Kona at 5 weeks

n I thought that I would share with you some pictures of our puppy-to-be...she no longer looks like a guinea pig but now like a rollypolly pup. The boys had not had a chance to meet her yet and they are the ones that took most of the pictures. She's a sweetie...and we'll be picking her up on Thursday, May 1st....about three weeks from now. Her name will be Kona...for many reasons. All of our dogs that we have named have actually had names of places that we have been and enjoyed. We didn't plan it that way, but looking back on it, that is how it worked out: Hershey, Tahoe and Cheyenne. Aiko means "love" in Japanese and she came with her name. Kona is the sunny side of the big island of Hawai'i. Rich and I went there about 6 years ago. We didn't realize that we were on the "rainy side" of the island until we had been there a few days. We got off a tour bus in Kona and never looked back. We loved Kona...we snorkeled with sea turtles and just genuinely had a wonderful time on the sunny side of the island. After this past year in Norway with record low temperatures and rainfall, we needed a sunny side. So Kona it is. (pronounced Koh-nah). I am excited to see how Lily does helping to raise this pup. :o) The big black dog is the father, a flat-coated retriever.