My critters' secret santa truly is awesome. She was very kind, and shared many of her critters' (I found the headcount similarity amusing) favorite goodies with mine.

Izzy and Cricket - my two dogs - have been loving their haul. Izzy has been carrying her fireplug around all week, including leaving it in the middle of the stairs so she can chew on it at night (no chew toys in the bedroom). Duck is awesome! So many limbs for tug of war! We're planning on going up to the lake and testing out the two Chuck-It! toys this nice long weekend, but Cricket has enjoyed running around the house with the Fetch Wheel around her head. (Unfortunately actually running, so getting a picture has been hard) Santa even managed to find some awesome chicken-free treats!

Theo adores his Kong Cat Playground, and has hauled it around the first floor by the mouse. The scratcher is doing an excellent job saving my dining room rug from his sharpening, too! He's not quite sure about the chirping bird yet, but the dogs really enjoy freaking him out with it, so I'm amused. :) She even managed to teach me something about our cat - he will do anything for crunchy tuna treats. Plus she packed the box cat toy with newspaper balls additional cat toys!

So when I signed up for this gift exchange, I had two dogs and two cats. On August 24, the cat I had raised and loved for 20 years passed away. I wrestled with updating my exchange... who wants to be that person? But I did, and she handled it with grace. The last page of her lovely note was so sweet, and this afternoon a little trinket for me arrived to commemorate Bo.

Thank you so much for thinking of all of us during this rough time. Cricket in particular has been having a hard time since Bo left the house. The infusion of love, toys and treats has helped all of us - canine, feline and human - have some fun together and move on in a healthy way. You're truly wonderful. and Fleury, Bailey, Crow and Bridget are all lucky to have you.