Something to warm the cold cockles of your heart (part I)

My little brother brought his family and came to visit a couple weeks ago. It was a treat since I only get to see him once a year - usually around Christmas time. When I was a kid, if someone had told me I would only get to see my brothers once a year, I'd have laughed... and then probably kicked them in the shins. (I was mean like that.) I was always fiercely protective of my brothers, honing my "mother hen" skills at a young age. My brothers grew tired of me bossing them around - and then they grew bigger than me and pretty much put an end to me telling them what to do. But in spite of that, we've always been close and the distance that is currently between us is sometimes hard to bear.

So Jared came in to town, family in tow. The reason for the out-of-season get-together was a new nephew - his 2 week old son, Jackson. I was so happy to meet him and got the opportunity to pretty much document the whole weekend. There are a lot of pictures, so I'll probably make this a two-part series.

I apologise in advance for all the rugrats shots. Don't OD on the cuteness, okay?

Brand new parents... for the 2nd time....


...also high school sweethearts.


Big sister






Trying to figure out the whole bubble thing...


...Dad steps in until he realizes the whole thing is just foam anyway.


Stay tuned for part II...