The Birthday Present

I will be updating with more pictures of Ian and Brooklyn's birthdays soon, but we have had an exciting development in our family. We went to Utah and stayed with family and friends for an end of the summer trip. While we were in Provo visiting our friends Tyler and Alyson Bingham and Neil and Megan Valentine we had a life changing event.

It was Brooklyn's birthday, August 9. She has wanted one thing for her birthday or Christmas for years now, and we always say no. "Maybe when you are older. Maybe when we are more settled. Maybe when Lucas is potty trained." We have run out of excuses, we are getting her a dog for her 8th birthday.

It was as if all Brooklyn's prayers and hopes were answered. It just so happened that right on her 8th birthday our friends invited us over and said they had 9 puppies at their house. (Alyson's mom breeds Aussies.) To be honest, we weren't planning on giving her a puppy and she knew it. Even though we had said, "Maybe when you are 8." she knew the chances were slim to none. But when Aaron saw the puppies and their mom, he said, "If we had a dog that's the kind of dog I like." I couldn't believe he just said "If we had a dog" and went silent for fear of jinxing it. He immediately got on Tyler and Alyson's computer and researched the breed, obedience schools, and when he called Alyson's parents I knew he was seriously considering what we thought would never happen. HOORAY!

Meet our Australian Shepherd "Jetta". At least that's the name we have for her so far. We don't get to bring her home until the end of September. But we will spend the next month preparing.
We are all still in shock that Aaron agreed to getting her a dog. What a great dad he is for allowing her this opportunity (even though he would rather do without a pup in our lives). She will be an active dog and everything we have read about the breed says that they need a job to do. We think her jobs should be catching frisbees, and keeping Lucas out of the street.
Our new house has a built in dog door to the garage and a dog run, and I think it might be in the neighborhood bylaws that if you live this close to Camel's Back Park (1 block) you must have a dog. Really, Aaron had no choice.