A small surprise

I got my camera out today to take a specific picture, but I kept getting distracted by all the Sunday silliness and fun happening around the house.

In the end, I was able to photograph my original subject.

Meet Gemma, the newest member of our family! Here is her story.

The San Antonio Zoo is right next door to an animal rescue center. After a visit to the zoo this Saturday, our family separated for a bit. Josh and Evie said they were going back to the car, but they really went to get fries from the Beastro. I took the younger kids to the car, only to find it empty and locked. Josh texted and said they would be a while and I should just kill time looking at the animals at the rescue center. It was all so innocent, just a plan to look at more animals for a few minutes. Then, somehow, the younger kids and I were drawn to a sweet, fluffy puppy with curly hair around her ears. All the other dogs were being wild and she was calmly poking her nose against the kennel, sniffing the kids and looking all around adorable. When Josh and Evie arrived and saw her, we decided to see her outside the kennel. And that was it. We completely fell in love with her. That morning Josh and I were still of the mind that we didn't ever want an animal, and then in one afternoon we unexpectedly became "dog people".

We don't know very much about her history. She is about two months, based on her teeth size. The rescue center rescued our puppy and her brother from being euthanized by Animal Control, but there was no information on how she was original brought into custody. She had only been in the center for a few days and her brother was adopted by another family the same time we adopted her.

She is a mix, but they think mostly Australian Shepherd, meaning she will be much bigger in not too long. We named her Gemma Rosabelle Lamb, the girls having picked her middle and last names. Gemma is very mellow, hardly making a noise and quietly investigating all around her while the kids excitedly follow her every move.

I can't quite explain the craziness of rescuing a puppy without any previous plans to do so. It was just a lot of small things, from her sweet demeanor to the kids' hopeful faces, that led to us not being able to put her back in the kennel at the rescue center. But, crazy or not, we are so glad to have sweet Gemma in our lives!