new pets

For several months, Audrey had been asking to get a bird. She really wanted a parakeet like her babysitter, Alley. At one point I said we can't get another pet until our dog, Swicey, dies. We can't afford another pet, in time or money. Then Audrey asked if we could sell her. I had to do all I could to hide my excitement, since I was getting pretty tired of all the dog care. The kids had pretty much lost interest in our dog (except Maddi who hurt her as much as she loved her). I carried the burden and I don't like dogs! We spent a while letting Kimee think about it, and when everyone agreed, we moved forward.

We put an ad on KSL and waited. I didn't want to give her away, since we paid and invested so much in her. We got a few calls here and there. Finally, we got the right call. It was a perfect fit for both of us. I got a little sad for the kids the day we gave her away, but boy was I ever so relieved when she was gone. Wow! So much more free time.

That weekend I started looking for birds on KSL. I saw one ad that looked perfect for us, 3 parakeets partially trained, that came with the cage and food, etc. But it was really a long drive, so I kept looking for something different, without much luck.

In a separate story, we had been thinking about getting a matching dresser for our bedroom set. Ever since we moved, we new this dresser would fit perfectly in our bedroom, but we just didn't want to spend the money on it when we had so many other things to pay for. Every now and then, I would check on the internet to see if that particular dresser was on sale. I thought it would be nice to get for our anniversary, but when I went online to check, it was gone! It had been discontinued. I searched the web and found it only in Texas. I called the Orem RC Willey, and they said there were only 2 stores that had their display model left. One was in Syracuse, a few blocks from where the birds that I wanted were. I called up there and talked the manager into letting me buy the dresser without the bed. We got a babysitter, and Dave and I took a drive up to the original RC Willey store, and picked up our birds. It was perfect!

The girls LOVE their birds. Rio is blue and is Audrey's. Kimee's is the yellow "Tweety Bird." And Maddi's is green named Ivy, but we call him the wild bird. He wasn't trained and his wings weren't clipped, so he would fly all over. We don't get him out much- and only Dad handles him.

They really like to hold their birds while they are watching movies.

We also have a 10 gallon aquarium. Skyler set it up for us in January. We have 11 fish- 3 each of 3 different types of tetras, neon, black skirt, and an orange type. Then we have 2 tiny algae eaters. It has been lots of fun for all of us.