Good Bye to our Best Buddy

Our sweet dog Jackson was put to sleep on June 26th.  It was one of the hardest things we've ever had to do, but I'm so thankful that he isn't suffering anymore.  We miss him so much.  I have been putting together a collection of pictures of Jackson to make a little memory book for the girls.  I thought I would share them here as well.  Gabi & Maya loved Jackson.  They ask about him every day and like myself, have had the tears flowing.  We left on our vacation the day after we put him to sleep, so it didn't really hit us until we got home and he was gone.  I've been hearing his collar tags jingling and sometimes I'll catch a glimpse of him out of the corner of my eye.  It is strange how that happens.

Jackson was our adventure companion.  He helped us train for marathons.  He led the way on many, many hikes and backpacking trips.  He climbed the tallest peak in Colorado, Mt. Elbert, with us.  He once beat me in a trail race by 20 minutes. :)  He was a happy dog when he was free to run.  I hope he's running freely (and breathing much easier) now.  Here are a few picks of Jackson with us on our adventures.

The girls loved their dog and he loved them.  We called him the "gentle giant"....100 pounds of pure love.

Jackson was a naughty puppy...he's lucky that he was so cute. ;-)  As soon as he turned 2, he calmed down and was the best dog one could ask for.

10 weeks old

Look at the size of those paws and ears...we knew he would be a big dog!

Jackson loved the ranch.  Whenever we would come to visit, he would roam, swim, run, play, chase to his heart's content.  I'm so glad that he was able to spend the last 1.5 years of his life here doing those same things everyday.  We buried him right outside our yard.  The girls and I made a heart out of rocks on top of his grave.

Here are a few of my favorite photos of Jackson.

The four of us aren't the only ones who miss Jackson.  Rocky has been having a very hard time and it breaks my heart.  Rocky was just a few months old when we got Jackson, so they grew up together and were pretty good pals.  Since we returned from our trip, Rocky has been roaming the house at night meowing.  His meow sounds like a cry.  Poor kitty...I'm sure his heart is broken too.

Thanks for reading this post.  I know some people think it's silly to get so upset over a dog, but he truly was a member of our family.  We miss him so much and have been trying to remember all the fun times we had with him.

Here is the last photo I took of Jackson the morning he died.  I found Gabi lying with him on the rug telling him what a good dog he was.  Rest in peace, buddy.  You will be greatly missed.

Fun in Iowa...

From Denver, we headed East towards Iowa to spend a short week with my Mom and Dad.  We stopped in Lincoln at my Auntie Virginia's house for a BBQ lunch.  It was great to see her, my Uncle Gary, cousin Allie, and Grandma Dorothy!

Aunt Virginia and Maya

Uncle Gary & Gabi...they had a blast playing together and I'm sure he slept for days afterwards! :)

Gabi & Auntie Virginia

We reached my parents' house on Saturday evening...just in time for dinner!  My parents always feed us like kings when we're there!  The girls had fun playing in the sprinkler, going to the park, and playing Uno inside...it was super hot and humid!

Gabi loved catching fire flies...we don't have lightning bugs in Wyoming.

Gabi did lots of sparklers.  Maya tried them, but she didn't like it.

Maya riding my old horse "Blaze."

 On Tuesday, we went to the Blank Park Zoo in Des Moines.  Even though it was hot, we enjoyed seeing all the animals.

Gabi feeding a giraffe

Maya high-fiving the lion

The really enjoyed riding the train through the zoo.

Maya and Grammy Mary on the train.

Daddy & Gabi on the train.

We made our first trip to an urgent care clinic for stitches while we were in Des Moines.  Maya was running into my parents' walk-through closet and must have been looking behind her because she smacked the edge of the open door and cut her forehead.  It bled a ton and she was pretty shaken up.  The cut was about an inch long and fairly deep.  She was quite a trooper and didn't even cry as they were stiching her up.  She has 4 stiches in all and will get them out on Monday.  You can see them at the very top of her forehead in the train picture above.

We were thankful to be in Iowa over the 4th of July because we were able to see two excellent fireworks shows (all of the fireworks in Wyoming were cancelled because it is so dry).  We packed a picnic dinner on the 3rd and headed down to the Iowa State Capitol lawn to attend the Yankee Doodle Pops concert and fireworks show.  Different jazz bands played for awhile and then the Des Moines Symphony played ending with a fireworks show set to their music.  It was really fun! 

