Hart Family

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Sunny recovers (2005-12-06) When we came home on the afternoon of the 6th, Sunny didn't run out to greet our vehicle, and wouldn't even stand up when I stood next to her and called her (she was laying in the cold wet grass). Her normal vet was closing, so I took her to a 24 hour vet in nearby Issaquah. There she was diagnosed with a mass on her spleen, fluid (probably blood) pooling in her abdoment, and the Dr. said it was likely cancerous, given her age and breed. After she warmed up on a heated blanket and received a bit of fluid through an IV, she perked up quite a bit. She has slowly recovered. She's still not her old self, but she wasn't before this incident anyway (the morning of the incident I noted that she was no longer interested ihn giving squirrels an even half-hearted chase). Her left front leg was shaved for her IV, as well as her lower belly (for the ultrasound imaging).


Virginia's new cold-weather suit (2005-12-10) Yet another great deal bought on eBay thanks to Kristen.




Virginia and Victoria (2005-12-11) Virginia is wearing an outfit bought for her by her maternal grandparents. Victoria is wearing an outfit bought for her by her paternal grandparents. We're all one happy family.




Our new Sienna (2005-12-17). It's similar in size to our trusty Avalanche, but gets about twice the gas mileage. We went to the Seattle Auto Show looking at minivans. After the show we test drove the four that interested us the most (Saturn Relay, Chrysler Town & Country, Honda Odyssey, and Toyota Sienna. We test drove them in that order (we knew from previous comparisons of specifications that the Odyssey and Sienna were likely to be the top contenders). Toyota of Kirkland completely blew a sale on a loaded Sienna; I stood in the middle of the showroom for about ten minutes with no response from any of the employees. At the auto show we experienced a similar response when Kristen, Victoria, and I went though the Siennas on the floor (there were some new features for '06 that were not well described online; unfortunately these Siennas on the floor didn't have these options; if we hadn't been loaned my parents' Sienna when we visited in the spring, we may have skipped Toyota completely). In general each vehicle was an improvement over the earlier ones (the major exception is the stow and go seating in the Town & Country; that is a very innovative feature). We ended up selecting a Sienna Limited. Given the expense, and lack of a discount to buy one off the lot, we ordered one with exactly the colors and options we desired. A little over 6 weeks later we received our Sienna.