Lead(ed) Tech

Day 11: The day we have been eagerly waiting for, the day Amy returns to us from her trek to England. But first we had a 6+ hour road trip to complete, ending at Rodger and Connie's, so that we could go pick her and Martha up at Sea-Tac Airport. It was a long trip with a few bumps along the way, both literally and figuratively, but we still made it. The G's were doubly excited because they love visiting Grandma and Grandpa Peterson, as do I. Packing was uber-stressful because I just finshed up laundry last night and the girls were asleep so I couldn't pre-pack. So the morning was a tad hectic as I tried to pack everything, cook breakfast, water the garden and plants, and get the girls ready. But eventually we got it all done and hit the road. Whew! Ready for the road trip! Sorry for the bright sun Gemma.  Happy Meal to go! Call child protective services! Check out Mt. Rainier in the distance.  G2 colors at Grandma and Grandpas while we wait to go to the  a

I feel like I've worn out the phrase "what a day!" Certainly I could try to find more creative ways of illustrating my feelings at the end of each day with my two Gs and without my amazing wife, but then again I'm just too tired to muster up the creative energy. So what a day it has been! The girls woke up at a decent hour again today I have to say I've got this routine down to a... well, down to a routine! In fact, the girls were both ready early enough today that we got to Skype with Amy before going up to Camp Aowakiya  for the final day. The girls jockeyed for position and attempted to show mom 1.5 weeks worth of stuff in 10 minutes. It was fun to watch and I just made sure the connection was OK (it can't be good since we are stuck on a 3mbps DSL connection. Thanks Frontier!) and that they shared the front facing camera. Isn't technology amazing? Here were the 2 Gs, talking with their mom, who was a world away, yet seemed like she was in the same room.

Day 9: G1 was a bit embarrassed but let me take her picture before camp this morning. Hey guess what? Today was full of adventure, challenges, and fun, but perhaps a bit more tame than yesterday.  The blog is up a bit late today because our power flickered briefly and for some reason, one of my routers decided to stop working correctly. 2 hours later, I have patched together a setup that should work. Both G1 and G2 got up right on time, and while they were both eating breakfast, I decided to keep G2 home from day camp. After yesterday's events, I thought it would be best if G2 had a break and maybe had a chance to fully recover. The only problem was that I had scheduled interviews for a position we have open at work for the afternoon. I wasn't sure who to contact on such short notice so I texted Sarah, who wasn't feeling too good either. So, I decided to pack up G2's stuff, including a lunch, and took her into work with me. She was doing OK when Sarah was able to

Day 8: Ready for camp day III.  I'm not sure how to begin today's post. First of all, I'm not even an amateur blogger, nor do I pretend to be. But today's adventure will be tough to put into words. Once again we started the day with an improvement on the previous mornings' regimen. G2 slept in, G1 had to be awakened, and the dog actually slept in too. I woke up to the sound of my alarm, got everything prepared and then woke the  two Gs. The girls got dressed, I prepared breakfast, girls ate breakfast, I prepared lunches for the day. It was like clockwork! I gave them some $ to spend at the camp store and off we were ready to rock and roll. The only red flag was that G2 finished her breakfast, but pointed to her stomach and said "it hurts." Now, Amy and I have learned what this means. G2 has some issues with going #2. She can hold it like no other. If there was a competition for holding a bowel movement for the longest time, G2 would be an Olympic cali

Day 7: Well, this morning, getting up and getting ready for Camp Aowakiya was a bit more polished. It was jump-started by G2 getting up at 6AM. (actually 5:54AM, but who's keeping track) This wouldn't have been significant, had I not stayed up late watching Netflix, assuming I could sleep in until 7:30AM. Nonetheless, the day was started and with a little coffee I would survive. Beyond that, nothing too eventful other than getting ready (clothes were all picked out the night before), eating breakfast, and me making lunches. (Again, organized the night before) We were so efficient today, we were ready with at least 20 minutes to spare! Ready for camp! Day 2. (more time for pictures today! The trip up the gulch was where the fun began for me. More fun at work was in store. I got about 5 text messages and a few phone calls all within a minute, from various people at work saying "we have no Internet." My first thought was that it was related to the mass amounts of

