Well, lots of good news today! For starters, I'm blogging from my new computer which arrived today from Dell. They finally realized that they sent me a lemon the first time, and after 8 months, 4 visits from the hardwear warranty tech, 15+ hours on the phone with tech support, I have a brand new (upgraded, might I add) computer that seems to be functioning properly now. yay! On a related note, I was able to connect my old hard drive to my new computer, so the transfer of my 30GB's of photos went rather quickly this time. 30 minutes in contrast to the 6 hours it took last time.

But the best news of all is that my neice was born today! Abigail Grace Thompson was born at 1:13 pm today. She was 9lbs, 3oz, and she was 21 1/2" long. If she had stayed inside full term (or even plus a week like the boys) she might have come close to Ethan's 10lbs 1oz, or Jack's 10lbs 5oz. The Jagger girls make big babies...let it be known!



Here are some pictures of our little darling girl. PS - the Thompson family is spending their first couple nights just 2 doors down from where we stayed with Jack! It sure looked familiar in there! But I can guarantee we're going to get a little more sleep tonight than they are!


Proud momma and daddy:
Getting some rest after a long day:

Aunt Becky and her sweet neice:

Jack: "Just act natural...if you're lucky they will use the ear thermometer."

okay! it's been a crazy week...I know you are all missing your Bunch family updates. Our home computer crashed (again) so I don't have any current pictures of Jack to post at the moment, but don't you worry, we will get some up soon! In the meantime, I will tell you about my weekend. I went to Ohio to see my great friend Max get married! Max and I roomed together in college and I wouldn't have missed his big day for anything.

My itinerary was a little strange. I left Portland at midnight on Wednesday, flew to Houston, changed planes (after a 2 hour layover became a 4 hour delay), landed in Columbus, and drove to Cincinatti! We rehearsed the wedding on Thursday, had waffles on Friday morning, then a great wedding on Friday! I slept for 2 hours at Max's house after the wedding and then drove back to Columbus. Flew to Minneapolis, changed planes and then flew to Portland! It was quite a round-trip. I had a blast with Max and his wife Carisa, but was glad to be home with Becky and Jack!

Here's a pic of me and Max in our tuxedos.

This is Max and his wife Carisa on their first dance as a married couple!

I miss Max a lot (I hope you're reading this, Max) and would love if he and Carisa decided to move back to Oregon!!

Some of my awesome friends at work threw a little shower for Jack. We had a grand time...

Check out this amazing cake that my friend Jill made! I think she got it right!


Annalee made this perfect little hat with ear-flaps. Just what I wanted! Jack seemed to like it right away...even though he was asleep...

In the words of Prince Gerhardt, "Thank you all very much...FOR COMING TO MY PARTY!"

My friend Kristen loaned me her new wide angle lens. It's a lot of fun. Jack and I spent some time messin' around with it last night.

A twist on the classic self portrait...too cool to smile.

Jack was trying to act tough in his hoodie, but i caught him in the middle of a yawn...

When he was in his little hoodie, I remember thinking that Jack looked like a sith lord from Star Wars. I think that affected my dreams becuase last night I dreamt that Jack and I were walking in the woods of a park that is nearby our house. Jack was his current size, but he could walk and talk. Kinda freaky, I know. Then we stumbled across a toy light-saber (red) and I did a diving, somersault to get it rather than just bending over to pick it up. I gave that one to Jack and then we found another one (blue) a few minutes later. Then, of course, I had a toy light-saber battle in the woods with my 1 month old, walking, talking son. It was epic.

Jack is 1 month old! Sunday marked the first month. We had intended to make it to church, but a rough night, and blocked tear duct made that a little tough! So we stayed home and Roy and Jojo came to visit!

Jack and Bapah

Jack and Jojo.

I'm thinking they might stay blue...

I saved the best video for last. This was also at the end of that very tiring day at Bachelor. We were beat! The four of us watched this video over and over on Jim's camera for the rest of the trip. It got a big laugh every time!

Watching people fall just never gets old. Eric was not the only one of us to eat snow on this day, but he was unfortunately (or fortunately...i guess it depends on your perspective) the only one who got caught on camera!

