One of our cats, Caelynn, chewed through the Christmas tree lights
and got electrocuted. She didn't die (but it would've been easier).
We actually didn't know what had happened . . . just that she reeked
of death and she was oozing puss out of her white lips and whitish-
gray tongue. We took her to the vet . . . He knew immediately it was an
electrical burn. (I went home later and found the plug with two wires
chewed through with melted flesh and cat hair still attached.) The
vet seemed to think she could fully recover, but would require surgery
to remove her necrotic lips (on one side) and the tip of her tongue.
With surgery, after care, and medication . . . let's just say it was
going to be pricey.
How much is a cat worth? Hmmm. My husband and I debated it for a while and decided to go ahead with the surgery. I
know many of you are thinking, "Why? It's just a dumb cat." Well, we
figured it was our choice to have a pet and we'd better take
responsibility for her. So, this happened around December 8th,
surgery on the 10th, home on the 13th, back in the hospital on the
15th (bit threw her tongue, lots of blood), and then lots of syringe
feeding, antibiotics, pain meds, and decongestion meds (she caught a
cold, too).
Our invalid cat goes missing on December 20th around 4:30PM. Our cat have been previously having diarrhea accidents all over the house and Christian had to give her a bath, which she hated. Kids may have let her outside (unknown factor at the time). We figured she may have
felt she'd been tortured enough by us. We missed a fun Christmas
party :0(. We searched for the cat in every nook and cranny of house
and I cased neighborhood until 11PM. We prayed a dozen times a piece
(each member of family). Sunday morning, I posted "LOST CAT" signs
all over our neighborhood and on the neighborhood website. More
prayers. We go to church, sing in choir, do callings, tithing
settlement, missionaries for dinner . . . more family prayers for the
cat.
WELL . . . just before we turned in for bed . . . around 9:40PM . . .
I hear a "Meow, Meow" coming from the upper room where we had been keeping her. It has been 29 hours since we have seen or heard from our dumb cat. She was stuck in-between the food storage #10 can boxes I had stacked 2 deep side by side to create a bed frame for our queen-sized bed in our guest room. She had located a 2 1/2 inch by 5 inch space between the boxes (THE ONLY SPACE VISABLE) and crawled in the center of my food storage bed frame which had another space approximately 10" square. BUT . . . it gets better. Our cats had
previously torn several holes in the bottom of the box frame of the
bed (which was now resting on the boxes) when we had previously had
the mattress and box springs on a regular bed frame. She had been
hanging out in the box frame, which she had accessed through that tiny
2 1/2 by 5 inch hole . . . only she couldn't quite get out. So I
helped her out and hugged her and all the kids hugged her and we all
said prayers to thank Heavenly Father for our Christmas miracle. Then
I tried to get her to eat some soft wet food and drink some water and
gave her the antibiotics and pain meds and locked her up in the room.
Oh . . . and we shoved a towel in that tiny crawl space so THAT
doesn't happen again.
This Christmas I am grateful for PRAYER and Heavenly Father's tender mercies. AND I am grateful for our dumb cat.
Funny that none of this stuff made it into our Christmas newsletter.
Twirling warm-ups.
Our first show together.
The girls' dressing room.
Rachel Munoa (center) helped the girls get ready and onstage for me, as I was onstage myself.
Some of the cast hanging out during the performance.
Amara sang an angel song in her school Holiday Program.
Aleya joined in.
Orrin was an elf in his school Christmas Program, "The Littlest Reindeer."
Our friends, the Witskens, invited us to come with them. It was at a Presbyterian Church in Poway.
They also had crafts, llama rides, and a petting zoo with sheep, goats, bunnies, chickens, ducks, and pigs. We loved the llama rides. I doubt they had llamas in Bethlehem, though.
The kids loved the petting zoo the best. The bunnies were so soft and snuggly.
Every year we try and attend the annual Christmas Carnival at MCAS Miramar. This year they had more rides, entertainment, animals in the petting zoo, and free samples than they usually do. We brought Orrin's friend, Marcus along.
We had a nice time at the carnival.
We decided to take a road trip up California's coastline for Thanksgiving weekend. We stopped in Solvang first. Solvang is a Danish-styled town with whimsical architecture and plenty of quaint shops, bakeries, and restaurants. Much of it was closed on Thanksgiving day, so we just did a lot of window shopping and picture taking. We figured we'd stop again on our way back home.
I love the Northern European architecture and colors.
We stopped at one of their parks with an adorable playground and fun picture opportunities.
Christmas Gingerbread house.
The boys started playing tag with dad and soon we all joined in. It was a good workout.
We stayed the night in San Simeon and then woke the up next morning and went on a tour of Hearst Castle. I had been there before, when I was a teenager, but it was more impressive to me as an adult.
The kids were amazed and all we saw. We'll have to return and try a different tour in the future.
Next we stopped at a beach where Elephant seals hang out and sun themselves. They are enormous! A few of them were squirming around on the sand, but most of them acted like bolders on the beach.
Most all the long lumps are elephant seals . . . continuing all the way up the beach. They kind of blend in with the sand. We saw at least a hundred.
The coastline was breathtaking to drive along. The weather was sunny and clear most of the way.
We stopped at several turnouts along the way to take pictures.
My favorite scenic stop on the coast was the Julia Pffeifer Burns State Park. It is the most gorgeous beach with a waterfall falling right onto the sand (middle right--it is tiny in the picture). To think that Julia had a house there and had this beach as her private oasis. I'm not sure I would've been as thoughtful as she was and donated it as a state park for all to enjoy. The beach is only for viewing from afar and is closed to all foot traffic to preserve its natural beauty.
This was the view from the other side of her house. We pondered for a moment about what it would have been like to live in a home on this property and gaze out at such spectacular views each day.
Most of the parks were closed in the Big Sur area due to the recent fires that swept through the area earlier in the year . . . and the unstable ground. So, we stopped at one of the only open parks, Andrew Molera State Park. We walked down one of the trails along a small river to the beach.
We skipped stones in the river water as it spilled onto the beach. It was really too cold to wade across to the beach area. Many surfers in full wetsuits did cross over and dared to challenge the vicious waves. They ignored the signs that said it wasn't a good a idea: Beware surfers. Duh.
All the bakeries had been closed on Thanksgiving, so we stopped here FIRST! Danes make scrumptious desserts, as you well know.
The kids took forever to pick something.
Amara picked the Gingerbread house, but it wouldn't fit in our car. :0( I guess we'll just have to make our own at home.
We concluded our road trip with a stop in Simi Valley at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. It was a visually appealing and conservative museum with simple and tasteful displays (except for the Air Force One wing, which was amazing). It is a fitting tribute to a fantastic president. The views of Simi Valley and the San Fernando Valley at sunset were breathtaking.
Aleya and Amara pose in front of the piece of the Berlin Wall at sunset.
