Merry Christmas

This year we did Christmas a bit different.

Yes, you read that right.  We DID Christmas.

A few months ago, I may have mentioned that I wanted a dog. Okay I mentioned it a lot.  We've been looking for a long time, it's true.

You know all this.

Anyway, I made an offer on a puppy and it was accepted!  So, since the little guy was coming shortly after Halloween, we decided to stick with the plan of doing it for Christmas and simply celebrate early!

On Halloween, I set up the tree.

On Nov. 1st, I pretended it was December 19th.

I was mentally counting down to "Christmas Day".

We listened to Christmas music.

We had a Christmas FHE lesson.

We talked about Christmas, sang Christmas music and did everything we could to make it feel like Christmas in our home.

It even snowed!  Which really helped the mood!

And then we asked the kids on Wednesday morning if they would like to open all the Christmas presents that night.  See video.

And then we simply had Christmas.

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The back story of his arrival and hiding him needs to be document though, right?

His flight came in late on Tuesday night.  After his appointments, Kyle met me at my mom's to meet the little guy.  Meanwhile, I had gone to the airport with my mom and picked him up. We went to my mom's house, where we would be staying the night, to hide from the kids.  He hadn't been well cared for during his 8+ hours of travel, so he was covered in his own mess and smelled like, nasty.  Let's just go with that.  Ugh, so gross.

Immediately we clean up the crate and him as best as we could, but the poor little guy was shaking and frozen with fear.  On top of the shocking and scary upheaval in his life, and I imagine sad at leaving his comfortable home and family and the fact that he smelled awful, was a sad thought. 

He ate a little bit, and he was very thirsty.  We did what we could to comfort him and ease up the situation.


The night came and went, and he didn't even whimper.  I held him as did my mom and Kyle, trying to help him feel safe.  He perked up a bit and then calmed down and went to bed, again sleeping all night without a cry.  I was surprised at his easy going manner.

In the morning, we traded places.  My mom took the little girls and we went home to adjust to his new home.

At two o'clock, we hid the little man at Kara's house and then after a nice dinner we hid him in a wrapped up can and opened the presents!

See video!

I think they were in disbelief that he was theirs to keep.  But it only took five seconds to wrap their minds around the idea of keeping him.  Then came some hoots and whoops!  And a few squeals.  {Of course, the kids finally joined me in the noise making.}

And then this morning we made his world feel even more crazy and took him to the vet.  He received two shots and then went to PetSmart to just check out things.  (He liked it there, I think, as he perked up a lot!)

And now, he's snoozing in his crate.

When we decided we were doing this, and it was indeed a done deal, we started talking about names.  We hadn't talked about names at all and this was a fun, yet grueling process.  I think I may have driven a few people insane with my antics over a name.  Sorry, people. 


But we're giving him an identity, for cryin' in the bucket!  It had to be just right.  Strong, but not destructive.  A dog name, not a person's name.  At least not a common human name.  It had to be two syllables. Etc, etc, etc........ And thus here are the ones that didn't make the cut:

Tazer 

Hiro

Copper

Cash

Feller

Echo

Keeno

Boone

Thor

Indy

Magic

Thunder

Jethro

Jude

Kiptin

Tahkee

Kazzee

Pachi

Haiku

Mashee

Zummi

Trapper

Merrick

Beamer

Sherlock

Slater

Trader

Banshee

Magma

Memphis

Dagger

Phoenix

Dodger

Cash

Hiccup

Wookie

So when I suggested Swaggart, we didn't know it at that moment, but we had a winner.  I picked it based on a hero from one of Marcia Lynn McClure's books.  Kissing Cousins. (After Swaggart Moretti!) Kyle loved the suggestion of Swaggart, but suggested we drop the 'T' and if so, he was totally on board with the name, commenting, "Swagger in basketball means you own the court and have a really confident walk when on the court." 

Sweet, I think.... and then reply, "Well it's perfect then, because in a Marcia book, it means 'sexy behind, walk, and super hot.'"

Swagger.

So, there ya have it!

We welcome four paws to the mix!

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Now, there have been a few questions as to what we will do when December 25th rolls around.  Well, This House Believes.   In all kinds of things, and Santa is one of them!  So Santa will fill the socks and leave a (albeit, small) gift.  Plus we do have Grandmas that we can count on for those other items that might make it feel like they didn't miss out too much....

However we have stressed to them a few times, we HAD Christmas.  The little girls won't really know it's Dec. 25th unless we tell them, and the older two will only get it because they can tell the date now that they go to school.  But they seem on board (for now) about having had Christmas and celebrating in different ways (like, I really want to do the 12 Days of Christmas for someone or maybe take treats to families and visit).

We are having a different kind of Christmas, and I hope, in some ways it's one of the more special ones we will ever have.  Not much holiday shopping to do and a chance to have a more Christ centered holiday.

Two days before we had our Christmas, I asked Cate, "What is Christmas?"  She nailed it when she answered, "A time of giving."  So for us, have no fear!.  We're gonna celebrate all season long, because, Christmas isn't just a day.