We have been very busy since my last post, even though it's only been a week. We got lots of heartfelt condolences on the passing of our sweet Gynger. A friend of the girls made them a beautiful card. And I figured out pretty quick that I got poison ivy on my arms when we buried her by the back fence. Just adds to the pain of loosing her.

The girls sweet friend Izzi stayed over last Friday & we went to Bass Pro Shop. It was a good distraction for them. My sweet friend Pam is teaching me how to sew from a pattern & came over Friday to start our ambitious project of making pioneer dresses for the girls & I! I am excited & hope I can accomplish it! Then the girls finally read all their books and earned their Wii game. They were very excited!

Thanksgiving came in a rush & even though we didn't have any extended family to spend it with, we still made the whole yummy spread! Everything was delicious! We found the place mats from 2003 that had pictures of Gynger & Duke our beloved pets, so we had them with us in a way. It was sad when I had the boiled turkey neck & no Gynger to give it to.

Friday we put up the Christmas tree & decorated the inside of the house for Christmas! Several tears were shed when we pulled out Gynger's stocking, still miss her so much. We brought our Peanut Butter the bunny to cheer us up. We got a fun train to go around the bottom of the tree, something Glen has been wanting for awhile now.

Today the girls woke up & discovered that Elfie had made this grand appearance! We bought him a little aviator jacket & goggles & he loved it! He brought the girls baking mixes & was riding on the new train. We decorated the outside of the house & it's all complete! It has been a great Thanksgiving weekend! (Excuse all the pictures, my cell phone just doesn't take very well pics)

I made these cute snowmen today!

The girls little Christmas tree in the school room.

We love Christmas & are looking forward to the month of December & all the fun we will have!

This post is all about the amazing life of our sweet girl Gynger.

I will start with the end, and fill in as I go. This has been a very emotional week. We had to put down our precious 12 year old Golden Retriever Gynger yesterday. She was diagnosed with congestive heart failure a year ago, and a month and a half ago she had a stroke. She just couldn't recover enough after the stroke & we had a very hard decision to make. Here is the picture the day before we put her down, the day we made the decision. My families heart is breaking.

Now I will start at the beginning. She was 9 months old when we adopted her from another family who said they didn't have time for her.  We wanted a companion for our male Golden named Duke. Duke was getting quite old & slowing down. She was so sweet & very active. Duke loved her from first sight & he started playing again. She had separation anxiety, I think because of the 1st failed adoption, and would destroy things when we left her home. She destroyed our 2 couches, chewed up molding around the wall and door frames, carpet & vinyl floors just to name a few. We never gave up on her, she was just too precious. She made great improvement after several months. She loved to snuggle & would climb up in your lap. She followed me everywhere from the start. She was the first dog Glen & I bought as adults. I had had Duke since I was 13 years old! She helped us as much as we helped her. We were struggling with infertility for years it was a very emotional journey. Our sweet dogs always kept the depression from getting too much to handle.

Fast forward 3 years and the girls were born! She was in love with them the second we brought them home! She would sit right by wherever they were laid, which was usually the couch, almost blocking the side so they wouldn't roll off. She hated to hear them cry & would pace back and forth from me to them, pleading at me with her eyes to pick them up. She did not like anyone except Glen & I to hold them. She would pace and look so worried till they were put back down. She was their 2nd momma! She was always so gentle & loving. She would have made an amazing mother herself, but never got the chance.

Our precious Duke lived till he was 17 years old! I honestly contribute those extra years to Gynger. He died when the girls were 1 year old. He lived seeing me grow up, get married, and have children. He will also always have a special place in my heart! His passing was SO hard, but Gynger really helped us get through that. She was depressed for a couple weeks, but really started to perk up and seemed to enjoy being the center of attention, well as much as can be expected with toddler twins running around!

She had many loves. Snuggling, chewing on sticks & rocks, going to the park, swimming in lakes, playing with the girls, following me everywhere I went, and snow just to name a few! She LOVED the snow! She was so funny to watch!

She had the cutest little prance she would always do when she was happy or excited, which was most of the time! She was the happiest, silliest, most tender hearted sweet girl! She loved to sleep on her back with all 4 paws in the air. The girls called her the Student Teacher when she didn't want to be left out of the homeschool room.

We buried her in the back yard with her brothers ashes in a box between her paws. We are very heart broken. The house is too quiet without her. No happy prancing feet when we walk in the door, no toe nails clicky clacking on the wood floors, no tail thumping on the wall, no sweet face pressed up against you for snuggles and belly rubs, no more being followed everywhere I go, no more begging, no one to clean up dropped food off the floor, no sweet girl beside my bed. Right now all that is left is the tears and the pain. I think it is so very hard because we don't have another sweet Golden around to help us through the grieving. We will get another Golden next spring after taxes come in. The next 4 or 5 months will be quite hard.

I truly don't believe that God would put these precious pets in our lives if we couldn't ever see them again. I am sure she is in Heaven playing with her brother Duke and we will see her again one day. We miss you SO very much precious girl!

It's been a busy November so far! Playing catch up on posting. My hubby and I celebrated 14 years of marriage on Halloween. We went out the next night and enjoyed a nice dinner together of oyster(mine fried & his raw). Then we went home to enjoy a Halloween marathon, which is a pastime for us that we really enjoy! :)

Homeschool has been going great! We just finished up our 2nd grading period. Faith got "A/B Honor Roll" for the second time & Hope has made huge improvements and was only 2 points away from A/B Honor Roll as well! They are doing amazing and I am so very proud of them! I made them report cards mainly for our records, but they seem to enjoy them.

They got another mailing of their Little Passports & they really love it! This time they are learning about Brazil.

We got a surprise overnight dusting of snow/sleet mix on Thursday morning. With a little bit more expected this weekend. It's hitting early here this year.

We got a much needed delivery of firewood and are enjoying that! Gynger is still hanging in there & we are loving on her as much as we can. Poor sweet girl is still having a problem with her back legs & getting up, but seems to be in good spirits. We just love her so much!

That's all for now! I will be learning from my good friend Pam on how to sew dresses from a pattern, and I am looking forward to that!! I am making both girls & myself pioneer dresses! Excited!!