A New Member of Our Family!

Now that I have your attention, I will just go ahead and say that it is not a baby...or a child.  heehee

Our sweet, wonderful dachshund would have been 17 years old this April, but she died 4 weeks before her birthday.  We got her when we lived in Baltimore for residency.  She was our first "baby."  She moved with us 4 times, and she patiently helped us raise our 3 kids.  :)  She was always at the ready to protect us from any bird invader, and she never had any idea just how little she was (12 pounds, at her heaviest).  We struggled to find someone to keep her when we left - no small thing to ask, since it was unlikely that she would live until we returned.  Gosh, that was really a hard goodbye.  God provided a loving home for her, out of the blue, when I couldn't think of anyone else to ask....and I will be forever grateful.  I know, with complete certainty, that she was loved and well-cared for until her last day.  I don't have any puppy photos of her here in Kenya with me, but here are a few others...

Georgia, 4 or 5 years ago.

The spring before we left - she got cold very easily.

The day we left Raleigh - this is the house where she stayed.

So, what does this have to do with a new family member?  Well, in February, after months of casually asking around, we learned of an Australian couple in Nairobi who owned two German Shepherds who had just had puppies.  Did I ever mention that Rick has never liked German Shepherds??  Just ask his family - there was some unpleasant run-in with a German Shepherd when he was very young.  No physical scars, but big emotional ones....  Anyway, puppies are much cuter than big scary full-grown dogs, and it was easy to fall in love with these puppies.  The day we went to look, we drove home with an adorable little 4 or 5 pound fluffball!  Our kids had never had a puppy - Georgia had preceded all of them.

Rick getting talked into a German Shepherd!

The first day home. :)

Around 10 or 11 weeks.  He didn't bark until he had been here for 2 or 3 weeks, and then he sounded like a stuffed animal!

He really is a sweetie. :)

Dog treats are expensive and look like plastic, so we make our own.

This is him about 6 weeks ago.

He loved riding in the car early on....

And still does! :)

So, there is the new member of our family!  We named him Mak- which is short for Makala, the Kikuyu word for charcoal - because his face and muzzle were so black when we first got him.  He is 33 pounds at 5 months, and we aren't sure how big he will get.  His bark sounds quite scary now, but he is just a big ole puppy. :)  We are thankful to have him in our family, especially with the loss of Georgia.  We miss Georgia a lot, but are so happy for almost 17 years of memories.  :)  We hope to be able to bring Mak home eventually and meet all of our friends and family there!

Love,
Sarah

Job 1:21  And he said, “...The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.”