Independence Day and other reasons to celebrate!

The beginning of July brings much cause for celebration in our household!



July 2nd, 2006 was the first anniversary of our marriage! We can't believe it's been an entire year...and, oh, what a year it has been! Looking back to last summer, we couldn't have imagined that we'd experience all of this in our first year...the disappointment of infertility, the organized chaos of adoption, and then the amazing joy of meeting our babies and all the excitement and hope for the future of our family!! These things have done nothing but bring us closer together than ever before. Catalina and Gus are more wonderful than we could have dreamed and we know that they were meant to be our children. So, even though it's been a crazy year, we are thankful for every minute and we wouldn't have it any other way!



On a lighter note, July 3rd, 2006 is the second anniversary of Doc's adoption! I fell in love with him at a wonderful shelter in Sylvan Park. One morning, I was getting a Diet Coke at Jack's next door, and I stopped to look at the animals. Every single one of the puppies was sound-asleep. Then, all of a sudden, the most adorable little puppy sat up in his cage and look me straight in the eyes. It really was love at first sight (which, coincidentally, is the name of the shelter) and I spent the next two days visiting him at lunch and after work. I brought Murphy and Louie to meet him on July 3rd and we walked out with the newest member of our family, Doctor Lambert (named after the professor in whose class Louie and I met)!



Finally, July 4th is the observance of Murphy's fourth birthday! We don't exactly know when he was born - only that it was probably in July 2002 - so, we selected July 4th for celebration purposes. Natalie found him and his "brother" abandoned in an alley by our house. We tried to find homes for them and even gave them generic names so that we wouldn't fall in love. One afternoon, Louie's colleague was supposed to come over and adopt the little white one. I called Louie at work and said that I couldn't give him away. Louie said, "What am I supposed to tell her? Her son thinks he's getting a new dog today." I said, "I don't care what you tell her. His name is Murphy and he's mine." Nat also attempted to adopt out the little black pup (now named Griffin), but she quickly gave in and adopted him, too! The picture above is of stealthy little Murphy, only a few days after I adopted him. He stole my tootbrush out of the suitcase that I was packing. That was a good indication of what was to come!

The first photos below are from Murph and Doc's first meeting in our house. The next one is a more recent picture. Too cute! If right now you're thinking that I have an unhealthy obsession with my puppies, you're probably right. ; ) Have a happy 4th!