The Sawyer Family Chauffeur

He had forgotten an important document and ran back into the house to retrieve the papers.  Shouts of laughter and happy screaming lept through the open front door, and when he returned to the vehicle, this is what he saw.

Behold the new Sawyer family chauffeur (and hey, since we're in the Dominican where driving and traffic patterns are a little on the crazy side, this is not such a stretch. )

Yep, this is Jon's "baby," Peso, whose name reflects the currency here as well as the fact that his name literally translates "I am heavy."  He is 7 months old and Jon thinks he weighs close to 100 lbs.

And this is why Jon can approximate his weight:  because he has to lift the dog, who is aware that he is going to the vet for shots, into the van.  But the problem with this scenario in man vrs. dog is that if you leave the drivers side door open, the dog, who has been carefully hoisted into the van, jumps right up into the front seat and out the open door (X 3).  The ordeal was a bit like watching an episode of the three stooges, minus Larry.  Which is why Jon looked like this:

It is hard to tell from the side, unless you know him well, in which case you will notice even from the side his patented scowl (but in his defense, he's been carrying all the weight around our house for a few weeks now as I've been sick.  However, he does dish it out, so I think he'll be okay with my comments.)  And check out the scared look on Little Pickle's face - that's because the monster "baby" dog is getting ready to jump into the front seat.  Again.  Good times.

On the other hand, here are the elated faces of the girls whose nervous screams of joy alerted us to check outside.

And this is a moment that will forever be etched in my mind.

There is one more funny detail to this story that unfortunately has no photo (at this time).  Jon has to carry Peso from where he parks in the street to the vet clinic for several reasons:  1)Peso does not adore his leash, especially when it is taking him somewhere he doesn't want to go. 2)  Dominicans are typically scared of dogs (even little ones, sometimes) so you can imagine the fright when they see Peso coming. 3) There are caged monkeys right inside the entrance to Animal Planet, which means monkey freak out and large dog freak out.  I'm really glad I don't have to run this errand :)