Luna has been with us for a little over two weeks and she's been growing by leaps and bounds.  We're exhaustively proud of the fact that for the last two nights, she's gone to bed and straight to sleep, after many nights of wanting to play as soon as the lights go out.

She's a ham. Anyone that walks by gets loads of attention from her.  And she loves to play at the Bark Park.  She'll start off chasing the big dogs until they turn around chase her and then she comes crying for Daddy.

She loves her toys.  Our living room looks like a daycare exploded toys everywhere.  We've never had a dog that loves to play with so many toys, but it's a blast to watch her.

She loves our shoes.  We've had to learn to put our shoes up because she'll just grab them and take off with them.  I have no idea what we'll do when she's tall enough to reach them.

Chacho still isn't too fond of her, especially when she chases him and nips at his butt.  But they're getting better together.

Potty training is still hit and miss.  She's learning to walk to the steps to let us know she needs to go out.  The difficulty is that she hasn't learned to limit it to potty breaks only and not playtime.

We alternate between exhilaration and exhaustion.  She's captured our hearts and made the loss of our precious Sage a little easier to bear.  She can't take Sage's place, but that's not why she's here.  She's found her own place in our hearts.

We still don't know her genetic makeup, although everyone has an opinion.  We'll have to wait and see.

For a variety of reasons, it was time to trade in the truck.  We loved the Chevrolet Silverados and decided to stick with that model.  We upgraded to a 2016 and are in love with our new wheels.  There are so many bells and whistles that it'll take us a month to figure out what all the buttons are for!  We're not thrilled with the color - black - but it's used, so we didn't have much of a choice.  All in all, though, it's a great truck and will last a very long time.

Sage Monroe - 2007-2019
 
We had the heartbreaking task of saying goodbye to our beloved Sage today.

Sage has been a part of our lives since we first met her in 2011.  She stole my heart the minute I saw her and her Daddy was not far behind.

Through the years, Sage has been at my side through good times and bad.  She was there when we expanded our four-legged family, and she was there to say goodbye, as we lost them.  She learned how to be a Diva from her sister Brenna.  Her big brother, Quincey, always took care of her and she loved to play with  him.  Oscar was her little buddy and they would sleep together in one bed.  Whenever I took her to my mom's house to visit Oscar, she would always perk up.

She drove every piece of machinery we've ever had, from our first motorhome, to our jeep to our second motorhome to our truck and our golf cart.  She loved driving the golf cart.  She always looked around like she was checking for traffic.

Sage was so patient.  She always let me dress her up, whether in costumes or pretty clothes.  At one point, she had more clothes than me!  No matter where we went, she always stopped traffic.

Chacho and Luna know that something is wrong, but aren't sure what.  Sage, we love you so much and will miss you with all our hearts forever.  Rest in Peace, my beautiful girl - you've earned it.  And please tell your brothers and sisters at the Rainbow Bridge to take care of you.  My heart will never be the same.

We lost our minds today after the Pet Parade and started looking at pictures of rescue dogs in the area.  I fell in love with one, named Aggie, who was supposed to be a chihuahua mix.

We compounded our insanity by driving to the shelter "just to look at her".  I'm sure everyone knows how this ends.

The shelter, the only one left in Hidalgo County must have housed over 800 dogs and cats.  Most of the kennels, covering over five acres, were outside and with the cold snap we just had, it tore us up to see all the dogs shivering.  In some kennels were litters of puppies, laying on the concrete floor, with no covering to warm them.  Our hearts broke at the sight and once we actually saw Aggie, we knew we couldn't rescue them all, but we could rescue one.  Aggie was the smallest puppy in her kennel.  The other puppies she shared the kennel with were not part of her litter, and she was terrified.

Please welcome Luna, our newest family member.  First, she's not a chihuahua.  At three months, she's laready six pounds and has some fairly large paws.  We figure she'll probably get to about 35 pounds.  All the way home Dave held her and she vaccilated between fear and exhaustion.

Of course, we stopped at Petsmart for the essentials - food, bed, leash etc., as well as puppy shampoo because she reeks of the shelter.  We got her home and first was a bath.  She then crawled into her bed and passed out.  After an hour's nap she woke up, ate, pooped and started exploring her new home.

It looks like she'll settle in just fine.  She's been running all over the place, playing with Daddy and just being a goofball.  In some ways she reminds me of Quincey with her goofy antics.

Sage and Chacho?  They're not too thrilled.  At this point, they're just ignoring her, maybe hoping she'll just go away.  In the meantime, Dave is relearning how quickly a puppy pees after drinking.  I have a feeling she'll keep him on his toes!

Today was the annual Pet Parade fundraiser to benefit Princess Paws Pet Rescue.  Although the weather didn't cooperate well, having dropped over 40 degrees from the day before, we still managed to raise over $5,000 which will be matched with a $10,000 grant, totaling over $15,000 raised for the Rescue!

Activities included pet photos, auction items, food and beer, although hot chocolate might have been more appropriate for the cold weather.  The rescue also had several dogs available for adoption.

Yesterday afternoon, while sitting and reading, we heard a clop, clop outside.  We looked up to see a Border Patrol agent ride by on horseback.  Before I could get my camera out, another galloped by.

Luckily, my friend Kathy Garner was able to catch them with her camera.  The pictures below are courtesy of Kathy: