Our family has grown by 4 feet!! YEs you read that right....4 more feet!!!

Meet Oishii.  He is a 9 week old Akita puppy.  He was rescued by the Warm Hearts Humane Society in Arkansas.  The same rescue we got Phantom from, and he was with the same foster mom.  His was a gift to his previous owner, from her daughter.  She soon realized she could not take care of him and was dumping him in the Petco parking lot.  No-bets do not make good gifts.  Unless you are an adult giving your child the gift of a forever friend.

That is where our family comes in.  My kids have loved Phantom and I really wanted to give Phantom a companion.  It just so happens this little puppy showed up just in time for Christmas, but I couldn't wait until Christmas to bring him home.  So here he is a little early.  What a great Christmas gift for Phantom, and the entire family. 

He is not yet housebroken so that will be a challenge.  Luckily we started our Christmas break this weekend so we have this week to work on housebreaking and then its full days of work for me for the next two weeks.

Anyway, my niece and I drove to Mount Ida, Arkansas-yes a 6 hour drive- on Saturday afternoon.  We met Oishii and his foster mom and fell in love.  He is so adorable, little and fuzzy.  We stayed at a cabin at Mountain Harbor Resort and Spa.  It was wonderful!  It was a beautiful setting and filled with Christmas lights.  Phantom and Oishii got along great until Oishii ate out of Phantom's food bowl. 

We took a long walk with Phantom and Oishii's foster mom and her 11 year old Akita.  Just enough to tucker the dogs out for the long drive home.  The dogs did great on the drive home. I got the dogs home and settled and then left to pick up the kids.

It was GREAT!! They were so excited and appreciative.  They kept saying "Thanks Mom!!" So sweekt.  JoAnna thinks she can carry him around like a little rag doll.  Jace also tries to pick him up, but even at 9 weeks this Akita pup is still a handful for my little 3 year old. 

So here are a few pics from the cabin, the ride home and the introduction to the kids.  There will be plenty more photos/videos to come!!!