Happy Father's Day!

Gift, n.
: something voluntarily transferred by one person to another without compensation.

Jeff has been talking about dogs as long as I have known him. First there was Solomon (German Shepherd) 1993-2004...

At one point sometime in 2000, we brought home a black lab and named him, "Sammy". That did not go well. We put him up for adoption less than 1 yr later.

Ugh.

I think I have blocked that dog out of memory let me drop a few words...(shoes, plants, AC wires, sprinklers, picket fences, anything and everything--except his OWN toys.)

Since Solomon and Sammy, Jeff has still had the desire for dogs...so, we rescued a boxer named, Laila. We had her for about 8 weeks (2 of those weeks, Jeff was in Thailand). We blogged about her back in Jan. '06, "Dog Days are Here Again!"

We gave Laila to a "dog lover" and I am sure she is still jumping up and laying on her owner's bed and couch. Laila thought she was human and deserved every luxury. Emily was just 3 1/2 and this experience did not leave a good impression of dogs with her.

For about the last year, Jeff has been relentless on getting another dog. "It will be good for Emily"..."Nathan would love a pet!"

We asked Nate if he wanted a puppy. He responded, "I want a FROG!"

Almost every Saturday morning Jeff has been on the computer looking at adopting or buying a puppy. I finally said, "Maybe, when the kids are in school...but can we stop talking about it until then?" He was appeased for a few weeks.

Then he was back to the PennySaver and google. I knew that he wanted a dog that would be able to come in the house and be a part of the family. So, I properly appealed and we discussed that boxers were out--too big and crazy for the house. So, on to smaller dogs and hopefully, non-shedding...he put in a few calls to sellers/adoption groups...we went to look at some Lhasas out in Quartz Hill on Father's Day.

Well, as he picked out the one he liked, he softly asks, "Can we get two?" OMG!!

We only came home with one. We re-named him, Riley.

For those of you who are familiar with the Lhasa breed...they have looooong hair (typically). We are not planning to have him grow his hair out. In fact, he has already had his first grooming...and we are keeping it short! He is so cute!

Anyway, it is going well (I know it could be worse). He is 10 weeks old, 5.5 lbs. He was already potty trained on those potty pads when we got him. PTL :o)

So, Jeff, Happy Father's Day and Happy Birthday (it's his 35th this 4th of July) for the rest of your life! I love you so much. Loving this journey together!!

We will be celebrating together on Royal Caribbean for 7-nights in the Mexican Riviera! Kids and dog stay home.