Family Update

It has been quite a while since anything was posted about us as a family. The biggest news which you can obviously see is that we have a puppy. Dale has been a fantastic addition to our family and we have so much fun. It's hard to imagine not having him around.

Mike is still working at SF in claims. He's been working to finish his degree somewhere and in something, just so it gets done. And, aside from some small projects, we haven't done much around the house. (The kitchen still needs those last finishing touches like baseboards...)

Mike is also an Assistant Scout Master for our church's troop, and spent 9 days camping with the scouts in July. Joanne stayed home with the puppy...Needless to say, she was looking forward to having him back to take the puppy on it's 4:30 a.m. potty runs. That is the longest consecutive days that we've ever been apart in our marriage...it was good in that we re-learned how much we appreciate each other, it was bad in that we were apart.

One thing that we hadn't been talking about much is that Joanne is no longer working at the school she had been at. If you want more information about the why's and wherefor's, call us. She's been looking for a new teaching position since March, and as of this writing, hasn't found anything yet, and not for lack of trying. We would appreciate your good thoughts and prayers that she find a new teaching position soon. Especially since school starts back in a couple of weeks.

Aside from job searching, Joanne's been doing some garden work, organizational work around the house, and training the puppy. She's even discovered an internet game that has kept her occupied while Mike is playing his game. Not as much has been done as she would have liked...it's hard to focus on things when you're trying to find a job. Most of her classroom is still in her car, and school's been out since June! Oh, and she has a new calling at church....Nursery Leader. They released her from Achievement Day Girls after 3 months of Achievement nights with no girls (or 1 girl) attending. It was incredibly frustrating for Joanne and for the Primary leaders.

As it stands, the only other news that you MAY find interesting is we had a squirrel fall out of the tree in the backyard and break it's neck...and a bird fly into our back door window and break its neck this summer. We're hoping those aren't omens.

We hope that our friends and family can find time to come out to Chicago sometime. We now have a spare (twin-sized) bed plus queen sized airmattresses, and we're always willing to have house-guests. :) Come visit!!!!!!!!!

Here's a New and Improved Picture of Dale! :)