Tornadoes, good news, and the last day of school

June 8, 2008


School is out and our exciting summer has begun! We finished school on June 3. Marisa is so excited and looking forward to high school and seminary!

A few weeks ago (I know, I know, I am WAY slow at getting this out) Marisa celebrated her 14th birthday. She had friends over for a slumber party. They came over for dinner and a game night. The spent the rest of the evening doing each others hair and makeup. Shame on me for not taking pictures because they all looked FABULOUS! The next morning I made a breakfast casserole and then we went to go see the new Indiana Jones. I enjoyed it although I was disappointed. It wasn’t quite, well, what I was expecting? It did turn out to be a fun day. I have posted pictures from them playing games outside as well as blowing out the candles.

Kayla had her final band concert. Her band sounded wonderful. Our HS bands (9 of them) are ranked nationally. Pretty impressive, huh? At the concert, Alayna had to go to the bathroom in the middle. The only way out was over the back of our seats. She made it without incident. I, however, forgot that I am not flexible anymore. My foot got caught, I tripped, and then lost my shoe. All in front of the back portion of the auditorium. Definitely an embarrassing moment.

The good news?? Well, I FINALLY got a job. Again, to those of you who haven’t been following my job/schooling saga the past 4 years, this will seem like small potatoes. But to those of you who have had to sit through detailed explanations, you will understand what an accomplishment this truly was, an Idaho potato, if you will. I went in for a brutal 3 hour interview process. They were considering me for 3 different jobs. They ended up offering me a part-time 6th grade social studies/ reading support position. When a full time position opens, I will be given consideration for the position. But for right now, and with my health, this is the absolute ideal situation for me. I am getting excited packing up my books and supplies to put in my classroom.

We have spent many hours putting in the garden. I cant remember if I included pictures of our raised garden beds yet? Anyway, everything (except the raspberries) are starting to grow. Bob and Tyler just put in a new basketball hoop, cement and all. Its out on the cement pad in the backyard. We have also had some crazy weather lately. We have had several tornados and had to run downstairs while the sirens blared. I tell ya, its never boring here. Like they say, if you don’t like the weather in Iowa, just wait 10 minutes!

Have any of you seen the movie “The Final Season”? It’s a true story about Kent Stock (the principal of the other middle school and I interviewed with him last year). Anyway, it was filmed right here!! It’s a good story so you may want to check it out.

Ahead this week: Bob drove Marisa and Kayla down to Illinois for teen week with the Hart grandparents. They will be doing some very fun activities, including going to the Nauvoo temple. They head to girls camp next week!

Tyler started band camp today and finally got his trombone. He was so excited he could hardly stand it! He is downstairs practicing right now. He also started basketball camp today. Its 3 hours a day just this week. He came home exhausted and stinky! We have also signed up for the library summer reading series and will be going to see some of the free summer movies. We have a fun, busy summer ahead! Excited to see everyone for our reunions next month!