Much sadness today

It is with a grieving heart that I write on behalf of Lily today.

Last night, at 10:50, she passed on from this life here in the Czech Republic in her boy's arms.

By God's mercy, our whole family was here with her when she passed. Our oldest boy is normally away at college, and this summer is serving an internship here in Czech. But he came home for just 48 hours and that's when Lily departed...right in that perfect window of time so we could all be together and say good-bye.

We're not sure what happened. She hasn't been well for about three months, losing weight and energy during that time. We've been at the vet countless times, and had so many tests, and yet nothing was ever conclusive (except maybe kidney stones).

Yet we watched her slowly slip away from us. What an agonizing feeling, as many of you dear Dogster people know.

We'd been out celebrating our oldest son's 21st birthday, and came home to unexpectedly find her laboring to breathe. We tried to call an emergency vet clinic to seek help, but within just mere minutes, she was slipping away from us forever.

Our Caleb, who was always "her boy" held her in his arms while the rest of us gathered around her, crying like never before. And before we knew it, the light went out of her beautiful brown eyes and she was gone.

Do you ever recover from the loss of a beloved dog? We had her only seven years...seven blessed years. She was the perfect dog for our family...ever loving, ever gentle, ever sweet.

When do you stop listening for her paws on the hardwood floors? When do you stop looking for her in "her spot"? When do you stop missing her soft fur that felt so good on your hand? When do you stop missing kisses for and from her?

It's agonizing. We are grieving.

And yet so thankful for the very good dog that she was for us. And thankful to be together as a family today to grieve.

Dogster was a beautiful place for us to enjoy our beloved Lily. Thank you to all of you who communicated with us and reveled in the goodness of a wonderful dog!

I'm FIVE!!

It just doesn't seem possible...could it really be my fifth birthday today??!! Yep, mommy assures me it's true. I was born five years ago this very day.

I don't remember much about that day but mommy tells me I was the only girl in a litter of five puppies, and that I was born last after all my brothers had been born.

The breeder was a very nice lady who took good care of our mommy and all of us puppies. She really liked me and wasn't sure she wanted to let me go, even though she put an ad in a magazine about us five puppies.

When my family called to ask about us, all the boy puppies had been spoken for and it was just me that was left. GOOD THING!! Otherwise maybe I wouldn't be with my family! When the breeder decided that I could be adopted by them, it changed the course of my life...and I'm SOOOOOOOO glad!

My family came the very next day to pick me up, even though all my brothers were all still there (they were being shipped to far away places like Denmark, the USA and Croatia). So I was the first one to leave our mama. I was pretty shy and not sure about it all at first.

But then my new furless brothers and sister started hugging me and cuddling with me and everything changed!

Oh...and then there was my new furless mommy!!! She was SOOO good to me and just looked into my eyes and said, "Lily, you belong to us now"! Well that did it. I just knew life was going to be good with this family who loved me so much right from the beginning!

It was a two hour drive home, which I spent cuddled up on somebody's lap at all times...ahh, that was bliss! Then all of a sudden, we were stopping and I was being taken into somewhere new...the place that would be my furever HOME!!

I met my furless daddy then and knew right away...he was going to be the alpha dog I'd always wanted! So strong...so loving...so firm...just what I wanted!!! He made me feel safe and secure.

So that's how life for me REALLY started! I live with the best furever family in the whole world! I'm a lucky little girl and so happy that I've already had five great years with them! I hope for LOTS more!!!

More Than I've Ever Seen!!

You can't believe what it looks like outside my house right now!! There is SOOOO much snow! Mommy says we haven't had snow like this since I was just a puppy. I don't remember much about it then, and have only had a few inches here and there to enjoy in the past years.

But it's a different day now! There's like 10 feet out there! Okay...maybe not that much, but from my perspective on the ground, it does look like an pawful much! BOL!

Mommy says there's about two feet of snow that has fallen, but the wind has been howling so it's drifted to about four feet in some places. She and Caleb can barely keep up with the shoveling and snow-blowing!

To go out in in, mommy makes me wear my little blue snow coat. I'm not all that fond of it...it takes way too long to put on (note from mommy: all of about one minute!). Hey...I'm used to just having the door opened and going out!

I haven't decided if I really like this deep stuff or not...I can't go all over the yard like I usually do, but only in the paths that mommy and Caleb have made.

Yesterday I saw something out in the yard (maybe a deer?) and I wanted to go out after it SOOO bad! Mommy put my coat on and I went bounding out in the snow...forgetting that it was so deep. I just sunk right down into it. Shame on mommy for laughing at me. I had snow all over my face when I came out so I guess that's what she was laughing at.

So mostly I just sit at the window and gaze out at it, then go and lay back down by the fire. That's my idea of the perfect day!

That wretched fence

Oh my...it's been WAAAYYYY too long since I updated! Mommy says you're not supposed to say that...who really cares how long it's been? You're just supposed to get going and write your little paws off!

But only I know that it's been a great disappointment to my furless uncle Mike that I've taken a hiatus from writing and I just HATE to disappoint him! So...here I am, paws on the keyboard ready to write an update just for him on what's been happening in my fascinating life!

