Mason!

 On August 27, Roland and I adopted a 1-year-old shih tzu from an animal shelter.  Since I've never owned a dog, I was really nervous about bringing a dog into our lives, but when Roland met Mason, he felt if we were going to have a dog, Mason is the one!  I also brought my friend, Chantal to meet Mason.  Chantal is a vet and she checked him out and helped me bring him home.  She showed me how to bathe him and gave me the confidence that I could care for a dog.  She said, "You've had five kids!  Surely, you can take care of a dog."  

Mason is a real smart, little guy.  He can sit dance, lay and stay on command.  Well, he will if you've got the treats in your hand to give him!  And sometimes he will without the treats.

Isn't he a cutie!  He truly is a well mannered, charming little boy.

This is how Mason looked when we found him at the Shelter.  He was such a timid, little guy.  He must have been so scared.  And as he sits with his paws on my laptop, I can't help but think of the story he might tell, if he could.

He's a real playful little guy.  He loves to go to the dog park and has made lots of friends there--and therefore, so have I.  In fact, there's one dog, Pierre, who is part poodle and part shih tzu who is a special friend.  We make doggy play dates with Pierre and his person at the park.  And we meet all kinds of dogs and people at the dog park.  Its such a pleasurable way to spend an hour or so.

Here's Mason and Pierre playing at the dog park.  You can see how very happy Mason is.  They play chase and wrestle until we have to pull them away from each other to go home.

Mason and I found the pine cones on one of our walks in October, collected them together and saved them to decorate with.  We put them in our trifle bowl and added some greenery and holly.  We wish you a Merry Christmas!

Sharing the Christmas Season with Mason is a lot of fun.  He loves seeing the Christmas decorations and likes to be a part of it all. : )

Norman Rockwell once said, "If a painting isn't turning out as well as I had hoped, adding a dog always makes it a better painting."  I know what he means.  I wasn't prepared to become so attached so quickly.  I really love this little boy and he seems to be pretty attached to us too.  He's improved the quality of our lives immensely. 

As you can see, he feels quite at home with us.  And we're just crazy about him!