Day 6: Well, give or take 12 hours we are at about the halfway point. I was even pretty well prepared (at least for me) for today as the girls would be attending Camp Aowakiya all day. My only minor err of judgment was wake up time. I'm so used to the girls getting up between 6:30-7:00 that I estimated 7:45AM would be a good target wake up time to get the girls dressed, fed, and prepped for camp at 9:00AM. Remember Camp Aowakiya is up at the end of the road up Montgomery Gulch so it's only about a 10 minute ride max. We have definite home court advantage here! Well, it turns out that 7:45 was cutting it pretty close, at least for the first morning. I'm used to making breakfast as that is one of my normal duties, but making breakfast, packing lunches, and making sure the girls are dressed, teeth brushed, etc was a good challenge! Factor in getting the dog outside for "duties," and it was a pretty high paced hour! I merely imagined myself as a contestant of Choppe

Day 5: Another day in the books. Today was really the first day we had to meet a time commitment. Because we had some different stuff happening at church with our music, I needed to be there early. So it was a little more important to get both girls up, feed them, and get them ready in time as opposed to a more leisurely pace. It was also a tad more challenging because I had regular laundry as well as laundry from the 1 day excursion to the lake, both clean and dirty. To make matters even more fun, some of G1 and G2's clothes are so close in size I can't always tell them apart! Since I don't have my wife's knack for fashion, I chose a simple ensemble for the Gs! G2 debuts with the worship team! I can't say enough how great the girls were before and during church when there were periods of time I was preoccupied with other duties and couldn't directly supervise them. They just went about their routines and in fact, at one point I went up to the pew where we

Day 4: Today had so much action, it seems like multiple days are blending together! After getting up and making the Gs breakfast, Sarah relieved me again so I could get another run in. Oh, and for any of you runners, or maybe bikers, I recently got one of these because I use my phone and a GPS app to track my mileage and also to listen to music/podcasts while I run/bike. This thing is great and is much more effective than an armband for me. After the run, we focused on whether or not to the lake for Saturday and Sunday. It was cloudy, but warm in Kellogg so I began to pack up for an overnight trip. Now, I said this before but I'll repeat it: I've always appreciated all the "behind the scenes" work my wife does for our family. But as I began packing clothes, toiletries, and entertainment for both Gs, food, cooler, towels, Dolly's stuff, and all the other miscellaneous items, I stopped and was in total awe of how well my wife does these tasks and how organized

Day 3: OK, I've had some backup from TBILE (The Best In Laws Ever) the last few days, followed by a full day of travel and retail therapy, so today was the first actual day we've been home without Amy. Things went particularly well, thanks in part to my sister, Sarah, who came over in the AM to relieve me so I could go for a run. She watched some cartoons and helped with a sweet floor puzzle. The girls love their Auntie Sarah (Miller) and I sure appreciate her helping me get a little workout in! The afternoon was pretty good too, as we ventured out to the KSD391 District Office for a meeting. The G's took full advantage of our new Guest Wifi on their iPads and were soon spoiled by popsicles from Terry and Cindy while I had my meeting. Air Conditioning, iPads, Popsicles... what more could you ask for? Once my meeting was over we stopped by the "City Park," as G1 calls it, and scoped out the pool. Gemma Lu was immediately ready, but I said, let's go home firs

Touring the Washington coast Wednesday in Rodcon's new Honda Pilot!  Day 2: As much as I would love to stay with my In-Laws for a few more days (weeks), it was time for me and the girls to return to K-Town as we have some laundry, watering, and other commitments to honor in the upcoming week. Have I mentioned that I have the best In-Laws in the whole wide world? What an awesome stay at Casa de Rodcon we've had the last few days. I must say, although there are too many for me to name, if there was a single reason for me to believe in God, my In-Laws would be exhibit A. In 1989, they gave up all they had and left their lifelong home to come to the Silver Valley and they brought their daughters, which happened to include my bride-to-be, and began another chapter in their lives. Long story, short... they eventually returned to Tacoma, but my wife remained with me... and I'm still in awe; What a God send.  But I digress! Day 2 was another success primarily because I have 2