This page is for January 2004 till December 2004 .Enjoy!

Dec. 25th	Christmas Day 2004      Iris, Jazmyn and Fern with a few of their presents
Dec. 18th	Jaz gets into the holiday spirit in her Santa coat and hat. Iris has to check her out! May everyone's hearts be filled with happiness this season.
Dec. 4th	We bravely get out the Christmas boxes and artificial tree. Iris and Fern demonstrate their expertise on decorating - or is that destroying the tree! Oh the fun! Tis the season for chaos! I created a page of their escapades from this season and last. Visit here. According to the thousands of guestbook and email entries this is sure to delight! Yes this is Fern's butt in the tree.
Nov.  20th	Neighbourhood cats have taken a liking to exploring our back yard. This one is quite nicely marked. She/he knows mice live under our shed. So she spends a lot of time just waiting for the perfect  opportunity to pounce. I don't think this cat is a stray, just a neighbourhood wanderer.
Nov.  16th	Here we have a visiting orange tabby lounging in our back yard. I'm sure the birds were not impressed by his choice of location - under the bird feeder! Then he stopped by our side window to say hello to Iris. She wasn't sure what to make of this event.
Oct.  31st	Happy Halloween. Iris helping to display our black Halloween kitty collection. Remember to keep your pets indoors near Halloween & on Halloween night. No chocolate for pets either, can make them sick or worse!
Oct. 11th	Our Canadian Thanksgiving weekend. Took some fall photos with Jazmyn in her NEW scarf. We just bought it at Petsmart the day before. What a fashionable girl! Enjoyed a traditional meal at my Dad's, of turkey, gravy, stuffing, squash, mashed potatoes and cauliflower. Plus fall desserts like the must have pumpkin pie with whipped cream & apple crisp with vanilla ice-cream.
Sept. 25th	The kitties annual vet visit. Obviously not a fun experience. We have a carrier large enough for the 2 of them, which I hope reduces their stress, they know they are in this predicament together! All is well and the vet admires their wonderful personalities. Their weight hasn't changed much in a year. We expected Fern to be heavier, she weighs 11 pounds, she just shouldn't gain any more. Iris is 7 pounds, you can sure see the difference from this view!
Sept. 18th Happy 11th Anniversary to us!!!	We spent the day in Stratford. Where we feed corn to local swans and ducks. We did some shopping, bought the mandatory mint smoothies from Rheo Thompson. Enjoyed a romantic dinner. Then walked thru the park, where they have pretty waterfalls and flowers.
August 2004	Mark & I take the last 2 weeks of August off. We did lots of activities like camping with friends, toured many local attractions such as Fanshawe Pioneer Village, wineries, quaint villages/towns like Sparta, St. Thomas, Goderich and Port Stanley.  Big cities like Toronto. Area beaches, conservation areas, the Sifton Bog. We enjoyed being explorers of our own local sights and sounds, of course taking lots of photos along the way. Interested in nature, animal, flower etc. pictures? See the sights here and here.
July 31st	We spent Sunday at a park outside the city.  We had a picnic, relaxed, walked around and enjoyed the great outdoors.  Of course Jaz enjoyed every minute of it.  On the Friday night we enjoyed ribs at our cities annual Rib-fest. So yummy, with potatoes, baked beans, cole slaw & a roll.  Plus local musicians. Sat. was a BBQ at our friends place, with our whole group. Great bon-fire at night too.
July 31st	While at the park we spotted a Great Blue Heron by the edge of a big pond. We watched this one catch a fish, walk around a bit, then fly off. Their wing spans can be about 6 feet!  We also saw a painted turtle.

