Merry Christmas from Harold the family cat!

Today I’m writing to you from the Van Maanen house. Most of you don’t know me, but I’m at this house more than any of these other people who think they own the place. I’m Harold, the cat. I’ve lived with my family for the last two years. My hobbies are napping in the middle of the hallway, eating Mom’s plants, trying to tackle Dad, and pretending like I’m starving when my food bowl is half-
full.

This year was a crazy one. My parents got me a new house! They say that we live in Sioux Falls now instead of Brandon. There are so many windows for me to sit in, I love it. At the beginning of the year Mom was pretty skinny but her stomach grew incredibly fast. There was something in there and I enjoyed snuggling with it. Then in June, Mom and Dad left for a few days…. And when they came home Mom was skinny again and they had this tiny human! They call her Olivia. She’s pretty cute for a human. She seemed alright until lately when she thinks she wants to pet me, I don’t know what to think about that so I try to stay away
from her.

My brother, Abel, is 6 and says he is in 1 st grade. He is a crazy dude – he loves to practice his fighting moves like the guys in Star Wars and Power Rangers. He and my sister, Addison, play together a lot. She is 5 and started Kindergarten this year. My sister really likes to play with beads and color. I like playing with the supplies she drops on the floor, they are a lot of fun. I also like to snuggle
with the kids when they read with Mom or Dad. After Olivia magically appeared, Mom, Abel, and Addison stayed home all summer! I liked having them home to
keep me company. They went to do a lot of fun things like going to camps, the library, and SkyZone. Olivia is growing and is starting to do a lot more. She is starting to sit up by herself and she talks a lot. She gets to drink milk which smells really good but Mom never lets me have any. She usually sleeps through the night, which is good because I don’t like it when Mom and Dad interrupt me when I’m snuggling with them in bed at night. Dad goes to Vern Eide every day to sell cars. He also talks about some other businesses that he has, The Porch Swing Store and Consultants In-A-Box. They sound pretty cool but I’d rather he just snuggle with me. Mom goes to Central Square Technologies during the day, where she is a Product Owner. No one really knows what that means but she has like 4 computer screens and she says she designs software.

Well, I think it’s about time to go play with the ornaments on the Christmas tree.