February - The Good and the Bad

This months has flown by extremely fast! Several things have happened that I wanted to post about tonight.

First the bad- last Friday, Audrey and Bogart got into one of their fights in the middle of the living room. It was looking pretty bad, with Audrey pinning Bogey, so I jumped in and pulled Audrey off Bogey. As I was walking away with Audrey in my arms, Bogey then came after me and bit my leg. 3 times. I screamed for Alex who was in bed, and he ran in and pulled Bogey away from me. It turned out one of the bites was pretty bad. The result was a 3 inch gash under my knee. Obviously we had to make a very painful decision. On Saturday morning we called a Cocker Rescue and SPCA who both informed us that they couldn't do anything to rehabilitate him because of his age. Apparently because he was so young (not quite two) and already displaying biting and aggression, he would be too much a liability. So Alex took him into the SPCA to have him put down. This was a horribly painful decision, but we felt that we had made the best, most responsible choice. If he would attack me, his mom, he could lash out at anyone. So I have been grieving this week for the loss of my sweet pup, one of my kids, who I never thought would turn on me.

The good news (yes, now that your feeling depressed with me I'm going to cheer you up a little:) - Kris and Doug, (my sister and bro-in-law) just got a call today from Holt with a referral of a little boy in China. He does have a few medical issues that they are talking to a doctor about, but we should know their decision for sure in a week or so, after the doctors review the files. Please be praying for them, that they would know if this is the right child for them. I'll fill in the details about the child when we know more.

Puppy Play-By-Play

Audrey "Hey, I want the pink ball!"

Bogey "Well you can't have it!"

Audrey "Please!?! Please!?! Give me the Pink Ball!"

Bogey "NO!"

Bogey "Hey! Where did my ball go?"

Audrey "HEHEHE! MINE!"

Bogey "Life sucks."

I'm so easily amused.

My Favorite Christmas Present

On December 13, 2003, I received the best Christmas present I've ever gotten. Here's how the story goes:

I had been suffering with some depression for several months and it had a lot to do with my infertility. A few of our peers were starting their families and I knew it would be years before we would have babies of our own. I started longing for a puppy thinking that it might be a good way to use my natural desire to nurture.

Alex and I were on a mission that day. We drove to all the animal shelters in the nearest towns and couldn't find a puppy for us. While we were in Visalia we decided to stop in the mall. The first store, right at the entrance to the mall was a small pet shop with puppies and kitty's in the windows.I looked in one window to see four beautiful cocker spaniel pups playing with each other. two of them were sable colored, one was black, and the other was a beautiful reddish buff colored with white freckles and white paws. She looked just like Lady from "Lady and the Tramp". Alex said that I immediately pointed at her and said "That's the one I want - that's our puppy!" Alex was instantly in love as well, reminding him of his childhood cocker spainel named Silver or "Silvey". After holding her and playing awhile we paid for her and took her to our car.

She was the smallest little thing, and very quiet. I tried to put her in the crate I had in the back seat but she stared crying, so I gave in and held her while Alex drove. Alex went into A&W to get us dinner but I was so excited that I couldn't eat. She fell asleep in my arm and we talked about what to name her as we drove home. We thought about "Freckles" or "Buffy". We finally decided on "Audrey" because she looked so classy (and we had been watching a lot of Audrey Hephburn movies at the time).

She is our little princess and the best Christmas present ever!

My little Audrey Dog

I was going through all my pictures today and I found one that I had forgotten about. It's my fave pix of Audrey. It was taken back at our apartment in Fresno, before Bogey was ever around. She was in the perfect spot at the perfect time, and I had an excellent camera.

A picture says a thousand words

"Napa's been fun. Can we go home now?"