Sierra

A week ago we had to put our dog of 10 years to sleep. She was known for going on little "rendezvous" but was always back a couple of hours later. On Wednesday we let her out and she slipped away. She came back a little while later and was acting funny. I was certain that she got into something, but it had happened so many times before, that I didn't think much of it. Thursday night she left a present for me in the living room at 4:00 am and then Friday morning, she started throwing up. She spent the day outside while I ran errands and as soon as I let her in, she started vomiting blood every 5-10 minutes. Jesse and I decided that we couldn't spend the money that it would take to fix her (if it was something besides ingesting antifreeze, which we couldn't do anything for her), so we had to put her down Friday afternoon.

Colton had a hard time saying goodbye, but he saw that she was pretty sick and knew that it would be better for her. He was surprisingly mature about the whole thing. So after many tears, he took responsibility carrying her pillow for her to "go to sleep" on, we prayed for her and said goodbye. We went to Dairy Queen for ice cream and told happy memories we had with her.

I know she had separation issues and we couldn't trust her at home alone, she would follow me around-room to room, and the hair everywhere. But she really loved "her boys" and would not go to bed until she checked their room, she was always bothered when Colton stayed at his dad's, and she would pretty much let the kids climb and roll all over her. She loved us so much and was such a good watch dog (even to a fault). I'm all about my dog being a dog and not being put above humans, but there's something to be said for the way a dog moves into your heart and becomes a constant, non-judging companion. We love her and miss her.

Making sure the windows were being properly installed.

Christopher hoping to grab whiskers, Sierra hoping for leftovers.

Sierra loved to steal mittens.

If Colton could've only figured out how to attach the sled to her. (Yes, he tried)