Hello, family and friends! This has been a busy year in the Wheaton house and I am here to tell you all about it!

First, I spent a LOT of quality time on the sofa. There are a couple of sofas to choose from in this house, but I prefer to use the one that is directly in front of the tv. That way, if there’s a dog or a bear on a tv show, I can bark at it to make it go away as soon as it happens. It works every time! I also like to lay in this spot because it’s where my parents like to sit, and so they have no choice but to snuggle up to me or let me put my head in their lap while they watch tv. It’s a win win all around.

This year, I have enjoyed many walks in our neighborhood, stopping to smell the base of trees and fence posts where I do a special signing in the guest book of others who have also visited these areas. It’s important other dogs know who have attended these super secret spots!

I have also enjoyed standing in our backyard and barking at things that fly in the sky overhead to make them go away and it always makes them leave! I really like to spend my mornings snuggled up to my buddy, Marlowe, on the outside sofa so we can re-charge in the sun for energy to run around the yard and play. It’s funny. After a charging session, I’ll get up and bark at Marlowe, and then she gets all worked up and runs laps around the grass, into the house and back out again. She’s a hoot!

That Marlowe sure is a weird one, though. She likes to take the squeaker out of squeaky toys our parents give us, she likes to chase after squirrels in our yard and on our walks in the neighborhood, and she likes to sit in front of the fireplace when our parents build a fire so she can get extra warm. Marlowe had to have knee surgery in April of this year, so she wasn’t up for playing with me or going on walks with me and our parents for what seemed like FOREVER, but she’s all better now. You’d think that metal plate in her knee would slow her down now with all those laps she still runs around the yard and house, but you’d be wrong. Kids. Always with so much energy!

Watson is still the best cat, ever, even though he’s an oddball. He likes to sleep in the raised garden beds our parents have and has even smooshed some of their strawberry plants! He loves to roll in the dirt, and he REALLY loves to bring our parents some very weird gifts. He also likes to share the lap of whichever parent is on the sofa with me. Sometimes he doesn’t even care if my head is also in that lap. He’ll just rub his face on mine until I scoot over enough for him to have space. Can you believe that? But it works every time so I guess he knows what he’s doing!

Our other cat, Luna, used to be SUPER cranky around all of us pets. She would knock things off the counters, swat us in the face as we walked past, and wanted nothing more than to sleep in empty boxes, get crunchy tuna treats, and be outside without us. She got to the point where if our parents wouldn’t let her out, she would poop on the rug! Who does that?! I would try to help my parents with the clean-up, but they wouldn’t let me. Darn!  At the beginning of the year, when our parents found a kitten they named Eliot, Luna had decided enough was enough and moved in with an older couple up the street so she could have them and their pet-free house all to herself. I guess some cats really don’t like other pet friends. Crazy! She’s very happy over there and we sometimes get to stop by on our walks with our parents to say hello to her, which makes our parents very happy. Occasionally, she has even followed our parents home for some treats and then goes right back up there as soon as she’s done.

Eliot lived with us for several months, but she was so young and super playful that it wasn’t fun for the rest of us older pets to be around. Our parents found her a great home with some friends of theirs and now she gets to play with two other cats the same age as her in that home. Our parents go visit her and always come home smelling like her, but they’re glad she’s happy and so we’re happy, too.

I guess our parents do other stuff but I’m not sure what it is. All I know is they do the most important stuff like feeding us and putting fleece blankets over us while we snooze on the sofa, and that’s really all that matters. Marlowe and I noticed there are stockings on the mantle just for us, so hopefully it’ll be a bag of stinky treats or a cool, new toy we can shred within 10 minutes because those are the best gifts!

Anyway, our parents had their friend, Len Peralta, do a Christmas card drawing of all of us. I like how Luna is judging everyone from the window the best. She doesn’t know it yet, but Santa is bringing her a brand new empty box and her very own bag of her favorite treats for Christmas! She may act like she doesn’t care, but we know she does. At least she didn’t have to wear one of these ridiculous Christmas sweaters like the rest of us!

We hope you have a very Merry Christmas and a happy 2017!

Love, Seamus