Colors of Winter

Today the kids had the annual Colors of Winter performance at school. Unfortunately, I was at my other school and was unable to take off. Luckily, Jason is still no nights and was able to go. He watched each of the kids perform and then delivered pizza to Zachary's classroom for their party.

 One of the parents sent me this photo of Zachary and his buddy Ian:)

 The 5th graders...

Zachary's class...

 Kailani's class party

Zachary's class party

Field Trip to the Zoo

Zachary's class went to the zoo for a field trip today. Jason went to the zoo to try and catch up with them, but unfortunately, he was unable to find them. They had a special presentation and a bus tour, so they were probably busy. Here are some of the photos posted by the parents who were chosen as chaperones.

It's Starting too Look a lot Like Christmas...

On Saturday we pulled out the Christmas decorations. The kids enjoy placing the ornaments on the tree. We have a lot of personalized ornaments and they like to tell the story about each one as they put it on the tree.

The cats love the decorations. Lucy and Kona try to lay under the tree whenever they can.

Tonight the kids made Christmas crafts at Chick fil A.

Holiday

Holiday seems to be doing fine although I'm sure she misses her buddy Bruno.

 

 Holiday and Kona

A boy and his dog...

Caroling

Tonight Kailani's Girl Scout troop went caroling at the Village Walk shopping center. Each year the shopping center chooses groups to carol every night during the month of December. Before and after caroling, there is a "snowfall." The center donates $100 to the group after the caroling is over. The girls did a great job (Zachary even joined) and they earned money for their trip to San Francisco.

 

Cheer Christmas Party

Tonight Kailani's cheer team had a Christmas party. The girls played games, watched movies, and exchanged gifts.

 The girls

Kailani and Sadie

The moms

Sweet Bruno

Unfortunately, we got some very sad news on our trip...Bruno was not doing well. PetSmart called on Sunday to let us know that Bruno had diarrhea since Friday. The policy is that he had to be seen by a vet if it lasted 48 hours. Since he was only at 36 hours, they gave us the option and I agreed to have him see the vet. They did what they could to calm his stomach and we thought things will getting better.
I received another phone call on Tuesday morning...Bruno was having trouble breathing and he was unable to use his back legs. PetSmart sent him to the emergency vet. Since we were on the Big Island in very remote areas, I had very little cell phone service all day. The vet tried to call me several times, and eventually called Becky. I was able to talk to the vet later in the evening and we decided it was time to say goodbye to Bruno:(
The vet found two large masses on his lungs, which were blocking blood flow to his legs.. She said there was a possibility there were more masses in his body, including his stomach, which could have been causing the discomfort and the diarrhea. The vet said it was likely he had stage 5 cancer. They could have kept him comfortable until we got home Thursday, but we didn't want him to suffer any longer. We could tell he wasn't feeling himself for a while and had him to the vet several times. Unfortunately, it was his time:(
We picked Holiday up from PetSmart this afternoon. The PetsHotel gave us flowers and cards. They did not charge us at all for Bruno's or Holiday's stay (a cost of at least $1,000). One of the associates left a note letting us know that there were 2 of them that were with Bruno at the emergency vet. It makes me feel better that he wasn't alone.  Bruno and Holiday have been staying at the PetsHotel for years. They love going there and the staff love them. We are lucky to have people who take such good care of our pets when we are away.
We got Bruno in December 2006, shortly after Kailani was born. He was a part of our lives for 10 years. He was such a sweet boy and we will miss him dearly. We are giving Holiday extra attention because I am sure she will miss him too.
  

 

We love you Bruno!