One day in April, our kids found that a stray cat had been living (or at least hiding from a hoard of kids) in the gutter in front of our house. He was "white" and very friendly, but had very long, matted, dirty fur. After hanging around our house for a few days, and the kids attaching themselves to him, we adopted him. I took him to get his shots, neutered, and cleaned up. They found that he was an already neutered male, which was a surprise, because we'd been thinking he was female and we'd named him "Snowy". They shaved his fur and he came home looking like a white lion, it was fantastic. He's a crazy, pirate cat. He had a really deep wound on his back, which healed nicely, and his lip has a scar that makes it pull up into an angry sneer.
It was so sad, because when he first came into the house, he seemed so happy to be there, but also very uncomfortable. For the first week or so, he wouldn't lay down at all. He'd shiver (he's naked!) and sit up, but fall asleep so his little head would just slowly drop until it hit the floor and he'd sit upright again. He was like an old man in church.
The other big surprise about him, was that after a week or so we realized that he's deaf. It's a common genetic defect for white cats with blue eyes. This makes him even more skittish. He will now cuddle every once in awhile, but is generally a loner. He gets spooked easily; a few days ago he jumped straight up about 5 feet in the air, he doesn't usually sleep on soft surfaces, and likes to be outside most often.
We got another new pet, Dotty the Leopard Gecko. I got sick of our stupid fish. They take a lot of work and NO ONE liked them. Fish are actually the worst possible pet, they give you nothing. Dotty takes work, mostly in keeping her crickets well stocked, although in summer the kids are responsible for catching grasshoppers for her. She's pretty fun, because she's slow and the kids love to hold her.
Jared also loves her, here she is in her little beard cave.
For Christmas I bought myself a sausage maker. It's something that I've wanted for a long time, because I love sausage. I made sausages one day in March, and I was super excited about it, but the kids had been passing around some kind of stomach flu and it finally hit me on that day. As I made the sausages I got sicker and sicker, and finally threw up after I ate the first one. Because of this, I haven't made sausages again since, and ended up throwing away the ones that I did make.
I still am a fan of sausage though, so when Jared's birthday came up, I threw him a "Sausage Fest" birthday party! It was fun, I invited lots of friends and our house was completely full. We had tons of different types of sausages and a table full of condiments and fix ins.
I even made a sausage cake. It was a good time.
I planted an early spring garden again this year. The lettuce, kale, and spinach were successful but the broccoli, brussel sprouts, carrots and asparagus were not so much. We only got a little bit of broccoli but it was delicious and the brightest green you've ever seen.
We did a lot of other small fun things, it's been so long now, I barely remember them (which is why I need to blog, dang me!) There is a hike in Payson canyon which has become super popular, called "The Grotto". It is a super fun, short hike which ends in a really neat waterfall that's enclosed in rock walls. It's fantastic for little kids, because the hike has log bridges to cross and the waterfall at the end is so fun.
We went one day after a rain storm so we had the added fun of mud and worms.
Annie would hike and pick up as many worms as she could. When her little hands were full, she'd deposit a giant pile of worms and start over, it was adorably disgusting.
Here is a picture of a hike up Slate Canyon with the cousins.
These two pictures crack me up. Jack and Annie are champion posers. Note Jack's face of pure disgust from Annie touching him, until he realized that I was taking a picture.
Easter was fun.
Someday I will get a good Easter picture. I think it needs to happen before the candy comes out next year.
Here are Annie and Cate at the Thanksgiving Point Tulip Festival.
This picture is here because it needs to be recorded for our posterity. My parent's are loons. Outside this window was a hollow tree stump, and my dad got to spend a season watching drama unfolding of different species of birds fighting for the nest in the hole. There is a bird that likes to tap on this window, because it is reflective. My dad has tried several things to stop it, including nailing a rubber snake to the house. In another window he has a picture of a cat jumping so that the birds will not fly into it.
I had this little Ikea dresser. It was boring, so I bought a bunch of vintage yardsticks from an antiques fair and covered it. I added some newer yard sticks and paint stir sticks, stained them, aged them, or painted them. I love the way it turned out. It's hilarious how long it took me to finish it. I would work on it for an hour every month or two, so it was insane.
I also made this nifty little bench for the back porch. I wanted to hide our electrical panel and other junk. It was really fun and the kids were really impressed, as was I.
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