Fuzziness galore at our house

I've had my eye on a Pet Samaritan cat for a couple of weeks.  Kayla met him (at PetSmart) while she was here, and we agreed that he would make a fantastic addition to our family.  He was a Humane Society rescue, and he's HUGE, black, furry and lovable.  He does look a lot like Oscar, but he's much bigger (I'm guessing ~18 lbs), younger (4 yrs) and more active.  Well guess what?  We brought him home last night!

Say hello to Mister Fuzzy man!

Regal profile

Fetching front pose

Action sequence

He's pretty trusting, given that he just met us hours ago

The naming contest will now begin!  His Humane Society name is Fritz, but we don't think that suits him.

Suggestions, please?

Back home

Whew!  What a trip we had to Texas!  Here's a super-quick rundown of our last week.

We had fun on our flight to Houston to return Kayla (sniff, sniff, we miss her) and visit Kevin, Kerry and Luke, the handsomest boy ever.  We also got to go to Luke's baptism (very sweet) and visit Kevin's church (very impressive).

We also got to meet Kayla's best friend, Anna.

At a small gathering of friends after Luke's baptism, the Henson kids and their friends took turns giving neck massages to the adults, and Kayla practiced her  deep tissue massage skills by standing on Kevin's shoulders.

The Henson men concentrated deeply on the Women's World Cup soccer game, which the U.S. sadly lost (but to some fine Japanese competitors).



Next, we spent a day with Bob's sister Janis and her man, Jack, in Bastrop.  Janis is a  talented interior designer, and Jack is an incredible builder.  He showed us his shed/workshop which is actually more like a house, complete with three rooms and windows.

And then, on to Austin!  We spent most of our time with Lindy and Chris getting to know Riley.  Lindy put Riley's hair in cute little pigtails for the occasion.



And in case there was any doubt in your mind that Riley is the most beautiful baby ever in the history of the world, I give you this.



And finally, we visited the Lieou family in Dallas.  We were able to see a fantastic dance recital (hip hop/jazz/tap) featuring Olivia.

While Jordan was at horseriding camp, we took Olivia to INSYNC, a wildlife rescue center in Wylie, TX that takes care of large cats (tigers, lions, cougars, leopards, lynx, bobcats and servals) that have been mistreated by irresponsible private breeders.  Can you believe people try to breed these animals?  The visit was educational and the animals are amazing, but it was a little freaky to see them so close.  One recently-rescued cougar kept his gaze focused on Olivia a little bit too long, and after we heard one really loud roar (at the woman cleaning its cage, I think), we decided to move along a little more quickly--mainly to avoid being eaten. Afterwards, we stopped for lunch at a restaurant in beautiful downtown Wylie.



The Lieou's have a cool cat named Shadow.  I tried to take a picture of him, but he moves too fast!  Maybe you can get the general idea:

On Friday we visited Jordan's horseriding camp where she and the other girls in her class demonstrated their horseriding skills.  She rode a horse named Paris and they both performed flawlessly! 



On Saturday Olivia, Jordan and I made cookies in the morning, and then Jordan, Bob and I went to see the movie Rio--highly recommended!

It was a wonderful vacation even though Texas is HOT HOT HOT this time of year.  Next time, I think we'll try to visit in December.  Thanks for the visits everyone.  We love you!  

Kayla finishes up her trip in style

I am sad to say that Kayla's visit is almost over. We've had so much fun doing things with her we haven't had a chance to do since we had little kids of our own. Kayla was an excellent house guest, and I think our cats will miss her as much as we will. Kibbie, especially, got a bunch of extra attention--which she really needed after her brush with death a couple of weeks ago.

Kayla spent the morning taking Waylon on one last walk, and then we went to Tracy Aviary.  I don't know what you remember about going there when you were a kid, but I can guarantee that the place is 150% better now.  The exhibits were clean, beautifully cultivated, and the birds looked totally healthy and happy.  Somebody (probably a lot of somebodies) must have contributed a lot of money to the Aviary.

The best thing, though, was the bird show, which was even better than I remember it being.  Hawks and vultures flew out of boxes mounted on tall poles, McCaws swooped down over the audience, and an emu came running out to get fed by a small child.  The handlers were smart and funny, and Kayla and I both loved it!

