2014 has officially arrived and despite having started the year off on a bit of a rocky road we are hopeful that this year will be another wonderful year filled with change, fun adventures, and family. We had a low-key New Year’s Eve celebration – just Kevin, Finn, and myself hitting up our local dive for a bite to eat. We later watched the ball drop on tv and called it a night.

We celebrated New Years Day with a nice dinner at our house. There were plenty of good eats including pork, sauerkraut, and a lucky black-eyed-pea dish.  Dad is keeping quite busy with stained glass projects and has most recently taken up stained glass lamps. While we were home over Christmas I picked out some glass along with my mom and dad – and by New Years Day dad already had it finished and brought it with them! Check it out – it’s more beautiful in person 🙂  Griffin has been sleeping really well this past week or two. He takes two lengthy naps a day and one of them is often 3 or 4 hours! He is getting in 2 or 3 more teeth and has plenty of funny faces that he makes which prominently feature his funky toothy grin. 

Tricia, our first and only nanny, who has cared for Griffin for the last seven months is moving on to her next phase of life and begins student teaching next week so Friday was her last day. She has showered Finn with love and cuddles from the time he was 12 weeks old. He smiles every morning when he sees her. He’s reached several milestones throughout these last 7 months and we are grateful to have had her be a part of our family. She’s also helped care for the dogs when we’ve gone on vacation, not to mention during the week when she is here. We wish her the best of luck and promise to have her babysit for Finn soon! 

Part of our rough start to 2014 is Hailey’s declining health. Our sweet old girl has had a rough couple of weeks, but certainly a tough last few days. It has been very difficult for her to stand up, in particular her hind legs seem to give out or not have the strength to begin with to allow her to stand or walk. Since Friday Kevin has had to carry her outside. It breaks my heart. Once she stands for a few minutes she can walk a short distance. She makes it to her water bowl and over to her bed in the family room. We are hoping that part of this is due to the antibiotics she has been on to rid a bladder infection as something similar happened last time she was on medication in November. Within a few days of finishing her pills she regained her appetite and mobility. We’re hopeful, yet also recognize that she is 14 years and 4 months old and she’s not getting any younger. Love this cuddle bear to pieces and have fond memories of her storming through the house and yard as a young energetic pup.