Lots to be Thankful for!

I'm sitting here on the Saturday after Thanksgiving feeling so blessed! We had lots of family and friends in town to celebrate with us, enjoyed our own version of Aggie Bonfire (Paz was really interested in this!) had a fabulous meal, and even though our beloved Aggies lost, we still had a great time at the football game. We are all well and healthy and truly blessed! Paz was into the Thanksgiving spirit (even though she spent Thanksgiving meal time in her crate!) and really seemed to enjoy being home and experiencing another large family get together.

So much time has passed since my last post! I'm obviously NOT cut out to be a blogger. Somehow work, traveling for Kate's soccer and Paz keep me busy enough that I don't make the time to post! Well, I'm comfortably full and very content, so this is a great time to blog!

Paz is doing great! She'll be 8 months old in 4 days and has matured so much. She is still very curious and loves to explore everywhere we go, but she is very calm, well mannered and incredibly sweet. Paz is still pretty small in size compared to her siblings and she doesn't seem nearly as high strung either. Paz and the other O and P litter puppies went back to Lackland for training a couple of weeks ago. For some reason, it was harder for me to drop her off this time... still not sure exactly why, a foreshadowing of things to come, maybe? Anyway, Paz did a good job during all of the community exposure, confined spaces, stairs, etc. but her toy drive still isn't where it needs to be. Paz is very easy going (genetics?) and this seems to play a part in her toy drive. Phil and I are continuing to work with her in this area, and we're trying some new things to help her out! Our goal is for her to be a successful working dog for TSA so we're going to do whatever we can to make that happen!

Kate recently finished up her college soccer season, so Paz won't be making the weekly trips with us to watch her play. I know Paz is going to really miss the chance to run all around the enclosed practice fields, splashing through the mud puddles chasing her toy! She also won't get to see her beloved Kate and that is going to be hard for both of them. We're going to have to find new places for her to climb bleachers and hunt for her toy! We'll also have to design some short trips together because she is a great travel companion!

The end of Kate's soccer season means that Phil and I can use our Aggie football tickets and make a few games. Paz LOVES Aggie football at our house because we have so many great friends who come by with their kids each home game weekend. There are several future Aggies that have Paz's energy level and she really seems to enjoy being chased (0r chasing!) them all around the backyard. She pretty much ignores everybody inside the house though, which is probably good training for her future employment!

Now that summer really seems to be over and fall is in full swing, Paz has discovered some new things she really likes! She is intrigued with falling leaves. She's made a game out of trying to catch them as they blow around in the wind, which was fine when just a few were falling, but completely overwhelming now that thousands are coming down at once! The 2nd new discovery is acorns. We've never had a dog eat them before, but apparently they are a delicacy as we can't keep Paz from inhaling them! And even though we had a terrible drought here this summer, there are zillions of acorns everywhere. Let's just say she's getting plenty of fiber in her diet these days : ) The zillions of acorns at our place have brought in zillions of deer! Paz seems to be mesmerized by them, standing very still and quiet when she sees them. She knows they are around long before we do and her stillness gives them away!

Christmas is just around the corner and Paz's presence in our house has made Phil and I decide a few changes are in order. Normally, we get a fairly large tree and set it up in the dining room of our house... not wanting to have to police Paz constantly over the next few weeks, we've decided a table top sized tree is the way to go this year. Not exactly sure where we're going to put it to make sure Paz doesn't redecorate it when we're not around, but I have a few clandestine locations in mind! The stockings will still be hung by the chimney with care (even Paz's!) just a little differently to ensure they're still in place for Santa to find Christmas Eve. I'm hoping for another snow right before Christmas like we had last year- I'd love to see how Paz would react to it!

Well you can tell that we've settled into a pretty good routine around here. We continue to take Paz out into the community every chance we get to help with her socialization, and a trip to the Houston airport is in the works. Phil, Kate and I are loving being a TSA foster family and we're really excited about the adventures the next few months will bring to Paz and our family! Since I probably won't post anything again for a few more weeks, I'll take this opportunity to say Happy Holidays to all the TSA puppy staff, families and friends! We hope your holidays are blessed in every sense of the word!