Les Howells

And then there were four. (The dog counts)

2009-08-24T19:54:00.000-07:00

Well, we're out of the freezer and into the frying pan! The Howells are now making their residence in sunny El Paso Texas. And by sunny we mean hot. Emily is adjusting (especially now that a baby isn't turning up the heat in her tummy) and Brandon is just glad it isn't Georgia humid. As for the REAL news, Madison Elizabeth Howell is here and loving it. Her favorite activities include eating and sleeping. She lets Daddy sing to her (Brandon may from this point on be referred to as 'Daddy' as well as Emily being 'Mommy') and loves to cuddle with Mommy. We thought there may be a slight adjustment period being new parents and all, but Maddi fits right in. It is almost as if she was already here the whole time. So far everything has gone...chaotically perfect. No serious injuries, no car jackings and best of all, no Dementors. Our family is still getting a healthy dose of everything Office and we plan to keep it that way. We got our new furniture coming in and our new home is almost all set up. Brandon isn't necessarily 'looking forward' to going back to work, but he is very grateful the ARMY now has paternity leave and he got to spend an extra few days with his favorite girls. He is also coping very well with his estrogen-dominant home. Penny has been doing pretty well herself. A few accidents but that is to be expected with all the hullaballoo skidamarinkidinkydink she put up with. We don't question her growing up to be a great family dog and a wonderful friend for the kids. (Kids? Plural?) Well yes, now that all is said and done, we can say for sure that it's gonna happen. We are very happy to be happy and are eagerly looking forward to our next few years as Texicans.

A new update...finally!

2009-05-27T10:46:00.000-07:00

Sorry for taking so long to finally put up an update for what's going on with Brandon and I. Brandon requested that I get on here and do so sometime...so, here goes: Brandon has now officially finished the Basic Combat Training portion of his training. He has been at Fort Benning in Georgia for a whole 10 weeks! I just got back from visiting him this last weekend. We spent almost 3 days together and it was absolutely wonderful! Georgia was really warm, but mostly overcast skies and random thunderstorms rang throughout the trip while I was there. I am currently staying in Logan, Utah with my family while Brandon finishes up his training. He now has only 4 more weeks to complete his AIT, which is just his job training. But, since he is Infantry he will be in the same location, with the same Drill Sergeants, pretty much doing the same kind of stuff he has already been doing. His gradutaion will be June 25th-26th in Georgia. I am going to meet up with him there, where we will be leaving from to return to Alaska and move our belongings to our next duty station. We're still not sure where that will be, but we have heard some rumors that we may be going to Texas. Also, at this point Brandon may be getting deployed within the next 6 months. We won't know for sure until he gets his orders. It was kind of an expected thing to find out, since as you may all know the military is still deploying like crazy and Infantry is a highly needed job over in the Middle East. Things are still going well with my pregnancy:) It was fun for Brandon to finally get to feel the baby kick. We are having a girl and we both can't wait to meet her. I also got our family a new puppy. Her name is Penny and she is a Jack Russell Terrier. I put up some pictures for everyone to see. I hope you enjoy!

Gone to training...

2009-03-10T14:47:00.001-07:00

Brandon has joined the Army! He will be active duty for four years unless he decides he likes it and wants to stay in longer. It is something Brandon said he has always kind of wanted to do, but never realistically thought about it. The topic randomly came up one day and after talking we decided to look into it. Everything happened rather quickly. When he joined, he decided to go into infantry as his job choice. I told him I would support him in whatever he wanted to do and he has been happy about his decision.

Brandon left for his Basic and Job training today. I balled my eyes out seeing him off at the airport. It was probably one the hardest things for us to do so far in our life together. As I drove home, thinking about what it will be like while he is away, I thought of all the wonderful things Brandon has already done for me since we have been together. He is a wonderful husband and I miss him more than anything already.

He will be gone for a little over four months. I won't get to see him until his graduation at the end of all of his training (which will be about at the end of june):( And it will be so crazy for us when we do see each other: I will have a tummy twice the size it is now I'm sure, and Brandon will be so handsome in his uniform and his military haircut:)

He won't be able to talk to anyone until he is finished, but if you'd like he can receive letters and I am sure he wouldn't object:) Let me know if you want to write him because I will let you know his address as soon as he gives it to me.

As for me, I will still be here in Juneau until the semester is over. After school gets out, I am going to be staying with my family in Northern Utah until Brandon finishes. We will return to Juneau in July to collect our belongings and move to our next duty station. We have no idea where we will end up going, but either way Brandon and I are excited to experience new places together and with our new baby.

Things are still going well with the baby. I am 16 weeks right now. I will find out on April 7th whether it is a boy or girl. I can't wait, I am soo excited! I can't wait for Brandon to find out either.

BaBy'S hEaRtBeAt!

