So, my Christmas gift from John was supposed to be an auto start for my car. A wonderful luxury when the temperatures look like this…

or this…(sorry for the dust on the dash. We live on gravel. I can’t keep up. If I tried to, I think I would get a stomach ulcer from anxiety.)

or even this…

On December 27th, we attended a Christmas party in Missouri with my second-cousin-in-law. We purchased my vehicle from him. He asked how I was liking the vehicle.

I said “Ya, I love it. John got me auto start for it for Christmas this year. It is going to be installed on the 20th of January.”

He looked at me with a really dumbfounded face. Then he said, um, it already has auto-start.

To which I said: WHAT! WHAT! WAIT…so you’re telling me…I have been freezing…FOR NOTHING!

Then I hollered across the room, “JOHHHHHHNN, you’re not gonna believe this!”

Then, they went right outside and learned out how use the dang thing.

So much for reading the manual.

(Who does that anyway? Obviously not me!)

Wait, aren’t farmers supposed to do stuff like that? And, aren’t they supposed to be super mechanical and stuff? 

Turns out, all I needed to do was press the lock button & then the circle-arrow-thingy button.

The next day was the 28th. John was officially without a Christmas present for me. That’s when my dear Mama comes in. She completely sabotaged her new son-in-law. Earlier this fall, my Mom and sister got a puppy from a family friend. Bruce is five months old now. Such a cutie. He goes to feed the cows with Mom almost daily. 

My mom knew that I really wanted a puppy. In fact, I’d been begging John for one the whole time we were in Missouri. We knew that our family friends had one puppy left in a new litter – just 8 weeks old!

So, the night before we left for SD mom called her friends and invited them & the puppy over….unbeknownst (what an odd looking word) to John and me. When they arrived, I said the typical “I-really-want-a-puppy” things like:

• Awww…John she is so cute. We have to take her home.
• I need a buddy in my office.
• You don’t have to get me a Christmas present.
• Think of how much fun Mom & Schyler have with Bruce!

How could he say no? After all – he didn’t have Christmas gift lined up anymore! And, this man was not in the mood to shop!

Of course, you know how this story ends. The next day, we drove home to South Dakota in our vehicle – which already had auto-start – and a super cute puppy named Roxie and now we are living happily ever after….

She and John napped together. 

And because we didn’t have a pet porter/pet taxi…my sisters sent us home with their doll-size baby crib. Ridiculous. We put the puppy in a crib. 

So, that’s how auto-start turned into a puppy. I just needed a little help from Mom, Schyler, Bruce, and our family friends.

Merry Christmas & thanks John for the awesome gift!