Goodbyes

This week has been one of a couple hard goodbyes.  On Monday evening, Steve's Grandpa Brittain passed away at his home in Waukee.  Thursday morning, Steve and Mark drove to Iowa to attend his funeral and spend time with their Brittain relatives.  It has been a difficult few days for Steve, and I'm glad he's been able to spend them in Iowa.  This picture, taken last summer, is from the only time Grandpa Brittain ever met Sara.  We were only in town for a short visit, and he'd just been released from the hospital.  I'm so thankful that the two of them were able to spend enough time together to take this special picture.  Grandpa Brittain was down-to-earth, kind, and funny (among a variety of other qualities), and he will certainly be missed.

This week we also made the very difficult decision to say goodbye to Higgins, and even as I type this, part of me is expecting to feel his wet nose on my feet any second.  As we've been dealing with Sara's asthma issues, it has become increasingly apparent that having an animal in our house simply isn't healthy for her.  Hopefully that won't always be the case.  We knew we couldn't part with Higgins without finding him a loving home, and we were lucky to find the perfect new family for him. 

On Tuesday morning, I e-mailed a few friends asking whether they might know someone who would be able to provide a new home for Higgins.  Within a couple of house, I'd heard from a friend of a friend (huge thanks and shout-out to my soror-sis, Erin) who said she was interested.  She mentioned that her family already had one dog - same age and same mixed breed as Higgins - and that they'd been looking to find her a playmate.  Furthermore, she has three kids who love to play with dogs, a large backyard near walking trails, and a situation that allows someone to be home most of the time.  We met Wednesday night for a "play date" to see whether Higgins and her family's dog, Harlie, would get along.  They did, and she said they'd love to have Higgins the following evening.  It all came about so quickly, and last night Sara and I took Higgins to his new family.

 Before we left home, I tried to take a couple last pictures of Sara and Higgins together.  These were the best I got (no surprise).  It was very hard to say goodbye to Higgins; he'd been part of our family for almost five years.  When he got into his new car, Sara cried and cried.  However, this situation is best for everyone.  Like his new owner said when we were talking last night, "We needed a dog, Higgins needed a home."  I couldn't have asked for this to work out any better than it has.  I'm so thankful to have found such a wonderful new family for Higgins.  We hadn't been home even forty-five minutes last night when I received a text message from the new family letting me know that Higgins was doing wonderfully, playing well with Harlie and the kids, and making himself at home.  Relief.

After a draining week, we are ready for the weekend!  We're excited to relax, to hit up Target and some of our other errand hot-spots, and to see Steve when he returns from his long drive.  Tonight while we Skyped with my parents, Sara worked diligently on this masterpiece.  I'm posting it here for your viewing pleasure, and - more importantly - so it becomes part of this living, working journal of "do-not-forgets".  Can't believe how fast she's growing up; still can't believe how much I love love love her.