Aiden turns 5!

We took a family vacation to sunny San Diego to go to the San Diego Zoo and Sea World. We also celebrated Aiden's fifth birthday while we were there. Hard to believe! She is also growing like a weed adding a mere 3 inches since her last birthday and wearing size 13 shoes. Pretty soon she'll be able to go skiing wearing only tennis shoes because they're so long. At the Zoo we were able to see all the animals including the new baby panda, Su Lin. She just sat atop her hootch and ate bamboo. At Sea World, we sat in the "Soak Zone" at Shamu's show but unfortunately (though this depends on who you ask), we didn't get wet from Shamu's splashing!

Patch - Fair winds and following seas

2 October 1998 - 4 July 2007

Early this morning Patch was put to sleep. She had lost all mobility in her hind legs and was unable to drink or eat or move. We came home from vacation to find out that she had not moved in three days.

She was there almost from the beginning of our marriage. After passing her up at the Humane Society we tracked her down later that night at a local Petsmart in San Diego. From early morning trips to the emergency room to cleaning up her constant pukie's, we'll miss that old cat. She ate all our live plants, though they were doomed from the start with our brown thumbs and always insisted on going outside to roll around and chew on the grass. Patch always let you pet her until she tired of your presence and gave you a nip just to let you know that she was not amused.

While at times she could be a little fiesty, she was the most loving cat in the world. As we go through our roughly 10,000 digital pictures we find that Patch has meandered into a majority of them. She loved the company and was always right in the middle of the excitement. With Aiden and Brady, there was always excitement! We will definitely miss her around the Echols household. Thanks for the time we shared. We love you Patcher!