That's Kayla in the pink shirt; she "fed" a trained crow two one-dollar bills!

 

We saw a bunch of beautiful ibises with loooong beaks for catching bugs 

...and a family of swans!

Do you remember the song Kookabarra sits in the old gum tree?  We saw an ACTUAL kookabarra, and he was shaking the smithereens out of a dead mouse.  Most of the people who passed the exhibit said something like "Gross!" or "Enough already!  It's already dead!" but that didn't stop the little dude from making certain that thing was absolutely a goner.

The most impressive bird I saw was the Andean Condor--a huge bird named Andy (clever) who was 51 years old!  He was new to the Aviary and they were training him!  (There's hope for me yet, if a 51 year old bird can be trained.)  Condors live to be 70.

When we got back from the Aviary (after stopping by Nielsen's Frozen Custard one last time), Kayla offered to help us clean the house, and she did!  With her help we finished in record time, and now when we return from Texas we will come home to a sparkling clean house, rather than a messed up one!

After spending a week with Kayla, I can accurately say she is an AMAZING girl--curious, fun, energetic, helpful, grateful, smart, an excellent conversationalist, terrific with animals, and a great sport.

Thanks for spending a week with us, Kayla!  It was the most fun I've had in years! 

Cedar City and The Music Man

We returned from Cedar City last night, and I shall now update you on our activities over the last few days.

On Wednesday, before we left, Kayla and Bob took Waylon for a long walk in Sugarhouse Park.  Kayla took advantage of the opportunity to roll down the big sledding hill.

Waylon has grown up to be a charming young dog.

Kayla is crazy about slugbugs, and Waylon, and Waylon is crazy about Kayla.  Kayla is very good with animals.  I think she will grow up to be a veterinarian.

Also before we left, Kayla and I made sugar cookies [from a package] and we iced them!  For even more added sugar, Kayla put multicolored sprinkles on top.  Yummmmm.....

On the day we left for Cedar City, Bob made waffles.  Kayla likes hers covered with creamy peanut butter.

And now for the trip!  We admired the gorgeous flora and fauna (mostly flora) on the drive down to Cedar City.  We stopped at Nephi (I think it was Nephi) to stretch our legs.  It was kind of windy.

When we arrived in Cedar City, we staked out our territory (Kayla called the bed by the window) and were pleased to see the Holiday Inn had WiFi.

And then we went to beautiful downtown Cedar City.  All over the city are mysterious bronze statues, which amazingly are NOT covered with graffiti.  We decided to take Kayla's picture in front of every single one of them.  Apparently the statues are all people who helped build the city, or characters from Shakespeare's plays.

(This rooster probably didn't help build the city, but we thought we was cute)

 

Cedar City has a very nice bowling alley, so we went bowling!



We stopped at the fairgrounds and saw this little puppy.  Kayla, who as you may know is a wonderfully sociable young woman, struck up a conversation with the puppy's owner, who let Kayla hold the teeny weeny little thing.

As we headed back to our hotel to get ready for The Music Man, a herd of sheep were being herded...somewhere.  This stopped traffic on the road for several minutes.  They were noisy.



We took a hike up to the "C" (for Cedar City), and along the way we had a panoramic view of the city.



We went to Sullivan's Cafe for lunch, which was kind of cool because Bobbyanne (my sister) used to go there when she was in school at Southern Utah University.

And then came the highlight of our trip!  The Music Man!  The theatre it was presented in is usually used for Shakespeare plays, so there was Shakespearean stuff all over the place in the lobby.

The play was amazing--professional and sweet and fun--and all three of us loved it. 

This morning I helped Kayla dry and flat iron her hair (so much fun!) and then we had breakfast outside, watching the birds and one of our baby squirrels.  I'm telling you, life doesn't get much better than this.

Kayla likes to eat her cereal without milk, and here is her favorite cereal.  Can you identify it?

Later today, Kayla and I will be going to the bird show at Tracy Aviary, and then we get ready to head to Houston tomorrow.  We've had a busy (and fantastic) week!