A Weekend on an Emotional Rollercoaster

Last weekend we went home to visit our families and celebrate my birthday with them. We left Austin when Travis got off of work, so by the time he got home to leave, it was about 6:15. We were toting the two dogs and our stuff, along with a surprise for my parents. The evening before, Thursday evening, Travis and I headed to Llano to pick up the puppy we had reserved from the same lady that we got Snuggles from. My parents celebrated their 25th anniversary on January 6, so my brother and I had been planning on getting them a dog for their anniversary, and the puppy was now ready to go and it worked out that we were heading to Silsbee to visit that weekend. The little shih-tzu puppy was so cute and tiny! I couldn't remember Snuggles being that small, but Travis says she was that little when we first got her. Anyways, the little puppy was the same color as Snuggles, and when they were checking each other out, it looked like Snuggles was playing with a miniature version of herself! :) I was so excited to surprise my parents with the puppy but I was also a little nervous because I wasn't sure how they'd react, since they always say that they, "don't NEED a puppy". But, Dustin and I saw how they acted around Snuggles and we decided that they did NEED a puppy. :)

Well, we finally got to their house and brought in the puppy, and they were so excited, my mom even cried. I think the little puppy was in shock too, because of the new surroundings, and she was tired from the car ride. But, she was eating fine and using the bathroom regularly (in fact, we had to clean up a few messes, haha). They put her in her crate for the night, right beside their bed. She didn't make a peep that night, but that was not unusual since she didn't make any noise the night before when she stayed with us. My dad got up at 4:30 and she was just sleeping. At 8:00 they got out of bed and checked on the puppy again and that's when I awoke to my mom crying/screaming. It was so sad as I stumbled into the living room, watching my mom cry while my dad was holding the little stiff puppy. The puppy died sometime during the early morning without warning or cause. It was the sadest thing ever. They had already named her Bailey. Travis helped my dad bury Bailey in the backyard and they made a little wooden cross with her name on it, this was while I went with my mom to Beaumont to get out of the house. I could not get that puppy out of my mind the whole day and my mom would randomly start crying when she talked about the puppy and she blamed herself for not checking on the puppy more.

I immediately wanted to get my parents a new puppy, so I was looking online and inquired about a few cute puppies that were for sale, with no success. My parents decided to wait a while before they got a new dog, since this was so fresh on their hearts. Meanwhile, we had to change gears and get ready to go out for my birthday with family that night.

We went to Applebee's in Beaumont and met my aunt and uncle, cousins, inlaws and grandparents there. It was fun to get to eat with everyone and then we went back to my parents' house for ice cream cake (yummy) and presents! :) It felt like I was 8 years old again, celebrating my birthday with cake and presents at home. It felt great! :)



We got to spend more time with Travis' family and my family and we left Sunday afternoon. And, although, it was an emotional weekend, I enjoyed getting to celebrate my birthday with my dear family. I love them dearly!! And, we will eventually get my parents that puppy, I promise!!

O, and Kyle, Jenny, Joel and Dani made a day trip to L-Town to show Fortune to our families. It was a fun time getting to show them our hometown and eat the famous Texas Tummy Tackler burger at Dippity's!


I promised I'd show some pics of my beatiful mom! Since May, she's lost 125+ pounds and here's a few pics of us during the weekend. Doesn't she look great? :)