Ben's birthday

Happy 43 to Ben!!!

He asked for a quiet day at home...which turned into taking his car into get its oil changed, getting a haircut, going for a run, doing yard work and smoking ribs.  Eli helped him a lot with the yard work, so that was a nice little gift.

Before Alison left for work, he opened presents (and Alison had cake early).

Eli bought him a minifigure

And we all picked out some new ties, running socks and a guitar cleaning kit.

But this sums up 43: 

The night before Ben's birthday, I say, "Hey, just a heads up, soon I need a new lightweight vacuum.  Ours is on it's last leg." (We absolutely love the one we have and use it daily, but it is literally being held together by duct tape and has a broken wheel on the bottom).  So Ben finds a great deal online right after I tell him that and orders it.  He thought it was so funny when he opened it up for himself the next day.  I just love his smile

We had an amazing bbq dinner and played Mario Party with the boys.  

To finish the day, we had pineapple upside down cake.  I don't know what inspired Ben to request it, but I'm so glad he did.  It was delicious!

 

Family pictures

In light of the last post, I wanted to get some family pictures.  I know how precious these snapshots are...we are lucky enough to have Alison still living at home and even more blessed to still spend Sundays together.

 

She gave us a scare

Maya has cheated death 3 times now.  A post long overdue, but a topic not so fun to blog about.

I was on my way to meet some fellow chaplain's wives for coffee, when Alison called me and said something was wrong with Maya and she thought I should come back home.  When I walked in the door, Maya couldn't walk.  She looked like she was in pain, with her head down and tail between her legs.  She would try to walk, but her front legs would criss-cross and she'd fall over.  I sat with her in my lap, for I don't know how long, trying to get ahold of a vet.  Ironically, I had a routine appointment for her the next morning on base, but they don't take emergencies.  I finally found someone who could see her in a few hours, so we just tried to keep her comfortable.  Crazy enough, as the hour went by, she started getting up slowing and walking around more, eventually acting pretty normal.  I canceled that emergency appointment and took her on base the following morning.  The vet didn't have great news...she was still showing signs of neurological defect as her back paws weren't responding as they should.  He gave us a referral to a dog neurologist, but he didn't have high hopes for Maya's prognosis.  That was a very hard day in our house and it makes me tear up just thinking back on that day.

To say we loved on Maya after that day was an understatement.  We all felt like our time with her was short, so we definitely spoiled her.

We waited the few weeks to see the neurologist and I felt so silly taking our dog to a specialist.  But I'm SO glad I did!!!  After his assessment, he said that Maya most likely had a stroke, but the amazing thing is, dogs brains can heal from a stroke!  He said she is no longer showing any signs of a neurological defect and looks perfectly healthy now.  I never thought I would be so thankful to hear the news of a stroke.  

We know the harsh reality that Maya is now an elderly dog and we don't have a guarantee of time with her.  I hope it's many more years because this family will have a huge hole in it's heart when she's gone.