Thursday, May 22, 2008

New Puppy!!!!!!!



Little Missy

What a precious puppy!

Missy and Tailee meeting for the first time-best friends at first sight!

Emily and Anna holding their little baby!

Yet another new member in the Hoffman home! It's spring - we can't resist! Besides what mother could possibly say no in the face of such faith,hope,and optimism as Emily and Anna, Mikela and Kate had. A Friday the children had off school, Emily and Anna were standing by Mom's bed by 8 am, telling her they'd already searched the morning ads (as they'd done for months) and called and they HAD A FEMALE GOLDEN RETRIEVER! It was even in an area we know not far away. So off we went, AFTER the girls very cooperatively cleaned the play room. The girls said, "We didn't even imagine how cute these puppies could be and when we arrived we were so happy and excited!" Right away, Emily asked to hold a certain lucky puppy and she said "this is the one- I know it!" But then every girl wanted the puppy they were holding. Missy sealed her fate for coming home with us when she instinctively reached up and licked Em's face just as Mom insisted we wanted the nicest, most loving one. The children had brought towels to cushion her and quickly assigned her a seat all her own on the drive home. She's adjusted beautifully and fits in perfectly so far - just seems like one of the gang. The kids might never forget Mike's reaction - he did not know we had set off to buy a dog (with a year's worth of no-candy money!) that day. He rushed in from OR, only to change and rush out to a young single adult fireside with Elder Scot. As he placed his tie and the girls showed up at the door with a dog, he asked, "Where'd that come from?" A bit hesitantly they replied, "It's ours Dad." "No, it's not" Mike thought they were completely kidding. "Where'd it come from?" "It's really ours Dad, we bought it." A little more forcefully now, "No, it's not" Now he was in pure denial, "That's not our dog." Mike looked at me in desperation and when I gave the slight nod to say it was true, he NEARLY stormed past the girls in a rush to the meeting. The girls were so worried all night long as their Aunt Kristi tended that she had imagined the worst. Wasn't she surprised when awoke on the couch to Mike cooing all over Missy, "OH, aren't you the cutest puppy EVER!" Isaac also, who had been in protest about the whole thing, was shot through the heart and loves her, perhaps, most of all. The kids quote, "We had a family Council and decided to name her Little Missy even though she won't be little for long...She is the sweetest puppy in the world and she is learning to be a princess house dog. She is learning to wipe her feet at the door, sit for scriptures and lay for prayer, and get potty trained. She wears a bow everywhere she goes-and she comes a lot of places with us. She and cousin, Tailee (Kristi and Calt's dog) are best friends and really enjoy playing with each other. We all love her to pieces and she is always getting attention. Even the pictures don't do justice!"