Cinderella, Healthcare and a Little B-Ball

Cinderella moved into our house last week. She appears every morning about 7 a.m. and leaves promptly at 8 p.m. She's very good at making us laugh with her cute little phrases, loves to snuggle next to one of us, and enjoys helping me empty the dishwasher. I caught her with my camera yesterday when she appeared after church: Her dress is becoming a little ragged, but I think she's going to be around for a while.Last Wednesday, following the Massachusetts senatorial election, I did a little dance for joy when I heard the democrats admitting defeat on the healthcare bill. Really, I did a dance around my kitchen. And I let out a huge sigh of relief. You have to know that I'm not against reform--there are a lot of problems out there, but I don't think that this healthcare bill was the panacea. And not knowing exactly what would happen to medicine was scary, to say the least. I didn't know how it would effect Chris' ability to practice medicine, not just practice medicine, but practice good medicine. I also didn't know how passage of the bill would effect our income, meaning how much the government would raise our taxes. I'm not against paying taxes, we certainly pay our fair share, but how much more do we have to pay?? Do we really need to be penalized for working hard?? We've sacrificed 10 years to be where we're at, and we certainly don't live an extravagant lifestyle, although apparently those in charge in Washington must think differently. Of course, they aren't trying to quickly pay off six-figure med school loans like we are...I could say more, but I'll save it for the next healthcare bill...

Kiersten has done a 180 in basketball over the past few weeks. She started out the season timidly running down the court and is starting to throw herself into the game. Saturday I watched as she battled with a girl who was trying to defend against her, it really was a battle as they elbowed and pushed against each other, and I was pretty proud. She even got her first foul. Don't think I'm for playing dirty or anything like that, but playing basketball takes a certain amount of aggression and perserverance, two things that Kiersten showed none of at the beginning of the year.
Here are a couple clips of Kiersten playing a few weeks ago, she's number 21.

I think we're going to put up a basketball hoop when it gets a little warmer outside:)

School was out last Tuesday, and we met friends for lunch at Costco...

and then went to Jumping Jax for the afternoon. Jumping Jax just opened up by us and it's one of our new favorite places! Lisi loved the air hockey...

and the other girls liked all of it.