in love with a wookie

I don't know how to talk about Ella's passing. If you notice I tried to squeeze it in (very inappropriately) to JT's bday post. We are sad about Ella. It is so baffling that a dog should be able to get cancer. Does St. Francis know about this? Ella was an awesome dog. When we picked her up from the shelter, they told us (after I signed all the paperwork) that she had lived there for 3 years. It was all she knew. We really struggled at first with potty training but eventually she got the swing of things and fit in with the family. She was an awesome second mom. She tracked the boys constantly and was very protective of us all.

I have to admit that learning of Ella's diagnosis and having 3 weeks with her was comforting (in a selfish way). It gave all us time to digest the news and enjoy our time with her. It was easier than when Ethyl passed suddenly without warning. I know it was easier for us than it was for our friends who at the same time that we were getting Ella's news got news about their dog Jasper and sadly they had a shorter amount of time to make their decisions.  The two families lamented our losses together. But with every sad story, there is a happy ending because Jasper's parents also have a dog named Ollie and Ollie has a brother named Jet. Call it lucky, fate, power of the gods, or serendipity but Jet was looking for a new home. He is a much loved dog who recently moved to an apartment and his mom realized he needed a little more room than what they had. Rick and I were hesitant to say yes to a new dog so soon but when you see Jet you just can't say no and I don't think either of us realized how much we would miss having a dog in our house.

And so today, we find ourselves on our first official day with Jet. He came over last night to watch the World Series and we all agreed to let him stay and see if he likes us as much as we like him. So far he has discovered cat food and due to his height he easily discovered people food on the table. I am sure we can come to a mutual understanding on both of these. I tried to take a few quick shots between calls this morning; Jet wasn't too thrilled b/c he is waiting patiently for a walk and doesn't want to mess with this camera nonsense.

Here is what we know about this little guy:

He is two years old. His name is Jet (although Griffin told us that his full name is Jet Horn). He likes his toys, he likes cat food, and he looks like a wookie (he is actually a laberdoodle).