cribbage in the waiting room and anticipated our updates. It was a long day but 100% worth the wait and both Amber and Jerad did amazing. We are so excited to have Brayden in our lives that we can't get enough of him.

Welcome Brayden!!!

Play time with Auntie!

Of course Amber and I have been seeing all of these super cute photos of babies on Pinterest and couldn't wait until Brayden was born so we could have a photo shoot of our own. What we have found is that Brayden doesn't like to be naked, he is not a hard sleeper so we can't pose him and he likes to stretch out. What we have also found is that all of that doesn't matter because we have so many other cute pictures to look at we don't need the posed ones. The following are some pictures from our first photo shoot and Grammy was jealous because she wasn't here to have fun with the three of us.

I of course love his shirt that Amber dressed him in. How appropriate for a visit to Aunties. :) Brayden also loved the cow. Can't wait until he can see and talk to the real cows at our house. How fun will that be????

 Happy Easter our Little Easter Bunny!!!

He loved the Easter Bunny and Amber and I being goofy!

My first Easter basket. Oh Sponge Bob you are so funny!!!

 I am realizing that I don't have as many pictures as I would like to have of our little peanut. I think they are all on my phone so once I figure out how to get them off of there I will add more posts. We have had just so much fun over the last several months. Amber and Jerad may be getting tired of Auntie taking up every Saturday morning of theirs but that has been my time to spend with them and I have enjoyed every minute of it. Looking forward to many more smiles, milestones and adventures. Love you Brayden!!!

As always I hope you enjoyed reading my post and PS there should be more to come as I am taking the Summer off from school so am "free" so to speak. Cheers and until next time.

JET

Hoot Hoot ....... Owl Watching

Will's Mom, Aunt and Uncle had been up to see the Snowy Owls in Canada and told us they were quite beautiful. Apparently every five years or so the Snowy Owls come to Boundary Bay during the Winter from the Artic. They stay for several months before returning when they know they will be able to find food. Sounds pretty amazing the trip they make and that they know when to return.

The location in which they are at is only about 45 minutes from Bellingham so Will and I went up with Chris and Aunt Julie to see them. It was a perfect day not to mention an adventurous one. Without too many details I will just say we irritated a die hard bird watcher and had a run in with a Canadian driver. Will is not very patient as most of you probably already know. Besides all of that and a little bit of lens envy all was good. :)

My pictures while I took many I don't have many good ones to share. We saw a lot of the backs of their heads. I will have to steal some from Chris who had a lens that got closer to them and who had been before so had more opportunities for that perfect shot.

Some serious birders here.

This is Boundary Bay

Remember above my mention of lens envy? These people had lenses that probably cost more than some cars do. These people are serious about their birds and their pictures.

Here is my attempt with my, I might mention, borrowed lens from Chris which has a better zoom than mine. I think I need some more practice.

The owls didn't do much. For the most part they sat and would every once in a while move their head back and forth. There was one that flew away but silly me I had turned my camera off and couldn't get it back on in time once I realized it was off to get a picture. Darn!!!

There were probably 30 or so owls at most in the area in which we were. This photo shows you where the biggest concentration of them were. Beyond that they were either by themselves or groups of two or three.

Getting pretty for the camera.

I spy with my little eye an Eagle. Can you see him??

The road that gets you out to the beach was interesting. Not only was it lined with Eagles but it was swampy fields with run down barns, houses that looked like they were sinking into the earth, an airport, a links style golf course and houses that looked that this.........

The trail along the water in which we walked was very nice. I think it is roughly nine miles. At the start of the trail where we were was a few sculptures and since we were there to look at birds I took a picture of this one...

I hope you enjoyed the pictures and if you want further details about our adventures talk to Chris and Will. They made the day entertaining. Love you both!! Cheers and until next time.

JET

Snowflakes.1.2012

Since it is Wednesday and still snowing I have decided to skip ahead of many other posts I need to do and do a Special Edition snow post. We are going on day five and we are now up to 14 inches. I can't say enough about how pretty it is. I told Will that today I can pretend we live in a lodge looking out over all of the snow covered trees. It is beautiful! I honestly don't think that any picture I could take would do it justice.

Will and I have had quite a fun time in the snow from sledding to playing cribbage and watching the snow come down to a couple adventures out of the house for some photo ops and food.

Snow Accumulation:


Sunday Morning (Before)

 

Wednesday Afternoon (Current snow status)



Just shy of 14 inches and yes it is still snowing!!!

Sledding:





Yes... Will is wearing shorts.



I of course am in head to toe ski gear because I freeze!!!

Winter Drive:

The road out in front of our house.


Skagit Valley at Sunset



Depth of snow in our driveway. (Tuesday Evening)

 Random Snow Pictures:


Our new outdoor seat cushion. A pillow of snow.

Our House



View

I hope you are enjoying the snow as much as I am or at least enjoying how pretty it makes everything. I can't say I like to venture out in it by any means but I sure like looking at it. Cheers and until next time!

JET