Introducing Taco

This is his very first evening in our home.  They're both in heaven!

We were chosen, or, if you want Zade's interpretation, God led Taco to us.  It's a little hard to argue with that.  This cat showed up at our front door a little before Thanksgiving.  He was 100% sure he could come right into our house and join us.  We shut the door in his face countless times.  It was so hard to get in and out of our house without letting him in.  If we were loading kids in the van, he jumped on in the van, too.  He wasn't afraid of any of us.  He felt he belonged.

I told Basia it was too bad that we were heading out of town for our Thanksgiving because we couldn't even think about keeping him.  I was sure he would be gone by the time we returned from Colorado.  I was kind of counting on it.  Nope.  He was waiting for us upon our return.  We didn't feed him or pet him or make promises to anyone.  I did start to wonder, though.  I could tell from the van escapades that he would be good with the kids.  I could tell that he was very tame.  I could tell that he was not giving up.  

I finally decided to make a vet appointment.  I told Basia that we would check for a microchip.  If there was none, we would check for diseases.  If there were none, then we would keep him.  It took days to get the appointment.  I was still kind of hoping he would leave.  On the day of his appointment, Brishen and Basia had their dress rehearsal.  That meant I had the six younger kids by myself and was supposed to be catching a stray cat and bringing all of them to the vet.  Oh, yeah, it was Soren's birthday.  Oh, and the day of the arena field trip.  We were BUSY.  

Basia hated that she wasn't with me when it was time to get the cat.  She was sure I would give up right away and say that I tried.  We drove home, and the cat was not by our door.  Whew!  I called, "Here, Kitty, Kitty," exactly two times.  He jumped right in the van.  He stayed there with all the kids while I assembled the cat carrier.  The doors were open.  He never tried to leave.  He posed no problem getting in the carrier.  This cat was weird!

This was the first the little kids heard that we may actually keep this cat.  I told them clearly that there were several "what ifs" we had to clear before we called him ours.  They also had to be angels at the vet.  That was a must (yeah, right).  

No microchip.  Uh-oh.

No diseases.  Well, now.

He was vaccinated and registered under our name as "Taco."  We have ourselves a cat.

This cat is amazing.  He's used to winging it outside, so no litter box for us.  He loves every one of the kids and lets them pick him up and move him around.  Basia tries to trap him in her room at night, but he prefers to go from room to room, sleeping with each child for a while.  He is so tame, so loving, so calm.  I stand amazed at how he acts just like he has lived here forever.  He knew he belonged, and he was very patient until I relented.  I think Zade might just be right.