I have always liked others peoples pets and thought it was good for them. It was nice to see them but not have to clean up and take care of them. While growing up I did have a few pets like fish a hamster or two stuff like that. I could say I had a pet but did not have a daily mess to clean up after. My brother on the other hand had 2 yellow labs while he was growing up. I can remember how much he hated to feed, water, and clean up the piles of poop. I think those memories are what kept me from even considering the idea of having larger furry pets like cats or dogs.
I fought this idea long and hard even after we had moved into a house where we actually could have one of them. The reason is that Jen wanted whatever animal we did have to be an inside animal and I didn't like the idea of that at ALL! So for a few years that worked. It wasn't until my daughter at the age of 3 captured my heart and said she wanted a kittie. How could I resist. With her mom's guidance and help Emily knew exactly how to get what she wanted from dear old dad. The pictures below say it all. I don't think I made a mistake!
It quickly became her very best friend. She treated it just like part of the family and despite our little girl the kittie was quite at ease around her. Sister the Calico above was Emily's kittie. She named her Emily, after herself, and gave her the nickname sister, again after herself. Due to a tragic accident and yes it was an accident JEN, she is no longer with us. It didn't phase Emily though. She just quickly adopted Taylor's cat Socks as her own. And she was not going to let Socks be just any old cat. He was going to be an educated cat. My words don't do it justice. See below.
That's our Emily. After giving in and yes of course the cats being indoor cats I began to soften to the idea of having a dog. Austin had talked about it for quite some time and I finally made good on my promise that he could have one. We surprised him with a yellow lab for Christmas. Taylor and I had picked her out when she was 4 weeks old and we couldn't pick her up until Christmas Eve which worked out perfect. Again my words don't do it justice to how happy he was.
And I guess I have gotten use to the idea of having a dog around. Just see below. I am really looking forward to the warm weather so me and the gang can take her camping, hiking, and anything else we can find this summer.
I couldn't get her to sit still and look at the camera. She wanted to eat my ear.....
lick my face....
and finally with a little restraint!
