O Holy Night

Wow, another Whirlwind of a day! But a fun day :) I really enjoyed it! It started off at 7:15am, when my alarm went off. I knew that if I wanted to get a workout in before all of our planned activities, I needed to get up early. Only problem was that we went to bed around 1pm. *yawn*

Anyway, we got ready, and Captain America finished off the project that he started on last night (it needed another coat of paint), and he and I went out for a short walk. We had a brisk 30 minute walk. It was good :) Yesterday, my plan was to swim, but I didn't feel like it when I woke up. Walking was good.

We headed back home, and the final coat of paint was dried. What do you think? Looks JUST like the one in the photo from yesterday, huh? Good job, honey!

We changed clothes real fast (well, Captain America did - I kept on my workout clothes) and left Jake in charge, and headed out to the church. We had our Ward Christmas Party tonight, and I had volunteered to help decorate.

But first, it was off to Howdys. Because I needed a Diet Dr Pepper :) It makes me happy :)

Captain America dropped me off at the church, and he continued on to the YMCA (several, actually) to see about registering the little boys for the Ice Hockey League. I stayed and helped decorate. I had 4 garbage bags FULL of fabric to offer. Because everyone has spare fabric laying around, right? hehe.

Well, I had PLANNED to help, but everyone seemed to have it under control, so I just ended up drinking my Howdys drink with my buddy Charlotte. You know, it funny. Last Sunday, she and I were chatting in the hall, and someone came up to us and wanted to know where we'd met before. Huh? We didn't know each other before we came here. hehe. We just instantly clicked. Ever do that with a friend before?

Anyway, we chatted for about an hour, commenting the whole time that we SHOULD be helping, but not. ha! Captain America came back around 11:30, and she headed home, and I helped out with the Program rehersal. Cause I was in charge. hehe. We showed everyone where to go for their parts, and practiced through it once, and were good to go.

Captain America and I headed out to grab a bit to eat real fast (Taco Cabana), then headed to the Humane Society. Jake had asked for a pet for Christmas. And Captain America and I talked about all of the possible pets, and the pros and cons of each. Sure, a turtle or a fish or a hampster would be SUPER easy, but is it really interactive?

Jake is home all day long, every day. He needs more exercise. He needs more companionship. He would get those from a dog. He's slightly autistic, and I KNOW that pets help with that. So we thought we'd go give it a look.

And we found the SWEETEST 9 month old Pitbull Terrier mix. SUCH a sweet tempered female dog. But yeah, after we decided we wanted her and started on the paperwork, they found out we lived on Fort Bliss, and that her breed of dog was banned. Whaaaat? Crap.

So we went back out to look some more. We didn't like any of the little dogs, and most of the medium sized dogs didn't do anything for us either. But there was one in the large dog section, called Chucky, that was a boxer. Boxers are good dogs.

Come to find out, Chucky had been here previously, gotten adopted out, and they found him back at Animal Control a few weeks ago. Hmmmm. BUT, when he was here the first time, his name was Boxer. Yeah, Boxer is a MUCH better name than Chucky. That just reminds me of an Evil doll....

Anyway, Captain America TOTALLY fell in love with Boxer, and he didn't scare me (ha!), and seemed to like me too. So we decided to go with Boxer. AND, he was ready to go today. Our house wasn't ready, but Boxer was - hehe.

Here's some pics of me trying to hold him on his leash. He was SO excited to get out of there! He had a microchip and all of his shots and was already neutered. Sweet :) They were having a Christmas Special of $60 for the complete adoption process. Nice :)

There was a cage of cats right around the corner that he just REALLY wanted to get at - hehe
And then we were done, and off we went to home! I sat in the back seat, and Boxer sat with me. He was SUPER calm the whole way home. You know, I still haven't heard him bark... He seemed pretty at ease in a car.

We got home, and immediately took him into the backyard. And got him used to it a bit before we released the kids on him. hehe. He marked his territory in the backyard (hehe), and we let the kids out. And they were SOOOOOOO excited. Jake especially, since it's primarily his dog.




Jimmy seems to be a little timid around the dog, but I think he'll be ok. He seemed very pleased with Boxer licked him tonight :) Boxer just seemed SO happy when all the kids gathered around him. He laid on his back, and let the kids rub his belly. You could almost see him smiling. Saying THANK YOU for saving me :) Awe, so sweet!

We kept him in the backyard for about the first hour, and the kids played with him, and I worked fast and furiously to get the house cleaned. When it was somewhat "dog proof", or what I thought was dog proof, we let him inside.

And I don't know what dogs normally do in new areas, but he just walked around, smelling things, and if we said "No Boxer" because he stared to go into an area that he wasn't supposed to go in, he just stopped, turned around, and went and sniffed out something else. Yeah, that's my kind of dog. Honestly, he listens better than the kids. hehe. We thought we were gonna have to buy a baby gate, but he hasn't even attempted to go upstairs yet.

Jake took him on a walk, and when he got back, Jake said he was feeling sick. Poor thing. I think he caught what the other kids had. So we let him lay on the couch and take it easy. Captain America hung up the clothes rods in the "clothes closet", and I got the kids ready for the ward party. Jake decided he didn't feel well enough to go, so he was gonna stay home with Boxer.

We headed to the party around 6pm (yeah, it STARTED at 6pm, so we were a bit late), but it didn't really get started until 6:30pm, so we were fashionably late - hehe. Captain America followed behind in a separate car, because he was still finishing up his project. But he made it in time for us to get our "food tickets", and go to the Market place.

It was a SUPER fun evening. We bought food at the "bakery" and "dairy" and all the other fun little stations. We got chocolates, and sweet breads, and deviled eggs, and cheeses, and dredels. Yeah, it was a good time :) Here's some pics from the evening.






At around 7:30pm, we started the program part. Captain America was the Roman Centurion, and called the evening to order. The lights were dimmed, the narrator read, the piano played, the audience sang, I led the music, Joseph and Mary came on stage, the shepherds and angels came, then the wisemen, and then it was over. It was a SUPER sweet and short program. I really really enjoyed it :)

We gathered up our stuff, and off we went. We dropped the kids off at home, and it was bedtime. The little kids went to bed, and the big kids stayed up to watch a movie. Captain America and I had to swing by Walmart to grab some pet supplies, since we were SORELY unprepared.

And I thought kids were expensive!!!

We finally found all that we needed, and headed to the check out. Captain America and I were both pretty sleepy :) it was DEFINITELY bedtime!

Ha! I entitled this photo : You might be a redneck if.....

We got home, put away all of our stuff, and got ready for bed. I hate this couch cushion for the chair, so we decided to give it to the dog - hehe. And he just LOVED it. We turned out the lights, let Jake sleep on the couch for tonight, and off to bed we all went.

You know, I really think that the pet thing is gonna work out. If Boxer is TRULY as mellow as he seems, he's gonna be a VERY welcome addition to our family :) Wish us luck!

Wow, Sharon really outdid herself this time! LOVE the layout, hon!

Click on the link below to go to my account to download the PNG file, and leave some love if you like my work. Thanks!

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