Goodbye Lily.....

Tonight we had to say goodbye to our precious white lab, Lily.  She had been acting strange all week, so we took her in to the vet today.  Originally they concluded that she had diabetes, but after we received her blood work back this evening we found out that it was much worse.  We decided to say goodbye....it was probably the hardest thing we have ever done.  I am thankful that the boys do not fully understand what is going and will always have pictures with Lily.  We told them that Lily had to go bye bye and to tell her night night....Our hearts are sad but we are thankful that she is no longer sick.
 Here is our Lily story :

8 years ago, I was wanting a baby....but after being married only 6 months, Erik suggested getting a puppy.  I had always wanted a little, fluffy, white dog.  Erik tricked me.  He took me to a home with these ADORABLE little white lab puppies...I fell in love with Lily immediately! She was soooooooooooooo cute!!! Little did I know that she would be the biggest little terror of a puppy and also grow into the most amazing dog a family could ask for.  If you have seen the movie or read the book Marley and Me, then that gives you a small glimpse into Lily's first years.  She was crazy!! She ate anything and everything in site.  She destroyed a leather couch, countless shoes and clothing, and even ate our Christmas tree! Yes, she did! She ate the glass bulbs and would jump into the tree and eat the lights on the tree.  She was CRAZY!!!! As she grew up, she got better.  Everyone kept telling us that we just had to wait 2-3 years and she would be an amazing dog! I did not think we could survive that long with her! Thankfully, we did.  She calmed down and became our best friend.  Everyone loved Lily, and everyone has a favorite story about her.  Although Lily grew out of her puppy stage, she never grew out of being a food thief.  I guess she thought we did not feed her enough.  She loved Q-tips and cottonballs...the proof was in her droppings.  She has stolen loaves of bread....YES, an entire loaf! She once ate a platter of hershey kisses from a bridal shower.  We came home to an empty platter and thought there was no way she could have done that....but then, pink foil poo showed itself.  She stole a bag of two dozen chocolate chip cookies and went to town...the vet just laughed when we called about that one.  Lily loved the boys.  I think she loved the boys' food even more.  She was so good with them.  As you can see in the pictures below, she would let them "cuddle" with her and love on her and she would always be so patient with them.  She has been an amazing dog to us.  She has been here through all the trials we have gone through.  She was a friend and campanion to Erik when I was gone for 6 months in the hospital with Dylan.  She was our dog, but even more, our furry friend.  She was a part of our family and we will always cherish our memories with her.  We found out late this afternoon that we were going to put her down, so we had a short photoshoot with her and the boys.