Jocilyn- I love the way you love your sisters! I love that you have a desire to make good choices and set a good example. You are my oldest baby, and I know sometimes I'm hard on you... but you take it in stride... usually. You are officially 9 1/2 as of my birthday.... how did you get to be so old? Hod did
I get to be so old!?!?!? You have a zest for life. Where you use to love just being home with me, you are now finding that friends and
play dates/study dates are FAR more fun! You are such a little hippie, you love peace signs and all things 70's and "girl power!"(although I don't know if you even know it was the 70's that you love!). You love to help me. You come into the kitchen and want to help cook, clean, set the table... but only on your terms... not always when asked. You are probably quite "normal" as far as almost 10 year
olds go, you have quite a big attitude and sometimes it gets the better of you. I never understood what my mom meant by the "looks" I'd give her... well, I do now. You are often told to "fix your face." But the thing is this, I know it isn't you! I know that you are my girl who reminds the family that it's time for scripture study... you are the girl who says, "mom, I'll help Kenna w/ her homework today..." you are my girl who still has bad dreams and comes to snuggle with me in the middle of the night. I love to hear you laugh and play with your sisters. Right now (as I type) I can hear you making silly noises at
Maesyn in the bath... You've been such a trooper through the move from Idaho to California. Most days you're good with it, but then there are the days when you feel angry that you had to leave your grandmas and grandpas, aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends... you are a much loved girl~ and I"m so thrilled that I get to be your mom!!!
McKenna~ Oh my girl! You are so sweet! I love the size of your heart, you love so big. You are also a big help around the house. You can't wait to be 8, to get baptized and have your own "big" set of scriptures. You have started participating in family
Scriptures by reading several verses, and I must say, I am impressed with your
diligence in trying to sound out the big and strange words. You said to me the other day, "Mom, you know how I didn't want to go to first grade again? ... well, now I think it's
ok, because I kinda know what work to expect." You are doing great this time! I think you were just a bit young last year- but you're on a roll now kiddo... just keep working at it and never give up. You are a tenacious little 7 year old- I doubt there is much that you could not do. The other morning we were late getting up for school (it was on purpose because
Jocilyn had literally NOT slept the night before, so I was letting her sleep a bit and then
ya'll went to school late) but you were so cute, you came bursting into my room and said, "MOM! We're late! It's so light outside, you forgot to wake us up!!" You keep me on track, don't you? Since moving, we've started calling
GM's and
GP's every Sunday night. You are the first kiddo on the phone and you disappear into your room for a long time, until finally you emerge and it's someone
elses turn. Now that GM and GP Slade are on their mission, we'll have to call them much earlier in the day, or you'll keep them up past curfew with your lengthy
convo!!! When you get something in your head you are like a dog with a bone! This week you have been hounding me for a little bag that will hold your scriptures. I told you that I was certain I
didn't' have one that size. You then went and found a travel cosmetic bag that would be "perfect!" and all I've heard since is, "mom have you cleaned it out?..... mom, I don't want to make you mad, but did you do it yet?
ummmm, mom, did you forget about the bag for me?" OH MY GOODNESS CHILD! Just go and do it!!! So you did, tonight you returned and reported that it fits 2
books of
Mormon, my mini quad, and some other thing you put in there.... you're amazing. You hate, HATE your freckles... that's another thing you are hung up about right now.
Also, you save money like nobody I know... but it also burns a hole in those little pockets of yours... I think you are like me- you like to know the money is there, spending it hurts a little, and so you really think before you buy... and that's
ok. This week you made
Jocilyn "earn" $3 from you for a book order... you paid her to get off the TV and play games with you.... you love your sister. Usually you two are best friends, but when you argue you do it up right! (I hate when you do that!) One more thing about my 7 1/2 year old... I think you are destined to be a dentist. You go after loose teeth like a bounty hunter after ... who knows what! Whenever you have a loose tooth you disappear into the bathroom for hours- not kidding.... later I find tons of little tissues and bowls/cups of water that you were using to methodically loosen and pull your teeth... then you put in your order for what color of pixie dust you want and wait for it to magically appear with $$$$... you are so fun- you make my life colorful and happy~ I just love your guts!
