A Warm Welcome To Emma

A very warm welcome to Emma Rose Thompson and congratulations to Kate and Nick. The newest addition to our family was born May 14th around 2:18pm!! She weighs 6 lb 2 oz and 17.75 inches.

Our One Year Anniversary

I'm happy to say that this past April 28th, Joe and I celebrated our one year wedding anniversary. It seems like only yesterday we were frantically trying to get everything ready and set up for the wedding. Now here we are, a year later and settled in to married life. And it's more enjoyable than I could have ever imagined. Here are some photos from our anniversary celebration. We went north from Berkeley to Sonoma (aka wine country) to go hiking and see some redwoods.

Here I am with a stump. The rings are labeled with events that occured during the time the ring was formed. At the top is the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, which I guess was the end for that tree.

Joe is standing in front of "Parson Jones" the tallest Redwood tree around. It measures 310 feet.

WOW Life Moves Fast

It seems like only yesterday Addy was sitting their in her hospital crib with no idea who Missy or I was. Now just 3 weeks away from birthday #2 she can tell her Mom and I exactly what she wants and doesnt want. When she is ready to to get out of bed in the morning and when she is ready to go outside and play. It is a catch 22 really, you want to see her grow up and mature but you also miss the little things she use to do as a infant that made you smile and laugh.

Happy Birthday Addy!

Nuts

Just browsing through my photos on the computer and found these, I like how insanity runs in the family, and starts young. :)



-amanda

Catching Up

Hey all!

Well, I am excited about this blog and all of its potential. I hope we can get a lot of the family on here to contribute.

Things are going well for myself and Jamie. Jamie just recently received a nice raise at work and I continue to add clients to my graphic design contracting work. So no complaints from me.

We are making plans for a June visit back east and are excited about the trip.

I hope everyone is doing well and takes advantage of this high tech mumbo-jumbo.

-Josh

Since I'm the one asking everyone for some sort of life update I'll give you mine:

Things have been going well here in Berkeley,CA. Joe, my husband for any of you who may not know, has recently started a new job in San Francisco where he designs the audio/lighting components of stadiums and arenas etc. He's very excited to have this new opportunity and we've found that getting into that 8-6 routine isn't as hard as it seemed in the first week. (I'm not a "morning" person).

I will be starting grad school in the fall at Sacramento State. I'm planning on studying Counselor Education which is essentially the training for my Counseling Master's degree. I'd like to one day counsel children.

Aside from work and school the weather has been wonderful and we've been out hiking and exploring our area more and more. We're excited to be here, although it gets a little lonely sometimes with family and friends so far way, but we're making the most of it all!

Here's us on our latest hiking adventure where we ended up at a small farm:

-Amanda

Getting started

In hopes that we've all grown somewhat accustom to using computers here is The Brandon Family Blog. This is/will be a space for family members to keep each other updated on what's new, upload photographs of family, brag about our accomplishments and all in all grow closer!

I hope that you all take the opportunity to post at least once about the happenings in and around your home!!

-Amanda