In Loving Memory...

On May 30th we lost a precious member of our family...Big Belle. It was such a devastating day for us. She didn't eat 2 meals (which was a sure sign that something was wrong because she ATE everything ALL THE TIME). By the time the vet was able to do surgery too much damage to her insides had already been done. A few weeks prior she had eaten a popsicle stick on a quest to eat a popsicle that one of the kids had been licking. It worried me, but I kind of forgot about it since she is a horse and eats everything. Um...she had 3 rocks in her stomach when they went in to do the surgery and thought that was what they were taking out.

Unfortunately, Big Belle didn't make it after the surgery. I was able to spend some time with her and tell her how much I loved her. I played with her amazing ears and she shed tears with me...I kid you not. I've never lost a pet before, so this was a very emotional experience for me. I told Tyler and he got VERY upset and then he wanted to draw some pictures to express himself. He drew a picture of Big Belle and said, "This is so that she will always be here with us." I will treasure that picture forever. Now he is very matter-of-fact about the whole thing and just realizes that we have one dog now. He wants Jesus to take care of his Big Belle for him.

Just before this happened Lucy had gotten used to feeding Big Belle in the mornings. She was becoming such a pro at walking her bowl over to the carpet and setting it down for her. Sometimes she would try and take a piece or two, but Belle never got upset with her. For being such a hound dog for food she was very good with Lucy and patiently waited for the bowl to be set down before she vacuumed up her food. Lucy is missing her morning "duties".