The progression of my relationship with Arie and her adoption into our family has been posted on Facebook on a regular basis all summer. She was born at the very start of the summer season, Memorial Weekend. But even before then, I knew I had a baby on the way.
Arie~Blue's Daddy looks so much like my beloved Blue who passed away at 12 years old. It was a loss I sometimes still have a hard time coming to terms with. Blue was my best friend, my baby. and the best version of a cat and dog rolled into one BIG package! My babies grew up with him and he was a constant source of comfort through my hardships of divorce, single parenting, my husband deploying, and he even stayed in the hotel room with me when Tad has his accident and I was staying at the hospital with him for four months. It was difficult to say goodbye.
We moved to Utah shortly after and adopted a kitten whom I had hoped would lift my heavy heart. Kibby is an amazing cat... he has quite the personality and let me tell you... he is one VERY handsome boy.
But he just isn't my cat. Anyone who knows Kibby and knows us... Kibby is Peyton's cat.
He is my sons best friend. Kibby "likes" the rest of us to his own tolerance but he loves Peyton unconditionally. As happy as I am for Peyton and as touching as it is to see Kibby be such a devoted loving friend to Peyton, I was very sad. I missed that bond I had with Blue. I missed him by my side during the day and at my head at night.
After two years of living here I became online friends with a woman from the Tooele Mommies group and she has a cat she posts pictures of from time to time that looks so much like my Blue. After chatting one day, she told me this cat was going to be the Daddy to some kittens she was expecting.
I was hopeful but tried to keep my hopes in check. When they were born there was only two that had the possibilities of looking like my Blue. Neither were male. I thought I knew for sure which one I wanted until Erin text me a picture of the kittens and I knew the minute I saw her little face at the bottom of her brothers and sisters she was my baby.
I was determined to replace Blue and to find a cat that looks as close to him as I could find. I knew in my heart he was not replaceable but I just wanted to find any possible way I could to hold on to him and to have him back here with me. But as I sit here and watch Arie grow and change into her colors I know she will never be anything but Arie.
And I am so incredibly thankful and blessed for that. She is such a ray of sunshine in our lives. Even Tad has said constantly since I have brought her home how cute she is, how tiny she is, and how cuddly she is. She is such a love bug!
She cuddles with me every night and any time I pick her up she lets me cradle her like a baby and she starts purring. She has even begun to come into another room to look for me.
But what makes her meant to be mine is her timing. She showed up when I needed her the most. I have a very lonely year plus some months a head of me and she is just the distraction I need to get me through those rough lonely nights.
It's almost like she was meant to be a reminder to me that everything happens for a reason...
Summer has been just as the title of this blog hints at... one big adventure coming to an end with a whole new adventure awaiting us with big changes that are coming in the fall. These past couple of months have been busy to say the least. I feel like we have been on the go constantly but in the process we have made some great memories and made some pretty big accomplishments.
My theme of this post is Take me on an Adventure because that is what every weekend this summer has been about for us as soon as July hit. Every weekend I found myself saying to Tad let's go do.... this! Me and bright ideas sometimes! But all in all... we had a lot of fun and in the end that is all that matters.
We started off with taking a ride in the Jeep to the top of the mountain to look down into the Cooper Mines. Drew was the only one who wanted to go with us. And in the end he was glad he went because the views were amazing up there. I wish we had taken more time to just sit and enjoy it a little longer.
The following weekend we took the kids out to the desert areas by Dugway Proving Grounds to find geodes (rock with crystals inside them for those who don't know what they are). The kids thought I was crazy when I said we were going rock hunting. The older two even complained they were going to be so bored and didn't want to go. But once they realized what we were looking for they didn't want to stop collecting the geodes and wanted to go back for more!
My next quest for adventure seeking was to take the kids hiking. I wanted to hike through the trails of Timpanogoas. My favorite mountain and legend of Utah. We all thought hiking up to the cave was going to be a lot of fun... but none of us was prepared for the work it took to get up there. the inclines are very steep! But after all the "breaks" and the whining (mostly from me) it was a trip well worth it!
But our summer excitement didn't end there! The mountain in front of our house caught fire due to lightening striking. There was no adventure there for me! I was very anxious about it. But it was exciting for the kids because it was our first real experience with a wild fire in real life.
Tad and I decided that in the best interest of my anxiety and for the sake of crossing off items on our Utah bucket list we should leave town for the night and take the kids exploring in southern Utah to Moab and the National parks down there. We also decided to take the "short" drive from Moab to the Four Courners USA. Although it was a short trip the kids loved it and we had a great time.... even when we took a wrong turn and ended up lost for five hours in the middle of no where! It very well may have been the best part of our summer :)
And what is summer without fireworks! Tad and his brother do an amazing job setting off fireworks every year for Pioneer Day.
We even managed to get in a few more shows. Drew Carey was doing Stand up comedy at a local club and Tad surprised me with tickets to see him. He is one of my favorites!
And Drew was surprised with tickets to see Big Time Rush, his all time favorite music group! I wasn't as thrilled to go to that concert but I was pleasantly surprised when I got there and found out Rachel Crow was singing there and we got to meet her after!!!
The rest of our days have been fillers of house cleaning, relaxing in the yard and prepping for the up coming changes we are about to face. Hopefully now that things are somewhat settling down I can come back to blogging on a regular basis. I have missed it! There are a few other blog postings I have in the works so stay tuned...
It's never a dull moment here!
