Who Needs Pets When the Neighbors Have Them

Our teammates, who live a block down the road, recently got a new puppy.  I took Ethan and Sienna to their house to “meet” Merlin.  As soon as we got there and he saw the dog, he didn’t pay much attention—he just headed toward the toys.But after a while he petted the dog and played with him a little.

Callie is our neighbor’s cat, and she hangs out at our house a lot.  Sienna likes to see her (as well as dogs), but doesn’t want to get too close.  They frighten her.  However, she has begun to pet Callie when she sees her and will pet a dog (even a big one) if they are calm and laying down or something. 

Gary and I see how difficult it is for the missionaries here to find people to take care of their pets while they are on furlough/stateside assignment in the States.  It’s also a big responsibility and expense to own pets, so for now, we think it’s great that the kids have plenty of animals around that they can see and play with.  Ethan helped feed our other neighbor’s cats and fish a couple of weeks ago while they were at a conference.