Our first family pet

Last Wednesday night, Krista was taking the trash outside and noticed a furry little brown thing behind the bushes by the front door. It startled her at first until she realized that it was a timid puppy waiting for us to find him. Given that it was placed on an old T-shirt and had a cottage-cheese container full of dog food placed beside him, someone had placed him there for us to find and obviously keep. We had mixed emotions at first about keeping him - lots of work to keep a dog given that we were still adjusting to our new home. We thought that we would keep him outside and feed him for a few days and see how things go. He definitely had one thing going for him right from the start - he is really cute and cuddly. He is very calm for a puppy and doesn't bark and jump which is great for the kids and for Krista, who is a cat lover by heart. By the way, we decided to name him Buster Brown Johnson - Buster for short. (That was Ryan's idea!)

Buster has done very well since Wednesday. He has adjusted well to live with us. Lily was a little unsure of him at first but now loves playing with him and doesn't mind his puppy play. James has even shared his yellow "beeps" with him and giggles like crazy when the beeps cover Buster. Buster is housetraining very well and has had only one accident in the house at night when he sleeps in his "crate". He loves to be "baby-ed" and held. It was as if he was made to be with us.

Things are starting to settle down a bit now. We continue to personalize the house and sort through everything. Lots of people own pick-up trucks in this area and James loves to point out all the trucks that he can especially when we walk through a parking lot in Farmington. Today, he was especially excited to find a "yellow truck" in the restaurant parking lot after church. We are attending Pinon Hills Community Church in Farmington and have enjoyed attending for several weeks. The young children's ministry is great for the kids and we have enjoyed the worship and sermon series.