The Minion arrives

Finally have a picture of Minion!

This is my daughter's Ball Python, and it has clearly inherited my daughter's silly streak.

Not quite sure what Minion is thinking at this point, but it appears to be a very serious thought as she placed herself in this particular position and then did not move for the next few hours.

Updates!

Some updates to the site format today.

Finally have some pictures of the rest of the pet family, and boy was that difficult!

Still working on waking up the snake, a ball python affectionately known as Minion.

Feel free to check out the new pictures of Koda, Alice and Mickey. More to come soon!

Here is Koda, right before he leaps up to eat whatever I might possibly be holding:

And beloved Mickey, still kicking though his years are showing:

The Empress herself, Lady Alice, disdaining to accept my peace offering:

Petfinder, a way to enjoy your own Lifetime with pets

Hey guys,


I just wanted to take a moment to let you know about a way for each of you to find your way enjoy memories while living your lifetime with pets. I know that in this economy it can turn out to be too expensive to go and buy a pedigreed animal or spend the money to invest in a pet that has extensive paperwork.

But the paperwork really never matters when it comes down to the things of the heart, so I would encourage you to spend a little time perusing Petfinder over at http://www.petfinder.com/index.html and see if anything tugs on your own personal heartstrings.

If you do find that perfect compliment to your life, please let us know! We love to hear about successful experiences, or even to pass along warnings. Pets are the reason that we smile!

My own personal heartstrings went out to Female baby 'Spencer':

Introducing Mickey Bear

Today I would like to introduce the longest standing member of our family pet circle.

Little Mickey Bear is a 14 ¾ year old toy Pomeranian that was born on September 21 1996. He is an AKC registered Pomeranian and was born to Rambo’s Little Devin & Regal Cassandra of Marbo. He has been with us for his entire life; we took him home when he was just 6 weeks old. He got his name from the fact that when we first got him, he could sit in the palm of our hands and squeaked like a mouse, so we originally named him Mickey for the Disney character Mickey Mouse. When filling out his registration paper we thought about Mickey Estes, but decide that was that was simply too plain for our bundle of joy. So we went Little since he was at the time very little, Mickey since he squeaked like a mouse, Bear for how all of his fur around his face fluffed out to make his face look like that of a bear.

The first post!

Hi All!

This is my first post on my first blog, so please bear with me as I get into the flow of things.

 As my blog description notes, I am writing this blog to share with you the funny stories and the stepping stones that our pets have helped my entire family mark as accomplishments. I am happily married to my husband of twenty-six years, and we have four nearly grown children. I say nearly grown, because I really do not think that our children ever truly grow up- and just when you think you are about to send them all on their own paths suddenly they come running back.

 Over the years we have owned so many different pets that I can definitely not keep count, from hamsters and other small rodents, to our favored cats and dogs, even to goats and horses. And as I fondly reflect upon the journey that our family has taken to reach this stage in our life, with my youngest son now graduated and about to enter the real world (hopefully feet first), I was amazed at how much our pets were involved in the growth of our family. I took up writing this blog just to share some of those amazing stories, funny anecdotes, and hard earned lessons with you. I hope you can enjoy following along as we travel down memory lane, and perhaps you can learn something about keeping your pets close to you and how to keep them around even longer.

 While our family pet collection grows and wanes seemingly every week, we have some members of the family that are long term allies, and I would like to take just to briefly introduce the primary cast.

Currently our household has Mickey Bear, a toy Pomeranian that is entirely too much lovable trouble for his own good. Alice, our calico cat that has blossomed from a young and anxious kitten to the Empress of all that she surveys. Koda, my daughters overly excitable cocker spaniel, and of all things- a snake.

Again, I wish to say welcome and thanks for sharing the laughter of 'A Lifetime with pets' with my family and I, I hope to hear from you and get to share in your own stories of laughter, great memories, and accomplishing milestones.

- Kim Estes