Meet Murphy

Before I post an official Christmas blog, I wanted to introduce the newest member of our family...a new dog! Almost 2 weeks ago, my sister rescued a Boston Terrier from the side of the road. She called me feeling terribly guilty for taking him to the Nashville animal shelter. He had a sweet temperament, he knew a few words like "sit" and "treat" and he seemed to be comfortable in a crate. I told her she did the right thing by saving him and turning him in. Surely someone would come looking for him, right? But her story tugged at my heart strings, and then I started thinking, "...maybe I want that dog..." I always talk myself out of getting a dog because I think they're too much trouble (and they are). But I really love Boston Terriers, and I was glad to hear that he was comfortable in a crate. After thinking about it for approximately .02 seconds, I decided to adopt him! A week after sister dropped him off, still no one had claimed him. It was 2 days before Christmas, so I decided to go ahead with it. I wanted to surprise Sean on Christmas morning, so the dog lived with my sister for a couple of days.

The anticipation of having a new dog was killing me, and my stomach was in knots for days. On Christmas morning before we woke up, sister delivered the surprise to our house. Sean heard something rustling at the door, and he shot out of bed. My sister opened our bedroom door, and here came the puppy wearing a Santa suit and hat. Sean couldn't believe it! Later that day he came up with the name Murphy, which I think is perfect. We wanted something that sounded a little "Irish Catholic" since the breed originates from Boston.

So far Murphy has been a delight. He's about 1 year old so he's got lots of energy, but he's sweet as can be. He tries to obey, and I think we'll be able to train him fairly easily. He hasn't had any accidents in the house (except for marking my bra on the floor). He's just the right size - not too big, and not too small. He's 28 lbs. - we're not sure if he's going to grow any more. So far we think he's pure bred because he doesn't resemble anything but a Boston. He's already showing interest in Frisbee catching, so I can't wait until he's trained a little more and the weather gets warmer. We're going to have so much fun at the park! He loves to suck on his fuzzy pillow, and he's obsessed with licking every part of Sean's face.

Don't forget Thanksgiving

Is it really almost Christmas? For the past 3 weeks I've been meaning to write my blog about THANKSGIVING! I can't believe how quickly time has gotten away from me. As I'm typing this tonight, my eyes are closing and my back is aching. Life has been busy for us, especially this weekend. I traveled a little bit for work after Thanksgiving, so it took me a little while to get back into a routine. We've also been busy trying to prep for Christmas; shopping, decorating, parties, etc. I would love to write a long blog about the wonderful Thanksgiving holiday we had in New Jersey. I just don't think I have the energy to do it right now, but I don't want to withhold the pictures any longer. In short, Sean and I decided somewhat last minute to drive to NJ for Thanksgiving with the Carroll family. We had a great time with everyone, and we are so thankful for the time we got to spend with them. Here's a peek at our trip:


Sean and his father Tom. Both of these men could spend 24 straight hours on the Internet and never get bored for 1 minute.

On Thanksgiving Day, Uncle Brian organized a Wii Bowling Tournament.

Aunt Jolyn whipped all of us and took home the winning crown. Here she is in action. Just look at the concentration on her face!

Aunt Judi opened her home and her kitchen to all of us Carrolls. She prepared a delicious Thanksgiving dinner, and somehow she managed to fit us all around the same table. It was quite a feast. Thank you, Judi! We played games with each other all weekend - Wii bowling, Left-Center-Right (LCR), and Catchphrase - and spent a lot of time laughing.

Here Uncle Brian tries to take the lead in bowling, but he wasn't as good as Jolyn.

After Thanksgiving (on Saturday, I think) the family reunited at MomMom and PopPop's house for more visiting. The boys raked all the leaves for MomMom. Awwww, how sweet. I know she was very happy to have that big chore out of the way.
MomMom loves puzzles, and she had been working on a hard one. Here are Emily and Alissa helping her out with the puzzle. We all got in on the puzzle action and enjoyed the challenge. It had been years since I tried a puzzle! We got to the very last piece of the 1000 piece puzzle and it was MISSING! Turns out, MomMom had been hiding a piece in her pocket. She wanted to place the final piece on the board.

Friday night the whole family headed down to Stone Harbor for the street festival. We had a fun time roaming the streets and looking for Christmas gifts in all the shops. The wind was frightful, but we found some adult beverages to keep us warm. I especially enjoyed the string band playing music on the street corner in their brightly colored costumes. Later that night, Sean spotted this charming hat at an Irish store and we all FORCED him to buy it. It suits him to a tee, and I think he looks totally handsome in his new green hat.