once there was a dog

named Olive.

For the past few months we have been wanting a dog.  Our boys are obsessed, like every time we pass a dog anywhere we have to stop and pet it.  Shawn has loved dogs ever since I have know him and he also grew up with one.  I fought it for a long time, but I finally gave in, all for the good of my family :)  Yes, your heard correct.....we bought a dog.

We've been searching, we knew we wanted a boxer puppy, but most were too expensive.  It happened that on Easter Eve (is there such a thing?) I was checking the local adds and saw some puppies just in our price range.  I immediately called.  A few minutes later Ethan and Shawn were in the car driving to look at puppies and then a few minutes after that we had a dog.  Yes, it was as simple and spontaneous as that.

Ethan named her Olive.  She is perfect, everything we have been looking for in a dog.  This morning when Cole and Liv, who didn't know about the late night dog purchase, woke up to a dog they were beyond ecstatic. We had fun all morning long playing and loving her.

Now the story turns sour.  Our perfect, lovable, and most wanted dog is no longer ours.  Shortly after returning home Shawn got a really funny pit in his stomach.  Something just didn't feel right.  This was a familiar feeling to him, as it happened once before in Las Vegas when we almost bought a home.  He knew immediately that it wasn't our time to have this dog.  He pretty much tormented himself all morning trying to fight this feeling.  The dog was perfect.  He was devastated about telling the kids because they had already adopted Olive into the family.  We sat down as a family and talked about it and explained that sometimes the Holy Ghost tells us things we need to do.  As we dreaded, the kids screamed and cried.  We drove the dog back to the breeder.  Ethan cried in the van on the way and Cole just yelled obscenities.  In the end we felt it was the right thing to do.  The spirit has never led us astray, and we've done some crazy things, so we felt it best to listen.  Maybe there will be another little boxer puppy named Olive in our future, maybe not.  But we sure had a fun easter with our dog for the day.