Missoula trip . . .

"Home is a place you grow up wanting to leave, and grow old wanting to get back to." John Ed Pearce

Once we got home from Florida on Monday, I headed to Missoula early Tuesday to help with the final stuff to get Mom and Dad's house ready for closing yesterday. I took Weston with me as he is fun company, loves me without any judgment (always feels so good and is mutual - kind of like home). It would help us focus on something less painful than selling the house that has meant so much to my Mom and Dad - and our family - over the past almost 20 years. It was a lovely home on a golf course overlooking Missoula. We had lots of good times gathering there as a family. Although we were all grown and gone by the time Mom and Dad moved to Missoula, it was really a wonderful place to celebrate and enjoy.

Dad is doing better and even enjoying some good times in the nursing home. The sale of the house will take away a lot of stress from Mom and I think she will do much better as well. She has lost a lot of weight and worries about finances, etc. Here is a picture of them with Weston in Dad's room. He is 90 and Mom is 88. They loved seeing him and he was just what the "doctor ordered" to keep us all smiling.

Weston and I stayed in a hotel with a pool. Here are a couple of pictures of us in our "puppy pajamas" that we ended up with there. At first he was kind of upset that his "car pajamas" didn't get packed instead, but when I showed him that my pajamas also had puppies on them, then everything was wonderful. It is so good that such funny, little things make us smile. He took the picture of me - he loves to take pictures and most of them are of the ceiling or himself in the mirror, but this one actually wasn't too bad. Of course I took the one of him - he was having a great night as we had just finished our swim and he was ready for bed. He is a wonderful little traveler.

Today I am heading to my studio. I am going to load some muslin and finally have time to try some of the upgrade features on my IQ. I have a friend coming out tomorrow who wants to see it in more detail as she is considering purchasing one now as well.