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Dawn's Diary Thanksgiving, 2003

Dear Diary

Well, so much has happened in the past couple of weeks!  The month started innocently enough...around mid-month we prepared for Christmas!  The dogs weren't above showing their spirit as they donned holiday garb to help us decorate  .  We were having so much fun, in fact, that we had the kids pictures taken with the dogs at PetCo. It was great!  I think I will do this every year! 

What began as holiday cheer ended in peril, however,  as Ripley broke his front leg in a daring leap from the car.  As soon as he hit the ground, I knew something was terribly wrong. He was yelping and yowling something fierce, and his elbow swelled way up. A trip to the emergency clinic confirmed the worst...broken elbow.  The following day I took him to an orthopedic veterinarian, who announced Ripley would need surgery.  So, he underwent surgery to implant some screws and wire to hold the thing together.  He is now in a cast and must stay in his crate or on a very short leash in my lap at all times  .  Since he has never slept outside of a bed, he cried all night. Therefore, I now am sleeping on an air mattress in our bedroom with the two dogs. At least we are all getting some sleep!  Anyway, his recovery period is a long 8 weeks, with frequent visits to the Dr.  Thank Goodness I bought pet insurance for him!  I highly recommend it!  It has certainly paid for itself now about 5 times over.  I decided the other night to get it for Lizzie as well....you never know!

Well, this all happened the days before Thanksgiving. However, we still went to the lake and had a good time. Ripley spent most of it in my lap.  The first day we were there, I was out walking Lizzie and this strange little animal crawled out from under some plant and onto my leg.  It was an adolescent squirrel!  I soon noticed the squirrel followed me and the dog around, it had no fear and seemed to be attracted mostly to the dog .  It was obvious this squirrel had been raised by someone. He followed us around all afternoon.  We went to bed thinking he would be gone the next day. However, as soon as I took Lizzie out for a walk, here he came. My dad decided to catch him...it wasn't really very hard  . The squirrel snuggled in the warmth of the gloves. It had been really cold and windy the night before. We put him in a rabbit cage. He seemed happy to be there. The next day, however, he was dead. I think he must have gotten sick out in the wilderness. He was really young, too young for this time of year. Anyway, he was really cute and it was fun to see him. At least he was warm his last night.

Friday we had turkey, as my brother and his wife couldn't come until then. It was a fine meal enjoyed by all.  After the meal, as usual, everyone passed out in front of the TV  .

Check out the rest of the pictures in the Thanksgiving Pics  picture log!

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