Friday, January 29, 2010

I Can’t Keep Track…

…of all the pets we’ve had.

It started 17 years ago when I wanted to surprise Lauren.  I brought home our first animal.  A cat named Samantha.  Sam, for short.

And that started a running theme in our family.  Namely, that it’s not just Lauren, Andi, Holly, Sierra and me in this family.

At the moment there’s also Monte (the stray dog Andi and Lucy found while visiting Brooke in Utah… that the Eliasons were kind enough to drive home for us).  Lilo, our black fluffy cat who serves as the animal patriarch of the house… and he knows it.  Bear, a sleek grey cat who is presently terrified of the next member on the list… Luna, our beautiful snow-leopard bred kitten (Lauren’s most expensive gift for Christmas 2008).

Home just isn’t home for us without animals.

To date we’ve had 3 dogs.  At least 10 cats (way more if you count all the kittens we’ve been through).  1 pig.  Several turtles.  Too many fish.  A snake.  A guinea pig.  Lizards.  Frogs.  And more, I’m sure.

Plus all the strays and charity case animals that Lauren and the girls are constantly bringing home.  From birds to dogs to anything else.  They love animals.

And now…

Introducing Justin and Joseph (or Larry and Buster if you ask Holly).

Sierra’s new Russian Dwarf hamsters.

I know.  We’re a little nutty.

We actually went to the store hoping to come home with a new tarantula.  That was Plan “A” and was soon discarded when the pet store had no tarantulas.  Plan “B” was quickly hatched by Sierra.

(by the way, here’s a quick parenting tip… don’t bring your 8-year-old daughter to the pet store expecting to get a pet only to discover the pet you want isn’t available.  Because you’re still going home with a pet.  That’s just how it works.)

So now Sierra has 2 new roommates.  Because she swears she’ll take care of them.

Uh-huh.  We’ll see.