March 31, 2013: Happy Easter!

Heaveno!

Wow, what a weekend.

Providence story of the day...



Yesterday morning, we attended our church's annual pancake breakfast and easter egg hunt.  It was great fun to watch Julian partake in his first easter egg hunt.  He picked up on the concept pretty well with a little guidance and encouragement.  The funny part was later in the day when he was feeding me hershey's eggs.  He would give me an egg, I'd unwrap it and eat it, and he'd get MAD.  Come to find out that earlier in the day, he would do the same thing to Ali, but she would unwrap it and feed it to HIM!  LOL...  DAAAAD, THAT WAS MIIIINE!!! That was pretty much what the tantrum read.  Oops!



However, here's where the Providence story kicks in...

On our way home, kind of out of the blue, I ask Ang if she doesn't mind if I take us on a drive through some really pretty historic neighborhoods in nearby Santa Ana that I dream about living in someday.  They are called Floral Park, West Floral Park, Morrison Park, and Fisher Park for those locals.  Really pretty older homes in neighborhoods with really big shade trees that remind me of "Anytown USA" more so than southern California.   Anyhow, she agrees, and we take a good sized detour to visit this part of town.



Within just a few blocks of turning into the first neighborhood, we spot not one, but TWO tiny dogs running off leash across the street ahead of us. "Uh oh," comes out of both of our mouths at the same time.

*Back Story* Ang and I used to be foster dog parents for a wonderful rescue group called Paw Placement in Phoenix, AZ.  In fact, I think we were their first dog foster parents right when they were starting out.  We LOVED the work, and since it was before kids, we had the space in our schedules and our home to accommodate rescue dogs.  We fostered something like 15 dogs before we moved to CA, so rescuing dogs is near and dear to our hearts.

So, without even discussing it with each other or telling the two kids in the back what we are about to do, we immediately went into rescue mode.  I rolled up past them.  They were two smallllll puppies that looked like chihuahua mixes with no collars on the full trot with tails between their legs, looking and running frantic.  We drove by them and up the street looking to see if anyone was chasing them on foot... nothing.  Then we doubled back and dropped Ang on foot to see if they were approachable.  We were one block from a busy 5 lane street that we didn't want to see them reach.  Then, I drove past them, pulled over, and got out to essentially "corner them" on one block.  Luckily, there was a house that blocked their escape to one side.  We slowly started talking to them and started at about 20 feet from each of them, and after about 10 minutes, slowly got closer to them.  By now, one had trapped himself in a little retaining box next to a basement window, and the other was just laying down in a corner next to the house and the back yard fence.  We tried calling animal rescue, but no one would come.  We sat there, just a few feet away from these guys, with the kids still in the car, and I finally said, "What are we DOING here????"  The dogs were clearly puppies... tiny, scared, and tired.

"We just can't LEAVE 'em."  I said, to which Ang agreed.  So, I just gently kept talking to my guy and eventually sat down next to him for a while, and then I gently went in and scooped him up.  He was putty in my arms immediately!  I encouraged Ang to go in and pick up the other guy, and sure enough, he was putty in her arms immediately as well.  They were pooped out.



So, there we were, in Morrison Park, holding two stray puppies who were the CUTEST little things...
We drove around the neighborhood to see if anyone was out looking.  Nope.  We even talked with one of the neighbors who saw the whole thing go down.  Nope.  We certainly weren't bringing them to a nearby shelter, so before you knew it, we're driving home with a puppy in each of our laps.

I laughed at one point, looking at the sky, and said to Ang, "Apparently THIS was why we came to Morrison Park today?!?"  A half hour later, I'm at our vet's office.  No tags, no chips, not neutered, fleas, puppy teeth, and a nice coat of DIRT.  The ladies at the vet were so sweet; the vet was gone for the day, so they hooked me up with free samples of puppy food and even split the fee for the flea treatment between them!    How nice is that?  Ang gave 'em baths, and now they are just the sweetest, cutest little DEVILS.  I say devils, because they just officially 'came out of their shell' when we got home tonight and have been wreaking havoc while I am trying to type this and while the rest of the family is trying to go to sleep!



Now, to figure out what to do with them.

First, we took the advice of the vet's office and didn't put up "FOUND" signs.  Instead, they advised us to drive the neighborhood and look for any posted "LOST" signs.  So, we did that after church today.  Then, we talked about adopting them ourselves, but we aren't up to the challenge of TWO chihuahua mix puppies in our condo along with 16 year old chihuahua Lucy, and two human kids!  We talked with grandma and grandpa, but they aren't up for two pups as well.  They are both boys, 6 months old, and really connected.  They sleep on top of each other, and follow each other every where.  We don't want to split them up if we can avoid it.  So, tomorrow, we'll be on the phone with two local small dog rescue groups to see what they can/are willing to do.

Gotta admit, though, I am TOTALLY smitten with "Caramel."  He's the long haired-red head.  He looks like a corgi chihuahua mix, and corgi is totally my fantasy dog.  That's the breed I've always wanted.  Ali wanted to name them, so originally we named the white one "Toasted Marshmellow," and the brunette, "Salted Caramel," though grandpa and I both think the white one looks like a "Coco" for some inexplainable reason, so his full name is name "Toasted Marshmellow Coco."  Hey, gotta have fun with it all.

P.S.  Did I mention they aren't housebroken? :-(



So, beware when you have a sudden urge to go somewhere "off the beaten path" or "out of the way,"  God may have something up His sleeve for you that day!

Happy Easter and God night.