more pictures

 This kid is eating food and almost crawling.  It's crazy.  He is ready to get on with his LIFE.

Oh my goodness that little face.

And this one too.  He's thirteen now.

Puppy hugs!

Making friends:

Awww

Love you all so, Mom aka GRANDMA

saturday this happened

We went to lacrosse games, felt so good to be with the kids, watching the games, enjoying the sun.

There was a sign by the side of the highway,  "Bernese Mountain Puppies."

And a super impulsive thing happened.

And there was a sleepover at the Flophouse Motel.  It was Dan and Alicia's anniversary, so they were going out for the evening.

There was a lot of flopping.  We pizza-ed. We air fried.  There was scrappin'.  (It's hard to share a puppy.)

We found a bunny nest in the backyard and had to put fencing around it and lawn chairs.

Oh my goodness, no bunny disaster, please.  Not tonight.

At the end of the evening when I was taking a bath, I saw something odd in the bathwater.

????

What is happening here?

I fished it from the water, and it was a fruit snack.

Seriously?

In my bathwater?

Oh lord, I laughed.  It's been a long week.

Her name is Danielle Joan.

It's not Elin, sweet, complicated, beautiful Elin.

No, it is not her.  It's a new friend, and she seems like a doll.

We're getting to know each other.

More pictures of the baby tomorrow.

Love, Val
 

one week

One week ago Jay took Elin to the vet.  She'd had an upset stomach, been a bit listless.  Last weekend at the cabin she was kind of clingy and didn't want to walk very far, positioned herself outside exactly where the breeze was blowing off the lake.

So Monday he took her to the vet.

Wasn't a stomach bug.   She was in heart failure, fluid around her heart and in her lungs.   Blood counts indicated internal bleeding.  X rays showed the tumors.

Our pretty girl was dying.  This was an aggressive type of cancer that dogs can get.

A few old pics

We scheduled euthanasia for Friday,  The vet prescribed Lasix and we put it in cheeseburgers to tempt her appetite, and Elin spent the last days of her life snoozing on the patio, her favorite spot to be.  We skipped the bath, left the snarls behind her ears.  Doesn't matter, baby.

The kids came to say good bye and friends, and Elin was so delighted to see each of them,    That's the thing about dogs. They live in the moment, made it easier for us to do that too.  

Friday came and in peace and kindness she slipped on out of here.   We thought we had more time.  Years.  This was way too soon.   We all keep hearing her collar jingle in our imaginations, keep looking around the corner for her.  It's hard.   We'll never eat a Hawaiian bun without it being about HER.

She always greeted us by bringing us shoes at the door.  If no shoes were handy, she'd grab whatever else she could find. Out on the patio even a leaf would suffice.  Gosh we miss her.

With love forever, Ee-Bee,   Mom and Dad and Everybody

swamp

That's Elin, peacefully sleeping dog.

This is the swamp next to the cabin.

Last Friday night we hopped in bed and Jay fell right to sleep.  I was reading on my phone, quietly in the dark and Elin JUMPED up onto our bed right between us and stood there.

Jay has gout and I did not want her to stomp on his poor foot while he was asleep.  He was softly snoring away, and she was standing there trembling so violently that the whole bed was shaking.

I had the thought: Who can sleep with these people?

Finally I turned on the lamp to see what was going on with the dog.  She looked at the window, nervously licking her lips and glancing over at me.  

That's when I realized the swamp was a racket and chorus of every possible noise. The peepers were peeping, the bullfrogs were making their weird noises. Other creatures were chiming in with high and low notes.

She was scared of the swamp.

I shut the window, and in a couple minutes she jumped down and got on her blanket and went to sleep. 

This girl is such a chicken.

 Love, Val

missing sophie

Here she is as a little baby.

 

Saturday afternoon she had a seizure and a stroke, and it wasn't good.

This rainbow magically appeared while we were at the vet. They took it as a sign.

There was a quiet evening burial in the field.

It's the end of an era.

Love and peace to you old friend.

Love,  Grandma, Grandpa, and Everybody