Introducing Ember......

This is Ember....

Last weekend we went up to Dietrich, Idaho for my Sis-in-Law's baby's blessing (5th girl - he,he,he). I love going to Dietrich! Not because it's such a spawling metropolis and not because of the great shopping adventures. Dietrich is a really small farming/ranching community. I don't know the exact population but I bet it's less than 1,000. There is nowhere to shop. There isn't a stoplight. Pizza places will not deliver here. If you don't take a cooler with you to the store, ice cream will melt before you get home. But check this out:

I love taking my kids to the country to see fields and farms and livestock.

My kids love seeing their cousins and the cousins love seeing my kids.

I love spending time with my Bro/Sis-in-law (Ben and Cammy). They are the big brother and sister that I never had.

The only time Rob and I play cards is when we go to Dietrich. I almost ALWAYS start out winning (which drives Ben nuts because I have NO idea what I'm doing and only play 2-3 times a year). I NEVER end up winning.

This is the only time my husband and I go running together since children came into our life.

People stare at us when we're running (Dietrich - where every kid in town participates in athletics and almost every adult mocks us for running). It's probably because they think we're crazy, but I tell my husband that it's because they think I'm HOT!

And one of the most fun things about visiting: kittens!

I love all cats but especially the baby ones. Every time we go up to visit Cammy tries to round up as many kittens as she can - remember, this is farm country. So you can have like, a zillion cats, and it's okay. On occasion, Rob and I run an underground animal rescue operation where we select one lucky cat and offer it a chance at a better life. I define 'better life' as removal from the food chain. Last year we brought a kitten home to my brother. He named it Spicy McHaggas and Spicy is a great cat - no matter what my mom says. This year we brought home Ember.

There were 7 kittens this trip. I wasn't planning to bring any home. 3 white, 1 black and white, 1 striped rascal (like Cairo and Spicy), 1 black and Ember. Saturday the grown-ups left all the kids home for a few hours and we returned to find all the cousins in the basement with all the kittens. Kittens swaddled like babies, kittens on the bed under doll blankets, kittens in doll strollers. All of them watching a My Little Pony movie. So CUTE!

The kids were just dying to take one home and I always say 'no' because we have 2 grown cats. See previous posts. But I REALLY hate to see awesome cats left in the food chain (snacks for coyotes and hawks).

Ember is really sweet. She has grey stripes and orange stripes. She has orange fur speckled all over. Her eyes are what got me. I think I must have known her in another life.

How do Kona and Cairo like her? Not so much.