Iowa State Capitol building...the girls thought the gold dome was super cool!

A view of the stage...they set the fireworks off behind the stage.

Urbandale has a huge parade on the 4th of July.  We watched the parade for almost 2 hours and it wasn't even done when we left!  The girls scored big time with the candy!


Watching the parade

We were all able to view Urbandale's fireworks show from my parents' house and it was even over a full moon!  Here is a picture of Gabi doing even more sparklers.  I need to work with my camera a bit to be able to shoot fireworks.  I got this photo of Gabi with a sparkler by leaving the shutter open a while...it turned out kinda neat!



Gabi's big news is that she can ride a big bike with NO training wheels!!  She has had a balance bike for about a year and has been doing so well on it, that we all decided it was time for a real bike.  Since she already had the balancing part down, Joe worked with her for less than an hour on how to do the pedals and steer the bigger frame and then she had it!  We didn't even have to put the training wheels on!  She is so excited about it and we're glad she was able to learn on the level concrete sidewalks in Urbandale and not the hilly gravel roads around here!  She rode it all the way to Joyce's house and back today and did great on the gravel roads too!

Joe getting her going!

"Look Mom! I can do it!"  She had a big smile on her face the whole time!



Maya's legs are still a little too short for the balance bike, but she cruises right along on her scooter!



Phew!  That's all for now!  I promise to update the wyomingishome.blogspot.com blog this weekend with pictures of our landscaping.  Thanks for checking in on us.  Tara

Trip to Denver

Last Wednesday, we headed to Denver for a couple of days...Joe needed to visit the Golden office for his work and the girls and I tagged along to see some good old friends!

We stayed with Char & Jason and their two little girls.  On Friday morning, we took them to The Splash for some water fun.  They all had a great time!



Morgan, Quinn, Gabi & Maya on the way to the pool.

Gabi loves the slides...we went down the two giant slides together.

Maya & Morgan...they had a blast together (Morgan is only 9 months older than Maya)  The girls had a sleepover one of the nights and I went in to find Gabi sound asleep and Morgan and Maya giggling their hearts out!  So cute!

Sisters Forever!

 We were also able to visit a couple of old neighbors in Golden, Angie & Melissa.  The girls don't even remember our old house in Golden...can't believe its already been a year and a half since we moved away.  On Thursday night, we had dinner with our friends Karianne & Justin, who are teachers in the Phillipines and home in Colorado for the summer.  It was great to catch up with them!  We had a picnic in a great park with Donna, Angie, Kristine, and Char along with their kiddos.  For some reason I didn't take any pictures, but it was great to see them and catch up!  Of course, we visited the Golden KL&A office a couple of times where the girls had a blast playing with Amy, the company's accountant!  She is super fun and even gave them piggy back rides through the office (much to the dismay of a couple of engineers who were on conference calls...hee hee hee!)  We also were able to see Teresa, Aric, Octavia, and Peyton.  Gabi & Octavia had a blast together.  It was a quick trip, but I'm so glad that we were able to catch up with lots of great friends!

Octavia & Gabi playing the piano.

Lots of love,
Tara

Haircuts

During our recent trip to Denver, I took the girls to the Aveda salon where I used to get my haircut.   For the most part, I have always cut their hair and it was starting to show. ;-)  They definitely needed a real hair cut.

Gabi & I had been talking for some time about getting her hair cut much shorter (it was really long before.)  She wanted it cut as short as Auntie Manda's hair (she recently cut off quite a bit).  We explained this to the stylist and she chopped it off.  When she was done, Gabi said, "shorter!!"  So, the stylist cut it off to her chin and shaped it so it was even shorter in the back.  I was really nervous that Gabi wouldn't like it after it was all done, but she LOVES it.  I really like it too...and it is so much easier to brush out!

Getting ready to cut it off!

Maya received a hair cut as well.  This was her first time to a real beauty salon!  She just had it all trimmed up and shaped a little.  She was very serious and sat very still the entire time!

The best part about Maya's hair cut is that her stylist had to straighten it before he cut it!  It took him over 20 minutes to blow dry it straight!!  Seeing Maya was straight hair was very funny (and cute).  It didn't stay straight for very long. :)

I got my hair cut too, but it wasn't nearly as dramatic or fun. :)

Lots of love,
Tara