Springtime..almost

So it's really leaning toward being spring here in Minnesota. I use the word leaning carefully. There still are the occasional flurries (yesterday) but there have been a few days in the upper 70s. The lake by our house has completely melted so I think that's a good sign of spring. The trees are budding, the bulbs are coming up and the birds are busy chirping early in the morning. I think it's safe to say that spring has come!

Kurtis and I went to Washington for spring break for Steph and Kyle's wedding. Julie was the matron-of-honor in the wedding and apparently has captured the heart of her nephew Grant with her red vixen dress. I don't know what I did Jana! Aunt Kathleen and Uncle Steve surprised us with a fabulous trip to Victoria, BC on the Victoria Clipper for a night. THANKS AGAIN!! We had a great time and even with Julie's cold and Kurtis having to work a few hours, we got to see the gorgeous Butchart Gardens, the BC parliament building and pay extra in Canada with our pitiful American dollars. It was a great vacation from our vacation to embrace our Canadian heritage. :)

School ends the beginning of June for Julie. She has survived her first year of teaching. Her colleagues say that she's done a tremendous job with our group of lovelies this year. One teacher is actually threatening to take a "mental leave of absence" because he's never encountered so much disrespect and defiance or been so frustrated in his 14 years of teaching. She recently took 5 hours worth of tests to get an official MN teacher license. Hopefully she passed all her tests even though she messed up on the bubble sheets multiple times and even wrote an essay on the wrong page! Kurtis is liking IBM now that his contract load has gotten manageable. This summer Julie will teach a 2-week community class to incoming 6th graders on how to cook (yes!) and then she's heading back to LDS Girl's Camp as the camp director. Later this summer Kurtis' sister will get married in Utah so we get to see all his family!

We had such a great time seeing all the Gillman's (even Mark on the computer!) in Washington. We love and miss you all and can't wait to see you again.