Christmas 2004

Both Oscar and Max decided that they would have a long afternoon nap to sleep off the effects of our Christmas Dinner - well the sun was shining, the heating was on and their tummies were quite full.

I on the other hand decided that a bit of healthy exercise was what was needed and because neither of them were in the mood for a game I enrolled Joan in a game of chasing and playing with a couple of my favourite toys from my kitten days - the strip of leather and the kitten pyramid - great fun.

Having got Joan in the mood for a game she kindly opened of the toffees and soon I was chasing a toffee paper around the lounge just like used to when I was tiny.

It was great - I love the holiday season when we have Joan all to ourselves and when she has time to play!

I can't believe I am telling you all about our Christmas again - it seems no time at all since I was telling you about it last year! Anyway as you know less than a week before we actually get to the Christmas celebrations I get to celebrate my birthday. I was three years old on 21st December 2004 and as ever I had a quick photo sessions so that Joan could get a portrait of me for my birthday (she has done that every year since I came here! Oscar was keen to get in on the act so I had to explain to him that, as birthday girl, I get to pose first. Once we had got the photograph below which Joan said showed me off at my best then Joan agreed to take a shot of Oscar for the album so that he didn't feel too left out and had something to give to his adoring old folk!
Lara aged 3	Oscar showing off
Christmas morning dawned bright and frosty here and none of us were too keen to leave to cosiness of the bed to venture forth and see what Santa had brought us. Nonetheless Joan said we just couldn't stay in bed all day so we braved it and went downstairs where we enjoyed a lovely fishy breakfast before rushing out into the garden just to prove how tough we are really! Once Joan brought us back inside we sat down in front of the fire to open our presents and to find we had got three brand new toy mice to join the hoard that we already have stored in secret places around the house (Joan thinks we lose them but we don't - we just put them in places where she can't find them!) We are not too sure whether they are going to be as much fun as the others so we are being a bit cautious about giving them our seal of approval but Oscar put them all to the test and says he thinks they might be all right.	Oscar 'corners the market' in mice!
Oscar sleeps off his Christmas dinner	Max sleeps off his Christmas dinner
Both Oscar and Max decided that they would have a long afternoon nap to sleep off the effects of our Christmas Dinner - well the sun was shining, the heating was on and their tummies were quite full. I on the other hand decided that a bit of healthy exercise was what was needed and because neither of them were in the mood for a game I enrolled Joan in a game of chasing and playing with a couple of my favourite toys from my kitten days - the strip of leather and the kitten pyramid - great fun. Having got Joan in the mood for a game she kindly opened of the toffees and soon I was chasing a toffee paper around the lounge just like used to when I was tiny. It was great - I love the holiday season when we have Joan all to ourselves and when she has time to play!
Lara in the pyramid	Lara & Max cuddle in the cats cradle
	As you should have gathered by now we had a lovely Christmas Day just being ourselves and having fun at home - we didn't eat too much and we played nicely together. On Boxing Day morning Max had the idea that as Christmas was over it was a good time to take down the decorations so he jumped on to the bookcase and flicked every Christmas card off it and then jumped on the back of the settee and proceeded to 'head butt' every card on the string on the wall so that they all slid together in the middle of the string. Funnily enough Joan didn't take the hint so we still have decorations on show - but not for long we think! Merry Christmas to all our readers! Lara