Daisy May August 7, 2003-May 15, 2014

I hate that I have to write this post, but, it's kind of helping me process this since it all happened so fast and also seems like the least I can do for Daisy.

After a rushed trip to the emergency vet, we found out on Mother's Day that Daisy had some sort of blood cancer attacking both her spleen and her heart.  I was in such shock at the news, I didn't ask for specifics.  What I did catch was that both organs were bleeding, her heart especially, which is why she was in pain and having trouble breathing.  The doctor drained the fluid from around her heart and carried her back to my truck so I could take her home and we could say goodbye.  We spoiled her the best we could and hardly left her alone for the next four days.  But, by Thursday night, she had deteriorated and we had to make that horrific decision to let her go.  We are all devastated, but, I think losing her will be hardest on Max.

Daisy has been an amazing dog.  After I lost BG, I used to tell people that although I loved Max and Daisy, they'd only ever be a "dog" to me where BG was like my best friend and constant companion.  Although BGer definitely holds a special place in my heart, I realize now how wrong I was about the other two and feel bad for saying that.  Daisy was so easy to love, she ate up any attention you wanted to pay her and if you didn't have time for her, she was content to lay by your side.  The only problems we ever had with her was when she was a pup and decided to chew up the door trim.  We watched mom's dog Denali for a few days and he helped her finish the job since she wasn't tall enough.  Afterwards, she showed him how she could open the front door if we didn't remember to lock it (the handle was a vertical latch rather than the typical round doorknob) and the two of them, along with BG, went and sat on the front porch until I got home.  Wouldn't have been a big deal if it wasn't subzero temperatures!!! ;O)  Other than those two instances and maybe some stolen food here and there, we never had any complaints.

November 2003

When we brought Max home from the rescue group, I think it was Daisy that truly "rescued" him.  He and Daisy were instant best friends and with her by his side, he had the comfort and support he needed to finally feel safe.  Without her, I'm not sure he ever would have adjusted to living with us.  From the first day forward, those two were never far apart and if one showed up without the other, we knew something was wrong.

2004

2005

2006

When the kids came along, Daisy couldn't be better.  Although she wasn't thrilled with them, she soon learned that they eventually started dropping snacks! ;O)  I think they grew on her despite her initial resistance to them!!

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

When we broke the news about Daisy to Owen, his biggest concern was to make sure we had a picture to remember her by.  Obviously, I've taken a few over the years, this isn't even all of them, just the ones I liked the best! But, we took a few more more before she got to feeling bad again.  The weather's been amazing, so, she got to spend quite a few of her last hours in the sunshine which has always been her favorite pass time.  We even sang a song, that's Max and Olivia singing along with her in the video! ;O)

Goodbye our beautiful fuzzy girl, we love you!

Oahu...

 The last 3 days of our trip we regrettably spent in Waikiki.  The last direct flight home from Kona for the season was exactly one week after we arrived and since this was our first real vacation in 3 years, we wanted to make the most of it and stay a little longer.  That meant having to fly through Honolulu on the way home.  We thought it would work out well though, because Dave hadn't gotten to tour all of Pearl Harbor like he wanted on our previous trip.  So, this was his chance.  Plus, the beach is practically right out your front door unlike the Big Island.  We opted to stay on the other end of Waikiki this time and I don't know if it was because of the different location or just that much had changed since our last trip, but, we hated it.  The streets were lined with homeless and at night the street performers were on every corner.  It was miserable.

Anyway, the first day Dave and Owen took off to Pearl Harbor.  Liv still wasn't 100% and since we had to return the rental car and take a 1 hour bus ride back to the hotel, I opted to stay behind with her.  I thought we'd go to the beach, but, almost immediately after arriving, she had a HUGE tantrum and I took her back to the hotel.  She was clearly tired so I put her to bed, but, only after a fight over the fact that she wanted "my hat" in bed...guess who won that one!!

Again, since I wasn't there, it's hard to speak to these pictures.  I only included the ones with Owen and Dave in them, hopefully, Dave can tell me if I left out any of value and I'll add those later.

 Dave and I had never been to the Waikiki Aquarium or Honolulu zoo, so, we made a point to take the kids this trip.  The aquarium was nice, but, small and a little of a let down.  Olivia LOVED it though.  She was so excited, she squealed "Fish" at every tank we walked past.

This was her all time favorite tank...the one with "Nemo" and "Dory"! ;O)

Since the aquarium only took about 30 minutes to stroll through, we figured we'd hit the zoo on the way back to the hotel.  Big Mistake!!  It was massive!!  Plus, they were filming scenes from the new Jurassic Park movie there and so they had part of the paths blocked off requiring us to back track a LOT.  The kids loved it and Dave and I were impressed, but, we were all worn out by the time we finished looking around.

This was taken back at the hotel one morning, what's funny is this is not the sides they went to bed on...they switched at some point during the night.  Nobody knows how!!

Liv insisted this was "my hat" since brother thought it was so great, she must need it!

This one is funnier than it looks too...I think this was the last day we were there and Dave had taken the bus to the airport to pick up a rental car.  Olivia desperately wanted to go play on the rooftop playground, but, it was getting close to nap time and I was trying to pack.  She was so insistent that she even managed to climb up in the stroller and was going to sit there until I agreed to take her...guess who won this battle!!! ;O)  Doesn't happen often, I have to document these things!!