It was a Friday in May of 2005. My sister and I were off of school for the day. I was in third grade and my sister, Baylie, was in Kindergarten. Baylie and I had wanted another dog ever since our lab, Chloe, had died about eight months ago. We were all really, really sad when she died on a day in September, 2004.

I woke up and walked downstairs to see what everyone was doing. My mom was folding laundry.
I asked her, “What are we doing today?”
She said, “Go eat some cereal, dress, and brush your hair and teeth. After you finish with that, head to the car and I will be out right away.”
Baylie and I ran up the stairs as fast as we could and did what our mom told us. We went to the car and our dad was sitting in the car waiting to go. I was very confused because my dad should have been at work. Everyone jumped in the car and we drove for about an hour. We arrived at a house that I didn’t recognize at all. My dad stepped out of the car and walked up to the door. An elderly lady answered the door. I could hear my dad and her talking, although I couldn’t really make out what they were saying.

My dad motioned my mom, sister, and I to come to the door. We hopped out of the car and went to see what he wanted. Soon, the lady led us to her laundry room, which had a gate in the doorway. She walked out to a little barn and brought in puppies! They were adorable and she told us they were Yorkie-Bichons. Even though the puppies were cute, my parents thought they were too small and cowardly. After we played with them for a little while, the lady took them back outside. We waited and waited, and finally she came in with an armful of puppies that looked like little white puff balls. I giggled loudly because when she put them down one little puppy came running up to me and licked my leg! Some of the puppies were really friendly, however others were really shy. My sister and I played with the puppies for about fifteen minutes and at the end we liked the puppy that was labeled Shasta #2.

The puppy we liked was very playful, friendly, tolerant, and calm. We played with him for a long time.
Soon the owner said, “I have to take some of the puppies to the vet for their check-up.” My sister and I were sad because we really wanted to take the puppy home with us.

My parents decided we were going to the Green Dragon since we were only twenty minutes away from it. The Green Dragon is an indoor and outdoor Farmer’s Market that sells many items from food to jewelry to clothing. I was really excited because I was never at the Green Dragon before. When we arrived at the Green Dragon, my dad took Baylie and I to buy some fresh fruit and vegetables. My mom “secretly” went to a pet stand and bought a red collar, red leash, and a little silver bell. After this we met up with our mom again and ate some lunch. In the car, my sister and I fell asleep. My dad went into a Wal-Mart that was fifteen minutes away from the Green Dragon. When my dad came out he had a crate, food bowl, water bowl, and a dog toy. Baylie and I didn’t see any of this though because we were still asleep.

A couple minutes later, we arrived at the house that we were at before we went to the Green Dragon.
I asked my mom, “Why are we back here again?”
My parents said at the same time, “We are here to pick up your puppy, Shasta #2!”
My sister and I were ecstatic! We jumped out of the car and started screaming! I really missed having a dog to play with.

Everyone jumped out of the car as fast as possible. My dad rang the door bell and the lady came to the door carrying the puppy we wanted. She handed us the puppy and my dad went in to sign his papers. The lady gave us some mini bags of the food that he had been eating. We all said good-bye to the lady and left.

After we were all in the car, my sister and I played with the little puppy.
“We have to think of a name for him,” I said to my sister.
“Yes, we do,” she said.
Baylie and I kept giving suggestions to each other. It took awhile for us to come up with a good name.
My mom said, “What about Brady?”
“That sounds good,” my sister and I said together.

It is about four years later and we still have Brady. Baylie and I play with him all the time and he loves going for walks. I have to admit, he is a little spoiled. We still love him anyway. I couldn’t imagine life without him!