This Week at Our House #49: A Very Sad Week

This is from the fateful walk that brought the evil dog to our doorstep

A dog followed us home from our walk and wouldn't leave. We let it stay while we tried to contact the owner. Over night it killed one of our kittens. John kicked it off our property. When it got dark, we heard a bark and ran outside and the dog was back. We looked for our other little kitten and she was bitten and dying on our doorstep. That dog waited until dark and came back to kill our other kitten. The kids were devastated and all crying. It was so sad. We are still sad and I think we will be for some time. But this is life. Animals kill each other. The dog has not come back and the owner never returned our texts or phone calls. We have one cat left. It is an orange kitten that we got  before we moved. He is bigger and faster and seems to have survived the dog. We have kept him mostly inside since the kittens were killed. With the rain, he does not mind, but I think once the sun comes back out, he will want to be outside hunting and enjoying the outdoors.

1. John buried the kittens and had us all come out to pray over them. We have had cats die and disappear before, but this time it was more close to home where we knew exactly what killed them. John rented the new Spiderman movie for us last night. We have Vidangel, so we were able to get it edited. We barely watch anything that isn't edited and haven't for years. But it was nice to have something make us laugh.
2. The week has been a blur for me. I ran errands on Monday, and after that the clouds came and it started to rain. It has been dark, and cloudy, and rainy the whole week. It's been so dark that without meaning to, the kids have slept in until 10am many days this week. Tuesday was the only day I could spend in my garden. I am anxious to get more done.
3. Ruth got transferred to Watford, England. She is now inside the big traffic circle in London. I look forward to hearing from her and how her new area is.
4. Kate cried and cried when the second kitten died. She also took care of all the girls who were terrified the night after the second kitten was killed. 
5. Johnny has been taking care and helping out and carefully watching over our last cat.
6. Adam's glasses broke, and then right around the time the second kitten was attacked, Adam lost his lens and has not been able to find it. I ordered a new pair online. It will be a couple of weeks before they get here, so he will be blind for a while. It also means that he cannot do his reading. 
7. Rachel, poor Rachel, could not bare to look at the dead kittens. These kittens were particular friends of the kids too. Unlike most kittens, these ones loved to be held and played with and always wanted attention.
8. Anya was terrified the night after the kittens were killed. She couldn't sleep and was scared to walk anywhere in the house. John read some words of Joseph Smith that said to take it to Jesus. That calmed Anya a lot.
9. Joseph has been very good all week. He has done everything he was told to do with exactness. He is a good boy and more conscientious than I realized. I am having him memorize the scriptures about the first vision. It's hard to memorize, but he is dong very well.
10. Joshua needs to talk about things. He talked and cried and talked and cried and talked some more about the dog and the kittens. I don't think Josh will like dogs ever in his life. It's hard to have your innocent pets killed.
11. Arwen our little dear, was the child who got to name the black and white kitten. She named her Ella and loved her and carried her around everywhere. When we get new kittens, Arwen will get to name one.
12. Before the cats were killed, I wrote down some of the funny things Susan had been saying. Seeing a picture of herself from a year ago she said, "That's my Susan. She's so cute and little!"
    While grocery shopping every time she saw a man Susan pointed to him and said, "That's a bad guy. He is bad. He is scary."
    Susan got out of the car in the parking lot in the dark, grabbed Kate's hand tightly and said, "Hold my hand. It's dangerous. It's scary. It's cars, Kate." Immediately after, she let go and started skipping and counted to 12.
    Running back to the van Susan said, "It's the car. It's the car, Kate," and then started petting it like a cat."
    Susan grabbed the directions from the card game, Rook, sat on John's lap and said, "Look dad, it's scriptures!" Then she pretended to read, "Jesus Christ, Heavenly Father, a duck."
    After the kittens were killed, Suzy talked about bad dogs who hurt. Every now and then, she will say, "Ella is dead. Dogs are bad."
13. Little Sam was untouched by the tragedy of the week. I am glad for his sake. He loves food and everything to do with food. He loves to eat and he loves to play with the dishes and silverware. He is often found with a bowl and spoon pretending to stir and cook.

Pictures