The boys (the grown-up boys) had a fabulous time in the snow this past weekend. Our wives were generous enough to give us a weekend in Bend and a day at Mt. Bachelor for Christmas. We had a great hotel room in the city, and Saturday morning, we drove up to the mountain in the dark to get an early start. The snow was DUMPING the entire day. It was a little blustery, so higher on the mountain the visibility was low. This made for some interesting and humorous moments. Further down, however the air cleared and we could see where we were going. Even when I could see, on the first run down, I crashed and lost my ski in the deep snow (7 1/2 feet in the previous 7 days!). Eric and I dug for about 20 minutes before we found it. Thank goodness Eric's foot bumped into it under the snow, otherwise I would have had to rent gear or go sit in the lodge!

After the slow start, we had a great day. It was not an easy skiing day, by any means. Lots of hard work to turn and stay up in such deep conditions. But we had a blast. Here's some footage of me and Eric skiing through the trees. If you can't tell by the audio...we were sooo tired.

After a great / exhausting day, we stopped by the Nike outlet in Bend, bought some swim trunks (Trent thought ahead and brought his own) and hit the hot-tub at the hotel. It was the perfect way to relax and soothe our tired bodies!

Sunday morning, we headed into downtown to find a TV with the football game on. We ended up a at little sports bar with All-You-Can-Eat eggs, bacon, hash browns, toast, biscuits and gravy for $5!! That was a good meal and a good football game. Unlike most of the bar patrons present, we held off drinking vodka since it was only 10 am.

Jim and I hadn't quite got enough skiing on Saturday, so we decided to stop by Hoodoo on our way home for an afternoon shift of skiing. It was just the perfect way to cap off the trip. The sun was shining and the snow was soft! Although we were exhausted from the previous day, we had a blast. This is Jim on the west face of Hoodoo.

...one of me on Hoodoo.

Unfortunately, the only video we got of Trent was with a pile of food in front of him. It'll have to do.

All in all...what a great weekend. THANKS to our wonderful wives for thinking of such a great idea and for giving us the gift of fun, sleep and guy time.

Here's my little strong man! He's already holding up his head and posing for me. He must be deep in though about something really...deep. Becky and I were noticing that he's already getting chubby around the elbows and pectoral region. This boy is going to take after his "hebby" daddy (when I was a toddler, people).

Since Stephanie called me out on my girly "mauve" background, I had to go and fix it. I made a few other minor adjustments on the way...

The Posenjaks are here...yipee!

Just a couple pics of Jack and daddy...

Jack-attack.

Jack got his first bath at home the other day. He sure like getting his hair shampoo'd. Maybe he though he was at Hair M...

I think he is going to have the Bunch affinity for getting backrubs and head-scratches and massages.

Day 3 at home with Jack! Christmas Eve was wonderful with the Bunches and Tompkins, and then a great (and snowy) Christmas with the Jaggers and Thompsons.

Becky and I are actually feeling pretty rested today. We had our fist checkup today and everything continues to go well with mom and baby. It was a new experience getting everything ready to go out the door with a kid...I'm sure all you parents can attest to that! But we made it on time...although I think I forgot to brush my teeth...better take care of that when I'm done here.

Thanks for all your prayers and blog comments! Jack has quite a supportive crew, we know we can call on any of you for help whenever we need it! Even those who live far away...

One of our favorite features on Jack is his long eyelashes. Without fail, every nurse and doctor said these two comments when they saw Jack for the first time. "Whoah, he IS big......look at those eyelashes!" You need to view the full size for the real effect!

Our happy little boy under the tree. The best Christmas present we could think up!

The new Bunch family...

Here's another pic of my little man! Jack is doing great. He's healthy and hungry and acing all of his tests. Can't wait to get him home tomorrow for Christmas Eve and Christmas will his cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents. It's going to be the best Christmas ever.

Just another quick pic...me and Jack.

Things are going well! Becky is up and about a little today, and Jack is behaving beautifully. We are, of course, a little tired, but so wonderfully happy and blessed by our little Christmas gift.

He's here!!

Okay, Brad was right. I'm making use of my wi-fi.

Our son was born at 1:34pm today. He was 10lbs and 5oz. He's 20.5 inches long.

His name is Jack Hayes Bunch. Here's my little boy!!!

Check out Eric's blog for more pics...

It's 11:30pm on December 19, 2007, and tomorrow my son will be born!! I should be sleeping rather than blogging, since I have a feeling tomorrow will be a little bit draining...

Because my wife is petite, and our baby, apparently is not, Becky will be delivering via C-section, and we're scheduled for tomorrow at 2pm! The estimation was 9lbs 6oz on Tuesday...we'll see what the "little" guy actually weighs once on the outside. Whatever his weight, it will be a great day!

