Sadie, on the other hand, seemed to take advantage of the different cat foods being thrown her way. For some reason she is not keen on canned food or people food, but she can’t get enough of the dry stuff. She has gotten so much heavier since we’ve lived here. However, with all the moving around this summer we really neglected her beautiful fur coat. It got so matted that you could hardly find a spot on her body that didn’t have a knot of fur. Mike wanted to whip out our own cat clippers we bought many years ago, but whenever we shaved our cats they looked like they had the mange. I decided instead to treat Sadie to a day at the spa. So yesterday I took her to the groomer, and she was returned to us as our little lion. According to the groomer though Sadie was not a happy kitty during the process. So much so that she accidentally clipped her whiskers off on one side and had to even things out on the other side.

Sadie is still not completely gleeful about her new style, but she looks so much more comfortable. I do think she is a little chilly at times because I have found her shivering, but there are plenty of places around the house that she can snuggle in to keep her warm. The girls have been obsessed with Sadie since she returned from the salon. Mimi would NOT put her down last night. She even took Sadie with her to go to the bathroom. Violet has been constantly petting and picking her up today. It’s almost like a new kitty is on the premises.

Ok, one last story before the reveal. When I got home with Sadie yesterday I told Mimi to take her upstairs to put her in her litter box in case she forgot where it was. A few minutes later I went upstairs to put the kitty carrier back in the closet. I noticed Mimi was off by herself in her bedroom with her back to the door. I went in to ask what was going on. Mimi replied that she was fine but wanted to be alone. I went over and hugged her and kept asking what was wrong. She finally let out a sob and asked why I had to do that to Sadie. I explained again why it was necessary, and Mimi asked how long Sadie would look this way. I responded that it will only be a few months but that we really need to get in the habit of brushing her daily once her fur grows. Mimi immediately volunteered for that job. Sounds good to me!

Let me now introduce you to our new Sadie.

Her leg fur kind of looks like little Uggs.

I thought it was a nice touch for the groomer to give Sadie a lion tail.

A few weeks ago the girls had a family day at their gymnastics lesson. Family was encouraged to attend and take as many pictures as they wanted. Of course, I went into mamarazzi mode and began snapping away as soon as we set foot on the property. The teachers made sure to have the girls work on each area in the gym, and I made sure to get PLENTY of pictures to share.

The girls always start out with a warm-up and stretching session. I’m so proud of my Strech Armstrongs (ha, who gets that?).

The girls work on their vault and flippy work. That’s a technical term, you know.

Then they move onto the floor and work on handstands, cartwheels, round-offs, back walkovers, and back extensions. I’m impressed with how well the girls are able to do these things now after only started the lessons a couple of months ago.

Onto the beam. They worked on walking with fancy kicks and jumps and also practiced cartwheels and handstands while being spotted. Notice how Annie sticks her tongue out when she’s concentrating. I keep hearing one of her teachers get on her about it and told her one time that she’s going to bite it off one of these days. That would be something to see, looking for Annie’s tongue in the foam pit…haha!

And last the bars. I think the girls treat this area more like a jungle gym.

At the end of the lesson they had all the girls sit in a line on the floor and demonstrate to the parents some of the moves they’ve been learning. Then they received their certificate showing they completed that session and what level(s) they are testing at.

The girls are really having a lot of fun. I’m amazed at how much they have learned in such little time. I can’t wait to see how much more they’ve progressed this time next year. Mike was reluctant at first to sign them up, but he’s really been supportive of them. He’s even the one who insisted we sign the girls up for a second class each week. The second class takes place in Watertown which is a much bigger and more equipped gym.

In other news our chickens finally started laying eggs this past weekend. The first batches of eggs, I’m told by Mike, are going to be of various sizes since the chickens are still getting used to the concept. They probably won’t be full size for a few more rounds. Mike even found a shell-less egg earlier this week. We are very excited to have eggs at last.

