Natalie & Ryan: Homecomings and Cats

An interesting day indeed. It started bright and early when we attended Dallin's homecoming talk. He did a great job. He talked about his missionary work and sacrifice. I wonder if Dallin realizes that he's the reason I converted to the church. Way back when, I remember him sitting down with me and confronting all of my doubts and worries. When the missionaries asked me if I was willing to be baptized, I thought of Dallin and the clear, easy answer was "YES." So I have Dallin to thank for getting me on the right track. :D My favorite part of the homecoming was when he finally got to meet Ryan. Ryan was a little behind in getting up to meet him because of the crowd, so I got to Dallin first. Dallin said "Natalie, was that your husband sitting next to you? Ooooh!!!" By that point, Ryan caught up and I pointed out that he was right there. Dallin immediately gave him a huge hug and said "Hey, brother!" Ahh, I loved it! I can't wait for Jack to be home, because I know his greeting/meeting of Ryan will be just as kind and loving.

After the homecoming and some delicious food at the openhouse, we came home so that I could nap...as always. After my nap, I had to make dinner. Ryan asked for Brixton's. Sadly, I didn't enjoy it like I usually do. The potatoes were undercooked, even though they were in the oven for an hour. The cheese sauce was threatening to separate, and the bacon was a bit crispier than I would have liked. As I had my back turned while working at the stove, I could hear crunching noise. It sounded like someone eating chips. I turned to see that it was Ryan snacking on the bacon. Haha!

A brief potato coma later, we had some serious work to do. We were both dreading it, but it needed to be done. What am I speaking of? Shaving the cat. Yes, you read that correctly, we shaved Angel. Her hair clumps were taking over her body. She won't clean them herself, and she won't even let me touch her and brush her, so we took the vet's advice and shaved her down ourselves. Ryan held her while I tortured. At first she didn't really seem to care. By the end, she was so sick of Ryan holding her down and me pulling at the hair, she would hiss and moan every time I even looked at her. Poor girl. Now she looks like a bald squirrel. We let her run and hide while we cleaned up downstairs. As we were walking into the bedroom, I was saying "I bet she'll never let me touch her again...let alone come out from under the bed to the sound of my voice." Just as I was saying that, she jumped up onto the bed and started purring and headbutting me. Forgiveness! She totally forgot all of the misery she just endured, and showed that she still loved me.

Ryan made me wear a bib after a TINY splash of strawberry juice landed on my shirt....followed by Ryan saying "I can't take you anywhere." This was my mouth-full-of-potatoes angry face.