Finally Home!

We made it home tonight after a long couple of days of driving. I am sooooooo glad to be home! I am glad that we went, though. The weather was awesome, and it was great to see Mike's mom and grandparents and meet some more of his family. They are so nice! Mike hasn't seen his cousins since he was very young and they didn't hesitate to take us in and take care of everything we needed. We stayed at his cousin Jayme's house, which worked out perfectly because she has a 16 month old and so everything was childproofed and there was plenty to entertain Carter and Samantha. Mike spent a lot of time visiting with his mom and we were able to get some of the insurance mess cleared up. I am finally starting to understand what all the hoopla about the health care system is about. I have always had great insurance and I have seen plenty of needy people get Medicaid fairly easily. But Mike's mom just can't get a break! She was married to a Canadian and lived in Canada for the past 7 years or so. She is now divorcing him and has moved back to the states. But because her divorce isn't final, she is still covered by Canadian insurance--that sounds like a good thing, right? Well, they won't cover her down here in the states, but because she has this "insurance", she doesn't qualify for Social Security or Medicaid meaning she has nothing. She is too sick to work, so she is up against a wall. Mike and I spent the majority of our time there trying to figure out how to get her some sort of assistance. Her dad is still working on the Social Security thing, but we were told that it can take years, and most people are turned down a few times before they are finally approved. How messed up is that? I am starting to think that Obama's universal health care may be the way to go....

Anyways, we are just very glad that she has family there in Denver to take care of her. I was so impressed with how great Mike's cousins and aunt have been with his mom. They really taught me a lesson on what family is all about. I left very grateful for Mike's job, our awesome health insurance, our health, and our family. We have been very blessed and I know that I forget that sometimes.

I was also very impressed with Denver. This was the first time that I have been to Denver since I was too little to really remember and I absolutely loved it! The weather is great, we had sunshine everyday. Even when it did snow the night before we left it was gone by that afternoon. The people are laid-back, there are mountains, plenty of running/biking trails and I just really felt at home. I told Mike that when he is done at Kohl's, that is our next stop. 300 days of sunshine a year, can you really beat that? That is a full 295 days more than we get here in the frozen state. Plus they have the Broncos. Who doesn't love the broncos? In reality, I am just really hating Wisconsin weather right now. If it weren't for the great friends we have here I would be looking elsewhere.

Anyways, it is late and I am beat from the drive. I have some pictures, but they will have to wait.