{puppy picking day}

You know those afternoons of family time that are just so sweet and perfect that you wish you could make time stand still? 

We just had one. 

This afternoon we traveled to Truxton, MO (about ninety minutes away) to pick out our puppy. Those four adorable Westie puppies in the arms of my kiddos….  too, too much sweetness for one afternoon! It was hard to pick, but we opted for the puppy who seemed to have a sweet personality and was also one of the more coarser-haired puppies, which will be a good thing in terms of amount of puppy shedding.

After lots of puppy cuddling, we said reluctant goodbyes. Since it was mid afternoon and we had not yet had lunch (we left the house for church at 9:45 and then went straight to Truxton), we were pretty hungry. We found a Steak and Shake and thoroughly enjoyed milkshakes and burgers while having lots of discussion about our new little guy's name. We realized it was going to be hard to come to a unanimous agreement, so we put the discussion on hold until we could get home to vote.

The top three contenders after an elaborate voting system were Finn, Bear, and Augie. In a very close call, Bear ended up the winner. The name suits him well and everyone liked it, even if it wasn't their first choice. Important decisions in big families can be hard when everyone is allowed input. Twelve more days until the little guy comes home with us. We have some homework to do to prepare for his arrival!

Such sweet, sweet family memories today held for me.