Happy Ending!!

As many of you know - Ryan has wanted a dog - FOREVER!! This year for Christmas that was all that he had on his list for me - a dog (and maybe some legos). He has been trying really hard to show that he can be responsible, etc. So, I decided, with me being home right now it would be a good time to get a dog. I started looking and had been looking for a few weeks. I went in to the humane society on Monday to check out a couple of dogs that looked promising. I found Charlie and he seemed perfect for us. The person there was really pushing to bring the kids back in before we adopted him. They see too many animals given as gifts this time of year that come back. It was 1:00. I said - ok. We will be back at 4:00 when the kids get done with school. (they had no idea that I was considering getting a dog) We came back and they give you a beeper. You have to wait your turn until someone is free to work with you. The kids were sooooo excited!! We went back by the dogs and they were looking at Charlie throught the glass. Then the saddest thing happened - the people ahead of us decided to adopt him. The kids were both in tears when I told them. It was heartbreaking. I said that we would keep looking, but we were not going to take a dog unless we were 100% sure it was right for us. So... I started looking some more. I saw two more dogs that looked promising. I went back and both of them would have been really good. I decided to go with Missy. She is a collie mix, 4 yrs old, very calm and relaxed. She does not bite, jump, bark or chew up things. She is already house trained and knows sit and shake. Perfect!! So I brought her home. Ryan and Leah were so surprised and so happy. I was glad that in the end it all worked out for us.

Merry Christmas!!

Marathon runners!!

Whohoo!! This past Saturday Lisa and I ran our first marathon in S. Carolina. It was a great time and awesome experience! We have photos before, during (yes - Lisa made us stop to take a photo) and after. The weather could have been better - it was windy with a light rain - thank goodness we finished before the downpour. We just had to walk back to our room in the rain but that was ok.

Happy before we started.

Stopping for a photo at the 13 mile mark.

It was a "green" event so we received green glass medals. They are sort of hard to see, but we do have them on.

Leah - bell ringing

I am a little late posting this one. Last weekend Leah also was belling ringing for Brownies. They had a lot of fun - sang songs the entire time and got so many donations that I had to call the guy to come and empty the bucket because they couldn't fit any more money in it!!

Bell Ringing, Meet the Mayor & Snow

We had our first "real" snow today. When we got home the kids were pretty excited about it and wanted to go out and play. They were out for almost an hour before I called them in because it was time for bed.


For Brownies we went to City Hall and met the mayor of Greenfield. The girls were able to ask him questions and he gave them a tour. They had a lot of fun.



On Wednesday Ryan was bell ringing for scouts. They boys did a great job - very polite, said thank you and which everyone Happy Holidays. They even sang a few carols. Leah is bell ringing on Saturday for brownies.