Duke

so, our time together has come to an end. our beloved duke dog has gone to be with God in heaven. we loved him so for over 10 years and he provided us with the most beautiful unconditional love that only a dog can give. i can't describe the void that his passing will leave in our family, but i do know that i don't regret any minute of our time together and i'm happy he is no longer in pain. rest in peace baby boy, rest in peace.

my favorite things about duke:

-he used to sit on my feet while i was getting ready in the morning, because he never wanted me to leave.

-he had one black whisker. even after it fell out, it would always grow back.

-if he was mad, he would lay with his paws straight out in front of him, right beside his face.

-he innately knew if i was upset and would always come cuddle with me.

-he was such a good listener. i could take him for a walk without a leash and if 25 dogs went past us, he wouldn't even look their way.

-he was ALWAYS good with little kids. even before we had roman, he was so gentle with our nieces and other kids. he would lay down to play with them. same with smaller dogs, he never played too rough.

-he was a good traveler. he always went on trips with us and knew when the suitcases came out that he was going somewhere.

-he loved to give hugs.

can you believe he was ever this small?

back in his awkward teenage years, when his nose hadn't turned completely black yet and my aunt joyce once thought he had a marshmallow stuck in his nostril (hee hee) yes, his face always looked this pitiful, but we knew he was happy. he couldn't help it that his skin was so saggy. underneath all that saggy skin was a beautiful smile. i just know it. and we always looked for that one black whisker that would always grow back. our little guy was special. how handsome is this guy? sometimes, you just gotta lay down and take a nap. this was one of his favorite spots, right in the corner of the couch. as big as he was, he thought he was a lap dog and would curl right up on your lap if you let him.

Best Dog Ever....

A Holiday Tradition

did you think i would forget about this this year? heck to the no...love this!

Click here to SEE US DANCE!

Grandpa & Grandma Visit

we had some visitors this past weekend. grandma and grandpa miller drove all the way down from west virginia to hang out with us for a few days. we tried to get outside as much as we could and enjoy the sunshine.

roman has been begging to play golf for a while, so we borrowed macee's clubs and headed out to the course!

lots of fun driving the golf cart he's actually pretty good...look at that swing! he loves putting the ball on the tee we even got a little putting practice in... toby offering some words of "wisdom" grandpa even got in on the fun. he's a pretty good putter. and then, we spotted this guy on our way out. he wasn't too big, but he was really close to this house. grandpa went around to the front of the house to get a better look. he's brave, i guess. then, on sunday, we hit up the hhi st. patrick's day parade. it was a little chilly in the shade, but roman loved standing up close to the road so he could snag some candy. i think there was some sort of stuffed character in the back of this truck that he was waving to... not too happy about me making him turn around for a picture. being lazy with duke. thanks for coming grandma and grandpa, we had a great time!

Randoms

this was on my birthday...i feel so loved!

ro said..."take my picture with Duke" um, can you say lazy and spoiled?

Sweet Little Serenade

duke looks completely thrilled, right?

2010 Christmaspalooza

we were so lucky to be able to go visit our families for Christmas. we left on Christmas Eve at 3:30am and boy, was it a long day. it finally ended after midnight mass and we went to bed at 2am. after that it was smooth sailing...lots of family, lots of food, lots of fun...

here's the week in pictures.

amid all the chaos of Christmas Eve. being silly with macee.

making fun of amanda's baby bump
Grandpa and the littles
a present for me? can i open it...can i open it?
pretty girls...maddy and macee
rylee's got bedhead, but still a cutie
macee didn't appreciate the paparazzi




santa was good to him...very good.

santa didn't forget toby!

buzz in action

the annual picture of the kids in front of the tree

he can't figure out what he wants to be. he is a mix of buzz and the conductor from Polar Express here.

toby needed an icepack after an unfortunate xbox incident

moving on from one crazy family to another...down to my grandmother's house see, i told you. crazy.

love her.


the ladies and the gents...

the whole gang

roman loves his big cousin, CJ

CJ got a heater...exciting stuff for a 16 year old boy, huh?

well, someone stole the heater and he ended up with wine!

ariah is a perfect fit!

uncle gene must have been a very good boy this year

finally! he was really hoping for a football helmet and nana saved the day!

"i'm Eagles man!"

sami, blaire, krista

colleen, me

pretty girls...love them!

mr. and mrs. joshua miller

roman wanted a hug, but ariah wasn't having it...

then, we moved on to mom's house...

josh just can't be serious

maybe i can't be either. what goofballs we are.

toy story 3

what? oh, do i have wrapping paper on my face?

um, i don't even know what to say about this

short bus kid

i know he looks sad, but he has new toys, he's pretty happy right now

isn't her "necklace" pretty?
playing captain hook with her kitchenaid dough hook
now it's his turn
a toast...
the boy and his toys
nice wrapping paper jay

while we were eating, relaxing, opening presents, and eating some more, this was happening outside.
and was blowing onto the patio too...

the view from my mom's bedroom window

the backyard

the snowboots excited him just a little, can you tell?

helping me up, what a gentleman

the dogs, rounding the corner, ears flying behind them

he was loving the snow

mommom's favorite snowbaby

shifting gears on the "tractor"

back to northern de, to poppop's house

a real flying buzz lightyear!

thanks aunt alex!

racing around the track at mimi's house...getting really good on his new bike

taking the corner like a pro

visiting grandpa...4 generations

double vision

at poppop's basketball practice

i think he's got basketball in his blood

stealing the ball from poppa

nice shot!

3 generations of amadas

roman loves his aunt alex

on our drive back to mimi's house, we spotted this house that had hmmm, maybe 837 inflatables in the yard. so, we turned around to go back and drive by. the owner happened to be on his roof, fixing one of the inflatables. to say that he likes Christmas would probably be an understatement...

see?

i wasn't lying. 837. for real.

back down to mommom's.

his version of buddy the elf...

then, we headed to uncle josh and aunt colleen's house.

he loves riding a "tractor"

oh, and my crazy brother has a dune buggy. like, a street legal dune buggy. and he parks it in the garage. this is just hilarious to me.

and roman got to take a ride...

grandpa and grandma miller brought him a present too

thanks grandpa and grandma!

colleen got a nativity scene

josh got a gift card...

my sister-in-law colleen threw a surprise 30th birthday party for josh while we were there, and this was the cake her sister made. pretty awesome. also awesome was that i got to see a lot of my family one last time before roman and i left.
we had a fantastic time. i was grateful for all the time spent with family.

we were also anxious to get home. sleep in our own beds and get back on a routine. more sleep. less eating.

we got home early enough to be able to take a bike ride around the neighborhood. the weather was nice, so even though mimi's living room bike track was awesome, it was cool to be able to ride outside!



Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!