We Miss You

Over the years our family has had our share of pets:

-Otis (our 1st dog)
-Rex & Rico (iguanas)
-Wally& Chester (horses)
-Various fish and snails (In the end we had to "flush" the yellow snail because it ate all of the fish &    escaped out of the aquarium twice)
-Carter (cat)
-Daisy (dog)
-Shortleg (African bullfrog)
-Casper (kitty)
-Casper 2 (kitty)
-Pork Chops (Daisy's puppy)

As much fun and joy these pets have brought us...so also comes loss and sadness when they die.  Our latest loss is Daisy.  She was easily the biggest sweetheart in the whole world.  We lost her back in January, but it has taken me this long to write about it because we have been so sad and devastated.

The story is so bizarre and disturbing.  I came home from picking Quincy up from preschool one afternoon in January (the 30th, 1 day before Sambo's birthday) and started fixing her lunch.  My next door neighbor Tasha came running in my front door completely frantic.  She was yelling that Daisy was in the back of the garbage truck!  I ran outside and the truck was just leaving our street.  I looked at how big and tall it was and thought my sweet neighbor had gone completely nuts (she had just had a baby a few days earlier and was very sleep deprived)!  But I didn't see Daisy anywhere and the look on Tasha's face convinced me she was in there.  I caught up to the garbage truck at a nearby stop sign and a gentleman had waved him down because Tasha had told this random man to stop the truck.  I didn't see or hear any sign of Daisy being in the back of the truck.  The driver looked at me like I was insane and that there is NO WAY my dog is in there.  He climbed the tall ladder to look in the back and didn't see anything.  This was maybe two minutes max from the time Tasha had looked out her upstairs window and had seen Daisy jumping around in the back on top of the garbage while the truck was emptying the garbage can in front of our house.  At that point she was alive and well.  But then now there was no sign of her. The driver told me he was heading straight to the landfill and that he would look for her when he dumped the garbage.  He called later and told me he didn't see anything.  Quincy had witnessed the whole fiasco.  Throughout the day she kept asking me if we got Daisy out of the garbage truck yet?  Knowing how a garbage truck works, BS and I decided to tell the kids that she got carried away in a garbage truck and that hopefully she either jumped out at some point and found a new family that loves and cares for her, or that she is very happy living at the landfill eating as much food as she wants.
We got calls from Draper City for the next week because everyone was so concerned.  The question is how did she end up in the garbage truck?  It would be impossible for her to climb up that huge truck.  So was she in a garbage can?  And how did she get in the huge garbage can without tipping it over?  She is a 75 pound dog!  And why didn't the truck driver see a 75 pound dog get dumped into his truck?     Completely baffling.  I bawled for 3 days.  BS was super upset too.  Except that we had to put on a happy face for Sambo's birthday and his party.  We didn't have the heart to tell him and the other kids about Daisy until the day after.  Then Sambo said, "That's why I don't like pets...because they die!"

Whatever happened, we miss her dearly and loved her so much.  We were lucky to have her for 6 years.  She went on many adventures with our family and was an awesome pet.  Here are a few pics of her over the years.

The day we got brought her home

February 2006

Hanging out with Millie, listening to her troubles

Just part of the family

Daisy LOVED to swim and play fetch.  She would have fetched the ball until she collapsed if we let her!

She was a fabulous Mama to her litter of 10 puppies!  She let Chops hang on her neck and nurse until he was as big as her!

She was also known to be a little Rascal at times - here she went snooping in somebody's garbage and came home with the lid stuck on her.  This is how we found her.  Still don't know who's it is!

The only thing that has helped a little is that we still have her puppy Chops with us.  And somehow he has turned into quite a good dog in the last six months.  Probably something to do with that he is now two years old and mellowed out.  He's taking after his Mom, just as sweet as he could be.

But wait.
And then there's Casper 2.
We went to Moab for Spring break and we came home to find that Casper 2 had left...and never came back.  Bobcat?  Eagle?  Suncrest isn't the best place for an outdoor cat I guess.  Despite the fact that he was a cat (BS and I are not cat lovers), he was a pretty cool cat.  He lasted about a year at our house but maybe, just maybe, he has also found a new home with milder winters and a family that will let him inside more.  We just feel bad for Quincy and her buddy Conner.  They loved this cat so much.  Like so much.  He entertained and played with Q for hours everyday.  And he didn't mind the dogs.  They liked each other.  Something funny about him is that on the occasion when he was let inside, he would always jump up into BS's bathroom sink and lay there!  These pics were taken on different days:

November stuff

I think November 2011 set the record for the fastest month ever.  A good month, but fast.  Too fast.  I'm sure it has something to do with two weddings and a birth in the family, cousins here from Minnesota, championship football games, and of course Thanksgiving.  I am in Christmas mode and totally excited for the upcoming holiday...but getting anxiety about it coming too quickly because that means that it comes to an end too quickly.  

But this year the kids start Christmas break on December 16th so that is a good thing!  18 days off!  So hopefully that will allow enough time to do lots of fun stuff with the kids {and nothing}.

