Allow me to introduce you to our newest family member. This is Wally!

I first spoke of Wally in early June. I also told you that he had his own story. Read on if you care to!

I always knew I would have another kitty after Humphrey passed. As angry as I was at God, I knew He would bring another furry soul into my life. Remember? TRUST ME.

I had decided that we would give Wendy at Kitten Krazy a call at the end of June...and I was checking the website at least once a day looking at precious little faces. Yeah, well, you know what they say about best laid plans. Suddenly I had surgery scheduled for the end of June. So, I decided the end of July. Oh...I am so funny! It appears I still haven't caught on that my timing and God's timing aren't anywhere near being in synch.

Garry took Gus for a routine vet visit and came home with a message for me from Dr. Arends. Apparently she said, "You have to PROMISE to tell Melissa. I have a cat for you." Garry said, "I don't want a cat." She said, "I know. But tell Melissa." He said, "What's wrong with it?" She said, "Absolutely nothing. That's why I'm telling you about him. You guys need a break. I've already called and talked to the foster home. He's yours if you want him." As he is relaying this information to me I ask, "What color is he?" When he said black and white I started crying. I couldn't deal with another black kitty so soon...even though Hope had told me right after Humphrey passed that our next kitty would be black. I continued asking questions through the tears and found out that he had been found in a Wal-Mart parking lot about a year ago. He was rescued by Save Ohio Strays, named Wally, and put into foster care. Dr. Arends said she had kept him for awhile until a foster home opened up. I immediately went online and located his picture on the Save Ohio Strays website. I didn't get any feelings other than I was glad to see that he seemed to be EQUAL parts black and white.

The next couple of days I'd keep checking to see if he was still available and that silly face started growing on me. Garry called and made an appointment for us to meet him on a Sunday. I filled out the adoption application online...which by the way was only SLIGHTLY less involved than what we did for our girls! LOL I started to talk about him to Hope who immediately started calling him Sam because, and I quote, "MY favorite store is Sam's Club." So we called him Sam.

Sunday arrived and the family piled into the car to go and meet Wally...errr...Sam. When we got to the nice lady's home she welcomed us into her living room. Wally was in a large cage in the center of the room. Garry and the girls sat on the couch...I sat on the floor in front of the cage. I believe the nice lady's name was Teri. She opened the cage and Wally shot out. He went behind the couch, did a slow lap around the room, came up behind me, and laid down against my back. Yeah...I started crying. He rubbed up against me, let me pet him, and purred up a storm. He really didn't want much to do with Garry and the girls but what do you expect? Hope was dying to touch him and Claire was leaping around like a jumping bean! In case you haven't already figured it out, we brought him home! On the drive home Garry and I decided that he really "looked" like a Wally and tried to persuade Hope of the same. She came around, but only if his middle name was Sam. Thus was born Wally Sam!

If you haven't seen God's Hand in this yet, read on. When Horatio passed I told Garry that when I was ready for another cat I was going to ask Dr. Arends for assistance in choosing one. I trust her...yes I TRUST her. I never said anything to her...nor did he. He stopped into the clinic one afternoon for some food and as he was talking with her she said, "I'm scared to death Melissa is going to ask me to help her choose a cat. I don't want to! There just aren't any guarantees!" So when he came home in June and said SHE had a cat for me? Well, enough said.

Still need convincing? He and Gus get along so well it is scary. They eat together, play together, wash each other, and sleep on me in the bed together. I've NEVER had two cats get along as well as they do...and so quickly. It was literally a matter of DAYS.




And in case you are wondering...Wally is VERY much like Humphrey. He has MANY behaviors that were unique to Humphrey and whenever he demonstrates them, no matter how frustrated I may be, it is like receiving a hug from Heaven. He also has his own personality as well. We've decided that Wally is really an all white cat and that his black parts are from Humphrey. He is yet another precious gift from God to our family...and yes...he likes the girls too.

God's blessings to you! ")

P.S. If you've been wondering where I've been lately...I'm hanging out at facebook.com! Yep, I'm helping to show all those youngsters that folks over 40 can have a "social network" too! Come and visit...look me up! ")

Announcing the latest addition to the family. Meet Capt. Augustus McCrae...known informally as Gus. He joined our family on April 19th and loooooves to relax! Anywhere from two to ten years old (we're thinking younger because when he plays he's INSANE!) he's very good with Hope and knows that when she comes running towards him he needs to get the heck out of the way...something little Horatio never learned. He and Humphrey get along in short supervised bursts but as Garry says, "Gus is just like a bear. If you run from him he's going to chase you." Chase Humphrey he does...and since Gus still has front claws Humphrey is getting plenty of exercise. Yet just yesterday they were sitting next to each other and looking out the back door. There is always hope! Gus is currently the star of the Kitten Krazy homepage and you can find a picture of him with Hope at the site under "Tails Of Success".

We received our package from Asia Threads last weekend. What an emotional roller coaster that was. To read about and to imagine where your daughter was found is one thing, to actually see a picture of it is another. Garry and I are both relieved that we didn't have a chance to visit her finding place because just seeing the pictures are grueling enough. The area is clean and busy. It is not that it is a horrible area that makes the pictures so rough to look at. It's the fact that we can't look at them without imagining our precious girl wrapped up and lying in front of the gates of the elementary school. I will not be posting these pictures here or anywhere else. When Hope is old enough to understand, if she wants to share them, then that will be her decision. We also received pictures of the orphanage where she was placed, the police station she was taken to, the city of Anqing, and the city of Hefei. When we joined this project we provided a letter and several pictures of Hope that would be translated and given to the orphanage. In one of the pictures we received, an orphanage worker is looking at the pictures that the parents had sent and there are our Hope's pictures, front and center. What a wonderful surprise!

Those who received their referrals in late April are leaving for China on the 31st! Congrats to them and to those who just received their referrals this week. We're getting there...we're getting there!

Have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend and I'll be sure to keep you posted!

***Jennifer...email me...or post in your blog so I, and the rest of your friends can stop worrying about you!***