SOLD!

We just sold our business "Aspen Printing" today. I have some mixed feelings about this.
Relief! We have been in the process of selling it for almost a year now. I am glad this process is finally done.

Happy! I am happy that soon I will be able to be home to get lots of things done that have been put on hold until I have more time. There is a huge list such as getting the scrap books done for kids. I stopped about six years ago and a lot has happened since then. More painting needs to happen, the floors need to be re-finished, the garden planted, the yard cleaned, the house cleaned room by room and organized, I need to get some certification to teach again. Lots and lots to do.

Sad! I am a little sad that I won't be there anymore. I have lots of good memories in that building and I will miss seeing the people that come in to get work done. A lot of counseling has happened during office hours. I sometimes think I should have charged by the appointment instead of the copy.

Excited! I get to spend my summer at home with Jacob and Mark when he is here. How fun will that be?!? Maybe this year the garden will get watered and weeded.

Chicago!

Spike and I got back from our Chicago trip. When I go on these trips to the National School Boards Convention I am reminded of how privileged we are to live here in Wyoming and especially in Lovell. We have wonderful children and our school is just getting better and better. I went to a few classes that I enjoyed. Learning about drug testing in the schools was a good one. The class about making the change from preschool to kindergarten was interesting. I think we need to involve our parents a little more at the kindergarten level. The last one we went to was about understanding that employees in the district think, feel and hear things differently. Communication is key.
Now for the fun part. The Museum of Science and Industry was fantastic. I so wish that Mark and Jacob could have gone with us. We got to see mini tornadoes, and lots of trains and airplanes, body parts and systems (real cadavers), and things about sounds, prisms and mirrors and way too many other things. We only had two hours to walk through so we didn't get to go their 'green house' or some of the movies that were available.

The traveling part was not my favorite. I am not a good traveller and I was not feeling well on the way out there but the trip back on the planes was much better. This is a picture of Spike on the top of the Sears Tower. I am a big chicken and would not go out there with him. We were 103 stories up. Yikes!

The zoo was pretty fun and free. We only had to pay for the cab ride out which was interesting, and for the train back into town. That was a neat experience. The zoo was pretty basic with lions, tigers, bears, camels, zebras, monkeys, snakes and all sort of interesting people to look at.

Spike was really good at taking care of all of us by arranging for the reservations and getting the rest of us where we needed to go. I had meatloaf the first night. That was expensive and mine is way better. The second night we had Chicago Pizza. That was a whole lot of cheese. We ordered two pizzas for six of us and only got through part of the first one. The last night we went to a place called Bennigans where I had some fish and broccoli. Spike had chicken fingers so we shared our food. I could only eat so much fish. I am so grateful to my mom and for Mark for taking care of everything here at home. What a great family I have!

Pinewood Derby!

Jacob's car is pretty cool because of the two white lines on the red car that looks kind of like a sports car. He got the "Best use of Imagination" award at the Pinewood Derby.
This is Spike's Pinewood Derby car. I think he beat one other car that looked like a hearse.

Kid Pyramid

I love this picture! Aren't Jared & Lucas cute?! Actually they all are. I think we should get another updated pyramid going. I am not sure Betsy should be on the bottom though.