Yesterday started out almost surreal. When Davis woke up, in our bed of course, it was 11:30!!! We have not slept past 7 in years! Amazing. I had a horrible headache but some sinus meds and a vicadin did the trick and we were ready for our adventure. Ever since Billy and I have been married he starts almost every weekend day asking me if I am ready for an adventure, and it almost always turns out that way. :) We loaded kids in the van and picked up Betsi's boyfriend Danny and were off to the zoo. It was 62 degrees and the animals were almost all out and moving about. Billy and I had a great time taking hundreds of pics and goofing off with the kids. By the time we made it to the bears almost at the end of the zoo it was getting cold!

We went to the mall where Betsi was going to get to go to Hot Topic and pick out a pair of boots that we had promised her. When we got in the store she decided that awesome crazy boots weren't going to do the trick and she and Danny set off on a trek to find "rainbow shoes". I had no idea what she was talking about. Oh well.

The boys and I wandered around, picked up a new pair of shoes, on sale, for Davis who has amazingly fast growing feet, and a gently used basketball game for Billy. After about half an hour of looking for Danny and Betsi we found them along with the ugliest pair of shoes I have ever saw.

It turns out Betsi's dream shoes are black canvass hi-top Converse with neon ice cream cones that have faces and fangs, a strange telephone looking thing, and assorted other colorful drawings, weird. When she wakes up I'll post a pic of them, they're crazy.

We ended our day with dinner and relaxing at home and it was wonderful. Sadie had gotten to the Christmas tree while we were gone which just reminded me that it is past time for it to come down.

Anyway, here are a couple of pics from yesterday.

So this post is basically for my Momma. :) Here are pics of Betsi and Liam with their gifts. Betsi LOVES her new jacket. She immediately called her boyfriend and called me "mom" in the conversation. lol. Love you!!!! I would like to thank my Mom and Dad(Joe) and sister for treating all of my kiddos the same. I love that Betsi and Liam aren't "step" to them.

Ok, it's just a YouTube video but he is convinced it's completely amazing!

What a week! We went to Toronto for Christmas with Diane, Katy, and Quintin on Christmas Eve and stayed until the next morning. Betsi and Liam got to go and the kids had a great time unwrapping presents and loved their gifts.

I got some really nice Pampered Chef things and a shirt that is perfect for layering, wonderful! :) Supper was great and Ezzie came by, making Davis really happy he "lubs" her.

We got back to Topeka and dropped Betsi and Liam off at Sarah's and went home for a day of relaxing and straightening up. Billy had to work until noon on Friday so Davis and I packed for a weekend in Larned and as soon as he got home we were off!

Friday night we arrived in Lewis at my Aunt and Uncle's house for the best Christmas dinner ever! Everything was delicious and all of us were there. I was certainly missing my Grandma and Grandpa but in more of a bittersweet way than a sad one.

My cousin Scott's little girl, Addison looked beautiful, she's almost two and such a doll. Of course, Amber's three girls were there and I couldn't beleive how much they had all grown! We spent the night at Amber and CJ's house in Larned where the kiddos played and we stayed up late watching movies and talking, I have missed my sister so freaking much! The next day Daddy and Joyce came over and brought presents for the kiddos. Davis got a cute car track that he adores and he shared very nicely with the girls. We then met Rebecca, Aunt Linda, and Pam for lunch at Pizza Hut. Davis spent the whole time playing with Daddy who was sitting across the table from him and making the funniest faces. He sure loves Grandpa!

That afternoon Billy, Davis, and I went to Mom and Dad's house to open gifts. Davis got a ride on Diego Rescue Plane and was completely enchanted by it. What a perfect gift! Billy and I got a super great new digital camera so we can finally share pictures of our family! Thanks for the great gifts! We brought Betsi and Liam's gifts home for them to open when they come back on Tuesday.

Saturday night I made spaghetti for Amber's family and us and Daddy came over too. Once he went home Rebecca and a couple that are friends with Amber and CJ came over for some drinks and playing pool in the basement. It was a really fun night. My lovely sister drank waaaaayyy too much and it was hilarious watching her. Once everyone left we watched a movie and went to sleep much later than we had planned on.

This morning we got up and drove back to Topeka. For the first time in over 6 years I counted more hawks along the road than Billy. Ok, technically we tied on hawks, each counting 60, but I won the tiebreaker of identifying the artist and song title of the first song we heard on the radio.

The most difficult part of this last week was having Christmas without Bill there. I haven't written on this blog since he died in November, mainly because I didn't have the words to express what was going on and how his death affected our family, and Billy and I. I have read Dusti's blog faithfully and thought that her words were amazing and a wonderful tribute to her father and her family and knew that mine would fall very short. So, I will just say that Christmas was hard and that I am so lucky to be a part of this family and to have had Bill in my life these last several years.

Ok, that's a quick wrap up of our Christmas week. We both go back to work tomorrow and I am exhausted! Here are a couple of pics I took with our new camera. I had to charge the battery though so I didn't get many.
~Summer

I can't stress enough how important this election is and even though I am a liberal Democrat living in a very red state, my vote does count. In fact, Barack Obama raised more money in Kansas than did McCain and while this year our electoral votes will most certainly be going to the Republican ticket, I feel we are moving in the right direction.

I have to admit that I am baffled by the everyday, working class families who are supporting McCain/Palin. I understand that a great many people, especially on the Republican side, are one issue votes around things like abortion, denying equal rights to the LGBT population, and other moral dictates. This infuriates me although I try to remain calm. :)

I know why I voted the way that I did and I understand the issues, after much research and time spent analyzing both candidates offered plans for the nation. I have looked over voting records and the personal lives of each and I have come to the conclusion that not only is Obama an amazing politician but he is a good decent man with a strong connection to family, faith, and community.

Now, I am an atheist so the candidate's religious beliefs interest me only in the area of whether or not they will attempt to inflict their beliefs on this nation. Certainly John McCain/Sarah Palin will strive to do so, and Obama while he is devoutly religious, understands that there is a separation of church and state for a reason.

McCain's plan to give tax cuts to the wealthy and large corporation in the hopes that this wealth will then "trickle down" to the rest of us is a simple repeat of the last 8 years, which we know doesn't work.

He will implement a spending freeze across the board which will impact the services that we need to exist. Not only is this crazy but it's dangerous and shows even more his lack of real knowledge about economics, budgeting, and investing in our nation. We need a president who will look at the big picture and who understands that getting ourselves out of the Bush mess will take more than one term and probably several difficult years.

I don't have time to go more in depth on every policy but if you wanna debate I'm up for it. :)

~Summer