Another Summer Ends; Another Schoolyear begins

It has been a great summer in Boise, but, alas, all good things must come to an end. The kids and I look forward to a great school year ahead as I look to move back to Idaho Falls to be closer to Colton and Ellie. We have enjoyed Boise very much, but are blessed that I have a job that allows me the freedom to relocate and be near the kids. Here are some pictures of places we have gone towards the end of summer 2013 - Boise style.

Ada County Fair 2013

Discovery Center

 River Walk - Boise

California Dreaming

Family is a great thing and staying close to your cousins when young is a blessing.  Colton and Ellie had the chance to fly to Phoenix and stay with their Grandma, Aunt Denise, and cousins Jordin, Hannah and Hayden.   They did not have a chance to visit their other cousins this go around, but will definitely do so next time. Denise and her family treated the kids to a wonderful beach vacation in the Laguana area - a place where Unlce Phil has gone many times and wanted the gang to enjoy a beach where you could still have a bonfire.  I'm not sure if they actually built a bonfire, but at least they had the option...

I appreciate them for doing this for the kids and was thrilled that Colton and Ellie had the chance to reconnect with their cousins.  By all accounts, they had a blast spending time on the beach, golfing, seeing fireworks amongst many other 'vacationy' things.

Arriving in Phoenix & Hannah's Birthday

Fourth of July 2013

 Golfing and oldest theater in country

 The beach (Aunt Denise, Ellie, Colton and Hayden)

Thanks Stecker family for the trip!!!

Hot Town, Summer in the City...

Well, coming from Phoenix, I am not sure that Boise qualifies for a 'hot' city but having only lived in Southeast Idaho, Boise is warmer. More importantly, summer arrived on time and with great weather. The kids and I have spent most of our weekends out and about. Here are some pictures of our favorites so far:

The Boise Aquarium

Warhawks Air Museum

Boise Zoo

The Big Scissors Event

Who knew that a Ribbon Cutting was actually accompanied by a giant pair of scissors?  This being my first time; I was not sure what to expect, but it was a fun and supportive ceremony.  The Boise Metro Chamber of Commerce is a very professional and personable organization.  I would recommend to anyone that your first marketing dollars be directed towards your local chamber of commerce.  The contacts and supporting structure are well work the annual fee; at least, that has been my experience here in Boise.  Thank you to the ambassadors who came out in force to support the opening of the Idaho HANE Solutions office (and for listening to my speech with a reference to "The Shining" and all).

Boise HANE Solutions Office - Ribbon Cutting

Business has been progressing nicely at our Boise office with the staff (me) in good morale.  Our 'official' ribbon cutting hosted by the Boise Metro Chamber of Commerce is being held on Tuesday, May 14th at 5:00 PM.  We will have catering, door prizes and no speeches!  We welcome anyone interested to attend at 6126 W State Street, Boise, ID 83703 in the upstairs reception room.

Thus far, we have signed several schools up for our SchoolDex school management system and are in the process of adding some excellent features.  As a former principal, I have been able to implement some key features that I feel will add value to our customers.  Some of those include:

• Automated enrollment and lottery process for charter schools
• ADA on the startup screen
• Student growth data for administration, teachers and parents
• Common Core standards into our gradebook, lesson plans and report cards

Some of the features are already up and running with the remaining in production.

We have also made inroads with local businesses to discuss the benefits of custom application development for their enterprises.

An Early Birthday for Ellie with Grandma Marci 2013

My mom is a very special woman. She does so much (you can argue too much) for her family. Her grandkids adore her and bask in the spirit of home and comfort that she brings with her. She spent several months in Idaho with us even though she abhors the cold. We are all very grateful for the sacrifice and service she rendered to us. May the Lord bless you always Grandma Jojo (Ellie's name for her).