California

This past weekend was the first weekend we haven't gotten to see daddy. We were busy at home with concerts, friends, and family gatherings. 

Everyday life.

 

Jack Johnson concert at the Gorge

One last hurrah before she moves to Germany

While we were busy with our normal life, daddy was exploring northern California; ocean, redwoods, rivers. We can't wait to go see the sights too.

Crescent City, California

Redwoods

 

Smith River in Northern CA

And of course, we made some food for daddy. 

Spaghetti making

Fresh tomatoes and peppers from the garden, and ground beef from our cow.

And the kids helped with chores. 

Dog food duties

 

 

This weekend is Labor Day, so daddy gets a four day weekend and is coming home! Yay!! 

The call

Daddy finally got the call he'd been waiting for around 3:00 Monday afternoon. It was perfect. I happened to be standing right next to him when his phone rang and was able to follow him and take pictures of "the call." (Who does that, right??? ME!!)

 

And, just like that, daddy's headed to Southern Oregon. Cave Junction to be exact. Looks like we'll be in the same time zone after all!! 

Today is night two without daddy and we're adjusting, by cuddling up in daddy's spot in bed. :) 

Now the adventure REALLY begins. Cheers!!

Washington, Montana, Illinois

What a whirlwind of a week. Let's start with the family.

I was in Chicago all week at a work conference.

Chicago from our boat tour

Daddy had an adventurous drive bringing the trailer to Montana with him. He had a blowout on I-90 and found out he didn't have a jack with him (in his friends truck he was borrowing while his is being worked on), had to unload and find a Wal-Mart to buy a jack, fix the tire, etc. He finally made it over to Belgrade about 1:30 a.m. and stayed at our friends house for the three hours of sleep he got before he had to head down to the jobsite. Crazy.

Borrowed truck and our trailer, somewhere by Wallace, ID

The kiddos were with their grandparents all week. What a crazy week for us to be apart.

Breakfast at Grandma and Grandpa's

Making cookies for daddy

...and while we were all apart, unexpected movement on the apprentice books made us rethink where daddy would be for the next 3.5-4 years! He was ranked 40th with NW and 20th with Mountain States, so we figured he'd be called out from Mountain States far before he'd hear anything from NW. And then they called to tell him he was 16th on Tuesday. And then 13th on Wednesday. And by Thursday night, he was ranked #1 and they told him to pack up his stuff and get ready for a call. It's insane how as soon as you think you can expect something to happen in this industry, it's almost the opposite that happens! I'm realizing to expect this, but every time it blows me away how unpredictable it is.

 Headed home

 

At the moment, we are ALL home and got at least one day together. I'm hoping Kevin is home another day or two at least so we can see him before he has to leave again, but at the same time we are anxiously awaiting that phone call!

First weekend visit

At this point, we're trying to survive without daddy home. And we made it! One week and the house didn't completely fall apart. Daddy worked all week by Bozeman and stayed at our good friends' house. On Friday, I left work early and loaded up the car full of stuff and kids and hit the road. My first solo road trip with two toddlers. I've made the trip to Bozeman many times, and this time took way longer than normal. At one point I had to crawl under a bathroom stall to rescue D-man from an automatic flush toilet. That was before having to stop and clean up Kj's vomit from all over the backseat. Oh, the adventures we're going to endure over the next 3.5-4 years. This is just the beginning!!  

On Saturday, we did the Sweet Pea kids 1K in Bozeman, which proved to be a lot farther than it sounds. It was kind of fun running down the same stretch of road as my half-marathon and daddy's full marathon ended. Then, back to our friends house to impatiently wait for daddy to get off work. 

That night, crazy thunderstorm #2 of the summer rolled through our home and downed tons of trees, this time starting up some fires way too close to home for comfort. It was a totally stressful night of watching Facebook updates and talking to Nana and Papa to make sure the fires weren't threatening our houses, coming up with an emergency plan for the dogs and some of our important pictures and papers. Fortunately, we had no trees come down in our immediate yard and the fires were quickly contained.

On Sunday we got to hang out with daddy and drive down to see where he's working, along the beautiful Gallatin River. We've always talked about rafting on it or fishing it, now whenever we drive by I know we'll look at the power lines and say "those are the lines daddy helped build." Montana is so very special to us and we love making trips to Yellowstone, so I know it will be years and years that we are remembering this time. 

After seeing where daddy's working, we stopped at Buffalo Bump and had pizza, then the kids and I headed back to Washington. 

But first, tractor store!!! 

Total time spent in the car: 12 hours, 800 miles

Also of note, daddy got his ranking with Mountain States, #20, and just yesterday got a date for orientation in a week and a half. We're beyond excited that he gets to do his orientation so soon and hopefully a call for an apprenticeship!