Pippen and Durin were sister and brother. They came to live with us before the children were born from a friend whose cat had kittens. They seemed small as kittens, but grew to be slightly larger than most cats. Durin liked to sleep in flower pots, while Pippen preferred beds. Durin was king of the roost and Pippen "mothered" everyone, both humans and cats. Pippen was incredibly accurate and fast when we rolled a ping-pong ball to her. She would also carry tape rolls in her mouth and yowl at the same time. Durin enjoyed roaming the yard and chasing small dogs; he was larger than some of the neighborhood dogs. He trapped one dog on our front porch and we had to rescue the dog from him, so the dog could go home. We adopted Loki (orange) and his sister Vesta (black and white) 16 1/2 years ago. They had been left along a roadside in a cardboard box. David and I were somewhere between Hollywood, Maryland and Bedford, Virginia when I saw the box. A kitten showed its head above the lid, so we stopped. Inside were three kittens, Loki, Vesta, and Tatch. Tatch was adopted by my parents, but we couldn't find homes for Vesta and Loki and they became part of our family (two adults, three other cats, and a baby on the way in a few months). Vesta passed away in 2009. Loki passed away June 5th, 2010. He fought his ailment with an extraordinary determination. We will miss them very much. After a hurricane passed near our house, dropping trees and scaring us to our basement, a small blue-eyed cat appeared under our deck. After hanging near our house for several weeks and daintily eating our neighbor's cat's food, she was invited to stay with us. When she doesn't want to be found, it takes a tremendous house-search to find her. A mangy cat with a damaged eye began eating our outside catfood a couple of years after Isabelle arrived. After scheduling a trip to the vet, he failed to show for several days! When he did return, the vet removed the irreparable eye and he began living with us. After a steady diet and Pippen cleaning him, he has turned into a lovable handsome friend who visits me every morning while I drink my coffee.    During one of our practice sessions in the living room, Eliot and Thumper thought they could talk us into traveling with us to the competition, if they traveled in car seats! Thumper was another stray that we have grown to love. He was covered in motor oil - which left stains on our garage door - when Erik found him under the wheelbarrow in our back yard. We thought he was a black kitten at first until Renee picked him up and felt the oil. He was ravenous when we found him and after many, many baths and a trip to the vet's office for antibiotics to prevent wound infections, he slept in our bathroom for nearly three weeks. He was weak and we thought that he would not survive. After the first fearful weeks, his strength grew and he began playing with everyone. Of course, not everyone enjoyed playing with him! The older ones didn't like his youthful enthusiasm. Isabelle does not enjoy the company of any other cat very much. Eliot had enjoyed being the youngest cat and didn't enjoy the competition. After things settled down, Eliot and Thumper are now best friends.