Sunday, January 12, 2014

The Cat Did NOT Come Back


You may remember that we got a cat a couple of months ago.  Spjutes are not known to be animal lovers.  Don't think that I've gone soft.  This cat was purchased purely out of need for a mouser.  It was to be an outdoor cat that just did his own thing, like most cats do.  There are tons of cats in our neighborhood who just roam and do their own thing, so I thought this would be easy peasy.  Wrong.  Orea (the cat) was more like a dog than a cat.  When we would go on walks it would follow us.  It let the kids hold it and drag it around all the time.  It did not want to be outside.  It wanted to be a member of our family.  The rest of the family was ok with this.  Me?  Not so much.  Not exactly what I signed up for.  You know all the stories about people trying to get rid of their cats?  They take them miles away into the mountains, thinking there's no way the cat will make its way back.  What happens?  A few days later the cat comes strolling in.  Oreo was apparently born without this instinct.  She would follow one of us down the street and not be able to make it back home.  Seriously?  Our neighbors had to keep bringing her back.  Over and over.  For the love.

I was about to take her to the shelter.  She was a great cat, but not a good fit for our family.  One day, when Oreo was missing, I found out from a friend that one of the family's down the street had her.  She said their little girl had spent hours holding her outside.  That night they showed up at our door with Oreo.  I asked them if they wanted to keep her and they got so excited!  They even offered to pay for her.  Are you kidding?!! I was ready to pay them to take her.  I loaded them up with all of the cat stuff and sent them on their way.  Haven't seen her since.  I could not have dreamed up a better solution to the cat problem.  Seriously the best day EVER!

Thursday, January 2, 2014

Christmas!

So cute!

Wagon ride
The Christmas Bus

Temple Square

Cute girls!
Best nativity ever
Holy cow.  Life has been crazy.  I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels this way.  I meant to keep up on Christmas posts, but here I am…Christmas is over and I haven't posted a thing.  So now you get a not so brief description with too many pictures.  Oh well.

One of the highlights of the season was the Christmas bus ride.  This has become a tradition and my kids love it.  How could you not love riding in your own school bus while singing carols and drinking hot chocolate?  Every kid's dream come true.  Don't forget that the bus drops you off at temple square so you can see all of the lights.  Amazingness for sure.

The Saturday before Christmas Jake decided to break his pinky.  He was drilling and the drill caught and swung around, catching his finger.  Not amazing.  Poor guy.  Everyone needs both hands, but especially a general contractor.  He's counting the hours until he can get back to work.

Christmas Eve was great fun as usual.  Yummy food, good company, and an awesome nativity.  This year we finally spent Christmas Day at our house.  It was so great.  We've always ended up at family's in the past in an effort to make it to both family's celebrations.  This year we decided we're going to have to start taking turns so we can be at home.  It was great.  The kids were extra excited this year.  They were awake at 6:15 and finally got us out of bed a little before 7:00.  So fun.  They were so excited for everything and spent the next two days playing with new toys.  Awesomeness.

The best present, I have to say, was mine.  Jake surprised me with a baby grand piano.  What?!!  We went and played around on some, but I thought it was hopefully in the cards for next year.  I didn't even think of it for this year.  He had the kids bring me my stocking and in it was the receipt for the piano.  So excited.  Best Christmas bonus ever.  I can't wait to get it.  Why do I not have it?  Well, my front room/piano room is currently an office while Jake builds his company barn.  So I've cracked the whip and told Jake the barn is now his number one priority.  Yes, Jake is the best husband ever.  No, he doesn't ever need to get me another gift.

As a side note - Jake just got new skis and bindings.  Really nice ones.  So he told me not to get him anything for Christmas.  I got him something, but not much.  Now I feel really bad.  Definitely not the best wife ever.  But I could never compete with a piano.  He wins for sure (not that its a contest, but you know what I mean).