... The Rest of The Family!

So apparently I forgot three very important members of our family.  Before we had little Gracie Ford, we had Crackers, Elvis, and Charlie Ford.

This is Crackers

He was the original Ford baby.  We rescued him from the garage of friends of ours.  How we actually came to own him depends on who you ask... as per usual, mine and Danny's stories differ slightly.  My recollection of it is hazy, as it was 2:00 a.m. and I was fast asleep when Danny came home from a UFC-watching event and poked at me, saying:  "Sammy, there is this really cute kitten at Tim's place, can we have him?"  And I think what I said was "mmehabnmd..."  Apparently that means, "yes, please!" in sleep-talk!  So the next day we went and had a look at this kitten.  Now, I have to admit... he was cute.  I just loved the way he attacked every little thing that moved around him.  He had the cutest, sharpest little claws.  I was in love.  When we moved into our house 5 weeks later, Crackers moved in with us.  It was July 13.  On August 1, Danny went home to Newfoundland.  That left me and the precious little furball to bond.  Somewhere around August 3, Danny called to check in on us.  I was bawling.  This cute little kitten had taken to clawing his way up people's legs.  He was also chewing on faces and leaping off high objects to see if he could sink his claws into people as they walked by.  He was a fantastic climber... I know this because he was not only climbing my leg, but also the furniture, the door frames, and the walls.  When Danny happened to call that day, Crackers had just finished leaping off the back of the couch, attaching his claws around the back of my head (but not before he cut me from eyeball to ear), and was just then chewing on my nose.  I said to Danny "this cat is the spawn of Satan... make it stop!"  We called the vet for the advice, and got off that phone call thinking the vet was as crazy as Crackers was.  The vet told us... "get another cat."  After I finished laughing and asking if she was serious, she assured me she was.  Another cat would calm this one down... promise!

This is Elvis

Elvis was our solution to Crackers.  We adopted him from CAPs.  When we went to pick him out, he was this gorgeous shade of gray/blue with beautiful stripes.  He was also kinda handing out by himself.  I thought, "now there's a tough independent cat.  Perfect for Crackers!"  We brought him home, and Crackers immediately made Elvis his bitch.  Excuse the language.  Crackers and Elvis actually became best friends, and Crackers never again chewed on a face or leapt from tall surfaces.  Elvis is our special little guy... he is no longer this cute, petite kitten.  He is quite large... husky even.  I very affectionately call him Fatty Fatterson.  For a big fat cat, he has the tiniest squeak of a meow you have ever heard!  He is also slightly... prissy.  He will not drink face first out of a water bowl.  He must dip his paw in and lick off his paw.  If he happens to be laying down near the dish, he will drag it over to himself and lick sideways out of the bowl, never putting his face over the thing.  But we love him!





This is Charlie

We got Charlie a few years ago to "finish" off our little family.  She is... special.  Charlie has what we very affectionately refer to as "mental problems."  Charlie is incredibly smart and obedient.  But she hears things and sees things.  She will lay in her kennel and bark for 20 minutes at things only she can hear.  She has been known to stare at a wall waiting for whatever it was she saw enter the wall to come back out.   However, as special as she is, we do love her!  She loves to play outside and is probably the most loyal dog I've ever met.  She would never leave our side!  She loves to swim, and lord help the ducks at the duck pond if we would just let her at em!  Last year we had the sad task of finding Crackers a new home, and Elvis and Charlie became new best friends.  Elvis is now the biggest sook in the house, and Charlie has taken over Crackers' role as "leader."  See the pictures below and you will understand.

I think all the animals in this house are confused... Charlie is a girl, Elvis is a boy, and they are all fixed!  Oh well, they seem to be enjoying themselves! :)