molly

Ash and I had been "discussing" adopting a three year old lab from some friends in the church. Usually our discussions went something like:

me- "Let's get Molly"
ash- "But I"ll be the one taking her out in January and February"
me- "Don't forget December and March... those are chilly months, too"

Okay, that's the cliffnote version, but that's the gist of our conversations. Lots was said about what a dog would add to the adventures of hashbrowns and even more was said about the responsibilities a dog would add to those hashbrowns, too. So we went undecided for months. Well, Ash seemed to be the one undecided for months anyways. Until Saturday! Marvelous Saturday!

Saturday morning Ash woke early, kissed me goodbye and said, "I'm gonna get some donuts and coffee." I said, "Beautiful. Bye." And then I rolled over and went back to sleep. But he was gone for a long time! I started getting nervous and suspicious and even called his cell phone to leave a message along the lines of "If you're at work, I'm gonna break your fingers." (I was teasing, folks! That's his love language-- words of affirmation... geez...)

Well...! Ash didn't answer my call because he was just then bouncing down our bumpy, pot-holey gravel road balancing two to-go cups of kaladi bros coffee. And there were donuts! And Charlotte and I could see from the front window that there was "someone" sitting in the backseat! Ash had brought Molly home with him! He'd arranged that week to pick up Molly Saturday morning to surprise us! You can imagine the preschool giddiness that erupted upon the entrance of a black lab into our home and lives.

So we've been taking long walks these days. We walk back into the woods along a trail that is being groomed for a road to be planted-- back to where a creek runs. We throw tennis balls and sticks and Molly runs like it is her supreme joy to run! I have pictures from one of our walks this weekend (Charlotte isn't in them because she was on a date with Mrs. Eller!) and I kept trying to get Molly as she was flying over the creek. I couldn't get the picture I wanted, but you can still see the leap she kept making to retrieve those sticks and tennis balls. She's amazing!

The last picture is from the windy top of the Butte. I took Charlotte and Molly hiking yesterday. Ash has a couple more online lectures to watch so he spent his day off "in class." The weather has been so inviting lately that I couldn't waste the sunshine. So we scooped up our friend Emily and the picture is of our summit! I was so proud of Charlotte! I have a strong and brave hiking buddy in my little girl. She kept saying we were forest rangers and that we were "adventuring."