June Cats and Kittens

I really ought to catch up, but it's overwhelming how much there is!  So here are some more overviews.

In June our first foster litter of kittens was ready for adoption.  It didn't take long for someone to show interest in Priscilla.  She was the first kitten we had to give up.  It was a bit heartbreaking, but she seemed to be going to a good home with another kitty friend.

The other kittens finally had a breakthrough with Ginger!  Sierra softened somewhat to the kitties, but Ginger finally started to intentionally be close to them!  

Thomas learned how to climb the curtains just before he and Felicia were adopted together -- by Mom!!!  It's been wonderful to have those two sweet cats nearby where we can visit and play with them.  Felicia still likes to run and hide when things get busy, but Thomas is great with the children who come through and is a fun companion.  We got to kitty-sit them once and it didn't take long for them to fit back in.

  

With the other three all gone we just had to adopt Shuri as our own.  She has always loved to follow Ginger around -- I wonder if it's a black cat thing, since between the litters we've had now the black cats seem to always find each other.  With her litter-mates gone she became very close and cuddly with her humans too.  At first her favorite thing was too cuddle with Daddy's goatee at night, much to our amusement.

After a few weeks we brought in a new litter of four kittens.  All four female, about 10 weeks old, as I recall.  These kittens were already named.  There were two tabbies who looked very similar -- Talley and Paisley, a sleek black girl named Riley, and the tabby with white named Luna (she had a crescent moon shape patch on her face).

Provo Temple spring portraits... ish.

 The title says it all!  Photos I took of the girls at the Provo, UT LDS temple in June.  It was fun practice.  We went there twice, the second time with some cousins who show up in a few pictures too.

 The fans were used to stave off heat stroke.  It was hot out there!

 It's just not "portraits" unless we get a silly face.

I also tried out some new editing software on these pictures.  All in all, I'd like to do them yet again, someday, but it was still a fun project.

May, Family Camp

Reunions in my mom's family have always been camping.  Therefore: Family Camp.  There were even some tents involved (the teenage boys slept in tents in the back yard).  Naturally I took a thousand... or so... pictures.  Here is a small sampling of the pictures featuring my little family as part of my big family!

We met at SUU (local college) where my brother in law teaches.  We had lunch and the kids went on a crazy campus-wide scavenger hunt.  The smallest kids even got a Dora themed (their favorite) smaller version of a scavenger hunt.

Then we played a series of "Minute to Win it" games.  The teams were planned ahead of time to make even groups with old, young, gimpy (that was me), and from each family. Everyone had a chance to play, right down to the youngest who wanted to play!

The church building where we played the games was just on the other side of my sister's family's yard.  They set up a ladder to make the trip shorter for those who were walking. :)  After dinner we drove up Kolob Canyon.  It was gorgeous!

I nabbed some pictures of the group up a small trail.  I was doing far more than I should have so my pain and stiffness was pretty intense.  That meant that I couldn't scout out any more ideal location for the shot.  It seemed to work okay, though.  I also caught each of the families on their own.  Unfortunately, the picture of our family didn't work out, so we had to catch ours at a different location when we discovered what had happened.

(This picture needs some editing, but that's just how it is today.)

Michael hung out with me while everyone else was on a short hike.  I wish I'd been able to go with them, though, since I saw some fantastic pictures from up there!  At least we had the tripod and a lovely backdrop from the parking lot too.

Sunday we all went to church together.  In the evening we had a nice meeting where the teens took turns talking to us about things they have learned and how they have handled challenges in their lives.  It was impressive.  They're great kids.  In the evening most everyone went up the canyon again to have a campfire.  Lizzie was very proud to have learned how to use small rocks to split a log.  Apparently she used the method to split an impressively sized log all on her own!

After tidying up on Monday morning, we all went to a fun park.  We played, ate lunch, flew kites, shot water bottle rockets, and generally had a really nice time.  Gradually we made our way back and headed home.

Chinese kites are the absolute best!!!  They work even in low wind conditions!

Our drive home: the girls watched a movie, curled up in blankets and pillows, and snacking.  It was a very proper road trip, even if it was only a few hours long.

Happy Vacation!

May, The Cattery

In May the litter of kittens continued to grow.  The became very curious.  The living room couch used to be in a home with adult cats who had scratched on it some.  It really attracted the kittens.  They managed to pull open a worn end of the couch and started disappearing into the couch for kitty-parties.  When we found a staple gun and closed it back up there were several instances when various of the kittens was playing and went to jump into the couch... forgetting it was closed.  Bonk!  Oops!

Photos to have posted to list the kittens as "available for adoption".  Except the upper left corner picture. That picture of Thomas was just too sweet.  Below Thomas is Shuri, then on the right side, top to bottom are Priscilla, Felicia, and Thomas (again).

Cats love boxes.  That's very true.  But they also love a good basket!  Even if it gets a little crowded at times.

Felicia hiding under the Pack-n-Play, Kate cuddling Priscilla.  Kate with Thomas in her bag., Shuri sitting with a paw on my shoulder to make sure I stayed put.  Shuri's chocolate colored markings in the sunshine.

Before the kittens did much climbing we would take them out and let them play in the Pack-n-Play .  With a blanket in the bottom they would nap, play, and get used to new areas of the house.  As soon as they learned to climb, though, it was a whole different story!  There was no keeping them in one place any more!!

Thomas was the most determined to get along with the adult cats.  He is the first one who got Ginger to break down and start being friendly to the kittens.  Sierra never did get around to anything beyond ignoring this batch of kitties.

Felicia finally grew out of being able to curl up in one of my shoes.

The kittens absolute love each other!  They like a good cuddle with litter-mates.  Especially if sunshine is nearby.

When we went to Family Camp in Cedar City the kittens were kitty-sat by another CAWS foster.  They were very happy to come home to a familiar place after the couple of days visiting.  Unfortunately for them, they went on another trip just a day or two later.  It wasn't overnight, at least.  The "he" and "she's" here all became "they's".  Another round of shots and getting spayed / neutered.  We were told they might take up to a day to eat well, but when we got home they dug right in!  They were still pretty sleepy when we picked them up, so they got some cuddles.  They never seemed to be particularly uncomfortable or scared or worried.  She slept and took it easy a bit more than usual for a few days, then were good to go again!  Time to get them listed for adoption.

May, part 2

Just after the end of the school year we went on the most serious vacation we've ever been on as a family to date.  It was 3 days in Cedar City with most of my family at my sister's house.  It's only about a 3 hour drive, but there were several Dairy Queen restaurants along the way, so we indulged on our way home.

Later in the months I'd had a rough day and Daddy took us out to dinner at Cracker Barrel.  Michael got me a chocolate truffle.  I apparently dropped it on my seat in the car, then forgot.  It was pretty bad to get out of the car at the store on the way home and realize how horribly unfortunate the placement was, and even worse: what a waste of a truffle!  Fortunately I noticed the disaster *before* going in to the store.

In the never-ending saga of trying to manage my severe case of fibromyalgia, I was sent to do an overnight full polysomnogram (sleep study).  It was pretty interesting.  Especially when it comes to sleeping in a room with video cameras on you!  It took ages for the techs to get all the sensors on my scalp and my hair gathered so it would be out of the way.  It took ages again to get it all out!  It was a lovely room, but it was also hard to sleep with so many things stuck to me.  The result is that I have pretty mild sleep apnea.  I'm supposed to sleep with a dental appliance that pushes my lower jaw slightly forward to open up the back of my throat.  I can't say I feel like I sleep any better, but I'll take any edge I can get to feel better.