At camp

dock
Originally uploaded by johnrite

Although it wasn't originally in our plans, we ended up at church camp this summer when Rochelle stepped in at the last minute to rescue one that was in danger of being canceled when the director pulled out. This peaceful shot, taken on a quiet, foggy morning, belies the anarchy and noise that typically defined the place. But, all in all, it was a good experience.

I was on the periphery of the experience, because I had to work. So I'd zip into the IBM office in Olympia most days, and then hang around camp when I could. I was around enough to put together a photo show that I sent to the kids on DVD. I was really pleased with how it came out.

Follow this link to see an online version.

Peacock

Peacock, originally uploaded by johnrite.

Here's another fun shot that's received a lot of attention on Flickr. Click on the photo if you want to read the many comments (nearly 100 at this point) and "awards" it's received. Mostly this is just a self-gratifying, ego thing (nobody has offered any money!), but Flickr is a fun way to indulge a photo hobby without annoying your friends and family too much. To see a big version with a black background click on "Peacock" above.

Rainier Ultralight

Rainier Ultralight
Originally uploaded by johnrite

Nothing much to say on this, other than I'm having fun with my new camera. I really like this shot of Rainier, especially since the guy in the ultralight aircraft was nice enough to come into the frame on cue.

Gone Camping

Reflections

Alexandra got her first taste of camping last week when we spent a couple days at Kalaloch, an Olympics National Park campsite along the Pacific (click here to look at the photo gallery). Our beach explorations included poking around in some tide pools full of sea stars, anemones, mussels and other creatures that didn't seem to mind a little girl's curious touch. At Alexandra's insistence, Dad and daughter waded repeatedly into the numbingly cold water until our feet turned bright red.

We enjoyed camping together in our new garage-size tent, although it was a bit chilly at night. This trip also introduced babygirl to two other essentials of camping: s'mores and hot dogs cooked over a campfire.

Although she had a terrific time, two nights seemed to be her limit. We were congratulating ourselves as parents for the prescience not to have planned to stay through Memorial Day weekend.

New Camera

For my birthday, I splurged and spent some bonus money on a digital SLR camera (a Nikon D80). It feels so great to have a real camera in my hands again. Here are some shots from the second day I owned the camera. I love it! Soon there will be way too many photos of my daughter online. (Click anywhere on the collage if you want to see the individual shots or snag some prints.)

Spring Break 2007

Easter break from day care meant Dad and daughter had some time to kill while Mommy was busy at the church all week. Our big week included the purchase and repeated trial of Alexandra's first bicycle, an afternoon at the zoo in Tacoma, a visit to the Space Needle in Seattle (Mommy took the afternoon off to join us on that one), and a bunch of playing around the house and neighborhood. We've got new pictures online to prove it. Click here or on the headline of this post to take a look.

Babygirl can ride

On a whim, I went out and bought a bicycle for Alexandra on Monday. I'd expected to have to coax her into riding up and down the sidewalk a little; but as you can see in this video I made online (click the picture to open it), she knew exactly what she was doing first time her feet hit the pedals. Watching her on this video, she seems much older than 2 1/2. (Note: The video doesn't start automatically, you need to click the little black triangle. And the smooth transitions that looked so good on the Jumpcut editor come out a bit jumpy on the finished product, but it's still a fun little site.)

Snow Day

Here's a link to some pictures we took when it snowed in early January. Alexandra's day care, which follows the schedule of the public school district, was closed for almost a week, so we had to figure out things to do to get us out of the house. This was one of them.

Christmas 2006

Hello all, I hope this tool will help us keep in touch better. I feel really bad for having lost touch with folks near and dear to me. It has been a busy year for us. We moved to the Pacific NW in August of 2005. I am now the Pastor of First Christian Church in Sumner, WA. The new ministry post has been one of the most challenging and rewarding experiences of my career. I seek and find the Lord's presence in what I'm doing here and it has been a truly wonderful experience. Little Alexandra is not so little anymore. She's 2 years and 5 months. She's wearing 2T clothes and speaking full sentences. She loves the Teletubbies which is only slightly troubling to me =). She is definitely developing independence and has her "moments" but mostly she is a great joy and a lovely child. I feel very blessed as a mother. We will be having my folks out for Christmas this year and we are definitely looking forward to it. They have not yet seen our new "old" house that we bought back in September. So yes...we moved in August 2005 and then again in September 2006. We love our 1941 craftsman-style home. It is not even a mile from church and in the heart of Sumner which a smallish town with a great sense of community. Last night we heard a fire truck siren going on and off somewhere nearby and a neighbor called to let us know that that was Santa coming down the street. So we took Alexandra out and there was one fire truck, a sled with Santa, two police cars and an ambulance. They were handing out candy canes and toys. It was quite a parade and Alexandra loved it.

