Goodbye Winter

Just two months ago we said goodbye to Elkei. Sadly, this weekend we had to say goodbye to Winter as well. Everything seemed fine on Saturday morning when she woke Tim up to go outside. She was 17 years old and she had definitely slowed down, but we never expected this at this time.

We left or a few hours Saturday night and returned home that night and found her lying on the floor totally unresponsive. She would try to lift her head but couldn't and her breathing seemed labored. Fortunately, she didn't seem to be in any pain.

Tim put her by his bed and watched her throughout the night. Finally, at about 5 o'clock Sunday morning she had gotten worse and we couldn't stand to see her like that anymore. So, Tim made the decision to take her to the vet and have her put to sleep. We were fortunate to find out that the same vet we already used also was an Emergency vet with a Dr. in house 24 hours. Sunday morning around 6:30 we said our final goodbye to "Wee-Wee".

Hopefully, Elkei was there to greet her when she crossed over and they are running around playing and having fun again.

We love and miss you Winter and especially miss you and the way you "talked" to us!

J.T.'s 9th Birthday!

On Thursday, June 14th, we celebrated J.T.'s 9th birthday with the family at his favorite restaurant, Red Lobster. Mom, KD, Jenny & Joel joined us for dinner. Since it was his birthday we let him order off the "adult" menu. Of course, since he ate Lobster on the cruise, that is what he wanted to get. But being the mean parents we are, we told him no. So he ordered crab legs instead.

He is growing up too quickly! This birthday also marked his 6th year with us.... unbelievable in some ways, but in other ways, it feels like he's always been with us.

He celebrated his birthday with his friends the day before at the movie theatre. He and a few of his friends went to see Spiderman 3.

Happy Birthday little buddy! We love you BIG time!

Memorial Day Weekend in Tennessee

Vance graduated from High School on the Friday before Memorial Day so me, JT, Mom, KD and Mindy headed to Tennessee to attend his graduation. (Click photo for more photos)

As always, it was quite the fun adventure in the car with Mom. The trip went smooth both ways and it was nice to spend time with Shelly.

We met Vance's girlfriend and she seemed real nice. Of course, he didn't want to really hang out with us, afterall, he's a high school graduate with a girlfriend who just got a new apartment... so it's not hard to figure out where he really wanted to be and who he wanted to be with.

We also got a chance to see Allie and how great she looks.... beautiful as always, but she's lost alot of weight and is continuing to do well. We met her boyfriend Shane. He seemed like a nice guy and didn't seem to mind sitting around with a bunch of women chatting.

Bo showed himself a bit while we were there. I really feel sorry for him and his problems and wish that something could be figured out to help him do better.

All in all, it was a good trip, but as always, after being gone for 4 days, it was GREAT to get home! Tim stayed home so he was glad to see us when we returned.

J.T. Gets His Glasses

J.T. got his glasses today and as you can see from the photo, we are very fortunate that he's very excited about it. When he put them on he was excited to see a big difference right away in his vision. He immediately started comparing how things looked with them on and with them off. He got real excited on the way home because he could read the license plates on other cars.

Tim and I felt like bad parents because we hadn't known he was having vision problems. We trusted that the school had done a vision screen and would have expected them to catch it - especially now that we know it should have been obvious to whoever gave the eye test.

I've worn glasses since I was 6 years old and I know what a pain they can be. I hoped he would be able to forego glasses as a child. But, I'm excited for him now knowing that his vision is improved and he can see properly. We are hopeful this will also help with some of the problems he's had in school.

Goodbye Elkei

Two weeks ago, we said Goodbye to Elkei. Elkei was a great dog and at 16 years old had lived a good life. However, the quality of her life had been going downhill for quite some time. It was a hard decision, but we made plans to put her to sleep. It was hard on her "sister" Winter since she had been her lifelong companion too and she wandered the house for about a week looking for her.

Of course, it was hard on all of us and we still have a void in the house without her. These photos were taken the day before she left us.

You were a good dog Elkei, and we all miss you greatly!