A new addition to our family!

I woke up about 10 minutes ago to the sound of our first real addition to our family (no offense to Herbie, may he rest in peace). Ready for the big news? We got a dog! And not just a dog, the greatest dog ever! (No offense to Clifford, may he never devour anyone's children... yeah.)

Meet Zeus!

Zeus is a beautiful 2-month year old male pure-bred boxer puppy with a lot of spunk! Lydia and I haven't been able to get a dog before now because we've been renting an apartment. But with our recent move to our home in Roy, and some great luck, we were able to adopt this little puppy.

Here's the scoop. A few months back, Lydia's sister's family (Mindy & Steve Caldwell) adopted a 2-year-old boxer from the local pound (Drake). He was a great dog with a big heart, but unfortunately had some real health concerns. He was taken back to the pound and put to sleep. It was really hard on the family.

So a couple weeks ago (after much convincing from some very persuasive children) they decided to try again. They wanted to stick with boxers, but this time got a puppy - yep, Zeus! They've had a great time with Zeus and have really fallen in love with him. Unfortunately though, they had to make another hard decision recently to give him up. He hasn't been very compatible with their two younger children, especially their youngest daughter Emily.

Mindy wrote a blog entry about their decision. She said it was really heartbreaking, but it was the right thing to do. I was sad to hear about their experience. This dog had really meant so much (and still does!) to their family. As much as I was sad to hear about it, I got excited at the thought of maybe having a dog of our own! Mindy asked if anyone was interested in keeping him, and I couldn't resist. I talked to Lydia about it, and we decided to adopt him. We're so happy that Zeus is still part of the Caldwell family, and that the kids can still come and visit him whenever they want. And WE'RE really excited to finally be dog-owners! I was telling Lydia tonight we can scratch one more item off our list of life-goals. Own a house, get a dog, have a baby. 2 out of 3 ain't bad! Lydia reminded me that I also got a new computer recently, which is true.

Anyway, back to the story. We picked up Zeus tonight from the Caldwell's and brought him back to his new home. So far, he's adjusted really well! He had one little house training accident tonight, but nothing too serious. He's been so curious of his new environment and has been sniffing around every nook and cranny of our house. We gated off the kitchen and decided that until we can have a little more time with house training, he would be our kitchen puppy (hurray for tile!). He's keeping me company right now sleeping next to the chair by my desk. Idn't he cute?!

What are you doing Mike?

Sorry for disturbing your nap buddy. :) I've been a little-camera happy tonight. He's such an attractive animal though, I'm having a hard time not filling up my memory card with pictures of him.

We're so excited to have Zeus be a part of our little family! If you want to hear more about Zeus, take a minute and read through Mindy's blog.

Here's a few more pictures I took of him tonight in his new home:

Zeus getting a bedtime story from Mom about
appropriate places to defecate.

Me and Zeus (I know, I know, it's Zeus and I, but oh well)

Our first family photo!

Thanks again Mindy, Steve, Rachel, Julia, Cameron, & Emily for letting Zeus be a part of our family. Feel free to come and visit anytime! We love you!

Cameron, Rachel, Julia & Zeus
(courtesy Mindy's blog)

Asleep after a long day

Another great photo I stole
from Mindy's blog :)

One of Zeus' favorite spots to spend his time