Welcome to the Family!

This summer we welcomed a new kitten and puppy into our family.  At the same time.  Dog number three and cat number two.  It's been good.  Our older cat, Onyx was pretty unhappy with the newest additions to our family and was sure to let us know about it by refusing to be pet, refusing to come inside except to be fed and by hissing at the new pets and all of us.  Fortunately, into month four of having the new pets home, Onyx has either given up, realized nothing is going to change, or forgiven us and will actually acknowledge our existence once again.  It's a good thing because it's starting to get cold outside at night and we were really missing him.

This little kitten is super chill, was man-handled from birth, and is therefore completely unfazed by the utter chaos at our house and the continuous 'loving' she gets.  Her name is Daisy Blackish.  We're a democracy here at our house and as with any type of voting, you can get some bizarre outcomes when everyone gets to exercise their right to choose.  We're lucky she didn't end up as Darth Vader or something more... unique.

And here's our little puppy who is growing so fast!  Meet Zola.  Zola and Daisy and Riley (the white dog) all play together very well.  The kitten loves to camouflage herself on the top of our black couch, waiting for one of the dogs to walk past at which time she launches herself onto their back and begins attacking them.  She's a brave little thing.  

First day of school pictures:

 Four, first grade

 Three, third grade

 Two, fourth grade

 BoyTwo, third grade

 One, seventh grade, first year of junior high

 BoyOne, tenth grade, first year of high school.  Heaven help us all.

 When Four didn't come in from the first day of school with the other kids, I went outside and this is what I found.  She and her BFF had turned the sprinkler on and were having the time of their lives.

 Three turned eight.  When did she get so big????  With turning eight comes the option to be baptized.  Three wanted to get baptized so bad she could hardly stand it!  It was fun to see her so eager to follow the example of Jesus Christ and to want to covenant with Heavenly Father.  We studied scripture, had lessons and talked a lot about it in the months previous to help her get ready (well, as ready as an eight year old can be:)) and to make sure this was something she really wanted to do.  She did.  And so, I took her on a little date and we did a photo shoot down by the lake of her in the dress I wore for my baptism.  It's a fun little tradition we've done with my daughters.  As each one has decided to be baptized, they have worn the same dress I did when I was baptized.  Here are a few of my favorites from that day.

Love that kid and her smile!