Maesyn- You are taking your role as a 2 year old very seriously... you're so good at it! You're the most adorable little monkey one minute and the next I'm yelling, "we don't bite/pinch!!" I have to make sure you are
de-clawed on a daily basis because you're ridiculously mean with them. You say the cutest things... some of them I remember your sisters saying, sweet little things like, "hold you?" meaning of course that you want to be held, we love that. You also have taken to calling me "wee-
hah" which means "sweetheart"... tonight I was moving clothes from the washer to the dryer and you sat on the floor and said, "good job,
swee-
hah... good job." You're my little cheerleader. You also call me "honey"... it's cute because you pause before you say it... for example you'll say, "I love you..... honey." For the last couple of weeks you mimic your dad and I... you have heard us say to
each other, "I love you too much!" so now, you say (to any member of the family) "I love you......
tooooo much!" It's about the sweetest thing I could ever hear. You are sure a busy little bee... I have to keep the gate up to the kitchen
because you've learned how to maneuver yourself into dangerous positions and into things you shouldn't be into. A few weeks ago- actually i think it was before Christmas, you turned the stove on.... we left the house and came back and the whole place smelled of gas... I could NOT
figure it out... lo and behold- the knobs were turned... oh child. You love music... I swear you would dance to the beat of a dime in the dryer! You twirl yourself dizzy, stand on your head and put your hands behind your back (that one is pretty odd looking to tell you the truth!)... and boy how you love your sisters. A couple of nights ago all three of you were in the tub. I came in to wash hair and the scene was like something out of a mobster movie- and you were the "Boss!" You had a sister on either side of you and between them you stood. I said, "sit down." You looked at me for a split second and then seriously laughed your head off... it set your sisters in motion, so then
every time you thought that something was funny, they would be your support
laughers..... it was pretty cute... your shoulders just shook you were laughing so hard. You love,
love nursery. Anytime you can go the church you are happy to be there, whether for church or with me to the office... you love it. I think you
inherited some of the "gypsy" blood from my side of the family- you are always asking to go bye-bye... you got the wrong mom for that! You love getting sisters from school and daddy from the train. During our hours home in the day you are asking me every 5 minutes one of these two questions, "mommy, daddy come back?" or, "mommy, sisters come back?" you're satisfied once I tell you that yes, they are coming back after work/school... you love your family- and I just don't think we could love you any more- you tickle our innards... can't imagine life w/o you little one,
thanks for
comin' to our party!
Here is a black jaguar. He was sure anxious about something. He seemed tense and ready to pounce, as he paced this side of the enclosure... I don't know what was on the other side (nothing we could SEE) but certainly there was something that he knew was there and wanted. Interesting thing about this guy, in the sun you can see his spots! I'll have to google jaguars and be sure he wasn't some kind of black leopard. Jocilyn got a better pic with the smaller camera, it was really cool, there was a reddish tint and he definitely had a spotted coat. I was thankful he was behind the cage because he really wasn't very happy about something. 
I know you can't see this guys face... but it just shows what a gorgeous coat these guys and gals have. It was really cool to be so close to them also. It isn't a zoo, so there aren't the same requirements about distance between visitors and animals. We were about 4-5 feet from each of these cats. 
Anna and Zach are the cougars on the property. Here is Anna, she was just pacing back and forth. Maesyn just kept calling her a Puma (which is also correct)... "scary pew-ma!" (phonetically) she loves her Diego animal adventures and she really loved these cats. 
This is a serval cat. They are sure tiny in comparison to most of the others on the property. I liked this one because a couple of years ago I helped Jocilyn with a report on this cat.... very, very, pretty. I remember reading that some people have domesticated them (as with larger cats I think this isn't easy) but this one I could see just walking around the house- petite little thing! (about the size of a medium dog) 
There were several peacocks just roaming around. In fact, when we first entered we saw one on top of the vending machines and two more on the roof! DANG!!! These guys are LOUD! Apparently they are always in "mating season"... or at least they were when we were there. 
Their colors are so vibrant... the pictures are amazing, but still don't quite do them justice. 
Poor girl... this is a "Pea-hen"... not a "Pea-cock"... why are the little girlie birds so lack luster in comparison to their male counter parts? 
The wind was blowing and their plumage just follows! 
These two males were duking it out! It was cool to watch them try to one up each other... 
This is the smallest cat at the rescue. He's called a "Fisher Cat." I'm serious when I tell you that this one looks like one you'd see on someones couch!! But no... they eat small cows and other fairly large prey... he'd probably shred a couch! 
This one put on a little show for us. He/she posed and pranced... here we got to see a little glimpse of those teeth that you wouldn't like to get much closer to!