I will, of course, try to update the blog for those of you who are not close enough to come to the hospital, but it might take a few days...so be patient!

PB

...so...still here.

Jim and I invented a new head-to-head betting card game last night. We still don't have a name for it, and we are taking suggestions. Be prepared for this response, "That's ONE idea...". Jim hands that one out quite a bit. (by the way, we've trademarked this game, so don't even think about trying to sell it to the Nevada Gaming Commission).

Anyway! Here's how it goes...The object of the game is to turn cards one by one until the sum of all cards shown reaches 31. The person who turns the card that makes 31 gets the pot. If you flip a card that pushes the total past 31, your opponent gets the pot. To begin, each player antes, and the dealer places 1 card face up and 8 cards face down as shown:

The player opposite the dealer then pays (a predetermined amount) into the pot to buy a card of his choice, and flips it over, increasing the community sum. The players alternate by paying (their bet) and flipping until 31 is reached, a player busts, or neither player is willing to flip another card. If the current player does not wish to flip a card (for fear of busting and giving the pot to his opponent), the opposite player has the same opportunity to flip or pass. If neither player wishes to flip, the hand is a push and the pot stays remains for the next hand.

In any given hand, once the sum of the cards is equal to or greater than 25 (ie 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, or 30), any flipped card that does not bust wins the pot. If the current player passes, the opposite player again has the opportunity to flip or pass.

Side notes: Aces are worth 11 until the sum reaches 25. At that point, any Ace flipped is worth 1 point.

T + 4 days...as if Becky was birthing a rocket ship.

Today is Monday, and I'm at work. I did not expect to be here today, but apparently, our son is just too comfy to leave his current home. We're looking at the positives...a full weekend with no dirty diapers and no midnight feedings. However, we are just too excited to meet our son for that positive thinking to hold much ground. We have an appointment with the doctor this afternoon, and we are hopeful that she will give us some great news. But really, I hope to get a call from Becky before that, so I can rush home and take her to the hospital! That would be neat.

Anyway, thanks to all for checking in on us, and I will keep you posted on our "progress."

...and a special hello to my aunt Marilyn, who, until today, I did not know was reading my blog! We miss you guys! Can't wait to introduce our son to you!

PB

It's D-Day...AND NO BABY!

I hope you will all join us in WAITING!

Just wanted to add one more picture to the great memories of Sunny!

Well...

No baby yet! Becky had a check-up with her doctor today, and there are no signs that this baby is coming any time soon. 3 days till due date, and it looks like he might be late. All we really care about is a healthy baby, so he can come whenever he wants...but this is the husband talking, not the 9-month-pregnant-momma.

Just for fun...Becky and I went to REI yesterday and I made her try on this jacket.

10 DAYS and counting...

Hard to believe that Becky and I could be mom and dad at any moment. Just refelcting on a few thoughts while I'm awake enough to have them!

-When I was a little over a year old, my dad started writing letters to me. From my first moments till my 18th birthday, every few months he would express what he was feeling about my life, our relationship, my accomplishments, my failures, his successes, his failures, great family moments, etc. in these letters and then file them all away in a notebook for me. I recently had a chance to read through them again, and I was overcome by their significance throughout the notebook. I think they took new meaning for me now that I'm actually getting ready to be a dad. I would encourage any of you fathers out there to do the same for your kids. I certainly intend to do it for mine. Dad - I know I've told you in person, but thanks again for these letters. They are precious...in a very manly way.

-I'm in love with my wife...and I like her too. There are so many famlies in this world that start because the partents made a "mistake" or they are trying to fix a failing marriage by having kids. I'm so blessed to be married to my best friend, and to have the chance to welcome our son into the world together as a team. I know she'll have the hard part of actually bringing him into the world, but I cannot wait to experience the joys and heartaches of parenting with her. I am overjoyed that God chose to unite our hearts in love, in ministry, in frienship, and in the decision to raise children. Baby - I love you! I can't wait to see you holding our son.

-Last week at church, we had a baby-dedication service. Parents who want to commit to raising their children in a God-centered household, came up on stage and made that commitment publicly to the church. I've been a part of these services before...as a member of the congregation and as an uncle. But, once again, now that I'm about to be a dad, it took a new meaning for me. I can't wait till the next one, when Becky and I get to hold up our son, and proudly commit to behaving biblically in our household, and passing on the knowledge of our Savior on to him. Early on in our pregnancy, I read the story of Samuel again. I was impressed more than ever, that even though Samuel had to make a choice for himself whether or not he would serve God, his mother made the decision to dedicate him to the Lord, and made the effort and sacrifice to place him in a position to succeed. That's my goal as a father...among other things...to set up my son for spiritual success.

