The Newest Addition To Our Family

No, no. Not THAT kind of addition. A dog, silly. He came to join us right before Christmas, as if this holiday season wasn't going to be crazy enough. However, given the circumstances, we wouldn't have it any other way. Let me explain.

Nick's parents have dogs. Lots of them. 16 to be exact. That's because, Gwlynda, Nick's mom, breeds English Bulldogs - (click here for her website). Anyway, before she started breeding them, she and my father-in-law, Dave, had a couple of labs. These were the type of labs that would go camping and hiking with them and were the first ones on and last ones off the boat when we would go out to the lake. Cisco, named after my father-in-law's employer (long story for later), is the black lab, and Rock, the one I've deemed a barrel-on-short-stilts, is a chocolate. For years and years, eight to be exact, Nick and I have been begging his parents to let us have Cisco. He's the perfect dog (except for that whole getting into the trash thing, but we're workin on it). He sits, stays, swims, jumps and even smiles on command.

So, in mid-December when we were talking to Nick's mom about getting another dog (all thanks to the bug planted in my head by Abby for the yellow lab we couldn't afford), she and Dave OFFERED to let us have Cisco. I guess the stress of all those other dogs, dogs having puppies and all the work involved in breeding champions finally convinced her to let him go.

Our first dog, Sam, already loves Cisco, so the match was made in Heaven. And except for the sporadic cat growl (yes, our cat growls at things that make him uncomfortable), he's been the best little holiday present we could have asked for. Now Sam has a buddy, and Nick and I each have a black lab to keep our feet warm in the winter. And for those of you that already know Sam, don't worry... Cisco's temperament is NOTHING like Sam's This dog is actually calm. So, without further ado, here are the pics:

Love those gray hairs around his mouth.