Camp Alexander
Christmas 2004
Check the website for the
“Many Blessings” Slide show. www.campalexander.com/christmas
Mark your calendars now
Hi.
Please excuse any mistakes. I’m in a bit of a furry hurry. If the Alexanders
find out that I know how to get in the house when they are gone, I’m sure to
get in trouble. (they will really freak if they know I’ve been using the
Computer) My name is “Sunset”, but they have been calling me “Barn Kitty” since
I arrived early this year. My other family had no room for me anymore, and the
Alexanders offered to let me live in the barn to catch mice. They don’t have
any more mice, so now I catch birds and leave my trophies on the front porch!
Anyway, enough about me. I thought this would be a good time to let everyone
know what is going with my new family at my new home. “Oh”, I forgot to
mention. If you opened this before your cat found it, please share this letter
with your cat in case we are related.
First
of all, let me say this is a great place for pets if you get along with
everyone. They have this dog named “Roo” that is pretty cool. She tries to get
me to play chase with her, but I know that game, so I jump on a bale of hay and
watch her make a fool of herself. She lives with a pig named “Hamm” who is a
total slob! He never cleans himself and will eat ANYTHING. There is another cat
living in the house named Pumpkin, but he wont come outside because he is
scared. What a chicken! Oh yea, there is a big cage out here full of chickens!
But don’t get too excited cause I’ve not found a way to get inside it yet. It
is still fun climbing on the outside and watching them go crazy. (they are not
very smart). I did manage to steal an egg that Beth laid down in the barn, but
it was really messy, and I don’t recommend it. This spring they let a couple of
the eggs hatch, and I was planning to eat them, but the kids who live here
seemed to love them so much I changed my mind. They call the new chickens Peep
Peep, and Poop Poop.
Avery
and Allie are the two girls who live here, and they are very sweet. Avery
turned 9 in October, and Allie is 6, but will be 7 April 1st. Allie
got a baby Bunny rabbit named Sweetie” for her birthday. She lives outside with
me, and at first I wasn’t too sure about her, but we are getting along fine. I
watched Allie’s Dad teach her to ride her bike without training wheels this
year. She loves to ride that bike, but my favorite is watching her do
gymnastics the yard. Allie does an awesome cartwheel, and round-off. OK, she
doesn’t have 9 lives or anything, but she does seem to land on her feet well,
and she is great at climbing! I like her. Avery seems to like something called
“Hip Hop” dancing with these cool outfits and stuff. They do these big shows
with lots of other kids. Both girls sang in the Christmas musical, and enjoy
their Sunday school classes at White Chapel Methodist. They are still in a
program with their Dad called “Indian Princess” where they camp and do other
things together with the tribe. So far, I’ve not seen any Indians come around,
so not sure whey they call it that. They do wear these neat leather vests with
a patch for each event they did together. They won a giant stuffed Fish pillow
for catching the most fish at the Crow Tribe fishing contest this year, and
that is pretty cool. Maybe they will give me a giant stuffed bird pillow for
all the dead birds I leave on the porch.
The Horses here are very friendly, and since I’m “Barn Kitty”, we spend hours talking about Camp Alexander stuff. Durban, the old Palomino, told me this year has seen many changes. When I got here, a gray Appaloosa named Scout was sold because he wasn’t getting to ride much. A great big Bay horsed named “Wimpy” moved in for about a week, but Tres didn’t like him, so he told David to get rid of him and he did. (at least that is the story that Tres is telling all the new horses) Tres is a Brown Appaloosa that was owned by David’s best friend Greg, but recently was sold to the Smith Family when Greg moved to California. L Anyway, another horse named Buddy moved in, and was getting along pretty well with his new owners, the Smith Family, but he was not perfect. Finally, the perfect horse arrived about a month ago, and seems to fit in just fine. His name is “Zippy” and he is a Paint horse with lots of color. There is another paint horse named “Hot Rod” who lives here, and said he is still in charge of the barn, not me. All of the horses have been busy this year doing trail Rides, and Mounted Patrol with David. Beth teaches riding lessons on Durban in the arena. Durban told me that Beth likes teaching and started teaching pre-school this past fall.
Beth
and David were also involved with the Police and Fire department this year when
they took some classes together. One was called Citizens Police Academy where
they learned to do Public safety stuff like fingerprinting, crime scene investigation,
fire prevention, and how to shoot police weapons like a shotgun and an M16! I
saw the targets they used, and Beth is a pretty good shot. They also went thru
training called “Citizens Emergency Response Team” where they learned how to
help out during a disaster. When bad things happen I just climb up a tree and
wait, but apparently humans have really complicated solutions that take weeks
of training.
If
anyone is planning to visit Camp Alexander this year, I have 2 important things
to tell you. One, please don’t bring your Cat. I don’t need the competition.
Two, they are starting to wreck the main house, so you might have to sleep in
the barn with me. They have these plans to build a new kitchen and a big porch
next to the pool. Hope it is finished for the Spring Party! Last year there
were over 200 people here, and about an hour before the party, it started to
rain… a lot! Finally it stopped right before the party started, and everyone
showed up right away. They had the band called “Empty Pockets”, and the next
morning, there were LOTS of chicken bones on the ground and in the trash. I was
pretty excited until I tried to eat one and found out what these people do to
chicken wings. They have this sauce all over them that burns your tongue! The
horses still talk about my run to the water trough with my tongue sticking out.
Camp Alexander is a fun place to live. They are very
blessed to have so much love in their family. This year they saw best friends
move away, and old friends come to visit. But the real meaning and reason for
the season is never forgotten as they continue to pray for peace, and spread
Jesus’ Love.
The Alexander Family
.