Our Home

This is our cozy abode in Sumner, Wa. With a finished attic, walk-in basement and detached garage, we've suddenly got a lot more usable space than we've had before. Of course, with a house that's 60+ years old, there are always plenty of projects to keep us busy.

Big Blue

Since coming to town, I've been working for Vallent Corp., a small-but-global software company in Bellevue whose products are used by cellular providers to keep their networks working right. I'm the proposal manager... for the world. That means time zones and international datelines often make for unusual work hours and difficult deadlines. When two giant requests for proposals came out concurrently in Australia last month, I had to hop a plane on short notice to hole up down under in Sydney for a couple weeks. (And I didn't escape for even one afternoon of sightseeing!).

Life at Vallent is about to change in a big way -- a really big way. We announced in November that IBM is acquiring us into its Tivoli software group. I'll go from working at a company with fewer than 450 employees, where I am on a first-name basis with the CEO and most of the senior officers, to one with more than 350,000 employees and a CEO who will never know I exist.

But that's OK. These are exciting times for us. Vallent was a privately held company constantly looking for a suitable buyer or an opportunity to go public. IBM is a leader in the field and known for taking care of its employees. As I look into this vast corporation, I see nothing but opportunity and open doors. With any luck, they'll enable me to prosper in this corner of the country where I hope to make my home for many years to come.

The sale will be finalized sometime in the next couple of months once we get all the necessary regulatory approvals.

Photos

likemyhat

Our crazy little girl in the photo that made it onto our Christmas cards this year. You can find some more photos of her (and a few of Rochelle and me) by clicking here.

Crazy weather

I love it out here. Since the first time I set foot in the Pacific Northwest more than 10 years ago, I've wanted to live here. But along with the good, comes the rest.

We've had a crazy run-up to winter. First, we set a record for rainfall in November (and that's saying something for this part of the world). Then we cap it off with a storm that brings record-breaking flooding across the area, followed a few weeks later by a crazy snow and ice storm. (The day that hit, it took me nearly 5 hours to drive 30 miles home from work. Many, many people didn't make it -- they abandoned their cars along the highway and started walking.)

Then, in early December, the jet stream brings ashore a huge low-pressure front that funnels gale-force winds through the valleys that lie between Puget Sound and the mountains, leaving nearly 1 million people without power in freezing temperatures. That was late last week, and today (Dec. 18) 250,000 people or more are still enduring sub-freezing temperatures without power. And every day we hear reports on the news about people being overcome by carbon monoxide after bringing barbecue grills inside to keep warm.

Somehow, we've narrowly managed to stay out of harm's way: The flooding came to within a few blocks of us. During the wind storm, neighors around the corner had a 100-year-old tree smash through the top story of their home (I sent a photo to the TV station), and we were among the lucky few in this part of the state whose power never went off.

Summertime, on the other hand, was sublime. With the sunny, clear days near the summer solstice averaging about 16 hours of daylight, we spent much of our weekends outdoors, heading out to Point Defiance in Tacoma or up Puget Sound to some secluded park, or perhaps up into the mountains. A favorite close-in destination of mine is the Foothills Trail, a converted railway line that runs from Sumner 15 miles up toward Mount Ranier along a salmon spawning creek and off into the woods. I've bicycled its length many a Saturday, sometimes with Alexandra bumping along behind me in the bike trailer.

So, yes, come see us in the summer.

Welcome

We don't know much about blogs, but dumber people than us have figured it out. So here we go.

The initial purpose of this site is to update friends and family about all the changes in our lives following our move to the Pacific Northwest. We're putting it online just before Christmas 2006 because we're too lazy to print out letters to send with our cards.