Welcome Sully!

One of the skills Lily taught at camp was puppy skill. The camp brings in 8 adorable goldendoodle puppies that are about 3 months old. At camp, they learn to come to their name, sit, take baths, crate train, etc. They are then adopted out to camp families. There is always a theme to their names, and this year it was Disney characters. It didn't take too long before Lily absolutely fell in love with Sully, the gentle giant of the group. We had the chance to meet him and his siblings when we visited over July 4 weekend. Mia and Ryan immediately fell in love too. I thought he was absolutely adorable but I balked at the idea of getting a puppy. However, after a week of a lot of prayer and conversation, we reached out to the camp to see about adopting Sully at the end of camp. Thankfully he was available, so it was official. Sully would become a Hooks!

It was fun to see pictures of him while he grew over the summer, and Lily gave us regular updates on his adorableness.

The last session of campers left on Friday, August 1. I drove up to Asheville on Thursday and spent the night in town. I had a nice relaxing morning to myself, and then in the early afternoon, after all the campers had cleared out, I headed on over to see Lily and pick up Sully. Understandably, he was very nervous about getting in the car. For awhile he stood up and stayed right by the window and door so he could jump out if given the option. Eventually he curled up while I drove. About halfway home we stopped at a gas station to fill up and to let him walk around for a few minutes in the grass. We then headed on back to Smyrna. We met Ryan and Mia with Decker at the Reed House. I thought Mia had a great idea with this. It would let Decker meet Sully on "neutral territory" and then let them come home together, so hopefully Decker wouldn't be defensive. It seemed to work well.

It didn't take too long for Sully to start settling right on in.

In a Sully costume!

Decker seems confused that Sully is around all the time, but hopefully he'll get used to having a little brother (who will grow to be bigger than him).

I think it's safe to say he likes it here.

Look at this cutie.

Welcome to the family Sully!