Meet Chico, our Chihuahua - this is his High Five pose. :) My dad brought him home from the livestock auction knowing that my girls (especially Nellie) would LOVE to have this little puppy. He was right. He brought him over & gave the puppy to Nellie, telling her she could keep it,
before saying only if it was ok with Mom & Dad. Scott was not happy about that, thinking it was a dirty trick Dad pulled. Who could resist this cute little puppy? He gave Dad heck about it. I gave Scott heck about giving Dad heck about it. Dad was excited to give Nellie this cute little puppy. Mom was in the hospital at the time, when we got home that night from visiting her the first thing Scott does is picks up the puppy & holds him & says "What are we going to name this little guy". Instant love. :)
We have never had an inside animal before (unless you count Tyson's snakes, which I don't) so Chico is our first. He is sooo tiny that if we kept him outside he would be hawk food. He is so adorable in his tiny little bed I got him. Nellie loves to play with him and that's the first thing she says in the morning is "Can I play with Chico". Everybody loves him.
We were called to serve in the San Tan Branch in November. Scott was called to be the 1st counselor to Kevin Clark & the 2nd counselor is Dean Howard who lives in the branch. The families that were called out to the branch with us were the Ramseys, Bonillas, Burnes, Buyacks & Hunsakers. They are keeping about 5 other families from the Maricopa stake out there for a few months until we get the hang of things. :) They have called me to be the Young Women's president & Kristen is the nursery leader, & Brandi helps her in the nursery. My Dad was the branch president there about 25 years ago & I remember going there. It is pretty much the same today. Not very many people come out. When they called us they said it was like our family is serving a mission for the next few years in San Tan branch. The building is about 10 minutes away from home. I was told by the full time couple missionaries (The Lamberts) that this reservation is the most violent in the U.S. That will have it's challenges. We are not supposed to be out there late at night. Our first week there one of the sister's had her son die of alcohol poisoning the night before and another son almost died with him. Her daughter was murdered 6 months ago. She has 12 children. They had no hot water, which I am finding out is very common out there (especially at the end of the month). Not much food in the house (common). Not trying to sound negative, just makes me stop & appreciate all we have & can do. It will be a blessing to serve there as I am sure will come with a few learning experiences too. I love the Lamberts, they are awesome & they know so much about the people out there. They are hard workers. I have had lots of people tell me that we are good people to be able to do that & that they would say no. I guess I am just following the example my parents have always set for me. 
.JPG)
