Sweet boy Linky...

Three weeks ago, I read my friends Sayward's blog about her dog Hagrid, who had become ill and she made the difficult decision to put him down. I cried when I read it. Two weeks ago, we took our dog Link, who seemed to be having quite a bit of trouble with his leg, to the vet. We got some very sad and quite shocking news that he had lymphoma, and probably had about a month to live, at best. I cried when when we got the news, a lot. A week ago, we were scheduled to go back to the vet to see how Link was doing. He had been prescribed some prednisone to make him more comfortable and help with the pain in his leg. It seemed to work for a few days and he had quite a bit of energy and didn't seem to have a problem walking. However, that didn't last long and he started to become more and more sick as we approached the appointment. Tom and I discussed that we would not allow him to suffer, and if the vet suggested it was time to let go, we would. It was an extremely difficult decision and I cried a lot, again. We said goodbye to our sweet Linky dog on Tuesday, August 18 at 11:30 AM. We took him to Tom's Aunt Kathie and Uncle Paul's property in New Castle and buried him in one of his favorite places to be. We miss him terribly and treasure every moment of the past seven years that he spent with us.

Looking quite regal in his old age

Looking handsome and golden in his younger years

Rides in the Wrangler were his all time favorite

Feeling quite sad as Tom left for the army...at least we had each other!

Quite possibly the cutest puppy ever!

...even when soaking wet!

One of all time favorite pictures. Maya drinking at the sink, Link drinking at the tub!

They were the best of buddies... finally together again.

Maya teasing Link by eating his food right out of the bin!

Helping newborn Hunter to drift off.

Not really sure why we're paying so much attention to that tiny human that makes so much noise.

Check out Linky's tongue sneaking a taste of Hunter.

Halloween doggy's all time favorite candy...wildberry Skittles

Winking Link

Smoking a licorice on Christmas.

How he would wake up Tom when I told him to.

Looking a bit frail and sad but still as cute as can be.

Having a moment with Gryffin.

Taking care of our babies is what he did best. That and eating used tissues!

Link, you will be forever loved and missed!

...while writing this post, I cried...a lot!

Happy 2nd Birthday Olivia and Gryffin!!

Olivia and Gryffin celebrated their 2nd birthday on August 3rd. I can't believe how quickly the time seems to have gone by! We had mostly family and some friends come to celebrate with us at the house. The day was a weird one with periods of heavy rain and periods of sunny skies. A fun time was had by all!

Here is the lovely and expecting Aunt Danae with the masterpiece of a cake she created! I picked out a homemade vanilla cupcake and buttercream recipe off of the internet and Danae was kind enough to do the baking while her sister Gloria and I prepared other foods for the day. I found an adorable Very Hungry Caterpillar cake that I had my heart set on creating and Danae did an absolutely perfect job. Unfortunately, we never got to eat the cake because a light bulb broke right over where the cake was sitting. My mom quickly ran to Giant Eagle to buy some "cookie" cakes from the bakery. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little bit upset about it. After all, Hunter has had a homemade cake for every birthday and my sister Aubrey made homemade chocolate cupcakes for the twins first birthday. I quickly got over it and everyone seemed to like the cookie cakes just fine... disaster averted.

Olivia was very pleased with her Maclaren baby doll stroller. Gryffin covets the stroller as well and it has become the number one thing that causes arguments. Thanks to Gloria (Aunt Boo Boo) for the stroller.

Tom's Aunt Kathie made these adorable hats for Olivia and Gryffin. They are super cute on and the babies couldn't love them more! Thanks to Aunt Kathie for a beautiful and practical gift!

Olivia admiring the Hungry Caterpillar cake

Having their cookie cake on the steps

Happy boy Gryffin at their birthday lunch at Bahama Breeze

Aunt Danae and Uncle Aaron stayed with us for a week while they we waiting to close on their new house. Luckily for us it happened to be the birthday week and we had some extra sets of hands around the house for preparations and kid watching. The soon to be parents did a great job and Hunter, Olivia and Gryffin all loved them so much and were so sad to see them go! They will be great parents to their little guy and we can't wait to play with him too!

Olivia and Aunt Nae Nae playing peek-a-boo at the park