Brutus looks just about how I feel at the moment, lol! This is his favorite spot in the house, the front dining room where he sits and watches everything going on outside and lays there basking in the sunshine. He can either be found here or on the landing of the white stairs.
In going through photos this one that I saved popped up about Cameron. Seems hard to believe that five years has already passed since we said our goodbyes to her :(. I miss that sweet and sassy girl. She had the best ears and was so timid but also so loving. At the time I thought her tail was strong and painful but compared to Brutus she was a breeze!
Lexi has been doing some fun themes with Reid lately while Griffin is doing school from home during the days. This week it was bear paws and they also made food to go along with it! Charcuterie platters have become a staple around here. A mixed offering of fruits, nuts, sweet, salty, crackers, cheeses, meats, etc. A little something for everyone and you get to choose what you like. It’s a win-win it seems.
The boys have been making fun treats from time to time also, including this heart brownie cake they decorated for valentines day.
Snuck this one in here to remember that Griffin seems to have the hardest time with his teeth! He’s now chipped two teeth – ugh! Here’s to hoping this trend does not continue.
Here is some artwork that Griffin drew of Kevin, as he is wearing his Base 22 shirt 🙂 And some work from Reid too.
Another installment of “where we find Reid sleeping”. During the month of March Lexi was not able to work much and over time it became less and less, with less notice due to personal issues so that meant Kevin was on his own working from home while Griffin did CDL and Reid was home too. It was so-much-to-handle. But somehow day in and day out Kevin managed everything while I was away at work entering my busy spring season. So finding Reid like this was the norm.
While CDL is great it also has it’s challenges. Griffin doesn’t love having to be in “class” while Reid gets to watch shows or just play. And he’s been pushing the boundaries (as he’s had very little supervision since Kevin is working and I’m at Millcreek) and we’ve found him doing thinks like cutting his hair, cutting his shorts, spinning his chair around so much it broke the cord to his headphones, etc. A little destructive behavior here and there for sure, largely attention seeking behavior, but frustrating nonetheless. Despite any of that he is doing well in school and Miss Peacock is a wonderful teacher. The daily routine has been great in comparison to what would be a hybrid schedule that he would be on if he had been in the building. Griffin was the “Scientist of the Week” for his class and got to demonstrate “floating hearts” which he chose as the timing was around Valentine’s Day. It was a fun experiment which he did in advance in order to present it to his class and then he was able to do it live via a Teams meeting. This kid is so bright when it comes to navigating his computer and Microsoft Teams, Google Slides, and so on. He’s grown leaps and bounds this year technologically speaking. Miss Peacock also put together a little slideshow of “When we are 100 years old” in celebration of their 100th day of school which was pretty fun!
This e-note from Griffin’s classmates for Valentine’s day was fun to peruse. Seems as though Griffin is one funny kid with his classmates! We were also able to have conferences via Teams with Miss Peacock and part of what she reviewed were Griffin’s AIMSWeb test scores and his progress from Fall to Winter. Griffin tested really well and is showing great improvement from Fall to Winter. We’re really proud of him – especially during this year of unprecedented learning remotely via computer!
A little fun project Kevin began working on with Griffin and Reid are the Pinewood Derby cars for Griffin’s Boy Scout troop. The style has been decided (same design as last year) but Griffin hasn’t yet decided what theme he’s going to put on his car.
Griffin and Jay were outside playing in the really cold winter snow one day and they were having so much fun! Giggles upon giggles. Their imaginations are something.
Lexi and the boys made this birdfeeder and shortly after we spotted this woodpecker! They also enjoyed an afternoon of sledding one day, with snacks of course!
The boys were excited to open their Valentine’s Day bags early in the morning. And Mom and Dad sent a photo of them having a nice Valentine’s Day in Siesta Key with the Dewald’s and a sneak peak of Dad’s new hairdo!
And closing with some miscellaneous photos from the rest of the month!
This was a fun puzzle we received “anonymously” and each family in our neighborhood crossed out their name inside once they completed it. Then they delivered it anonymously to the next family. So cute – this photo was from our first annual fall campout in September 2020.
And here are a few videos!
Lastly, the latest at Millcreek. The walls are painted, floors going in/are in, and the carpet and office furniture is in process of being installed. Just in time for spring we’re about to wrap this project up! Since George will be leaving soon for his annual winter vacation, we had an official ribbon cutting ceremony complete with fake bubbly and treats for everyone. It was a team effort to pull this one off just in time!
