"Family" Therapy

Taylor and I are feeling as though the dark cloud is lifting... we still miss our Tubbie every minute of every day, but focusing on the happy times is so helpful--anything to put that last day out of our minds. I know it was a peaceful way for him to go, but I can't stand the image of a lifeless Tubbs...it was so not his temperment...and it hurts to think of him that way :(

SO... moving forward with life... Suzanne came into town on Wednesday, and it was the BEST thing that could have happened. We really needed family around, and who better than Suzanne :) It was the best therapy we could have asked for. Suzanne and I spent our mornings (from 9am to NOON!) sitting with our coffee and talking about life in general. Work was somewhat slow on Thursday, and I worked off my laptop most of Friday, so we could still hang out. We went to one of Taylor's baseball games, went to all the beachside restaurants we could find, and walked up and down the beach (dipping our toes in the water a couple of times). I miss her already :( She was so much fun, and she kept us smiling the whole time. And she even let me set her up on Facebook!

I feel so blessed to have my 3 healthy little ones right now, and although we are still sick with grief over the hole Tubbie has left in our home and our hearts, we have to focus on how lucky we are to have our girls! To be honest, I think they are a bit tired of being hugged and loved on--but seriously, what else am I supposed to do with all this extra love?? ;)

Here are some pics from Suzanne's visit:

Trying to convince Pumpkin to snuggle...

Loving Pumpkin :)
It is impossible to be this close to Pumpkin and not want to hug her--she is just too cute!

Pumpkin- TOTALLY stiff...

Starting to realize that her grandma isn't so scary after all :)

Maggie with her new "baby" (around her neck)

Typical Gamer :)

Our 3 girls

Ugh, MOM, not another picture!

Ok seriously, let go of me...

Suzanne and Taylor

Best friends :) If only she loved us as much as she loves Maggie...

Me with 2 of my girls-- and yes, I KNOW my hair is absolutely out of control ;)

Notice how thrilled Gamer looks to be part of this picture...

Family of 5 ... again, Gamer's face is priceless....just so happy to be part of this photo shoot :)

Lunch at The Shores (Daytona Beach)

Our view at lunch :)

And finally...here is my boy's final resting place (unless I get to a point where I can spread his ashes, but I'm nowhere near letting him go that way yet). For now, he's here at my computer desk, in his favorite room (my office :)). His ashes are in the wooden dog house, and that's his paw print in the frame. The pics of Tubbie haven't been put in yet-- I'm having trouble sorting through all my pictures and choosing the perfect ones. So many memories of my big guy--how could I possibly just choose 2... I'll get there. For now, I feel at peace, knowing he is home with us again.

THANK YOU for all the kind notes about our boy from the last post--you have no idea how much our friends' support has meant to us this last week. Lots of love to all the four-legged family members of people reading this blog :)