New Family Members: Glub, Glub and Rowrff!

Oh, this is so embarrassing.  This post is so overdue, but there is no way around it.  I just can't start talking about new pets, as if you all knew what I was talking about, when I haven't properly introduced you yet.  Last year, gulp, yes, last year, SR got a fish and JK got a dog.  I'll fill in the details below.

Here is Merope, the reddish Betta fish swimming near the top of her castle.  For all you Harry Potter fans, you'll know who she's named after.  SR inherited another Betta from a friend in March and then bought two others.  All were female, so she kept them in same tank.  Only Merope has survived and flourished.  Amazingly well.  For over a year.  With SR as her caretaker!  So, welcome, Merope, to your new home.

JK turned eight in July (that post is coming too, sheesh), and he really, really wanted a dog.  Our rule was no pets until the child in question turned ten, and we kept that rule for his sisters.  So, for months before his birthday, he cleaned up his sisters' dogs' poop almost every day.  He fed and watered them, too.  He showed us repeatedly that he could take on the daily responsibilities of having a dog.  So on the last Friday in June, we went to the pound and looked around.  There was Alicia, plaintively looking at us from her pen.  With a severe underbite and her quiet nature, she won us over.  We took her into the playroom where JK promptly named her Amber, then changed his mind to Alicia a few minutes later.  Apparently, he thought Alicia was spelled Elicia, but I didn't find that out until her tag was made with Alicia...sorry!  She is a boxer mix and a sweetheart.

Alicia was about six months old, they guessed, when we adopted her.  To make this post somewhat legit, the first two shots are from her first day at home.  Don't you love what the dogs have done to our backyard?  Sigh.  Anyhow, she's taller than the other two and has just been freckling up a storm since we've got her.  She's nearly completely speckled now.

This shot was taken within the first week of bringing her home. She's snuggled on top of GR with Abby on the left and Mindy on the right.  She has shown some aggression to Mindy, our most timid dog, and to Dennis, our cat.  That concerns us, but we are trying to train her out of that behavior.  Most of the time, everyone gets along.  Welcome home, Alicia!