Winter snow storms and extended power outages did nothing to delay the exciting arrival of the first baby of 2020 for the Barriere area. William James Johnson (named after great-grandpa William Alexander) made his appearance at Royal Inland Hospital on Jan. 2, 2020, at 8:57 a.m., almost an hour to the day ahead of his mom’s scheduled C-section says happy parents, Jamie and Allen Johnson. William weighed in at seven pounds and 13 ounces.
“He came ahead of schedule by almost a full day,” said Jamie, “He surprised us both, and Allen had a snowy drive in the dark into the hospital in Kamloops.”
At RIH Little William entered the world by C-section with both he and mom doing great.
“We didn’t know what we were having,”said Jamie, “We wanted to be surprised.”
For Jamie the surprise is she will be the only female in the family that now has three boys. William’s two older brothers are Alexander (also named after great grandpa William Alexander) who is three-and-a-half, and Vincent who is one-and-a-half, and the two siblings already love the new addition to their family.
“They just love him, and want to make him happy,” said Jamie, “They are great big brothers already.”
Proud grandparents for the new baby are Karen and John Johnson who live on Heffley/Louis Creek Road, and Jane Gainsforth of Penticton.
William has been born into a ranching family who work their own cattle ranch on the Heffley/Louis Creek Road, running about 150 head. Allen says it will soon be calving time when his momma cows will join up with his dad’s, bringing the count to 310 expectant bovine moms to watch over.
Both Jamie and Allen say they look forward to their three sons growing up on the ranch and becoming a part of the valley.
“William is a really good boy so far,” says Jamie, “He has a good appetite and he has really dark hair compared to his brothers who are blonde. He has some big shoes to fill, but he is already taller than his brothers at the same age.”
What does the future hold for the family?
“Really enjoying growing up the Johnson boys,” said Allen.