HAPPY NEW YEAR!

CHRISTMAS 2011

Christmas is over already, but it was a great one! The boys were excited with everything they received (even underwear). Besides the trampoline fiasco, everything went wonderfully. I'm already excited for next year! Merry Christmas.

Basketball

I Can't Believe He Is 8!

Well, my baby just turned 8. It is amazing how fast those past 8 years have gone. For some reason, 8 just sounds old. Maybe it's knowing that I'm already almost 1/2 way done raising him. Or maybe I just feel older knowing that I have an 8-year-old! We had a great time celebrating his birthday. From his surprise bedroom makeover to the family party to a movie with the boys to his friend party. So much fun!

SANTA!

Christmas Tree

My favorite season has started...Christmas! Last weekend we went and picked out our Christmas tree. It was a little cold, but since we always have hot chocolate at the end, it was all good. The decorating with 3 kids going in each direction was a little hectic, but with Christmas music blaring, we had a great time.

My girl and me

Our answer to prayer

Our answer to prayer about a new kitty didn't come exactly the way I had prayed for it to come, but it did come, and in an even better way! After we had to return our previous kitty to the found owner that we only had for 5 days, the kids and I were really sad. I just didn't think that we would find one that was so mellow and so sweet. I prayed that God would just have another wonderful one show up on our front doorstep. Instead, he lead me to the place where my friend from high school is a veterinarian. When I realized she worked there, it was a great "coincidence". I had just seen her at my reunion in August and knew she was a veterinarian for cats, but didn't realize where she worked. When I got to the cat adoption place and saw her picture on the screen in the entrance, I was amazed. After seeing her, she told us about some foster kittens she had and we decided to take a look. When we went, my son loved the littlest brown/tan kitten, a girl, named Mary. He said he wanted that one and wanted to name her Olive. (I had told my friend that my son really had wanted an orange male kitty, but that I cared more about the personality). That night we were also going to go look at another set of foster kittens, but it was another 30 minutes away, and since he was happy, we decided not to go. Then, about a week later after taking a class, I checked my phone. I had a voicemail, an email and a text from my friend. She was certain that she had found the perfect kitty for our family (it was from the other foster home that we had not gone to visit the other night)! I explained the situation to my son that night and he wanted to go check out the new kitten, even though he already had a different one picked out. The next day, we met the sweet kitty, and of course, he came home with us. AND, yes, he was an orange male kitty! We named him Oliver, since Olive was a girl's name. He has turned out to be even better than Sam. He is so mellow. The kids carry him around with them whereever they go. He even tolerates the 2-year-old antics! I love that everything came together so well after the disappointment of just a few weeks earlier! What a blessing.