The Family Zoo

My husband refers to our home as the "family zoo". The reason for this is because we have five animals (yes I said five).

It began......

The day Jeff and I got married we came home and found a sweet little kitty at our front door. He ended up liking us and so we decided to keep him. We named him Melosh....don't ask me where that name came from.

Several years later, we took in another stray kitty named Mittens. He is big and fat and loveable.

We then decided that the boys needed a dog. We then found a little beagle and named him Bailey. He's not so little anymore....

About a year and a half ago, we lost Melosh, he was 18 years old and we were crushed. We thought that in order to help us and Mittens cope with his loss we would adopt another kitty. We named her Daisy. Mittens didn't like her too much in the beginning but now they are fast friends.

You would think that three animals is plenty right? WRONG!

Several years ago a friend of mine had to give her dog away. I thought my parents would enjoy a companion. (Thought I was going to take her didn't ya). Penny is her name and my mom and dad fell in love with her.

Last year, my father underwent heart surgery and while in the hospital he had a stroke. My mom worried about Penny being alone since she was with my dad in the hospital and rehab for days and weeks. So she asked us to take Penny until my dad came home. By the grace of God, my dad has slowly rehabiliated but is still a little unstable when he walks. Penny constantly has to be by your side and for fear of my dad tripping and falling, Penny has remained with us until further notice. My parents miss her but we take her for visits quite often.

Okay now...the count is now at 4 pets. We should have stopped right there...right? WRONG!

My friend's dog had 4 of the cutest little puppies you have ever seen this past September. Guess who got sucked in.....that's right...ME!

I knew that Jeff would never agree for me to bring a puppy home, so I kind of told a little white lie. I told him that we were babysitting a 6 week old puppy for my friend who was moving. Now my friend did in fact move...but it was the weekend before, not the actual weekend I brought the puppy home.

I know, I know...I just down right lied about it, but she was so cute! Eventually Jeff figured it out after 2 weeks of babysitting. Jeff fell head of heals in love with Sammy...she's been a wonderful addition to our family!

So....count them...five animals...Mittens, Daisy, Penny, Bailey and Sammy.

Now do you understand why Jeff calls our home a "family zoo"?!