Giving THANKS(giving)

Thanksgiving morning dawned cold and grey, just as it ought in the Pacific Northwest.  Isaac wanted to ensure Charlie got his part in the feasting...  It took Charlie the better part of the day just to figure out how to get started on his giant bone.  I admit, though, our crazy dog made quick work of that rawhide once he got started!

It was a mild morning so we decided to walk on the trail just a couple blocks from our house.  Charlie loves to be out in the woods. He has complete freedom to smell, run, jump, repeat!  We've been blessed with a dog that comes when he's called, so we feel entirely comfortable giving him freedom to romp around!

Tell me, who wouldn't want that BEAST (last picture) charging at them full speed? We love it, drool laces and all!  He'll respond to his name or our whistle for him and come back for a "touchback" where he runs to us, touches one of us, then starts out again.


There are few things I love more than going on a walk holding my husband's hand!

Look at that handsome dog! He was just coming out of a full "point" at this moment! He's got quite the nose... He'd make a great hunting dog: he rarely barks, he's got a soft bite (he mouths with no pressure), he's got an amazing sense of smell, and he comes when called. 

After our walk we'd worked up an appetite so we headed over to Grandma Nancy's for some further thanks giving with the extended McPhee family!

The food was delicious!  And we had a great time catching up with Isaac's side of the family...even if they are a small group, they make up for it with constant stories and plenty of laughter!

Once we had recovered from our excellent feast, we settled in for the family game: FANTAM!

Don't let that sweet little grandma fool you: she's cutthroat!

We have so much to be thankful for this year.  God has blessed us both.  Our greatest thanks is for God bringing us together in a marriage that celebrates Christ and draws each of us closer to Him and through each other as we learn repentance, love, and self-sacrifice.  God is good! 

CHARLIE: The story of our impulse dog purchase!

This is the story of how we got our sweet Charlie boy!

It was a normal Saturday morning.  We'd just finished breakfast and I was in the kitchen cleaning up some dishes or doing laundry (some Saturday chore) while Isaac worked on a novel-in-progress.  Isaac calls to me from the living room, "hey, what do you think about a puppy?"

I stood there for a second, dishes in hand, then letting what he said sink in I came around the corner, "did you just ask me what I think about a puppy?"

Isaac: "Yeah..."
Me: "Uhhh.... Does this mean you want to go get a dog?"
.... so we talked about it a bit all the while knowing what the answer was going to be.  I knew Isaac really wanted a dog (okay, I did too!), but I was hesitant. Still, the look on his face as we talked about it was irresistible.  A man needs a dog! So off we went in search of an open shelter.

We had a couple hits and misses looking for an adoption event when I found the King County shelter on my phone.  We headed off and asked to see the dogs. They showed us through a set of double doors and told us to come tell them if there was a dog we wanted to take out. Ohhhh my goodness! There was an Aussie pup there that melted my heart. There were also two or three other mid-sized dogs that caught our eyes.  The top contenders were "Bruce" (a lab/pit mix) and "Princess" (a black and white mutt).  We kept wandering back to see "Bruce".  He was quietly lying on his bed, and just looked up at us with his ears and eyebrows perked up... I said right then "we're going home with this dog, aren't we?" so we went and asked about him, filled out an application, and were allowed to see him out in the yard.

 


He was timid, but he didn't bark, so we played with him.  He was more interested in the other dogs in neighboring pens and the cars going by than us.  He started to warm up to Isaac after a few minutes and seemed eager for affection.  We also noticed that he hadn't so much as growled or gruffed or whimpered.  Hmmm...we're liking this dog!  I bent down one more time to pet him and he looked up and gave me one lick on the chin. (SOLD!)  A few minutes later and we were loading him into our car!

He was very underweight but otherwise healthy.  He'd been de-wormed, so we're not sure if he'd had worms or been just plain hungry!

He'd been a stray found wandering the streets of Kent.  We quickly decided he couldn't continue to be called "Bruce" (the name the shelter had given him a few days before) and before we had finished the car ride home he was pronounced to be Charlie, and he was part of our family.

A special thanks to Seth who sponsored Charlie with his wedding money!  He told us to spend it all in one place, and well, we didn't spend it all in one place, but we pretty well spent all of it on one thing.  We checked with Seth and he gave his hearty approval!  I can't wait for these two boys to meet! I know they'll get along! :)

There was an almost instant bond between Isaac and Charlie.  Charlie loves me, but when it comes down to it, he's chosen Isaac as his master, and I'm okay with that. I mean, just look at these two: