So let's start at the beginning...we went to our local fair that has lots of rides, games and food. If you could see how wide-eyed Lauren and Kathryn were at all the lights you would think we had taken them to Disney World! They absolutely adore going on the rides and eating all of the food...especially the ice cream! So, I came up with the smart idea of letting them choose between getting ice cream or playing a carnival game where we could win a fish...knowing full well they would choose the fish! So, we paid $5 and got 30 ping pong balls to throw at these mini gold fish bowls strewn all over the table. Keith was mainly throwing the balls and so I thought since we had so many I would give it a shot...and low and behold it went IN!! So, we took home a gold fish...we had no tank...and you see where this is going....so I put it in a flower vase (good idea) and the next morning I go out to buy a fish tank. I did go out the next day but didn't buy a tank because I was confused on what I should be buying so I decided to research it a little more. My research took a little too long because our dear fish, Sunbeam (Lauren named him), passed away. I am not sure if it was the fish bowl or the fact that Keith decided to feed it saltines (we are still debating). We gave the fish a proper burial...I put him in an empty glass baby food container and stuck it in the freezer until Keith came home to bury him. Lauren was a little upset so I promised her we would go to the pet store and buy a tank and two new fish!! Oh, I feel compelled to let you know that they ended up getting the ice cream at the fair after all...Daddy is a softy when it comes to the kids.
The following day we journey out to the pet store which also has an animal rescue section in the store. We load up our cart with all the necessary purchases to keep a fish alive...tank with filter, rocks, couple of plants, food. We were advised to hold off on getting the fish for a least 24 hours so the water would have time to filter through the tank before we added the fish. I love pets so before we leave the store we walked by the adoption section of cats...Lauren becomes smitten with a cat named Tess and so do I. The icing on the cake for me was when Lauren put her little hand on the plexiglass and Tess put her paw up to touch Lauren's hand. She asks me if she could get a cat instead of the fish. I tell her that she needs to talk to Daddy, so she immediately has me dial him up from the cell phone. I was pleasantly surprised when Keith seemed open to the idea and said we will talk about it. So I put all the fish stuff back on the shelves and we headed home to talk about adopting Tess. Keep in mind talk of adopting Tess was occurring a few days prior to Lauren having her umbilical hernia surgery. Lauren asked every day if we could go get Tess...finally (two days after Lauren's surgery) Keith agreed to get the cat. Kathryn, John and I went and met Tess to make sure she would be good with kids and a good fit for our family. I brought Tess home and everyone was happy EXCEPT Keith and I. We quickly realized upon Tess's arrival that we were not cat people and that we would rather have a dog if we were going to put the effort in with a cat. Tess honestly was a terrific cat, as far as cats go, she was great with the kids but it was the litter box issue that we just couldn't shake. We had a really hard time coming to this conclusion but we ultimately decided to return the cat to the rescue. After only a few short days we had all become attached and it saddened us to bring Tess back, but we felt she deserved to be with a family who could love EVERYTHING about her.
Okay, sorry this is so long but I feel like I owe you the explanation...Once we returned the cat Keith and I decided to start searching for an older rescue dog. We contacted several rescues in our area and I kept tabs on all the dogs on a daily basis. I can clearly remember when I found Bodhi. It was Saturday morning, October 3rd. I was enjoying my morning cup of coffee checking out all the rescues and I immediately called Keith over to the computer we both agreed that he looked like the dog for our family and so I submitted our application and crossed my fingers. Because I am a little inpatient after the submitting the application I also wrote a separate e-mail to the rescue about how interested we were in Bodhi. Shelly (the lady at the rescue) and I then swapped a couple of e-mails back and forth and we eventually spoke on the phone. She notified me that they do not normally place dogs in a home with small children, especially with individuals who have never owned a dog...this was my fear all along. However, she understood that we had to start somewhere and she thought we sounded like a good fit for Bodhi. Let me just tell you it was LOVE at first sight with Bodhi. It feels like he has been with our family forever he has just blended in so perfectly with us. He sleeps in our room, does not run out of our yard, he knows hand commands and is just an all around good soul...and he is good for our souls too. Tonight the kids (Bodhi included) and I were driving back from an outing when Lauren announced from the back seat that we have three boys and three girls in our family...what a smart cookie:)...she gets it, he is part of our family!
So with all of that I leave you with these pictures from our first day home...it was a long process to get here but I KNOW we made the right decision.
Congrats on the new addition, Bohdi looks so comfortable in his new home!
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