Our Gabe

We lost our sweet Gabriel on Wednesday, August 21. He was 14 years old, so we had been warning the girls that it was coming. It wasn't any less easier, though.

When Bobby started at the fire station, I didn't like staying home by myself at night. Kobe offered no support in the guard dog territory. A co-worker had 3 dogs, and was getting married to a man who had 2 or 3 dogs. She knew she'd have to get rid of a couple, and we decided to take Gabriel. He was such a blessing to me, making me feel safe at night. As the years went on, I became more comfortable. Gabe was a favorite of the girls' friends, because of his fluffy fur. He and Kobe tolerated each other and generally stayed away from each other. He and Roxy HATED each other. Or really, I guess that Roxy loved Gabe and Gabe hated Roxy. In the last few months, I'm pretty sure he went deaf.

He went downhill pretty fast. Tuesday night he acted kinda funny, and threw up quite a bit overnight. He wouldn't eat breakfast the next morning. We all went to work and school, and Bobby came home about 2:30 to check on him. Gabriel had thrown up and pooped, and was barely moving and breathing. Bobby called me and said it was time to put him down. We were both afraid that Macy, who was due home any minute, would find him. I quickly called our friend Amy, who said she'd stall Macy. I raced home, in case Bobby got a call and had to go back to work. Gabriel was barely breathing when I got home, and died a few minutes later in our living room, by the fireplace.

Bobby got someone to come in a few hours for him, and we all headed down to the winery to bury him next to Kobe. We all took turns digging the hole, like we did for Kobe. The girls put daisies on both graves.

It was a rough night for the girls. Lots of tears, and they had a hard time falling asleep. They have lost two dogs in the last year, and it's been rough on them.

My absolute favorite Gabriel memory--he always had to know where I was in the house. If he was outside, he'd search for me when he came back in. Sometimes I'd hide somewhere, and wait for him to find him. You could hear him run all through the house, looking. When he found me, he'd race to a stop and sit down, making a big huffing sound.

The girls imagined that Kobe was waiting for Gabriel, and they went happily together to chase cars.

New school year

Macy started middle school! It's weird to be driving her to school again--haven't done that since she was in preschool.  It's been hard to get to her talk about her day when she gets home. I'd love to have the kind of relationship, like many of my friends do with their daughters, where she shares details with me, but we're not there yet. Maybe some day.

Kaylin started 4th grade. She has had a rocky start. Several of her friends are in different classes, so it's been hard for her. She's adjusting well, though, like she always does.

In case you were wondering how they both felt about the first day of school, here you go:

Once again

Once again I went quite a while without updating.

After the craziness of June and July, we spent the rest of the summer laying low and resting. Sort of.

We went to the drive-in to see Despicable Me 2

The girls and I spent a beautiful Saturday exploring parts of downtown Kansas City we've never been to: Loose Park and the Kauffman Memorial Gardens.

The girls and I went to church camp. Mine and Macy's 3rd year, Kaylin's 1st year. We more than doubled the amount of kids we had from last year, and we had a fantastic time! Here's my group of wacky and fun girls!

Macy and her friend Isabel did the Rip Cord at Worlds of Fun, and had a blast. You couldn't pay me enough to get me to do that, but they had a great time.

And just like that...our summer was over. It was the fastest summer on record, that's for sure!