2009-02-09T00:00:00.001-08:00

http://www.mediafire.com/?zj2ifeuitjk

Follow link, but then you have to download the file to actually listen to it. The baby starts at about 6 seconds, sounds like a little washer machine or something :D

Beating Hearts Baby

2009-02-03T18:43:00.000-08:00

Brandon here. So, it was quite a thing to find out we were having a baby. Then, January 5th I got to see the little thing. (Quite little, 9mm, nothing more than a little dot) However, I got a suprise that day when that little dot starting flickering! I'd say it's heart was beating at around....12,346 bpm which is very fast, but it's supposed to be so I didn't freak out. Now today being Febuary the Third in the year of our Lord two-thousand and nine, I thought I was going to get to see it again. I was wrong. But....BUT I got another suprise instead. I got to hear it. Well, we got to hear it. Something foreign and fantastic around every corner it seems these days. Hopefully I can figure out how to get the recording off Emily's phone so you guys can hear it as well. Every day I get closer to meeting it I get more excited. (I get to stop calling it 'it' in around 9 weeks when we find out what it's gonna be) I must say, it really is such a feeling to know there is a little Angel growing inside the safe warm harbor that is my Wife's tummy. I've got two Angel's in my life now and I don't feel the least bit pretentious in saying that I am one very, Very lucky man.

Married with a Baby on the way...

2009-01-18T22:52:00.001-08:00

Well, since Brandon hasn't posted anything about the good news yet I guess I will:) Brandon and I are now married! We were married here in Juneau, Alaska on January 9th, 2009. Which is kind of funny because it is also the same day as my dad's birthday. It was a simple service performed by our new Bishop and it was done at the church here. A few people from our ward and friends were also able to come. It didn't last very long, but it was definitely a memorable time. We will be sending out some pictures soon, but we need some address info from people... I'll have to see whose we have and whose we still need. And on top of everything, we are also expecting...as in: we have a little one on the way:) We are both extremely excited about it, minus the nausea and morning sickness. I am exactly 8 weeks pregnant and am going on my ninth week. I will have to post our last sonogram picture, although it isn't that great becasue you can't see anything in it. At the appointment we were able to see the blinking on the screeen of the baby's heartbeat. It was definitely an overwhelmingly wonderful experience for the both of us. Our next appointment is in a couple of weeks. I am also really happy to be able to share this experience with my sister, who just had a little boy. His name is Benjamin and it has been really great to be able to hear all the dirty details of pregnancy and all the stuff you never think about or read about with her. The baby is due August 24th, which is five days after my birthday, who knows maybe I will get the greatest gift of all!:) ha ha. Well, I guess that's all I have for now. We will be sending you all something in the mail soon and we will continue to update you on any more exciting news we have. Thank you for your love and support. We love you all!

Well...I think I broke it

2008-11-25T16:36:00.000-08:00

Emily had that last post set up all nice and pretty, then I deleted one word and kachow! Seems to be broken. Guess she already gets to start help fixing my mistakes :D

Hey, why don't I just get married?

2008-11-21T00:08:00.000-08:00

It is such a wonderful feeling to know that someone from up above continually has a hand in our lives and to know that he directs us toward certain paths that will bring us pure happiness, that is: if we will just let him. With this thought in mind, I, Emily, am pleased to announce that I have met the man of my dreams...I feel compelled to share this message with others and those of you because I know that for so many reasons, Brandon and I have crossed paths at the most perfect time in our lives and I want to shout it out from every mountaintop that I am in LoVe with the most amazing man!!

Brandon and I have been spreading the news of our recently developed engagement. And in fact, we have already set a date for the wedding as well. Both Brandon and I currently reside in Juneau, Alaska. I am from Fairbanks (much more north:)) and have been going to school at the Univeristy of Alaska Southeast working toward my Art degree for the last couple winters. A little more about me for those who don't know me...:) I love to be outdoors, I love meeting new people and being in new places. I could be considered a real blonde at times, slightly incoherent of the world around me:) I love to laugh, sing, play music, be silly, have fun. I am usually very spontaneous and random.

Brandon is from Orem, Utah and came up to Juneau for work and the experience. Brandon and I both work for the Best Western here, which is how we initially met.

