In late summer Duane and I started kicking around the idea of getting the girls a puppy for Christmas. I was on the fence for quite awhile. But eventually we decided to do it. We did some research on different breeds and search many sites with dogs for sale over the next few months. Around Thanksgiving we knew that we needed to get moving if we were going to have a dog for Christmas morning. We decided to go with a beagle and found one that was a few months old in Chilicothe. Duane called and made arrangements to go see the dog the next day. There were a few left, but right away he spotted the one he liked best. As luck would have it he was the last male of the litter. Since Duane is surrounded by girls in our house, we thought it only fair to get a make dog:) We had a list of names that were possibilities, but when Duane saw him he knew that Jax was the perfect name. Duane put down a deposit and the owner agreed to keep the dog until right before Christmas. Duane and I were absolutely giddy! We couldn't wait for Christmas morning and began coming up with a master plan to pull off the perfect Christmas surprise. Luckily we have wonderful neighbors who happen to be dog lovers. They were willing to keep the dog for two nights. I took the girls to the library so that Duane had time to bring the dog home to give him a bath before dropping him off at the neighbors. He received the royal treatment for those two days. One Christmas morning we opened all the gifts upstairs. I distracted the girls with some of their toys while Duane snuck across the street to pick up the dog. He snuck downstairs with the dog in his cage and covered up the cage with a blanket. I casually mentioned that we still needed to go downstairs and look in our stockings and everyone took off for the stairs followed by Duane with the video camera. Madison stopped at the bottom of the steps and said, "What is that? Something under there is making noise!" And off they ran! It was a frenzy of excitement for the next 5 minutes. I think they were all three in shock. Then in a few minutes they attention was on to the next thing. Duane and I couldn't believe it! We thought they would be over the top with excitement for at least a few hours, but minutes! No way! Little did we know that the real joy would come in the many days to follow as Jax became a member of our family. The hours of playing chase, snuggling on the couch and giggling little girls playing with our puppy are never ending. On Christmas night when Mallory was cuddled up next to Jax on the floor she looked up at Duane and I and said, "I like this puppy. When does Jax have to go home?". We looked at her and said, "This is his home. He lives here with us now." and she said, "REALLY? He's my dog?". It just needed to sink in that Jax was OUR dog and he wasn't going anywhere. We have had some trying moments with chewed up toys and potty training. But he really is the perfect dog for us and becomes more and more a part of our family every day.
