Critters, Critters, Everywhere

Eric went Christmas caroling with the Young Men the other night (in the rain) and found this...



in the middle of the road...



I had no idea Fresno could produce frogs this big. And it is not a toad, it is a true American Bullfrog. I looked it up because as you know, I have a tiny obsession with frogs...



As you can see, Eric was BEAMING! (Are we not a match made in Heaven?) Haylie, on the other hand, screamed. She loves frogs and critters, but when she saw this thing jump across the floor (about 6ft at a time!) she got very scared. But then she warmed up to it and started touching its feet and then she wouldn't stop talking about it all night. She came home hopping across the floor saying "ribbit, ribbit". He gave the frog to a man in our ward who has a pond on his property - hopefully Mr. Hoppy will have a nice long life out there and stay off the road!

Then, there is the unexplained phenomenon of ladybugs inhabiting Haylie's room. I don't know how they get in - or where they are actually living, but ever since we moved into this house, we have found ladybugs living in her room. Sometimes we'll go months without seeing one, then all of a sudden, we'll find one every couple of days. She loves it! I usually catch it and let it crawl on her for a while, then put it in a jar for her to admire. We try to let it go before it dies in our little prison, but she gets very upset when she can't find it...