Thanksgiving...

We were all pretty down and depressed about our sweet Star.  So we decided to put up our tree a bit early.  To help us get into the Christmas spirit…we (the girls and I) picked up matching pi's!  Daddy was a good sport!

and that was all of the picks I took of us putting up decorations!

The next morning we headed to our first Thanksgiving at the Wells house...

 only pics!

 Then we went to Poppy and GranDi's for some yummy mexican food.  No pics!

The next morning we headed to Siloam Springs for my side's Christmas.  We were able to have a "bog kid" night while the grands hung out with all the littles…yay!  

 the next day we hung out, ate, and played card games…and this is the only pic I got!

 after Brad and Beth's gang left I helped Jonathan with his tree…he was super excited!  ;)

 We headed back home the next dat and the girls were pumped to see that their elves had came!

So, busy weekend not filled with pics.  Blame it on the sadness.  :(

our sweet Star...

This is such a hard post.  We received a call on our way back from Canadian.  The owners of the kennel walked in to find Star unresponsive.  We had them rush her to the urgent care animal hospital and told them to do anything they could to save her.  The next couple of hours were filled with lots of crying, praying, and phone calls updating us on her status.  The last phone call was them telling us that she didn't make it.  November 22, 2015...I lost my girl.  I cried the whole way home.  She was mine.  Jeremy bought her for me for Christmas in 2004 and she was a total Momma's girl.  My heart was broken over losing her and it was even worse because I wasn't even there for her when she needed me the most.  She was a very loved tiny dog with a big personality.

These were her last pictures.  The kennel we use isn't like a Vet kennel.  The dogs have play areas and suites.  They update their Facebook page with pictures and had posted these that morning. 

 I'm thankful that she got snuggles while she was there...

 We got home pretty late that night.  The next morning the girls decorated a box for her while Jeremy went to the animal hospital to get her.  He said it was one of the hardest things he has done.  Then he picked up our other two at the kennel.  The owner was there and she was fighting back tears as well.  She told Jeremy that she had loved on her as much as she could on the way to the hospital and while she was there.  I am so thankful that Jeremy made those stops…I couldn't.

After that, we loaded back into the car and went to GranJan and Pops Ranch.  We wanted to bury her somewhere that we could visit and they will always be there.  Plus, it's beautiful.

 We all said our goodbyes to our sweet Star.  Even Belle and Phoebe.  It was such a hard day.

I never knew losing a dog would hurt so bad.  It feels like we lost a person, an actual family member.  But I guess she was our family member.  She was in the center of everything and in my lap any chance she got.  It's weird not to be holding her.   We all miss her.  

Some of my favorite pics on our sweet girl...

Until we see you on rainbow bridge baby girl.

60th Anniversary...

We were excited to go to Canadian for Grandmother and Granddad's 60th Anniversary!  We had to do some scrambling Friday night to make it happen though!  Our first stop after school was for Ryne to drop off the shoeboxes she collected instead of her friends bringing presents to her party...

love this girl and her sweet heart!

 Next we drove an hour away for a mobile vet because all 3 of our pups needed shots before we could board them.  Ryne held on to Star and I held on to Belle.  Phoebe hung out in the car until I could switch her with Belle!  Looking at these pictures now makes me so sad, but I'll save that for another post.

 After our mobile Vet experience, we barely made it to the kennel in time (I so wish we wouldn't have made it), and grabbed dinner at Whataburger.  We were surprised when the Fickey's walked it!  We ended up getting to eat dinner with friends and all was great, until Reese slammed her head into the tile!  Huge knot and thanks to Mitch and Katie who reassured me that I did not need to rush her to the ER or that would have been our next stop!  

Saturday morning we got up early to start the long drive to Canadian.  We got there right as the party was starting.  Ryne and Reese kept busy with their cousins and the stairs!

 Jeremy with his beautiful Grandmother...

 love these two!

 Jeremy noticed that we all pretty muched matched!  That calls for a picture!  ;)

 Reese did this way too much that night!

We went back to the house to visit.  It is so fun when the whole Francis gang gets together!  We spent the night and then the girls were back to playing bright and early!

 She wanted to make a pine needle angel but they were a bit too scratchy!

We enjoyed the visit and time with family and none of us were super excited to get back in the car for so long!  But we said our goodbyes and hit the road.  Then about 5 hours into the drive we got the worst phone call.  More on that later.

Vegas baby...

Jeremy and I made a quick trip to Vegas for the Rock n Roll 1/2 Marathon!  It was short but oh so fun! We got in very late Friday night and walked to the expo Saturday morning.

After the expo we walked around exploring a bit...

 We ended up at our very favorite photographer's studio…Peter Lik.  We had to see his new collection for China...

 and we fell in love!  So we bought our souvenir, Christmas present, Valentine's present, birthday presents, etc.  So worth it!  It's beautiful and has great meaning for our little boy.  :)

We enjoyed the walk back to the hotel before calling it a night.

 The next day we just hung out and ate lunch before getting ready for the race.  I somehow didn't take any pictures besides the roof top pool, which we did not get in because it was freezing!

 Then we headed down for the run!

 The weather was getting a bit iffy!  Super strong and cold winds!

 but the run was so fun!  We stopped for lots of pics along the way...

and before we knew it, it was over!

 Such a fun run with my favorite running buddy!

We threw on warmer clothes over our running clothes and booked it back to the hotel.  We had a show to get to!  We made it to our seats minutes before it started…but were so rushed for time that we hadn't had a chance to eat!

 It was an awesome show!  Loved the one legged dancer probably the most though!

After that we walked back towards our hotel in search of food because we were starving! Then I saw these statues and was instantly reminded of my first trip to Vegas in high school!  My cousins and I climbed on these.  Pretty cool!

The next day we slept in and then headed for a yummy lunch at our fav place...

 It's our favorite because of this….frozen hot chocolate...

 we walked around and shopped some...

 and caught a pretty awesome show...

our final pic was a selfie with the hilarious and talented street performers...

We ended our trip with a new tattoo ( I finally added Reese's name!) and a movie.  The next morning we were up super early for a 6am flight!  yikes!  It was a super fun trip!
I love doing life with you Jeremy!