Baar has been so busy hanging out with his foster friend Ralph, visiting dog parks, playing with Mikki and enjoying the season that he regretfully hasn't had time to write lately.

Joe and I are excited to be spending our first Christmas with him. Ok, so it's mostly me that's excited about it being his first Christmas - Joe's just plain happy to have him around.

Enid and Ezra are doing well and Enid continues to plot Baar's demise. She is thinking about posting some of her ideas after the new year. Right now she is focused on coming downstairs and attempting to chew as much ribbon as possible since it torments me to no end. Not because of the ribbon but because of how dangerous it is. For the last few years I've used only yarn on gifts but thought I could get away with some ribbon since she's upstairs most of the time. No such luck!

Ezra is being his usual wonderful stuff. He enjoys relaxing in bed and having as many "Ezra snacks" as he can get. He also loves playing with this feather toy and is particularly fond of stalking it when it creeps across the floor.

All of the animals are interested in their stockings. I put a rawhide for Baar in his but he discovered it and it was so cute watching him try to get it out that I ended up giving it to him. I'm sure Santa will bring him something else though.

The holidays are coming very quickly this year. We've been so busy with Ralph that I haven't had much time to do some of the fun holiday stuff like baking, watching holiday shows, visiting friends and just relaxing. Joe and I are trying to figure out how to manage the Christmas Eve and day without having Ralph alone and created a lot of the time.

Thanks for reading and if we aren't able to write again until after Christmas, please accept all of our wishes for a magical eve and a joy filled day.

We've been very busy getting ready for the holidays and taking care of all of the animals.

Ralph is doing pretty good but the two of them are quite a bit of work. Ralph is crated during the day since the boys tend to play rough and get irritated with each other at times. Unfortunately he's had some diarrhea the last few days so we've had to do lots of cleaning when we get home from work.

The other day when we got home, Ralph was crying in his create (you could hear it from outside the house) and Baar was not at the door when I got to it. Of course I panicked and when I opened the door I was hit by the smell of Ralph's accident. Baar was standing next to a crying Ralph howling. I'm really not sure what thats all about.

Sometimes when we foster I feel sad for baby Baar. I think he enjoys having other animals around but we've had to put up all of his stuffed animals (yes even the pink bunnies) because they argue over them way to much for it to be safe. I also worry that he doesn't get as much attention when we foster. However I know that he's a happy dog and is enjoying life. I think he'd want us to help other animals whenever we can.

We took Mikki, Brutus, Baar and Ralph to see Santa at the Cuyahoga County Kennel (www.doglicense.com). Santa is still available for photo's on select days of the week so if you haven't been, I highly recommend it. The price is fair and proceeds benefit the animals they serve.

We have a number of pictures and in most of them Baar is looking forward (he's such a good boy) but I personally love this one. It's like he's excited about Santa. Maybe he was telling him what he'd like this year!

Of course miss Mikkie was gorgeous. She was determined to drink out of the bucket containing ice and soda cans for the people. Brutus was very well behaved and my sister got some great photo's with her, Dick Goddard, the Elf and Santa all together. I don't have digital copies of those but I do have one of Mikki's.

We weren't sure how Ralph would do and were prepared to take him outside if Santa was a bit much for him (Ralph is not fond of hats). However he was amazing. Joe stayed with him for the photo just to make sure he didn't get to scared. He looks a bit serious in the picture. We were so proud of him! I may post his photo later - I need to edit it.

Hello! It is I, Baar. Emily and Joe brought home another foster dog to play with Baar. Ralph is a big dog like Baar. Him is a American Bull Mastiff Mix. Here is a picture of him chewing on one of Baar's bones on Baar's bed. Yes... Baar is very nice to him's foster friends. Ok, it is true that sometimes Baar gets annoyed when other dogs have him's things. Emily and Joe took all the toys away and gave us each one bone of the same size and shape to play with. Baar understands why foster doggies want hims thinks (Baar has lots of nice things afterall). But since Baar is so nice and well share, why can Baar not unshare when him wants to stop?

Baar and Ralph have lots of fun wrestling. Here are some pictures of us roughousing in the living room. Yes, Emily loves it when Ralph and Baar play in the living room! We also ran around the garage 17 times the other night (Joe counted). It was fun but at the end we got irritated with each other (it was him's fault not Baar's).

Ralph has to borrow Baar's crate while the people are not home. Emily said it is because if we have one of our arguments there will be no one to tell us to stop. She is worried that there will be an accident. Baar does not mind Ralph using him's crate, but it is Baar's crate. Ralph kept trying to take Baar's bone the other night so Baar went in the crate with it. Baar is so smart!

Now it is time for Baar to take a nap. Yes, taking care of a foster doggie is very hard work!

Hello! It is I, Baar.

Baar was enjoying a quite day at home a couple of weeks ago when a giant noisy intruder got into Baar's house!

Joe said this intruder is called Nelson. Him made this growling noise and kept getting bigger and bigger in Baar's dining room! Baar barked and backed up. Baar did not like it. Joe tried to get Baar to come see Nelson by offering him treats but Baar said no. After a few minutes Baar did not feel like going to visit Joe either since him was trying to tick Baar into getting close to Nelson.

Emily made Nelson be quiet and get small again. Baar still did not go in the dining room. No... him did not trust the big noisy Nelson. Emily convinced Baar that it was ok and him eventually got him's favorite snacks from on top of Nelson (while he was small and quiet). Baar likes playing with Joe, but when him is scared him likes Emily to make him feel better.

Baar knows you would like to see a picture of this terrible intruder. Emily relegated him to the front porch as pictured on the left. Do not let the angels next to him or him's jolly hat or candy cane trick you into thinking Nelson is not dangerous. Baar suggests caution if you decide to approach him.