Happy New Year

Happy New Year to all of our readers!  We are a bit behind on getting this posted and we are combining a few different topics in this one post...Christmas and a Tanner update.

Tanner and Oliver had a wonderful Christmas as far as Santa visiting.  He was very good to the boys, as they have been very good this year!  Oliver is loving his new cardboard scratcher/bed. 

Tanner immediately took over the bed that was bought for Oliver.  I picked up this bed at PetSmart after Halloween.  It is hard to find orange things at Christmas, so I had to get creative :)  Tanner is laying with his green toys he got...a new frog catnip toy, catnip pillow, a bunch of crinkle balls, a new paper style toy, and some yummy shortbread cookies! 

Tanner also loved the new circle scratcher and loved his crinkle balls!  He carried one around every where he went the rest of the day.  The next morning, there were two in the water fountain, and one in the potty! I think the boy had a great time. 

The boys got a couple of new ornaments this year...Oliver had to have an "O" 

Even Smokey got a new ornament...a beautiful purple heart. 

Ollie scored a new orange bird...he loves to chatter at his birds! 

Tanner's ornament is actually a phone charm from Japan.  I thought the orange cat, holding a green flower was perfect! 

Of course a new family ornament for my sweet boys!

Here is a photo of their goodies...Oliver has the orange crab and orange pillow.  He also got some crinkle balls and a couple of other toys.  This new circle is a hit. Tanner also scored another X scratcher.   

Our parents ended up sick for Christmas and were unable to come up...we will celebrate later with them.  Auntie and I took the extra time to touch up the paint on the walls...Oliver has to help.  He ended up with paint on his nose, his tail, his side and his foot.  He had to get a quick wipe down when we were done! 

We took the tree down pretty early this year.  We were unable to plug it in and enjoy the lights because a certain black tornado kept chewing on the cords and plucking the lights off the tree!  We also only put a few ornaments on the tree because a certain cousin climbed the tree every day.  It was a bit sad in the decoration department this year at our house, so we were glad to just take it down!  Due to several severed cords, the tree was a fire hazard, so we just threw it away.  Oliver and Tanner helped us with this process.  They decided, Santa had already visited, so being good was not needed any longer!

All in all, we have had a wonderful holiday, and I have enjoyed my time off with the boys.  2014 has been a year with many highs, such as my wonderful trip to Kenya, and some terrible lows...the death of Smokey and Tanner's cancer diagnosis.  Even with the ups and downs, we remain a family, and I have learned to cherish every moment we are given.  I love the friendships this blog has brought to our family.  My wish for 2015 is for good health, cherished memories, love and friendship to us all!

Tanner's medical update: He spent part of Tuesday at the vet school.  They did a few blood tests and a physical exam to see how his kidney values are looking.  His phosphorous levels were back down to normal.  The BUN and creatinine were still high, but remained about the same as the week before.  They are not sure if this is actually the beginning of chronic kidney disease, or if it is a side effect from the chemo.  For now, we are just monitoring.  I am still adding the water to his canned food, and since I had some kidney diet food left over from Smokey, Tanner is getting some of that mixed in with his regular hard food.  Tan becomes a bit complicated again because of his heart disease, so if the numbers continue to go up, we will need a consult with oncology, cardiology and internal medicine to determine the best treatment course for him.  He continues to act normal, and eat well.  Tonight, we were playing and he was even jumping for his string!  I pray that 2015 will bring around the miracle that he so deserves.  Thank you all for the continued purrs!