Pay It Forward

What an interesting last 2 days.
As I was driving home from dropping Eli off at school yesterday I was checking all the houses yards for Angel, as per the usual lately, when at this dairy I noticed a little German Shepherd and immediately knew I'd seen her picture in the lost and found sections of the papers. I went home, double checked, then almost didn't call. I was second guessing myself-I don't like the embarrassment of being wrong. But I knew I'd want someone to call if they thought it was Angel and before I knew it my thumb hit call. The guy that answered started getting so excited when I told him I thought I saw her-I immediately started feeling bad, not wanting him to be let down like we'd experienced so many times the last couple of weeks. Anyways, less than a half an hour later he called back so excited saying, "It's her! It's her!"
As awesome as that is, I felt sick because I was so jealous of their outcome. I wanted so bad to have that same ending for my family! After my pity party I started to feel pretty good about being able to help them and realized how amazing it is when things work out.
Then, last night as we were driving around, once again, looking, I got a phone call. The man's wife wanted to thank me and offer a reward. There was no way I could accept that and simply asked her to pay it forward. She was curious how I ended up finding her dog so I told her the story, and in doing so it came out that our dog was lost. She and her friend immediately went in to action making all sorts of suggestions, asking for a copy of the flyer so they could post some, and planned on helping us look; I couldn't believe it-I was reaping the blessing of paying it forward!
This morning, I sent in the renewal for our ad in the paper, this time adding Angel's picture since I've gotten so many calls on another stray (and NOT friendly) dog around our area. A while later, I got a message from a gentleman telling me he has my dog and has had her for the last two weeks. As soon as I could call him back I did. Being let down so many times already I was skeptical but he said, without a doubt, it's her-because he just saw her picture come through the paper for advertising! As it turns out, he's in charge of marketing and was putting the ad through himself when he recognized her picture and immediately called me. She was a few miles down the road from us; we went and picked her up right away so now our Angel is home!
I am so thankful for the way things worked out. I knew it would take patience on our part, but mine were starting to wear out! I can't help but feel like it had to be this way so that the other dog could be found. Had Angel not been lost I would never have been watching the lost and found ads, never would have seen their dog's picture, never would have called. Who knows how that could have ended! So in losing one I am so happy that two were found!

*side note-Angel and Ruger seem to get along alright so far. I'm slowly introducing them to avoid any complications but I have no doubt by tonight they'll be best buds. Livi's excited because now "Angel can be Ruger's mom." I can't wait to pick Eliana up from school and show her our Angel is home!

Ruger

2 weeks now and despite my best efforts, newspaper and craigslist listings, contacting both shelters, flyers etc...still no Angel. BUT I still get a phone call on occasion saying they think they saw her-usually it's another dog or by the time I get there the dog's gone. I guess we're still clinging to that small glimmer of a chance we'll find her. But I can feel good about doing all I can to find her. Anyways, as predicted, here is a picture-

 

As luck would have it, a family in our ward had a litter of puppies that needed new homes. They were a border collie mix and after going back and forth on whether or not to get one Sandy and I finally decided to go for it. Ruger is quickly becoming a part of our family. When Sandy first brought him home and announced he was a boy Eli was pretty disappointed. I think it's safe to say she quickly got over it. He is by no means a replacement but he sure is a fun, cute little puppy. 

Now begins the training :-/

Lost & Found

Last week our dog, Angel, disappeared. We've been canvasing the area and even hung LOST posters everywhere in hopes of finding her but the more time slips by, the more it looks like she won't be coming home. It's been a hard reality, especially for Eliana.
Sandy and I have been lightly browsing the pets section but a part of me feels like getting another dog is giving up on Angel.
The bright spot in all this is in searching for Angel we found our 2 kittens that disappeared almost a month earlier! This is an especially good thing since I ran over our adult cat, Puppers, in January-in our garage of all places, darn cat.
In other news, Shad is walking! Every day is a new adventure now :)  He's also at the beginning stages of his first words. He's mastered "Momma" and "Dad" and his new word, as of late, is "Uh-Oh".
Sandy's been working as hard as ever and is now even busier with his Young Men's Secretary calling. The girls are both doing outstanding in school still-I can't believe how close we are to the end of the school year! And I have been slowly working on painting parts of our house. The entry way is now a much warmer, more welcoming color. My current project is the laundry room...buh-bye wallpaper border, hello Jamaica Bay Blue with beadboard accent! I'm really excited for it's completion!
Well, hopefully the next post will have good news. I'm sure, either way, it will have a picture of a dog.