A Sad Goodbye

We put Rocko down yesterday. It was so hard and a decision we knew was coming for probably a year. It's such a tough choice to make and know when the right time is. Physically, he was still okay. Sure, his walks had gone from 40 minutes to 20 in the past 6 months. He would've preferred 10, as he was usually lagging behind us all the way home, but, he kept up.

With Rocko, it was all mental. We knew he was scared to death of thunderstorms. He's been that way for 10 years, but it had started to take on a whole new form. He was scared of everything, lighting, thunder, dark, light, wind, steps, grates in the road, the garbage truck, it goes on and on. We'd sometimes sleep at night with the TV on and eye masks on as he would start panting and shaking when we'd turn the TV off. Most nights, David slept in the other room with Rocko tied to the bed. He was destructive when he'd get scared and you couldn't do anything. He's tore up a table cloth, comforter, drape, screen doors. He "rakes" the carpet and puts holes in window screens. He scratches at doors, dig holes if outside, it goes on and on.

We've manage to deal with it and didn't feel like he was ready to be put down. But, over the past few weeks, he'd spend all of his awake hours like this...staring at a corner and panting. It's really very sad to watch him shake for hours for no reason what so ever. We tried every medicine out there from herbal stuff to prozak and nothing worked. Inevitably, after hours of panting, he'd drink a bowl of water, then vomit several times. It was all just going downhill.

 

 Anyway, all that to say, after a few awful nights with him, we decided it was time. This was his last photo. David went in with him and he said it was all very peaceful and calm. The kids were a mess. We all were. Emily wanted to do one last day of all the things he loves, but it's just so hard to drag it out once you've decided. Plus, if he had a good night, then, we would've waited for more bad nights, which would've surely come. It would emotionally draining to put us all through that. It was more bad moments for him than good at the end. If he was awake, he was scared. Ultimately, that was the deciding factor.

 

  

David brought home his collar and leash and Prim was Rocko's biggest fan. She loved to cuddle with him. Today she climbed up on the table and snuggled into his collar. It was the sweetest and saddest moment ever. 

We will always remember him as the sweetest dog ever who loved to play fetch and go for a walk. He had the softest pillowy ears and once you started petting him, he'd always reach out his paw for more.

We will miss you sweet boy.

15

How is my baby girl 15? I don't know where the time has gone. Here birthday was on a Friday, which was also a football game. That means she has to leave for school at 6:40 for an early morning pep rally, and she gets home after the game at about 10:30. It's about a 16 hour day. Tiring for sure!

We started celebrating a few days before with her favorite dinner of roast, carrots and mashed potatoes. The next night, I made her a pumpkin roll and we sung happy birthday.

She used to always give her Dad big kisses on her birthday. Now, he settles for this. Ugh, teenagers!

She was spoiled with lots of cards and money!  Thank you to everyone for making her special.

Grammie and Grampie also took her to Olive Garden for lunch!

The football game was fun! Well, the don't look like they are having fun, but they were!

Then, she went shopping down in Phoenix with her friends for their annual birthday trip.

They went to Dave & Busters too and played video games.

The got Boba teas.

 Had lunch at Cheesecake Factory.

 And spent way too much money shopping!

I think she had a great birthday. Teenage girls are not easy to navigate, but she's a great young lady with a whole life ahead of her. We are thankful to help her any way we can.

Moving Day!

Moving day finally came on August 19th! Geez, we got yanked around with our mortgage people and it was so hoops, but we finally closed!

We got a Uhaul and loaded everything up. The kids were awesome and helped as much as they could with all the heavy lifting. Our friend Ryan also helped, which was so nice on some of the heavy pieces.

It's nice the new house is abut 7 minutes away and we got everything unloaded. David and I decided to load it up again and make a second and last trip that night. It took about 6 hours, but we got everything to the new house.

The next day, David took off work, and helped them get everything set up.

The blind guy came that day, and Gwynne had everything scheduled to be turned on. It was a super busy few days.

Enrique's room is really nice with a TV and recliner.

Gwynnes room and she has a nice master bath.

I'll have to take some pictures next time I'm there, as it looks way more homey now. David got some pictures hung up and they are getting a rug for the living room this week. They just need a loveseat and they'll be all set!

We are so glad they are here and close to us, and just in time since hurricane Dorian was on it's way. It was nice not to have to worry about them and dealing with that!