It's a boy!!!

As much as Gary loves Fred & Lefty, he had an empty space in his heart that could only be filled by a big, male cat. Don't ask me why, but that's what he wanted. I was strolling through Petsmart one day & saw this guy. Here's the newest member of our family...Brutus! He's an Abyssinian mix, 8 years old, his old owner was evicted from their house & couldn't take him along, he's a couple of feet long, tall enough to stand on his hind legs & reach above a door knob & his meow is more like a roar. Fred & Lefty aren't very excited, but we're slowly trying to get them accustomed to each other.

Here he is taking his first steps down the stairs. Fred & Lefty were both in the living room hissing & growling at him. He didn't seem to mind. "Hey, this is pretty cool. Much better than the cage they had me in at the store!"

"Hmmm...what's in here?" "Aha! A nice hiding place."

"This is the life!"

It was a LONG weekend!

Gary's parents came up, Kurt came down, & George...well, he was just down for a while. We had a blast! Deep fried a turkey, drank a few drinks, made a fire, Mom & Dad got to meet their four-legged grand kids & see all the work we've been doing on the house.

This is what happens when Kurt spends all night (and some of the morning) hanging out with George. George didn't fare much better. Gary, proudly watering our garden.

Clean the Bay Day 2009

We had an opportunity to do some volunteer work in the area. Gary, Bryttany, Bryana & I joined some of my coworkers in Chesapeake to help pick up trash along the banks of the Chesapeake Bay.

Even picking up trash can't wipe the smile from this guy's face... ...or the goofy looks!

Bryana managed to get in some batting practice.

I don't think the Major Leagues will be knocking on our door any time soon.

Bryttany says, "Sweating & getting dirty are not my thing!", so she helped out by keeping track of all the trash we picked up.
Gary & I found some old line that was buried in the sand.

"Dad, what are you picking up now? Ewww!!! I just got some extra protein!" (That's what Bryttany would say when she swallowed a bug. She said it a lot that day.)

They spent more time taking pictures of themselves than cleaning.

Here's a couple of the other folks in our group, some of the bags we filled & one of the tires we found. It was a good day & we all had a good time. We're looking forward to helping out again next year.