Jenny's Adoption Story

Parker and I adopted our sweet Jenny 2 years ago today, and we could not be more blessed by her. We already had so much love for each other, but Jenny made us a family. I thought today would be a perfect time to share her adoption story!

Parker and I always planned on getting a dog when we got married, and we knew we wanted to adopt. No judgment at all for those who go through a breeder, we just loved the idea of saving a dog and didn't ever have a strong preference on breed. Around the time we came back for the spring semester in 2011, we started visiting Petco on Saturdays for their adoption events. We just wanted to play with puppies! We came close to adopting a dog a couple of times, but we always convinced ourselves that we should wait until we are married and live together. One Saturday, we decided against our better judgement to go see the dogs and give them some love (our self-control in waiting to adopt was getting less and less with each visit), and that's when we met Jenny. This was the first Saturday we had ever seen her, but we instantly fell in love with her. She was adorable and so sweet and just wanted to be loved. They told us she and her sister had been dumped (her sister had already been adopted), and they guessed she was about 6 months old. She already had both of our hearts, and we knew there was no way we were going to leave without her. We took her outside of the store to walk her around and get to know her, and she listened so well. We talked about different names for her. They had been calling her Selma, but she didn't know her name, so we didn't feel badly changing it at all. We had only ever talked about boy names though- it never occurred to us that we might adopt a girl dog! We each tossed a couple of names out, and one of mine was Jenny. We both liked it and decided she looked like a Jenny, and that's pretty much all the thought that went into it! I love hearing people talk about all the planning and consideration that went into naming their pets because Parker and I really couldn't have put in less effort if we tried. That said, Jenny just fits her, and we are so glad that is her little name! She has a few nicknames (Jen, Jenny Lou, pupper), but we mostly just call her Jenny. (We promise we have put more thought into what to name our future human babies.)

We walked back into the store, I got out my checkbook for the adoption fee, and Jenny was officially ours! We adopted her from God's Little Creatures Rescue, and we cannot thank them enough for bringing Jenny into our lives. Fun fact: they would only let us put Jenny under one of our names since we weren't yet married (we were engaged), so I technically adopted her since she would be living in my apartment. Parker and I joke that now he can't ever leave me because I would get Jenny.

Signing Jenny's adoption papers

We brought her home on February 5, 2011! She lived with me and my roommates in our apartment for a few months and then with Parker and me when we got married that summer. Here are a couple of her first pictures:

Jenny's first walk!

A snuggler from the start :)

Jenny has brought us so much laughter and love, and not a day goes by that we are not so grateful that she is part of our family. The first thing that greets us when we get home is that waggy tail, and the last thing I do before I go to bed is tuck her in on the couch. We couldn't be more in love with Jenny, and I get so excited thinking about how much love we will have for our human babies one day. What's even more amazing is to think that's only a small fraction of the love God feels for us.

Our little family of three :)