In preparation for the arrival of our H2A workers, we had a form for them to complete with what food they would like. Fred sent those off to me and Griffin and I went to town at Aldi! We had one cart for each apartment along with a list of things to buy for each apartment (3 workers and 4 workers for now). It was a lot to manage in the store and bagging, but we got it done and got it delivered and the guys were so grateful! Here we go!
October was a fun month! We began our first weekend with a Saturday noon soccer game and then headed to Mansfield for our annual apple picking trip. We stopped at Mom and Dad’s to drop off Brutus and then headed to Apple Hill. We arrived to learn they were picking Honeycrisp, which is one of our favorites. At first we were not too impressed as we were having to pick apples out of the tip-tops of the trees. Having been blueberry farmers who often gave the advice “start at the end of the row and work your way back” you think we would have known what to do, ha! But sure enough, as we walked closer to the back of the field they were far more plentiful. We still had fun hiking those boys into the trees to pick the highest apples they could. Griffin is getting to be quite the man to hoist at 55+ pounds. Even “little” Reidy checks in at 34+ pounds! We picked up some apple donuts and cider from the shop too.
Then we headed back to Mom and Dad’s and I’m pretty sure Kevin and Dad headed to Best Buys to pick out a new computer for Mom. Yikes, my memory is failing me! Her computer was bulging from having had an overheated battery at some point. Kevin was able to get her new computer all setup and the programs and files moved over. We ended up spending the night and had a nice pancake breakfast the next morning. Griffin enjoyed helping make the pancakes with Grandpa.
While Distance Learning isn’t “easy”, it certainly provides a solid routine to each day. Griffin usually has 3-4 live meetings with his teacher each day. A morning meeting where they complete “morning writing work”. An afternoon meeting, where she typically reads them portions of a chapter book and they review what they will be doing for their afternoon work. Two days a week he has a reading group (with 2 other friends) and a different two days of the week he has math group (orange group with the same 2 friends as reading). Griffin really likes the live meetings. He can be shy sometimes. He has really good manners and keeps his mic muted so people can’t hear the background noise (not everyone does this!). He does a pretty good job staying focused, but can easily get distracted when Reid is around or if Reid is doing any sort of play or electronics. He is really great at Math and doing quite well in reading too. Writing is an area that Griffin struggles with wanting to complete. He and I have had numerous frustrating interactions when I ask him to double-check his spelling (of simple sight words or words I know that he should be able to spell) or check his work for the three this he is expected to know (punctuation, capital letter of the first word of the sentence, and finger spacing). When I point out anything his confidence tanks and he gets so angry and frustrated it often leads to tears and loud voices. I’m struggling with how to help him. This is where Distance Learning is so hard! While he submits work each day, it’s not the same as submitting work in a classroom. That being said, he can navigate Schoology, his OLSD portal, and the computer in general in such awesome ways. His know-how to get around between teams meetings, apps used live during live meetings, apps to complete his assignments, and so on is cool to see. Miss Peacock has such a great voice and is really encouraging in all her live meetings. We are really happy with her. She has twice had “supply pick ups” at a local park to get school supply bags full of things for the kids. Notebooks, booklets of work papers, a pumpkin, and so on. A little “perk” is getting to see her live in real life and play with virtual friends in real life at the park for a short bit!
Griffin’s 2nd grade pictures arrived and we think they look stellar. Look at our handsome guy 🙂 Lexi is doing really well managing both boys during the day. I know I’ve said this before, but it is taxing. Trying to ensure Griffin is on task, while keeping Reid entertained and not as a distraction is the real deal. And she is very encouraging and affirming – two things I’m working on improving 🙂
The weather has been pretty great lately, allowing us to still enjoy outdoor times when possible. One evening we did a last minute trip to Nocterra and while we were there Kevin was talking to his Mom. Reidy wanted to get on and chat with Grandma and it was pretty funny. He kept telling us to “shhhhh, he’s talking”. It was comical.
Soccer day Saturday’s have been pretty great – both weather-wise and just the enjoyment in watching Griffin play. He has been focused and determined. He came up with his own motto “speed, strength, confidence” (which you may have also noticed Lexi put in the classroom on the Affirmation Station Wall) and he is living it out. This boy was just born with sports in his blood. He knows so many professional players names and numbers: hockey, football, soccer. He knows sports scores of games that are either in progress or have ended. He knows when his teams are going to play next. He just follows all things sports.
