Too long between posts...

So many things to report on:

Finished Kitchen...almost.

Well, the kitchen renovation is almost complete.   We need to finalize a back splash design plan and then Andrew needs to find time to put it up. Hard to find time with the kids and me still working 1 in 5 weekends :(
Here are some (old, when it was just done) photos:

Family Vacation with Royal Caribbean

We had a wonderful family vacation with the Rolt side in November commemorating the 2nd anniversary of Andrew's dad's passing.  So much fun with the kids, they loved the children's pool/splash area but really, really loved the hot tub!  Andrew and I had a nice day in St. Martin where Andrew purchased a new wedding ring (this is ring number three for anyone that is counting:) )!  Some memorable moments included swimming with the gang on a beach we didn't want to go to in St.Thomas. Our kids loving and also hating kids club.
 

Some Islander cut my head off, while we enjoyed a St. Maarten tradition!

 

...and finally, what has become somewhat of another tradition with the Asbury's when we go to St. Maarten with them! lol

Goodbye to a loyal companion:

Echo Rolt 2006-2013.

We recieved a horrible call from my mom on Thursday night on our cruise.  We were in our room with the kids (having picked them up from kids club early after a phone call saying they wanted out).  Nancy (my mom) met Echo a the emergency vet clinic and had to make a decision to move forward with a surgery for bloat or to have Echo put down.  It was a nightmare decision for Andrew and I to make at any time, let alone in the middle of the carribean.  We will miss you Echo. You were our first child, the absence of your presence is felt everyday in our lives and hearts.

In January we had a wonderful celebration of Echo's life although none of Andrew's family could make it, it was wonderful to have Candace, Dave, Braeden, Sadie, Nancy and Drew there to commemorate the life of such a wonderful companion.

Desmond and Violet had a really hard time with losing Echo and we are just now at the end of February finding our lives settling back into routines without issue dropping Des off at school or multiple mentions of our loss of Echo. It is amazing the way the brain of a child works and how something can be at the forefront but because they are not aware of how to deal with it, they act out in other ways. It was a good exercise for our family to have the celebration of Echo's life, helped teach the children about loss and the mourning process.  It was also quite healing for our family to sit down and dedicate some time to remember our beloved Echo.

Funny story about Des:  Andrew, Des and Violet were sitting on the couch watching TV.  Des was pushing on his penis, pushing it down agressively.  Andrew asked him what he was doing and Des hiding his penis said "my penis is sticking up and it is not supposed to do that. I am pushing it down".  Andrew and I laughed so hard at the innocence of the statement.  So cute!

 

 

Christmas Time:

What a wonderful Christmas we had this year.  Christmas morning was spend at home with the kids opening gifts and enjoying cinnabons.  My parents arrived for breakfast and our traditional eggs benny was served.  Then that afternoon we went to Nancy and Drew's place for dinner.  After that we packed a bag and headed to Cambridge, stopped in at the Rolt family Christmas and then off to Betty's for boxing day.  Wonderful time with family, we missed A, Den, Madi and Parker!

Andrew is 40!

Well, Andrew turned 40 on February 16th!  Unfortunately I had to work the weekend of his birthday - no one would take my shift!- so we just had a small celebration with my family on Sunday night, we went to Kyprio's for greek style dinner!  Then on Family Day Monday we went to Betty's for a Rolt family celebration for both Andrew and Teresa. This past weekend, the 22nd, I threw a surprise party for Andrew and I think it worked!  It was so much fun, friends from all walks of our lives were there to celebrate with him.

Finally, our kids are absolutely in love with the movie Frozen.  We are constantly serenaded by both kids to the wonderful songs.

Some pics are up!

The pictures from the photo session are up, and they look so cute!
I'm sure we'll be provided another link at some point to look at the rest, but these are great.

www.edisonphotography.com

Echo fatty dog

So Echo had a vet appt. this morning, and other than being completely healthy, he's gained 15 lbs!
So that makes him a hair under 200 lbs.  F-A-T !

He should not be that heavy, and it's completely our fault.  We've barely been exercising him with walks, or dog park visits.... and we don't leave him outside very long because he runs into the neighbours yards all the time when we're not out there with him (which we can't stand).

So, that needs to change.  Thankfully it's practically summer (it's felt like it this week!) so it'll be easier to get out with him.

The meds for heart worm didn't cost as much as previous years either, so that was a bonus.

