Happy Birthday, Raleigh!

Raleigh is our Yellow Labrador Retriever, who turned 9 years old today! His AKC registered name is Raleigh Spartan Pollock, Raleigh for the Wolfpack & Spartan for UNC-G!

David & I bought him after being married a little over a year. His mom was yellow, his dad was black, & all of his brothers & sisters were also yellow. He wasn't the runt of the litter, but he was the smallest male. We went to pick him out and they painted his little toenails pink to mark him as ours. He was so cute!

When we brought him home, he was a MESS! He chewed the door frame off in our kitchen and always stole our socks & underwear out of the dirty laundry to tear those up, too! Eventually, he got to the point where he would specifically choose something of David's to tear up if he left him home alone.

I'll never forget the time I woke up at 4am to find that David wasn't in bed. I went downstairs to check on him & he was fast asleep on the couch with a very tiny Raleigh asleep on his chest!

For a long time, the boys didn't really have much to do with Raleigh. But, recently, that has changed. They LOVE to play with him now. They lay on the floor with him first thing every morning and last thing every night to love on him. As soon as Carter gets home from school, he takes Raleigh outside to play with him. I love watching them together.

Last summer, I finally got the chance to read "Marley & Me" by John Grogan. I sobbed my way through it as it brought back so many memories of our own lives. As soon as the movie came out, David & I took Carter to see it. Again, we all sobbed. We now own the DVD & the boys watch it frequently. Carter wants to know why we didn't wait until after he was born so he could play with him while he was a puppy......maybe someday!?!

This photo shows Raleigh enjoying the HUGE bone that the boys picked out for his birthday gift! Happy Birthday, Raleigh! I hope you have many more birthdays to share with us!