The Last 6 Months, apparently

Okay, so wow, I hadn't realized I hadn't posted anything in quite so long.  Not that I have an anticipating audience or anything.

So let's see...we had a nice Christmas.  It was quiet, but nice.  Here's the loot the kids found Christmas morning:

Shortly before Christmas, Chris' class at school put on a school play.  Chris was the computer that would tell the workers to get back to work.  Here he is in his lovely costume that I made:

After Christmas, Bryce and I had the distinct pleasure of going to Playa del Carmen, Mexico for a week.  It was quite nice to leave our below zero temperatures and head to 80 degree temperatures, room service, and beaches for the first vacation we've had without the kids since we've had kids.  We were extremely grateful to Bryce's parents for coming up and spending the week with the kids to make it possible.

Then we had Easter and Abby's birthday.  That girl was so excited for her birthday and already talks about what she wants to do for her next one.

Right after Abby's birthday was of course, my birthday, but we don't need to talk about that.

Let's see..then we had the end of the school year, with Ben graduating from the 5th grade and elementary school and Daniel graduating from kindergarten.  They both enjoyed the school year and are excited to continue with the next.

Then we had Daniel's birthday.  He got to have his first ever friend party and seemed to have a lot of fun.  He was especially excited when we happened to find one of his friends from his kindergarten class a few days before the party and were able to invite him.

And as probably everyone reading this knows, we decided it was time to put Ozzy down on Saturday.  It wasn't an easy decision, especially because he often seemed okay.  But he was hurting almost all the time and was starting to growl at the kids and their friends more often as he was afraid they'd hurt him.  And he was having more and more bad days where he would whine and yelp as he walked.  We took him to the vet the week before and the vet gave us a morphine-type drug to try with him to see if it helped him with his pain.  It did help some, so he wasn't growling nearly as often, but he still had bad days even on the drug, and if we were even a half hour late in giving it to him, he would act like he was really hurting again.  So we decided that it would just be better for him and for us to euthanize him.  Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your point of view), I was with Ben at Cub Scout Day Camp, so I didn't get to go along and help Bryce.  I feel a little bad that I wasn't able to be there and pet him and help calm him through his last moments on this earth, especially since he really did love me the most and followed me around constantly.

This is a picture I took of Alex and Ozzy a few weeks ago.  Alex really loved that dog and probably had the hardest time out of all our kids.

I just found this one on my phone today.  Abby likes to play with my phone and take pictures, so apparently this is one she took.  That spot by my bed is one place he would lie and wait for me to leave my room and go somewhere else.

\One funny story was when Bryce was talking to the kids about how Ozzy had gone to Heaven.  He asked them which part of Ozzy made him move and made him be Ozzy, and said that that part of him was with Jesus in Heaven.  Abby said, "Yeah, Ozzy's feet are with Jesus." 

Bryce said he couldn't stop himself and did laugh, but then explained that no, it was his spirit.  Abby will tell you now that Ozzy's spirit is with Jesus.  

I've been surprised at how sad I was about having to put Ozzy down.  The dog annoyed the heck out of me and was one of the stupidest dogs ever.  But he was sweet and dopey (we actually called him Dopey half the time, so he would come to that when we called) and loved to be around people.  I kind of miss having him lie at my feet all the time.

Right now though, I'm concentrating on really enjoying not having a pet.  We have plans to not have another pet for a very long time.  I guess we'll see how long before the kids talk us into another one.