I am trying to catch up the past month so I can start posting about December happenings.

We checked the kids out of school at lunch time and went as a family to the State High School Football Championship Game!  The Lone Peak Knights were playing so naturally we wanted to go cheer them on.  It was at the Rice Eccles Stadium at the U.  It was an exciting, awesome game and they WON!  It brought back memories for BS and I, remembering when he was a high school Senior playing at his football championship game, while I was a 16 year old cheerleader on the sidelines.  I remember feeling so lucky to be dating him.  Anyway, here are our cute rug-rats at the game: 

 

On November 17th Jenny and Jordan were married.  It was a special and unforgettable moment having all 8 of Sam's siblings and spouses together in the temple during their ceremony.  What a remarkable day!  We are so glad to have Jordan and Megan {Sean's new wife} in our family.  Here are a few snapshots:

All 14 grandchildren!

Beautiful M at the reception.  She caught the bouquet!!!  Hopefully that mean nothing.

She LOVES babies.  She couldn't get enough of baby Landon born 11/2

Beautiful Q in her fancy dress

I hosted Bunko and instead of actually playing the game, we got crafty and made these cute pumpkins made out of paperback books.  Everyone went home with a new festive decoration.  They are easy to make - so much so, that Millie and some friends got together and made some too.

Quincy asked me to post a picture of her holding Casper so we could see how big he is getting.  This was taken the day before Halloween so he is a whole month older.  We are not cat people, but sure seem to be liking this one.  He is good and easy to care for.  Quincy, being the animal lover she is,  has a playmate for hours.  The best thing is he can be outside most of the time and you don't have to worry about him at all.  He has cozy quarters in the garage.   He must be out hunting all night long because he sleeps during the day except when Quinny plays with him.

 

Casper II

Remember Casper?
Well...sadly, he didn't last very long.  3 months to be exact.  How was I to know that he was warming up to the engine of my car when I drove to church?  Very sad situation.

But, it's okay because now we have Casper II:

When Grandma Clark called and told us that a new batch of kittens had arrived, we knew we had to get one for Quincy.  She and the other kids were so devastated from the loss of Casper I.  She had the pick of 4 different colored kittens and of course she chose the white one that looks like the first one.  We are pretty sure it's the same Dad :)
So far, so good.  Kittys are so easy compared to puppies.  And we would know.  And the very best part is seeing the sweet happy smile on my baby girl's face.

Quincy is the biggest animal {especially kitty} lover EVER!

Bringing him home

Pretty, Cute Stuff

Some pretty and cute stuff from this past weekend:

{Pretty}:

These 3 pics were taken within minutes of each other from our deck. Yesterday we were eating Sunday dinner and the kids noticed how neat the view was outside. It was dark and cloudy in most places except for a ray of sunshine that was peeking through the clouds right onto the Timpanogos Temple and up to a section of mountains. We thought the 3rd picture looked like a storybook Christmas village like Who-ville or something. We Love Suncrest!

{Cute}:

Saturday, Quincy was carrying her fuzzy pink backpack all over the house. She does this all of the time. She loads it with random toys, books, etc. and pretends like she's going somewhere really important. On Saturday, she had been doing this for at least an hour when I noticed a quiet sound coming from her backpack. I unzipped it, and this is what peeked out!
If we had to have a kitty, this one is the one to have. It puts up with Quincy's nonsense and handling of all kind :)

{Pretty & Cute}:

We went to Millie's Ballet Showcase Saturday night. It was a pleasure to watch her doing what she loves most. This was her first recital since starting at her new dance studio called "The Pointe." We were way impressed. This night was focused on ballet, and only lasted 1 hour! Millie is not a big fan of ballet, but you would never know it watching her big smile and grace. Her group put on an awesome performance, dancing an exerpt from Sleeping Beauty. Great job!
Thanks to our families for coming to support her (and Tepanyaki wasn't bad either)!

Halloween part 4: Halloween Cat

"Halloween Cat, Halloween Cat,
Why do you meow and meow like that?
Neither I nor the moon,
like your tune,
so SCAT, Halloween cat."

Our kids love that chant...

But somehow, the 6 Clarks ended up with our own Halloween Cat.
What? Why?

Because little Quincess loves, loves, loves animals. And because her dad is a sucker. He couldn't tell her no when she looked at him with her big dark brown eyes and asked him for a kitty. We went to Grandma Judy's house where her cat (actually Aunt Jenny's) had kittens. She fell in love and wanted one really bad. Next thing I know, we are bringing it home. The kids have named him Casper.
Actually, we justify it by hoping that the cute little kitty will grow into a vole/mouse catching machine. It better!

We are not cat people. It will not be an inside cat (even though the kids keep bringing it in). I hope Suncrest is not too cold for the little guy. Too bad it had to be introduced to snow the 1st day! We've had it for 3 days and every time I go to leave, I have to pop the hood to my car because it crawls underneath and climbs up and lays on the engine. I'm guessing because it's warm? With as much running around as I do, the engine is always warm. I really hope I don't forget to check...

Here's Quin showing her Halloween Cat dress: