WE GOT A PUPPY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i bet you think i'm joking

Yes, we are crazy and we got a puppy!

We've been thinking about for like the past two years, but we've been going back and forth about the pros and cons of having a dog.

I thought it'd be nice to have some company after Elle goes *gasp* off to college.  Chris has fond memories of his family dog.  Elle is like every other kid who just wants a dog.

So.

I looked at the site for a shelter to see if they had any puppies.  They had a girl, but she was adopted while I was trying to make up my mind.

Then, the shelter said they had three boy puppies whose owner wanted his dog to have a litter and keep one puppy and didn't want to bother finding homes for the others.

I filled out an application which included

-pictures of the main living space

-two letters of recommendation

-passport or driver's licence 

-a 3 page questionnaire

-a legal document with many places to sign.

They told us different things about which breed he is and what day he was born.  So, he's some sort of Maltese/Shih Tzu/ poodle.  They think.  And he was born Nov, 16th.  Or maybe it was the 5th. 

It was pretty crazy, but they said we could have one!  I wanted to pick one up that night so I texted Chris to say "So, we're getting a puppy and picking it up tonight"

Needless to say, he was shocked.  He said it's like someone saying "we're going to have a baby. . .tonight!"

So I asked the shelter if we could pick up a dog Thursday night.  I figured we'd all go after work.  I didn't want to tell Elle because who can resist a surprise like that?!

We decided to go during Chris's lunch instead to pick up the puppy.

We fell in love instantly:

We brought a cardboard box to take him home which became the puppy's home until his crate came:

I played with the puppy all afternoon then we waited upstairs for Elle to come home from school.

Unfortunately, Elle heard the puppy before she saw him so the surprise wasn't as complete as I'd hope.  She was still shocked by the whole thing, so that's good!  In fact, she still finds herself saying, "We have a puppy?!" 

I think this captures how happy she was:

We couldn't decide on a name, but we finally settled on Jake after "Jake the Dog" from Adventure Time.  

 Chris and I didn't really know what to do that first night.  "Do we need a baby monitor?" We finally put up his pen in the laundry room and put him in his little box.  We both slept on the couch and took turns telling him everything was OK.
When his crate/home finally came, we decided to keep it (locked) in our room at night so we could take him out.  Thankfully, he knows just what to do when we take him outside a 1:00 am, 3:00 am, 5:00 am, and 7:00 am.  Chris and I take turns during the night and Elle is so good to help out when she's home.

Elle took this picture which is so stereotypical it made me laugh:

He was kind of smelly but it was too cold to give him a bath right away.  We waited a week until it was a little warmer:

 Aw! "Puppy's First Bath"  We're so pathetic.   We call him Elle's brother and Chris and I are mom and dad.

It's so fun when he is sleepy and snuggles on our laps:

One day I looked in and he wasn't there!

Then I looked harder:

Cute little puppy!

He gets sassy sometimes, but we really love him.

Welcome to our home, Jake!

Elle the Chef!

Elle is compiling a cookbook for college (which is crazy close).  She looked through cookbooks, chose meals, made a grocery list, shopped for the ingredients with me, and made all the food!

She even typed it all up in an organized fashion on google docs.

I'm sorry to say that I didn't think to take pictures of all the amazing meal she made!  Here are a few that I took when I came to my senses:

The falafels: 

 

Strawberry apple salad and sun dried tomato sandwiches:

Poblanos stuffed with chicken and cilantro rice on the side:

Potato soup and salad with homemade raspberry vinaigrette: 

 

Then the other day Elle made a recipe from this cool cookbook:

 Orange marmalade sponge cake:

 

She's pretty amazing! (not to mention organized!)  Way to go, Elle! :)

Elle's talk

Elle gave a talk today!!

Hi, I’m Elle. . . I was asked to speak on honesty and integrity.  In True to the Faith under honesty, it says “To be honest means to be sincere, truthful, and without deceit at all times.” Some people may think that honesty is unimportant and they rationalize cheating, stealing or lying.  However, The for the strength of youth pamphlet states that: “When you are honest in every way, you are able to enjoy peace of mind and maintain self-respect. You build strength of character, which allows you to be of service to God and others.” Choosing to be honest is always the best choice, it blesses you and others.  Honesty helps us build trust and character.  Integrity and honesty are very close in meaning.  

The For the Strength of youth pamphlet defines integrity as  “thinking and doing what is right at all times, no matter what the consequences.”  Integrity not only means doing right when others are watching, but even when we are alone.  When we are honest all the time, to ourselves, to others and to God, we will be blessed.  One of the greatest blessings that comes with being honest is having the companionship of the holy ghost

In my english class last year, each week, we were assigned a story or two to read that we might be tested on.  Some people decided not read the stories and they got all the answers from friends in previous classes.  I decided that I would read the selected stories and if I forgot to read them, I would accept the poor grade on the quiz.  This choice to be honest by not cheating made me happier with myself and I knew that I could feel good about my grade, even if it was lower. I know that choosing to  use our integrity will make us happy and as it says in Proverbs 12 “they that deal truly are his delight.”  I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.