The Story....

When Jon and I were engaged, we talked about all the fun things that we wanted to do and to have when we got married. One of these things was a dog. Jon is no small dog man, I knew that from the beginning and I was totally okay with that. I like dogs, I even like big dogs.

When we bought the condo, I thought that getting a dog would be put on the back burner since we didn't have a backyard. Jon apparently never thought that. I guess the longer we lived there, the more I thought about having a dog and what that would entail with no enclosed yard. On the way back from Zion's we started talking about getting a dog, that was all Jon needed. That night we bought Puppies for Dummies at Petsmart and we both got so excited. I was going through KSL ads like crazy the next day, looking for a Lab puppy. I talked to lots of people about it and then got cold feet all of a sudden. So many questions and just not sure if it would work out. Jon, with his puppy dog eyes later asked me, So are we getting a dog? How could I deny him?

Soon thereafter, our friends Caitlin and Brandon, who are proud puppy owner, came over and talked about all the ins and outs of training a puppy. That same night I talked to my dear friend Laura who adores her own Black Lab named Kobe. She answered lots of questions and then all of a sudden I was settled. I wanted a dog. I was ready.

Two days later, Jon and I were at a breeders house choosing between the 6 cutest black lab puppies ever. One by one we weeded them out and an hour and half later we had three puppies to choose from. Two females and one male. The smaller female was quite nippy and very energetic. Down to two. The other female, who was actually the biggest girl of the litter just had the sweetest personality. I was holding the girl and Jon was holding the boy. We compared their paws and the boy's was much larger than the girls. Without further ado I told him we wanted the female.

She was pretty scared the first night, she just wanted her belly rubbed. Sleepy time was great, minimal whining and she didn't wake until 6:30am. We were so happy she slept through the night.

Day one consisted of going to work with me, throwing up, peeing on the carpet and meeting the staff and girls at MLA. She was happy to get home and play with her daddy. Again she slept very well and didn't wake until 7am. I got up with her, took her out and tried to play with her so that she would again be tired and go to her kennel until Jon woke up. Thankfully Jon woke up just as I was leaving and I told him we had to decide on a name... which we decided would be ASPEN. I love the name, it's actually also my favorite tree. I headed to work and Jon and Aspen waved me off.

Jon seemed to very tuckered when I returned home from work after he had watched the puppy all day. He said something like, I couldn't go the bathroom or eat anything until she fell asleep for a nap. You would think she were a human baby. That night we took Aspen up near Squaw Peak to see the pretty leaves. Much to our chagrin she loved getting out, playing in the leaves and walking down a little trail. Thoughts of taking her camping, hiking and fishing with us danced through our heads. She didn't love the bumpy road but she was a great sport.

The pictures at the top are from her first outdoor adventure. Enjoy. More video and pics to come!