good-bye my sweet girl.

to my sweet avery.
thank you for loving us. over 13 years ago, mister and i started our lives and family together. in the spring of that first year, we were blessed with our first baby, avery laquisha. you have filled our lives with so much love and happiness. you were there to welcome home all of the boys and have helped us raise them to be sweet, caring little men. you are and will always remain the best vacuum there ever was. you were such a patient horsey during the toy story phase of life. you never ceased to amaze us at your ability to within seconds completely devour a whole pizza, sandwich, or entire loaf of bread. and, by the way, you were years of living proof that chocolate really doesn't kill dogs, it seemed to improve your quality of life :) i loved watching grandpa come into town and take you for your special walks and how after a trash scavenger hunt in the neighborhood you always enjoyed your laps in the pool. i love that you are probably the only retriever that didn't actually retrieve. although you made the best catches of food hardly ever letting a crumb hit the floor. one thing that especially makes me smile is when after you knew everyone was sleeping, you would unzip the boys' backpacks, pull out their lunch boxes, unzip them and eat their leftovers. remember the time when you ate the tiger cake i made for logan right before the scout meeting? as much as it frustrated me, i secretly loved when you would wait for me to engage in conversation with someone outside, then would slyly sneak around the corner of the house and go on one of your adventures. i love that you were so stubborn and would miss us so much when we were on vacations that we couldn't board you and had to find people to watch you at our house. and i love how you love those friends. i love how every time i was pregnant you seemed to know and were always by my side. i love that you and i were the queens of the house. i love how you come up to us and nudge our hands up on top of your head. i love the marks you have made on the rugs in your favorite spots...and i love how i will always be able to see you circling before you lay down. i hope it's okay, but i also love how you would finally lose it with mosby and snap at him. i love the way he watches you and oh so wants to be like you someday. i love when our family remembers how after we got you we took you everywhere with us like to kinsey's first birthday. i love how you always seem to be listening to me when i talk to you, especially when i'm cleaning. i love how you are so sweet and patient with the boys. and i love when i see them smiling at you and rubbing you behind your ears. i love how you would pretend not to be sleeping on the cozy blanket beds you would make with the boys' blankets. i love that you NEVER forget when you're supposed to eat and make it known to all...i believe this is the heart of our souls' connection ;) i love remembering when you and mister started running together and how you would get so excited when he put his shoes on. i love how we are both lazy lima beans. i love that everyone close to us knows that you are a part of our family and will always remember that. i love that your smiling eyes and ever-wagging tail were always the first thing i'd see when i came home.
thank you for being my sweet girl, old lady and best friend with mister.
i. love. you.

sweet dreams,
mom