The most interesting thing that has happened to me recently was that I got caught out on the fence one night and nobody remembered I was outside. BOOOOOO! BRRRRRR!

I was freezing my little tail off and felt so sad when it happened. Mommy had been gone so the kids were (supposed to be) taking care of me. Claire let me out and told Tyler to let me back in...but when I didn't scratch to come back in like I usually do, nobody thought to check on me.

Thankfully mommy got home after I'd only been outside for about a half hour (though it felt like I was out there for hours on end...I really don't know how long it was. It just felt LOOONNNGGG). When I didn't come rushing in to greet her, she immediately asked the kids where I was.

She called to me from the back and front door, but I was just too pooped to even make a sound so she didn't know where I was.

Luckily she sent Caleb out with the flashlight to find me...he's her "go to" man when she needs help (and when dad isn't here)!

I was a sad, pitiful sight with my beautiful red, sparkly collar somehow caught on the fence in the backyard under the fir trees. I don't know how I did that!! But thankfully Caleb got me loose right away and I ran all the way across the yard to get inside!

Mommy was SOOOO happy to see me and I was happy to see her...and all the kids felt really bad that they hadn't paid attention to what happened to me.

Good thing it all worked out in the end!

Keep checking back Uncle Mike...I might have some more stories to tell soon!!

Ahhhh...I can relax

Tonight my furless daddy got home after being gone FIVE LONG WEEKS! I am SOOO happy to have him home!

In other news here at my house...the strangest thing happened a few days ago. Mommy and Caleb came to pick me up from Klara's after staying there a week, and when we got home and lifted up the garage door, TWO CATS stared us in the face...how did they get there???? And how long were they there???

They didn't seem all that anxious about leaving the garage...in fact, one of them climbed inside the riding lawnmower and hid from Caleb when he was trying to get them out! He didn't know where it went, so I went and stood by the mower and barked to show him.

At first he was just saying, "Lily...what is it??" When I persisted in barking he got a flashlight and looked inside and...aha! Just as I knew! The cat was in there!

He shooed them both out that night, but now mommy is kind of paranoid about how they got in and keeps looking for them every time she puts the car away!

And last tidbit of news...it snowed here last night! Ahhh...I love the snow! Definitely all is well in my world!

Mommy thinks I don't know but I do...

Yep, she doesn't know it but when she's out, I read her blog! Ha ha...sneaky me!

So what I know is that tomorrow she and the kid are flying to Chicago to meet up with daddy. He's been in the States for almost a month...sniff sniff. I really miss him. So they're going to see him for a few days...and I hear they're even going downtown Chicago on Saturday! (I didn't read that in the blog...I heard mom say it to the kids. She thought I wasn't listening!). Guess they'll have a good time there...wish I could go with them.

But my faithful Klara will surely be taking good care of me while they're gone. She's so sweet and takes me on nice walks. So I'll be okay.

Mommy will be back next Tuesday and then normal life can resume!

What??? I haven't written in over a month??

Hard to believe...where does all that time go???!!

It's already the middle of fall here...and what a pretty one it is this year! I LOVE romping around in all those pretty leaves! Kinda brings out the puppy in me and makes me all happy to hear them rustling under my paws as I run around!

My girl celebrated her 14th birthday this week and I did my best to make her feel all special...I love her so very much! Then again, I love ALL my kids! Can you believe how big they're getting??

This morning I went out on the back steps and just laid in the warm sun thinking about what a good time this is at my house. Everybody's happy and doing well...even Caleb's feeling better these days!

So I'm just feeling happy and thankful today for the good life I have...even if mommy doesn't help me get on the computer often enough to write about it...BOL!!

End of the summer

How did you celebrate the end of summer at your house??!

I climbed a mountain! Yep...I really did! Well, it's not a terribly high mountain, but it took over two hours to get there so that qualifies doesn't it?!

I also cracked the whip and got my boys to chopping wood so we'll all be cozy this winter...hee hee!

Let's see...I helped mom put away all the camping stuff...yep, she did a good job alright!

I was right on Caleb's heels, making sure he got the last of the lawn mowed today...it was nearly a forest after being gone on vacation!

And I ate my last piece of grilled chicken I guess...mom says summer's over so that's all the grillin' she's gonna do. Sigh.

I miss summer already.

Summertime and the living is easy...

Oh how I love summer...'specially when my family is home and we're just hanging out! I like to go for early morning walks with mommy, lay out in the sun on the back steps, rest on the cool kitchen tile when I get too hot, go for car rides and hang my head out the window, savor some grilled chicken that mommy has nicely prepared, sleep next to Caleb with the fan on both of us...ahhhh. Those are the things I love about summer!

Hey! Did you see I put my very first video on my page??! It's pretty fun...I was swimming in Emma and Sadie's pool!

Yippee!!!

Yep, I'm back at home with my whole family now!!! Mommy, daddy and Claire arrived from the States yesterday...I was sure excited to see them! The boys came earlier than them and I actually got to come home to our house last Saturday...but it was kinda quiet without everybody here. I'm in doggie heaven today cuz now we're all together again!!