My beautiful Moon has celebrated her first birthday! One of The Sinful Sots black triplet pups from last November, she has grown into a beautiful young gal. Here she is tonight, as is her routine when she smells rain coming, under the backyard tree line waiting for a downpour so she can race under the boughs and shed their water. She loves thunderstorms. And yes, that's only one of my many missing shoes from the house she buries and digs up again. Her big brother, Pax the Lion King, an Anatolian Shepherd, has become her constant companion after her tense introductory start as a pup. He's very protective of his little sister now, and they wrestle and rough house from front door to backyard. Moon has a habit of taking a running leap like a gazelle over the big guy standing that starts it all off. She's so loving, fun, mischievous and loves to unpack UPS boxes with abandon. I've sometimes had to reorder when she got to what was inside before I could, like my new kitchen faucet, but...hey, I don't sweat the small stuff in-between bouts of laughter. She is loved unconditionally. Oh, and Moon comes running when I moooo like a cow!

Patty Michaels