Okay...this was longer than I expected. Maybe this will by my first letter to...What's-his-name.

PB

Up a little early this morning. But instead of driving to work, I'm driving to the mountain with Eric. We're off for a little climb and ski in the new snow!

I'm enthused, and I wanted to share that with you :-) Thanks for allowing me.

Jim - I'm sure were going to have a terrible time.

PB

At the request of Michelle, here is a Becky + Baby update:

23 - number of days till baby boy is due.
23 - number of croissanwiches Becky has eaten during her pregnancy
2 - number of weeks early which Becky believes he will be born (which equals next Thursday...)
5 - number of ultrasounds we have had for baby boy
14 - number of letters in his full name
3 - number of golf clubs he already owns
1 - number of bedding sets that becky has bought and then resold on craigslist
15 - number of times we giggled in birthing classes
6 - approximate number of pounds that baby weighs right now
15 - age in months by which I expect baby to perfect parrallel turns

PB

I found the window resize function of my blog template to be a little obnoxious. So I fixed it. I hope you are less annoyed now (as am I). I hope this relieves you of some extra clicking to get your browser back to full screen.

...and since I took the live feed off my sidebar, here you go:

My Baby and my baby...

As I mentioned, I had my first "Senior Session" scheduled for yesterday. Not sure If I really want to get into that branch of photography, but for now, it will help me buy new gear! What do you think?

Just Kidding! Here are a couple shots from my afternoon with Garrett. I think they look pretty "seniory".

I've got a lot of image processing to do in the next week. I did a session with Sarah, Eric, and Ethan (and Makayla) Thompson on Tuesday, I have my first Senior Portrait session tomorrow, and another family session on Saturday! I'm going to be looking at the monitor for a good chunk of time...

I haven't gotten to all of the Thompson's pics, but this was one of my favorites, and I couldn't wait to post it...

Hello blog-readers,

I'm in Memphis! Crazy, I know. Just a quick update on my evening on Beale Street last night. It was so much fun. You walk down the street and turn in to whichever place sounds the best to you. They've all got live blues bands playing. My buddy Ed and I stopped in to hear this band, Delta Highway. They were hot! (musically...not physically).

This is me in the alleyway that leads to the Rendezvous rib joint - where we had dinner. it's off the main drag, so you have to know where it is. You walk down the alley and turn into a little doorway that leads you downstairs into the place. Thanks to Eric for the tip...

And I had the best dry ribs ever!

The tables are owned by the servers, so they serve you quick! We ordered our apetizers and literally he brought them out in about 30 seconds. Then for dinner, the ribs were off the grill and on our table in about 1 minute...no joke. And they were tasty!

Fun night...

TTFN

Okay...just so I don't have to post everytime there's a great shot of snow on the mountain webcams, I added the image permanently to my sidebar.

--------------------------------------->

So now, you will all know what the conditions are like on Mt. Hood, just by checking my blog! And if you click the picture, it takes you to the US Forest Service Page with a larger image!

My blog is not nearly as "tricked out" as the Bjournal, but it's a start!

PB

I know, I know. I gotta stop. But seriously??? Look at this!

As soon as the first flakes started falling on the mountain last week, my brain started transitioning to skiing mode...as you can see from my previous post and my new avitar.

So, in preparation for the quad-burn that is powder skiing and run-after-run down the canyon at the Bowl, I started working out again today. I arrived a few minutes before Jim, so I stairmastered for about 10 minutes before doing a light circuit on the weights. We were both hesitant to really hit it hard, so we stopped early, but felt like we needed to do something more. So Jim said, "lap around the burm?" Why not! So we did a leisurely two mile loop around campus. I was tired by then end...mainly becuase it has been months since the last time I ran...but my motivation was the deep snow...and this:

This is December 16, 2006. For the second season in a row, Jim and I had hiked (cross-country skied this time) into White River Canyon, found a powder covered hill, climbed to the top, and skied down. It's been one of the greatest days each year for me. Jim blogged about it last year and you can see pics of the decent here.

So as I'm struggling through a run, or the last few minutes on the stair climber, this is my motivation.

I can't wait to clip in.

PB

YES!