Amber is my favorite sister-in-law! She’s the coolest! (She’s also my only sister-in-law, but that’s beside the point!) Happy 23rd Birthday! Hope you have a special day! 
For those who don’t know, Jeff and Amber are living in Washington. We don’t see them nearly as often as we’d like and miss them tons. We love you guys!
We were sitting at the table today eating lunch and a thought I’d snap a few pictures. Kaden is 18 months old now and changing so much these days. His vocabulary is expanding almost daily with the newest words being… down, buh-bye, and bum. (Not that he is at all unable to communicate his wants without talking.) Chesley, (who is 4 years old), is learning so much academically. He pretty much has the numbers 1-10 down now, after trying many different ideas to teach him them.
I have posted a good article regarding what the State of Michigan’s Attorney General thinks about cutting Blue Cross some more slack.
And here are the links to the bills as passed by the State House of Representatives in Michigan (doesn’t looks like they have been signed into Law yet): House Bill 5282 (2007), House Bill 5283 (2007), House Bill 5284 (2007), House Bill 5285 (2007).
It wasn’t until November rolled around that visas finally arrived. But, only 4 of them. They were missing one visa! So they filled out more paperwork and made more phone calls, trying to get things moving. And so… the wait continued.
We got an e-mail from my parents this morning and are excited to finally hear that the last visa has been approved! It’s on it’s way! Praise the Lord!
We came to the end of a busy week. Karl had worked long hours and we were looking forward to a relaxing weekend. So, Saturday morning, we woke up and decided to drive over and visit Mom and Dad Haynes. Karl thought I should grab a change of clothes for the kids just in case we could convince them, they needed “Grandparent time.” Once we were over there, Karl asked Mom and Dad if they would take them for a night. Mom was quick to say yes and next thing I knew we were off, by ourselves! Kaden has never spent a night away from us and we’ve never been totally alone since before he was born! (Don’t forget, Kaden is 18 months old.) It felt so great to be alone… just Karl and Denise! We had a great time; going to a movie, chatting over a coffee at a quiet coffee shop, and even browsing/testing mattresses at Art Van Furniture. We had a wonderful time and found it to be a refreshing break. Thanks Mom and Dad!!