Echo Again

We thought Echo was OK after my last post. He did well on Friday and over the weekend, but by Sunday night he started to act up again with the runs, and Monday morning he barfed on the deck. What the heck...
So we called the vet again and booked an appt. for that afternoon. Marn took him in and left him there. We decided to get x-rays done to check for bloat on the very strong advice from the vet, and thankfully he was all clear. They think he may have picked up some kind of bug which they likened to the human flu virus, but not a virus. $300 later, after exam, drugs, radiology, etc, and he seems to be getting better again. This morning he had another solid poop, for those keeping track!! lol (this is a big deal, first in 2 days...). The pills I had to pick up at the human pharmasist because the vet didn't have the correct dosage for the beast. lol
The vet, as I've mentioned in previous blog entries, absolutely loves Echo and mentioned how great he was while they checked him out. They all had a laugh at trying to get him on the table (and laugh everytime they see him because of his size), because it took 3 of them to do so. Their x-ray table is a little small and the machine itself is kind of "weak" for his size. She said even after turning up the machine to Maximum, it still didn't penetrate him as much as she'd like... hahaha. Anyway, she said he just layed there on the table for them, didn't fight them at all. They were all really surprised at how well he let them handle him into whatever position they needed. He was also weighed again, and he's up to 180 lbs, but we think she did the conversion incorrectly (the scale is in KG). 180 lbs! He's almost as heavy as me!

Hopefully all of this clears up today or tomorrow so that Mom doesn't have to deal with any of this crap. Literally. I mean, she's already doing us a HUGE favour by coming to watch him, that's the last thing she should have to deal with.
Thankfully, for Mom, all of the ice is gone off the back deck as well, since he loves to break it apart and eat the chunks; this this the result of that nonsense.

Echo

I think this dog has a death wish. Is his life that bad, really?

Tuesday afternoon Echo started getting sick in the house. We're not sure why, and still not 100% sure why. Now, dog puke is gross enough, but Great Dane puke (like everything!) is MUCH bigger, and much grosser. Poor Marn had to clean it up as I was at work. From Tuesday afternoon to Wednesday night, he puked tree times on the carpet downstairs, 2 or 3 times outside, once upstairs, and many other times when nothing much else was coming up -- just lovely slimy watery spit. Oh, and don't forget the "loose bowels" - thankfully all of that was outside. Yes, I told you this is gross. If you have any experience with a small to medium sized dog, multiply your "experience" by 5, minimum. (keep in mind that a "large breed" dog is a LAB, and echo TOWERS over labs!)

So yesterday I gave him 1 cup of food for breakfast which came back up an hour later when I was at work. We were really starting to worry about him now as I thought it would have passed over the night, but didn't. It didn't look like Bloat, which is the first thing you need to think of when Dane's are not feeling well. I noticed on Tues. night that one of our bushes was "gone". It was a rather anaemic Rhododendron that we've been trying to grow for 3+ years, but just hasn't taken off. Marn and I also noticed that Echo kept going straight for a "stick" every time he went outside - you know, as soon as he was done puking or crapping himself. We suspect that this stick is the remnants of our Rhododendron bush that Echo had eaten pretty much to the ground. A quick search on Google will tell you that this particular plant is quite poisonous to dogs.... putting 1 and 2 together, we suspect this is what was causing his sickness. Just a little plant poisoning! It's only been 2 months since the last time he tried to "off" himself with boxes if chocolate, so why not with a bush that's been there for the past 3 years?!

We had called the vet to voice our concerns about this and what we suspected, and although she gave us some choices on what to do, she also said that if it was poisoning, there's not much you can do other than to "wait it out" and treat the symptoms. She was worried about bloat, a blockage from eating a toy possibly, or some other things that I can't remember and her choice of "treatment" was to come in for an x-ray and blood work to determine what it is if he didn't seem to be getting any better. We decided to wait out the evening and call in this morning if he didn't look better, since he was "acting" a little more normal by the time I got home. We fed him 1.5 cups of dinner last night which he kept down over night, so that was a good sign. This morning I gave him 2.5 cups of food and he gobbled it up. He must have been starving since we were withholding food for all of Tues night and Wednesday. I haven't checked in at home yet to see if did actually keep it down so far - Marn was heading out for a bit this morning as well, so who knows. There may be a little surprise waiting for her. If he did ok, she was going to give him another cup or two before I get home for dinner.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _


In all of the "rush" to find flights for the short notice of going to BC for spring break, we forgot about finding a boarding spot for Echo. Nearly everything was booked since it's spring break for everyone. *smacks head* There were spots open at places that only boarded the dog - no play time or interaction with other dogs and we didn't like or want that, so we were really scrambling for something.
So we asked Mom if she would feel comfortable with staying at our house to watch him, even if it was just for mornings and nights - she doesn't need to be there during the day all the time as we normally aren't either. She agreed and saved our butts! I mean he's pretty easy to take care of, but when you're not used to it, I suppose it could be a little much, especially with him. She's been coming over almost every week to watch Violet when Marn goes to Physio, so he doesn't get as wound up anymore, and settles fairly quickly. I think he'll be fine with her. Thank you Mom!!!

Less than a week and we're in BC already! Normally these trips are weeks/months away, but this one was booked only 2 weeks before we were to leave. So quick and looking forward to it!