Mini-me, Reid, likes to wear all the same things as Griffin and play soccer leading to and from the game each week. During the game, he couldn’t care less what’s happening on the field. He just wants a “snack and a show” and settles himself into the chair. See below for a quick series in Reid’s emotions and energy levels, lol.
Despite all the Covid yuck of 2020, we wanted to keep as many traditions going as we felt we could do safely. We took the boys to Young’s Jersey Dairy to pick pumpkins and ride the farm wagon. Grandpa Armstrong met us there and treated us to lunch after putt putt – thanks Grandpa! Reid rode the kiddie ride and Griffin went down the slide a few times. All in all, a pretty “normal” experience with lots of hand sanitizer and mask wearing going on.
Lexi brought pumpkins for the boys and Griffin also had his pumpkin from Miss Peacock so one afternoon they took to carving them. Note the masks: the kids thought they stunk. Oh dear.
We had quite a busy day one afternoon with eye appointments for Griffin and me, followed by a quick stop at the cemetery to check the progess (it.is.sooo.slow….but at least now there is grass), then a fun and brief visit from Haya and baby Summer before heading to the Boo-through at Tyler Run. The school and sponsors put on a “drive through” trick or treat event so both kids and Lexi decorated the car (inside as it was horribly yucky cold and wet weather) and wore their costumes. They each came home with all kinds of swag.
My morning walks before work are something I’ve really come to enjoy. While it is brief and there are many days I feel like putting it off, I’m always glad once I do it. I go a mile or 1.25 miles usually at most, as I have my timeline down to what I can get done in order to arrive at work between 7:55 and 8, without getting up super early. The early morning walks in the dark are rather enjoyable and provide some beautiful sights. It’s sometimes serene and I don’t see another person and other days I may see four or five others out at 7 am. I wouldn’t be keen on doing it without my Brutes though!
We needed to dig up and replace our Rising Sun Redbud and by the time we got around to doing it one Saturday, it was about 5 pm. We had an hour left of daylight and were able to squeeze it in, but our picks aren’t very great! Our amsonia is beautifully colored and so much more prominent without the larger tree there. It’s hard to believe that tree had only been there 4 years and had put on so much growth. It was kind of a beast to dig out! But we got it done and now have our baby one in place. Hoping this one grows as quickly as the last, minus the splitting!
We signed Griffin up for Cub Scouts again this year, so he is in the Wolf pack. It’s a small set this year, currently only 3 boys. They’ve met a couple times at parks to complete requirements while being able to maintain distance and wear their masks. He’s also selling popcorn, though mostly online or ordering-to-be-delivered-to-you-later; no in person sale from inventory this year. So it’s not as fun, but he still sold so much and was happy he beat his last years sales.
We purchased a Black Gum (Nyssa sylvatica Northern Splendor) and a Chinese Elm (Elmus parviflora Allee) for our backyard to replace where we’ve taken down more than 5 of our blue spruces. While not evergreen, these trees will provide a nice screen and beautiful fall color. Thankfully Mom and Dad had just purchased a new-to-them truck (and quite a spiffy one I might add) and when I randomly called from Oakland while we were tree shopping to ask if we could borrow their truck, they offered to just drive down. So about an hour and a half later Mom and Dad were there and Kevin and Dad headed to Oakland to pick up the trees. We got two Rising Sun’s for our neighbors Sam and Carlene as well, so altogether they brought 5 trees home and delivered the two down the street. We had a nice dinner of City BBQ on the porch. Whew, that was an unplanned busy day! It took us about a week or so to get them planted, but when we got around to it we had two helpers; Reidy and Brutes. Both constantly in the mix. Griffin was off playing with neighborhood friends.
More soccer fun followed by fun new sweet trips from a really atypical visit to Kroger. Atypical in that I hadn’t been to one in ages, so I picked up all the fun treats you can’t find at Aldi 🙂 We also recently taste-tested the chocolate chip cookies from cousin Graham’s school fundraiser. They passed with flying colors and didn’t even cool before being consumed.