Now on to the reason for this post. Our nephew, Jimmy, is getting ready to go on his church mission to Tijuana, Mexico. This is very exciting for our family because he is the first of his generation in our extended family to go on a mission. I think this is a great opportunity for his brothers, sisters and cousins to be so close to a full-time missionary. I’m very excited for my girls to keep track of their cousin while he is on his mission. He’s a warning for Jimmy: expect lots of letters from your cousins, uncle, anut. We hope he will reciprocate.

This weekend we traveled back to Minnesota to see Jimmy off at his farewell party. There are actually three missionaries in his ward that are leaving around the same time, so they had a group party at their church building. It was a huge turnout, and the parents did not disapoint with lots of good eats.

Here is Jimmy posing with authentic Mexican items such as a piñata (of course), Mexican sodas called Boing and Jarritos, and very spicy candy (yuck). According to Jimmy’s ma he is very excited about his upcoming mission. He’s been spending lots of time with the full-time missionaries in his own ward. When Jimmy and his dad helped move us into our house this summer the full-time missionaries from our local church also helped. I could definitely see anticipation in Jimmy’s eyes as he talked to them.

This is the area of Mexico where Jimmy’s mission will cover (see the black marker lines at the top and bottom).

Sara and Jim were very busy getting ready for the party which included making 10 pans of enchiladas and a few tres leches cakes. They are very proud of their son, and they have every reason to be. He has grown into such a nice, hardworking man. The tres leches cake was so good! It’s basically white cake soaked in 3 different milks: sweetened condensed, evaporated milk, and heavy whipping cream. My seams are busting just thinking about eating another slice.

Jimmy was well-represented at the party with lots of his family in attendance including us, Uncle Dave, Uncle Jake and family, his siblings, parents, and two grandparents.

Here’s Grandma and Dylan with Annie in the background doing only what we can guess.

Aunt Stephanie claims she had to bribe Violet with her iPod to get Violet in her lap, but I know that Violet is smitten with her aunt without any coaxing.

Three peas in a pod, Mimi, Maya, and Annie.

I decided to track down Jimmy’s siblings for quick snaps.
Matt looks a little taken aback by my camera, but that’ll never stop me.

Hayley has gotten a lot more outgoing in her “old” age and hammed it right up for the camera.

This was as close as I was going to get to Paul who was busy hacky-sacking.

Mike chattin’ it up with his dad and stepmom.

We can’t forget the silly uncles.

Us old folks with the young, spry missionary.

Mimi and Daddy.

Apparently, there is a new game of tag in our family where the one who is “it” has to tag the other person on the forehead with their pointer finger for 10 seconds. Don’t ask!

We wish the best to Jimmy on his mission and are really looking forward to hearing lots of news about his adventures down there. Good luck, Jimmy!

Now two years later Violet’s hair doesn’t seem to have made much progress. It’s sparse and is taking FOREVER to fill in and grow long.

She is now approximately 2 years, 5 months old. I try to remain positive and thought I remembered that her sisters were in the same situation at that age. To help Violet’s case I decided to find pictures of her big sisters at the same age. Unfortunately, I discovered that both sisters already had great heads of hair at that point.

Annie’s locks look short because of the tight curls. However, when I gave her a bath her hair came down well beyond halfway down her back.

In Mimi’s case her mane was already long and flowing.

I don’t know what Violet’s hair future holds, but we still love her no matter what. I suppose I should try to get better at French braiding and other cute styles to help her out.

At the museum.

Violet went missing for a couple of minutes and freaked us adults out. She suddenly peaked her little face around the corner at the top of the stairs. That sneaky toddler.

Of course, we couldn’t leave the museum without our traditional pose in front on the sign display.

Earlier in the week we took Grandma to the Watertown Mall. Mainly, the girls wanted to go to Claire’s. What is it about little girls loving Claire’s? Grandma let each girl pick something out. Annie picked out the glasses. No, not sunglasses. Just glasses.

Mimi got a pair of sunglasses, and Violet got some hair thingies. I was tempted to get these.

Grandma also treated the girls to a ride.

We really enjoyed our visit with Grandma and hope that the cold didn’t scare her off for good. Maybe a summer trip next time.