to sum up....

I am tired, so you get a bulleted post....

• We had a great time down in Vancouver. We really wish we could have seen Mike's sister and step-mom, but there simply wasn't time.
• Thank you Mick, for my Trader Joe's gift card, and thank you Kate for my shoes! Both are awesome birthday presents.
• Thank you mom and dad for the humor book, amber (!) pendant, bracelets, cd, and framed cross stitch. I didn't get one thing this year that I feel is breaking my rule of nothing in my house that I don't love!
• I am so glad we got to hang out at Tania and Simon's. I can't WAIT to see that darling little baby girl of theirs, and I really wish I could go to Canada next month. :-(
• I am fighting desire for a Wii.
• We discovered when we got back that one of our cats let out anger at our disappearance by peeing repeatedly on our bed. The futon mattress is ruined.
  
• However, we are possibly getting some money soon, and I have some birthday money, so we are getting a new, king size Japanese-style futon to replace it.
• This means we can sell our old bed frame, which will also help pay for the new bed.
• Kaia and my dad took my parents' dogs for a walk. They tried to run away while Kaia was holding both leashes. She knew that one of them would be hard to catch if she got away, so HELD the leashes, even though she was DRAGGED several feet! I am proud of her for that, though she would not have gotten in trouble had she let go.
• Ben is getting easier to travel with! The car trip both ways went very smoothly.