Work for me has been super crazy busy lately. We’re working on our 2021 budget, staff planning, hiring new employees, including my newest hire: Head of Human Resources and Employee Experience , filled by none other than George’s daughter-in-law Shaina Pealer – who is going to rock this role. She worked at Millcreek earlier this year on “Special Projects” (read that as many things I needed help in getting done!) and she was super-great. She worked for us while looking for a job since having relocated to Columbus from NYC. She found a job and departed at the end of May. In late September I learned that she had been let go from her job (which was in the fashion/retail industry which has been hard hit by COVID) and it was simultaneous with Management meetings we had been having regarding staffing, company needs, long-range planning, and so on. When we were discussing hiring someone for HR, George mentioned he may know of someone and asked if we wanted to know who it was. Well, of course we did – so he filled us in on Shaina. We jumped at the chance to recruit her. I met with her twice out of the office and offered her our new role. It is a huge job to fill and while she doesn’t have any technical HR experience, she is a lawyer who has also worked in large companies with great HR departments (Bloomingdales) and has so much experience form the employee side. She started on October 19th, right in the craziness of Insurance renewal season, hiring other open positions, and all kinds of things) and she is crushing it. So looking forward to streamlining the responsibilities of HR from being shared work of me and up to 5 or 6 others (all in different ways) into a single dedicated role. Yay! I may work my way out of a job, lol. Just kidding of course. This will give me time to do less of the daily action items and more of the larger planning and operational activities. At least that is the plan.
Whew. All of that to say since I’ve been working later and can’t always make it home at 5, when I come home, this is often what I see. Kevin let’s Lexi go usually around 5 each day, but he still works until 6:30 or so. It’s a challenge when your company is based out of Mexico, on central time, and they also start their work days later than we do in the US (9am)! Griffin is usually playing with friends or watching a show/playing a video game and Reidy is with Kevin in “his office chair” watching his own show (and as you can see, about to fall asleep). Little man is at the age where he doesn’t want a nap, but can often use one.
On Halloween morning, we got up and headed out early to go see cousin Rowan play his last soccer game of the season. We weren’t able to get to any of the earlier ones as they were at the same time of day as Griffin’s, but wheweee, it was a brisk fall morning! The sun was bright and the grass was crisp with frost! But it was a lovely morning to bundle up and cheer for our Crew player, #12. He had an awesome goal that we got to see. We’re thankful to live in the same town and go to our cousins events – though we hardly see each other often enough, especially in Covid times.
Later that day it warmed up really nice and the boys were outside raking leaves with Kevin playing in shorts and tshirts. Our driveway was a meeting spot for pizza and other snacks prior to trick or treating with our neighborhood friends. I got a little bit crafty and made a “healthy” item of ghosts/strawberries/grapes to go with our pizza. Each year we get a neighborhood pic, and these kids are growing up fast!
Ella the dinosuar, Eli is Darth Vader, Abbie is a robber, Miles is Spiderman, Hadi as a Samurai, Griffin as a Knight, Georgia as Maleficent, and in the front row: Jay as Spiderman, Abbie as Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Reid as Spiderman, and Dewey as Hulk. Missing Cole and Cooper this year who were with their Mom.
And the adults of course: Kevin, Scott, Amy, Mike in the back and Lyndsey (with Honey), Megan, Chrissie, Karla, and Alex in the front. We missed Brian and Lisa, the Stephens, and the Serra’s this year (who had sick kids, not Covid!)
It ended up being a beautiful night for a walk in the neighborhood. Kevin and I got split up, as I stayed with Reid and the two of us went door to door with Abbie and Chrissie. Kevin went with Griffin and the big kids. There were a lot more people handing out candy than I had imagined. I even met a couple neighbors I hadn’t previously met. Fun night filled with so-much-candy.
And here are a few videos from this month. Soccer games, neighborhood football pickup game, and playing in the leaves.
September started off with a pretty big day – Griffin’s first day of 2nd grade! As per tradition, Kevin prepared custom, made-to-order pancakes which this year was a laptop (appropriate given the nature of distance learning) and a Tiger paw to represent the Tyler Run Tigers. We have enrolled Griffin in the Committed Distance Learning program for the first semester of school. He is in a digital class with his teacher, Miss Peacock, along with several other friends he’s either had class with or that he knows from Tyler Run. There are also other kids from another elementary school within the district. He has a pretty solid schedule and will have live meetings several times per day. He was a bit reserved and shy during his first couple of days (which I was able to be home to help and see how everything is going to go!). Hoping he’ll come out of his shell and warm up as he adjusts to the new normal.
We’ve been really impressed with his teacher and the way everything is organized this year. There is a regular structure to the day, live morning and afternoon meetings with the entire class, and live meetings for math and reading on alternate days, in small peer groups. We have certainly had challenges with Griffin and his attitude and his tendency to complain and fight doing school, especially the writing assignments and some of the independent work. We’re hoping to work through these challenges and improve his mindset.