P.S.
Since Brandon and I don't have a camera right now some of these pics were taken from my cell. I added the last one for fun:)

Caves of Wonder

2008-10-27T21:24:00.000-07:00

Hope you brought yer readin glasses. (That means this is a longer blog) I've been waiting to write again specifically because I wanted to post some pictures. And I got them. And you can see them. After you read this. I suppose really you could skip ahead and I wouldn't know but, how about a little integrity guys? Work is still going good. Filled in for a driver for a week so now I know the town, ate some tasty delights (lotsa tips) and I also learned I don't want to be a driver. I made it up to the glacier! For the very best pics of the litter click HERE. If at least one of you clicked that my happiness is complete. If you all clicked...my happiness knows no bounds. I went on another sweet hike after our first snow, no pictures but it was in a word....pleasant. Honestly, I'm still adjusting to having awesome around every corner so I kept falling behind trying to take it all in. Speaking of trying to take it all in, I completely overshot a pickup the other day driving when the sun broke out for awhile. Cruisin down Egan (out the road as 'we' say here) I came around a bend, the trees cleared and I was met by the most beautiful scenery I've ever been graced to view. I use no exaggeration here. It was one of those moments where I could not decide whether or not I wanted a camera with me. After much deliberation in what I am sure was the span of about thirty seconds or so I came to the conclusion that I am glad I did not. I do not regret to tell you that the memory of that scene is mine and mine alone. It's kind of crazy how not really doing anything beyond taking a moment to look can make you feel completely insignificant, and also give you the feeling there is nothing you cannot do. That's my magical view rant. Onto some randomness, I now have a full set of pink clothing. In short there was a wardrobe malfunction one night and I scored some pink shirts and socks. Go me. I ate an omelette waffle (delicious) had some broiled halibut from The Broiler (clever eh?) and guilted a girl into making me cookies (also delicious). I've picked up a new guitar (ibanez, electric, good starter) and two fake guitars (guitar hero, world tour, you knew I would). Starting to get dark a little early and I'm still not on a regular schedule but things are rollin. Oh yeah, hopefully I'll have Halloween pictures soon. I'm a genius and can't wait to share my costume. Time to eatza pizza and whatnot. Take heart, Brandon Loves ya.

Oh yeah. (If you haven't used slider, you can speed up or slow it down with the controls in the bottom left corner. Put your cursor on the pics for captions, AND you can CLICK a pic to see it bigger, in higher quality.)

One, Two, Chachacha

2008-10-10T22:23:00.000-07:00

Started dance lessons tonight. Awww yeah. Chacha...ChaCha....Cha Cha? Well, you know what I'm referring to. Anyway, tons o'fun. Between work and the ten or so people dancing tonight I think I've met about half the people in Juneau at this point. Work is going great, I've finally got a handle on things and ran the show all by my lonesome for awhile today with no big hiccups. It's been nice getting to know people. (in case you somehow don't know me at all I for the most part try to avoid people as I consider them...typical until proven otherwise ) I'm getting tips every now and then which is new to me. I'm a fan of free money. Must be my people skills, haha. Hoping to hike to Mendenhall Glacier this weekend and in the event I do I'll post pictures asap. Way too cool to not share. Still alive, still like the rain, and when it comes to poppin fresh dance moves you know who to call.

Twofer

2008-10-03T20:58:00.000-07:00

Well, seems things are comin around in twos these days. Made it out here on two different planes to be greeted and picked up by two old friends. Headed over to my new place that I share with two roommates. Went to my room to find my two beds. Yep, bunk. Come and crash if you want. (If you're a dude that is, no girls in the the room, house rules) Started work this week where I go back and forth between two hotels, ate at one of two restaurants owned by some of the locals, and went on my first hike tonight which I ended with two very dirty legs. (I tried to get some good pics but alas, I did not. ) Mud went from my knees to my toes. I'd say the terrain was comparable to maybe.....the Bog of Eternal Stench and/or the Swamp of Sadness. Eh? You feel me? No? Lame. Anyway I hope this means from here on out I'll be getting two paychecks, two meals at every sitting and two fish for every cast. Lovin the Laska. -Brandon

Alaska!

2008-09-30T12:39:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone, I'm in Alaska and alive. It's really rainy here and absolutely beautiful. This is pretty much for family and friends so here's a few quick a to q you guys may have.

Q: Why did you move to Alaska?

A: Because I could. Debts are paid off, the stars have aligned and I decided to take a grand adventure.

Q: How long will you be in Alaska?

A: Don't know. I've set a goal to stay at a least a year for money saving purposes and well, you need at least a little time for a real grand adventure, everyone knows this.

Q: How is it that you have managed to have so many different styles of haircuts and look so good with all of them?

A: I don't know.

Q: What are you doing there?

A: I am going to be a night auditor at a couple little hotels here. ( I can quickly walk to both from where I live) I work 4 nights a week, and we'll see what I do with the 3 off.

Q: Is your new abode nice?

A: Let's say I got what I paid for. (It's free)

Real quick some things I've learned about Alaska in my first waking morning. It's rainy here (I'm in Juneau by the way) The landscape is beautiful, the people are...nice. I can walk to work in literally 5-7 minutes, I love glaciers, waterfalls, and the smell of clean air. I had a nice gentleman snag some pics of me at a glacier, hopefully he'll email soon and I can post those. Seeing as this blog is an act of love, I hope you all can understand I may not update as soon as you want, but then again, maybe I won't find anything better to do. Fingers crossed I hope I do :) Until next time, sending out some Brandon Love.