Goodness gracious, Amanda and Steve have added little Gracie to their family, and this adorable pup has people thinking they’re seeing double when they watch her hanging out with her new big sister, Xena.  At about a year old, Gracie is the younger and smaller of the two, but these girls are a perfect pair with many common interests, a few of which are rumored to involve a tennis ball.  Amanda filled us in on life with Gracie: Shortly after my husband, Steve, and I applied with SHLR to become adoptive parents, Gracie’s picture appeared on the website.  We were really drawn to her because of the resemblance to our five-year-old black lab, Xena.  We knew that we had to meet her.  At the time we applied to SHLR, we were looking to fill the void that had been left in our family by the sudden passing of our 10-year-old black lab, Molly, from an aggressive form of cancer.  Xena took Molly’s loss the hardest. When we met Gracie, our primary consideration was whether Xena was comfortable with her.  It took all of five minutes at foster-mom Ladean’s house to figure out that they were going to get along just fine. Gracie and Xena are so good for each other.  They frequently are seen napping together in the sun.  Their favorite games to play together are ball and tug.  They wrestle on the living room rug every morning, after which they take a long nap. Gracie loves her daily walks.  She likes to spend the time smelling ALL the things.  She becomes very excited when she passes other dogs on the street and this is one of the things that we are working on with her training.  In addition to accompanying me to pick Steve up from the airport, her other roles include sitting on Steve’s lap while he is working in his office. I was educated by SLHR on the milestones of welcoming a rescue dog into your home – three days, three weeks, and three months.  By the third day, Gracie had figured out our schedule, and she had educated us on hers.  After three weeks, Gracie had moved from her own bed to Xena’s, and they have slept together ever since. We just celebrated Gracie’s three months with us.  It’s like she has always been here.  We are so happy to have her in our family.  It is clear to see how much Gracie needed a forever family and our family needed a Gracie.  Thank you so much for everything that you do!Many thanks to Ladean for fostering Gracie!