Even though Griffin isn’t going to in-person school, we wanted to get our annual School Bus stop picture this year. These kids are getting so big! And new to the mix this year is Hadi, a new friend who moved in down the street. His family moved here a few weeks ago from Lebanon. We’re happy to have another friend in the neighborhood – he certainly fits right in with so many boys!
Lexi is turning our basement classroom into a fun space for Griffin. She’s fun and creative and has made several posters and various wall art that helps to remind Griffin of certain rules or encourage a positive mindset. Reid chimed in one day with his for his Gym class, Lexi sent me this silly pic of them doing class together. A really fun part of school from home is all the fun places you get to have class. One day Griffin’s teacher asked them to find a fun place to do their reading for the afternoon and to have their grown up send a picture to her. Griffin chose the driveway outside on a sunny day :).
We have enrolled Reid at NPCA in the Tiger class, but have chosen to keep him home for now. We still wanted to go through the fun traditions so I took him to preschool for a meet-the-teacher and friends playground gathering. There are only 8 or 9 other kids in his class this year. He enjoyed playing with all the toys and on the playground equipment. Some bit of normalcy for a short stint.
Lexi has been doing fun arts and crafts and teaching Reid all sorts of things. She’s doing a great job having them both at the same time. I’ve lost my cool on more than one day when I’ve been doing it all solo. It’s a lot to keep Griffin on task, keep Reid from interrupting or being distracting or from having a fit if he isn’t allowed to do something he wants to do in the moment. Whew, it’s taxing!
We continue to enjoy the nice outdoor weather and some fun family time. We continue to either eat at home, or eat on a patio. We took the boys to Liberty Tavern on evening where we were able to enjoy some sunshine and live music from Local Roots a few doors down. We followed that up with dessert from Rita’s. We’re fortunate to have a cute downtown area with a lot of options – all just 5 minutes from home. We woke up on a Saturday morning and decided to have a great family adventure starting with a bike ride to Tim Horton’s for breakfast (sound familiar?). When ready to leave, we discovered that Griffin’s back tire was flat! We had already planned to go to Wheelie Fun Bike Shop in Powell to get him a new helmut (as his had broken on the inside), well, we were definitely headed there now! First, a stop at Grismer where they kindly filled the tire with air. At Wheelie Fun we got new helmuts for each of the kids (Reid’s was too small for his noggin) and bike mirrors for Kevin and me so we can see each other more easily when we’re riding in a single line! And of course, a new tire for Griffin. We continued on our trip, which by the end of the day was 16 miles. We went far up Sawmill Parkway, stopped at DQ, a park, and Nocterra. All while using lots of hand sanitizer and masking up when around others. It was nice to be outside for the day. We ended the day pretty tired with pizza and movies in bed.
I’m really liking having red, green, and yellow peppers this year!
Reid is doing really well on his “fire bike” with his training wheels. He is so excited to go on walks with me and Brutus and be independent. Thank goodness for nice weather and outdoor play. Our neighbor, Abbie, put together a neighborhood flag football game complete with a hand-drawn invitation, organized teams, and a real referee (her dad!). From what I hear the game was pretty intense and a bit of frustration ensued from some of the interactions between the kids. Argh! A learning lesson for all!
Griffin is really loving playing soccer. He has really become more intense and aggressive this year just running his hardest and going after the ball. He’s been scoring nearly every game and has had some really great passes too. It’s been fun to watch. Lexi knows American Sign Language and has been teaching the boys some from time to time. One afternoon when I got home they wanted to show me what they had learned.
Mr. Reidy went a bit fast on his fire bike and ended up with a little scratch on his forehead. He insisted on having bandaids put on like this and wore them for a couple days. Can you see his personality shine through in all these pics?
Griffin had quite the fan base at one of his earlier games as Grandma and Grandpa came along with all of the Bethunes! He gets so excited on Friday nights, the night before game day, that he has been setting out his uniform and complete outfit, down to the shoes, shin guards, socks, cleats, and ball. Reid likes to dress just like Finn, so he wears Finn’s jersey from last year along with his cleats to each of the games.
