Big Birthday Bash

Yes, it's the much anticipated Birthday Bash Blog!! What a crazy couple of weeks it has been. A little overshadowed by the death of our dear Linus, but amidst our tragedy we did have a fantastic time celebrating Mia's big milestone with friends and family.

Her birthday party was a blast! Despite the late season blizzard that hit on the very day of her party, everyone still came out to celebrate. Thankfully, the Denverites and other travelers all made it ahead of the storm. We had all the grandparents, cousins, aunts, uncles, and friends there. About 30 people. It was standing room only in our house.

Mia did wonderfully. She totally loved being the center of attention. Never getting overwhelmed with all the people and goings on.

Check out the pictorial review:

Mia had a little butterfly smash cake all to herself. The girl hardly made a mess of her cake. So dainty....

Then it was time for presents...

And oh.....were there presents....

Even Cheyenne wanted in on the action...

Took a little time for Grandpa...

Yep, Mia is one lucky little girl! So many people love her dearly. We cannot express our thanks to everyone who braved the weather to be with us on that special day.

It was so much fun!

Maybe next year the sun will be out.

In Memoriam

Yesterday, we lost a dear member of our family. A freak accident took the life of our young and loving cat Linus.

What happened is a mystery. My mother and I were on our way to run a quick errand. We were driving down our dirt road out to the highway. As we made it around the last bend about a mile from our house, I noticed a dead cat on the side of the road. Unfortunately, this is not an unusual sight in this part of the world. Nevertheless, I always notice them and say a little prayer. On this day, however, I noticed the cat looked a lot like our Linus, but I knew it couldn't be since he never strayed far from our house, and he NEVER would be anywhere near where cars were. But as we passed this cat, that is when I saw the red collar and there was no question.

Our cats always wear collars so that people will know they are not strays. I never imagined it would serve the purpose it did yesterday. To identify beyond a shadow of a doubt that this was my cat. He was just 4 years old.

The question will always remain. What happened?? I can't believe he was hit by a car even though his location would lend itself to that explanation. But what was he doing that far from the house? Did he chase something there? Was he chased there? Was he killed by a dog and carried there? Could he have gotten into some poison somehow and wandered there disoriented?

We will never know. All we know is that we lost a wonderful pet, friend, and companion to us all. We are all heart-broken.

Rest in Peace, my Linus-bubba....