July 31st	Hot air balloon fest in our city this weekend. These balloons flew over our house!  We then got in the car & followed them, so we could watch some land. Awesome!
July 25th	Enjoyed our annual roommate reunion on Sunday.  15 years ago,  us 4 girls lived together in an apartment style University residence. We've remained great friends and meet every summer. This year at Chris & Ken's, for 8 hours.  The kids are old enough to play great together now, meaning we all have a super time, our husbands too!
July 24th	Second trip of the summer to our local Drive in. We were treated to a beautiful sunset. Jazmyn had fun as always. The Notebook was the first movie, lots of tears- really awesome! Its star Rachel McAdams was born about 45 min. from the Drive in! Local talent - cool! Fahrenheit 9/11 was the 2nd movie, Spiderman was the last movie.
July 17th - Lobster Party The girls were fascinated with these odd critters! Here's Iris getting a closer view. The box says live, but these are already cooked. I can't imagine 25 pounds of live lobster in our fridge!	We WON 25 pounds of lobster from New Brunswick one of Canada's Atlantic Provinces. We had filled out a ballot at our train station when they were having a promotion for tourism in NB. The lobsters were amazing. We ate lobster in everything for 3 days. I made lobster cocktails, lobster pasta, lobster in soup, and of course dipped in hot butter. We had friends over to share them and gave our families a few too.
July 2nd Happy 10th Birthday Jazmyn!	Jaz's birthday was a Friday, but on Sat. we took Jaz to the drive in to celebrate. She loves watching all the people. She approved of the 1st movie, Garfield, but slept thru Dodge ball and The Day After Tomorrow.   The photo on the left, Jaz is cuddling with Iris & Fern.
Canada Day - July 1st Grand Bend beach	We spent the day at Port Franks beach along Lake Huron. Loved our new "cabana hut". We were camping near by for the night. In the evening we went to Grand Bend beach, for their 10pm fireworks.
Happy Fathers Day - June 20th	The girls help me prepare breakfast in bed for Mark. French toast with cinnamon, Canadian Maple syrup and fresh local strawberries. Jaz helps supervise her Dad while he eats.
June 13 - Iris and the tube	We buy a cabana hut that comes in this clear plastic tube. Iris is most curious and has to get right in it. To get her ball of course. While Fern and Jazmyn are wondering what the heck she's doing.
May 12th  Iris & Fern turn 3!!!!	Happy Birthday Girls!!! Love ya SOOOOOOO much!  Of course Iris & Fern had a purrific day. Check out their presents here
Happy Mother's Day - May 9th. For my Mother's Day gift I wanted something the girls would enjoy. Found this cushion at Chapters book store. The girls gave me lovely cards.	It's purrfect  for our dining area bay window. Matches our colours and looks tidy. Iris & Fern approve too! Fern's chattering to the birds she sees.
May 2nd	Four Blue Jays enjoy our bird feeder. We've never had that many Jays at one time. They are such beautiful birds!
March 28th	Our Cat TV (bay window) had a great show on today!    Iris enjoyed her Sunday afternoon watching this acrobatic squirrel.
March 26th	We were greeted this morning by a lovely pair of Mallard Ducks! The melted snow has left the usual ponds throughout our yard. Which these cute ducks definitely approve of.
Feb. 24th	We recently returned from a 10 day vacation in Costa Rica. It is a fabulous country, offering so much! I got to full fill my dream of swimming with wild dolphins in their natural habitat, I'm talking about over 500 Spinner Dolphins and it was Valentine's Day!  Truly magical. Enjoyed Rain Forest tours, seeing Sloths, Monkey's, Scarlet Macaws, Toucans and lots more. Soaked in stunning Hot Springs. Walked on lava flow infront of the majestic Arenal Volcano.  Click here to view our adventures in Costa Rica.
Jan. 18th morning	This friendly squirrel is most proud he's found a fabulous source of food. The bunny is underneath the bird feeder, while the squirrel is above him IN the feeder.  Where are the birds? So much activity outside our window this morning.  Making for some excellent kitty TV!
Jan. 18th afternoon	Sunday morning I put out a new supply of food for the bunny. By the afternoon I was able to catch the bunny eating. Yeah!!!! The food and bunny were getting covered in fresh snow. But that didn't stop this cutie from munching away for a good 30 min.! I put some fresh greens there, the bunny however just wanted bird seed.  I'm so happy I can help make this bitter cold a little more bearable for this wonderful cottontail.
Jan. 16th,	Our adorable back yard guest, a wild cottontail bunny! Here's the bunny eating some birdseed that's fallen from the feeder. Iris is fascinated by the little sweetie. That's the top/back of her head watching thru the bay window. I put out a big pile of seed for the bunny after I took these photos. We've put out official rabbit pellets previously, but they never seem to get eaten? Our bunnies prefer bird seed I guess.   Its SO cold lately,  its important to make sure all the critters have lots of food to help them keep warm!
Jan. 10th, 2004	Fern has mastered opening our bifolding door into the furnace room. She's convinced something really exciting is in here. Cats and their curiosity!

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