Upon returning home from one of my morning walks with Brutus I discovered our Rising Sun tree branches looking like they were hanging low. Upon looking up close I was devastated to find not one, but two huge splits in the tree trunk. The one had apparently been there awhile as it didn’t look at all fresh. The other, I believe was from recent high winds. We are so bummed. This is the tree we take the yearly first day of school pictures in front of and so many friends always comment on how beautiful it is. The new growth always emerges pink so it is constantly having pink tips and the rest of the tree is yellow. We’re going to have to replace it.
Here are the pics from Reid’s first day of school. While he didn’t actually go to school, he got all dressed up in his first day of school outfit (a repeat from Griffin’s first day, can you tell?) and posed for numerous silly pics.
Reid is signed up for a “potty trained” preschool class, yet we haven’t quite made it there. We are, however, making great progress. Sorry for the potty pic, but wanted to remind ourselves in years to come where we were!
Haya came to visit again with baby Summer and the boys were just over the moon. It’s always a bit chaotic at first with so much energy and excitement. Reid and Finn constantly ask to hold her and take turns. She is getting so much bigger and more aware. Growing up fast!
Griffin pre-planning yet again – this time for school pictures!
While Kevin was away at his annual golf trip outing in Michigan, we had a super busy weekend – perhaps the busiest since Corona began. Started out Friday morning waking up to Brutus’ 4th birthday! Pardon my morning tired eyes and face – took these pics at 6:30 in the morning! We love this big boy. He was SOOOOO excited to have birthday cupcakes and receive new toys. He literally would not put down the duck and carried it with him in his mouth during our entire mile-long walk! See the video :).
Friday evening we had dinner at Culver’s on the patio with the Bolan’s and then gathered at our house with friends in the driveway. Saturday was a super busy day, starting with flu shots for the boys, followed by Tim Horton’s on the way to the soccer game! Then we had a long-planned neighborhood camp-out, which was scheduled for a couple of weeks prior but it was terrible weather and this weekend was the backup date. Each family setup their own tent in the Craig’s yard. We had pizza, glow sticks, dancing, glow-in-the-dark-football-fly-playing, campfire, s’mores, and all around fun! We were sad daddy wasn’t there with us though. I must say, I was pretty proud of myself for pitching the tent all by myself and keeping track of these two kids into the dark and sleeping in the tent at night. It was COOL at night and I hardly slept at all between being cold and just thinking about Brutus being home in his crate for so long. I took Reid home at 6:30 to let Brutie out and feed him breakfast, then we ran a quick errand to pick up donuts for the crew. It was a great weekend!
Progress pic of the cemetery, they’ve now re-seeded the area.
George (and Lynda, posthumously) were the 2020 recipient of the HILA Award (Horticulture Industry Leadership Award) so we held a surprise celebration for him at Millcreek one morning. Normally he would have received his award in person at the Cultivate Trade Show, which didn’t occur this year due to Corona. We all think George is a great leader, a wonderful person to work for, and Fred put together a nice summary of the many contributions George has made at Millcreek and within the horticulture industry. George was also featured in the September issue of Greenhouse Management magazine, which was a nice surprise.
Sadly, September wasn’t without heartbreak. On Sunday, the day after our super long bike ride, Lily was having a normal day. I was upstairs in our bedroom doing laundry and when Lily walked in the door from the white steps and she seemed to be struggling some. Not sure why, so I went and talked to her and ended up carrying her to her bed in our room. From that point on, she wasn’t ever able to walk again. Being a holiday weekend, we weren’t able to get in touch with our vet. She ate dinner on Sunday, but on Monday and after would no longer eat. Kevin or I carried her in and outside each time for Sunday and Monday and Tuesday, and on Tuesday afternoon we took her to the vet. Dr. Shearer did a complete exam on her and gave us some possibilities that could have happened, perhaps an injury to her spine or disk (like slipping down the stairs, which she had done a couple of times in recent months). She proposed a couple of treatments and left the decision to us. We decided her quality of life, even with proposed treatments, would not be ideal. She was unable to stand or walk and no longer wanted to eat. We knew it was time to put her down – but it was still an agonizing time and decision. She was down to only 59 pounds. Our hearts were broken. She was the last of my original trio of three. She was the sweetest girl, who loved small and quiet spaces and loved to be around her people at all times. Even with her bad joints and arthritis in recent years, she made it up and down the steps numerous times a day. She went into each of the boys rooms at night – every night – for bed time routine. She was sassy, had impeccable hearing and sight, and loved playing with Brutus. He’s not known life without her. We are going to miss our sweet girl.
