179/365 Another day in Miami

Today was a very emotional day. I'll write more on that later. For now - the pictures.

Miami on the drive home from the hospital.











Matt and my parents kitten Sundae

32/365 Sundae and Squirrely

These two wished me safe travels as I left Miami

Squirrely doesn't pose so much as rush the camera

But Sundae is a little princess :)

359/365 Christmas Evening

On Christmas night, we gather together with friends and family and enjoy Christmas dinner together. This year dinner was at my families house in Miami. I took the opportunity to take some photos of people at the beginning of the evening.

Matt and I

David and Ashley

Roger and his mother Marjorie

Jason and his grandmothers

Greg and Oliva

You gotta love a kitchen full of men cooking!

Full and happy from a prime rib dinner

Vicki

Marjorie Swift

Pauline Ringstrom

Gift time! Matt took a bunch of candids while we were exchanging gifts.

Greg, Oliva and Bony

Bony and David

Roger

Roger and Jason

Danny

Dad, Danny and Roger

How Dad spent most of the evening

David

David, me and Ashley

Ashley admiring David's baby ornament

Vicki sounds asleep

Mom and Bony

Sundae contemplating joining the party

Seriously, how cute is she????

359/365 Sundae

My parents have inherited a new kitten. Her name is Sundae and her story is quite amazing. My family has an older cat, Buddy (who has an equally amazing story). Buddy is about 3 years old and is very cool. Here's an old picture of Buddy from earlier in the year.

Unfortunately Buddy is not a healthy cat. He's tough, lovable and super awesome - just not so much healthy. He has feline immunodeficiency virus. He also deals with more than his fair share of other cat illnesses - most recently kidney stones and near failure. But he's an awesome cat, so my family treats him as best as they can and they let Buddy be Buddy.

Well, apparently part of Buddy being Buddy involves kitten rescue. Because back in October, Buddy escorted this homely, scraggly, near starving, mange-ridden kitten to my parents house. My father and a few neighbors watched as Buddy nudged this little tiny baby across the street, up the drive way and into their garage. Each time she stopped moving, Buddy would get behind her and goad her along. My father was stunned! Especially since Buddy and his brother Squirrel don't allow strange cats in their yard.

Here is what she looked like in the early days:

But Buddy really wanted this kitten to be in the garage. So my parents put down some food for her, figuring after she ate a little she'd go back to her home or on her way. Five days later she was still there, so they gave up and decided she was sticking around. They took her to the vet where she weighed in a 4 lbs -after eating nearly non-stop for five days. They also discovered that she really was covered in mange and began weekly treatments that would last nearly 2 months to get her better.

They named her Sundae - because her pretty coat is all the colors of an ice cream sundae. Buddy thinks she's great, but Squirrel is still warming up to her. He's not loving her just yet, but he'll get there.

We're not sure why Buddy rescued her. We recently found out for for 2 weeks before Buddy escorted her across the street she had been living in the neighbors yard. They had been leaving food for her, but weren't sure what to do with her. When she disappeared, they feared she had passed on (she was really scrawny). In fact, the day before Christmas Eve was the first time they had seen her. Imagine the surprise - seeing a healthy kitten when you were sure she had died months ago!

Here is Sundae today

She really loved Christmas. She got a little catnip mousie that was the same color as she is.

She really loves being held to. She's still very skittish of hands coming at her face, but once she gets past that she is totally a snuggle cat.