Chapter 6 -- Puppy Ties that Bind

I apologize to all of you for not writing anything for over a month.  Ten puppies take up an amazing amount of time; time that I didn't even know I had available!  Hopefully now, things will start to even out a little and some of my time will be freed up for things other than puppies.

As I type, I have one puppy in my lap (Cosette -- renamed Ziporrah, or Zip, by her adopting family), four squished into the dog bed on the kitchen floor, and three playing tag around our water dispenser.  One puppy, Emmett, has been adopted by friends of ours, and he is with them, their four children, and three other dogs.  Life is good.

There have been no major issues, they are growing like crazy and we are enjoying every second we have with them (well, most of them!), knowing most of them will be going on to live with other families sooner than later.  We will be keeping two of them -- our oldest daughter is keeping Elphie.  Elphie stole Meagan's heart when we needed to bottle feed what used to be the smallest of the litter.  She is now firmly in the middle size-wise and she and Meagan are firmly attached.  Dollie, the first-born of the group, has stolen Ken's heart.  She's smart, independent, and has Ken wrapped around her little paw.  We are excited to see what the future holds for these two newest additions to our family.

Cosette, now Zip, will be staying with us for a while.  My best friend and her family have adopted her and they live out of state.  We are planning a trip in the spring to visit them and to deliver their newest addition.

What's most interesting and touching for me is that all the adopted pups will always have ties to each other since they have been adopted by friends.  Kim and Sandra are two of my oldest friends.  When our children were little, our families fit together perfectly -- every child had a similarly aged friend.  Sandra's oldest and Kim's oldest, my oldest and Sandra's second, Kim's second and Sandra's third, and all three of our youngest.  Now we each have a puppy from the same litter.  How cool is that?  Our ties, and our friendship, continue on through these puppies, and across the country.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from all the Puppies!!!