Pickles Adoption

Ken and I will be adopting a dog.  We have missed our Savannah so much.  The house is empty and quiet.  There is no companionship and we find ourselves wondering what it would be like to have another pet.  I started looking on KSL.com a few weeks back trying to find a dog that was a little bit older.  I didn't feel that we were ready to go through the puppy stage again.  Don't get me wrong--puppies are the cutest and sweetest dogs but I felt that neither Ken or I could train them or spend the time and energy on a puppy.  We thought a dog that was a few years old would work best for us.

Malia gave me the internet site where they found and adopted their dog Fancy.  She was an older dog but had lots of good traits.  I knew we would want another lab so I started searching the site for labs.  Ken thought it would be good to get a black lab because Pedro was a yellow lab and Savannah was a chocolate lab.  That would give each dog a distinct color to help our memories of them.  I found a place in Logan that had several black labs or lab mixes.  I started sending pictures and bios to Ken and he became agreeable to the dog plan.  I sent in an application to scfourpaws@hotmail.com.  On the 4th of July, the director (Lisa Shaw) called me.  I made an appointment to come and meet some of their labs.  I had selected 3 labs from their site.

Today, we drove up to meet the dogs.  We first met Wally--a very tame, mild mannered dog.  He was being kept at a pet hotel.  He greeted all the new pets and got along with everyone.  Ken seemed to think he was the best choice for us.  Wally was a little thin and he had great peaceful, get along with everyone personality.  Not so good on a leash.  We also met a dog named Zach.  He had boundless energy, a scar near his tail, horrible leash aptitude and skinny thing.  Zach seemed to have a mind of his own.  I was feeling sorry for Zach knowing that they had been working hard to fatten him up.  I kept telling Ken that both of these dogs would work out--especially when they got used to us.  When we brought Zach back to the pet hotel, there was a beautiful black lab in the waiting room.

Turns out--this dog was Pickles!  Ken and I knew almost immediately that Pickles was for us.  Pickles paid a lot of attention to us, gave us kisses, had a healthy body shape and something about his face tells me that he has a lot of personality.  We gave Pickles the same walk that we took Wally and Zach on.  The entire time, Ken and I kept saying--this is the dog.  He just felt right for us.  Ken took him on a short run for a few houses and he did great.  He rolled him on his tummy and he was submissive.  We just got excited that this was our dog.  We told Lisa we wanted him and filled out the paperwork for him.  We won't get Pickles until July 24th.  That's really our choice since we have a week home and then we go to the condo in Ivins.  We felt that changes the houses and being gone would be a hard adjustment for Pickles so when we get back from our trip--we will pick up our dog.

Can't wait.  We do think it is unique that we will have a Pickles and Mark's family is getting a lab puppy that Mylee wants to call Twinkie.  Guess that we will have sweet and sour dogs!  Fun for us.

Ivins Home

Ken and I took two trips to Ivins to get things done on our 2nd home.  I can't believe I just wrote 2nd home--but I did.  We are so excited to get this place up and going for our family to use. We purchased the home on 460 Coyote Way the end of May.  Ken and I went down for the weekend after our purchase.  We had absolutely nothing except for the few items we purchased from the previous owners.  We purchased their bedroom set, a computer desk, and two mattresses for our Murphy bed's in the other bedrooms. 


Mark and Rick joined us on our 2nd trip.  The men painted and I ran errands the whole time.  We got a lot accomplished during this trip.  We painted the living room, kitchen, master bedroom and both bathrooms with two coats of paint.  We also were able to paint all of the baseboards in the house.  Now it is ready for carpet!


Our 3rd visit was by far the most rewarding.  We were able to get our new carpet!  We had some dark brown carpet installed in the hallways and living room and a lighter brown put into the bedrooms.  We were finally able to be setup with the internet (wireless) so that all of our devices work plus we got a new tv.   Also, our furniture was delivered.  We have a sectional, entertainment center, kitchen table and chairs.  It was fun for me to see the place come alive.  Ken had to go back early so he missed out on seeing the furniture in place.


We have the best neighbors!  They are looking after us, meeting and greeting us.  It is a wonderful community--not quite a senior community but it has the feel of one as far as keeping up on everything and making your home nice.  Padre lakes has a clubhouse with a pool, tennis courts and several lakes in the backyards that actually have swans and ducks.  It is beautiful.