remembering mia

Mia

10/12/03 - 2/28/13

This post is long overdue, but it's not an easy one to write.

Kevin & I are deeply saddened by the sudden illness and loss of our beloved, Mia, our first doggie-child.

It has been hard to deal with this loss, but God has taught me so much and shown so much love through this sad experience that I will be forever greatful. Especially grateful as we remember Mia's life and how she was just the epitome of love towards all...

So I pulled my favorite pics to remember the good times... sorry there are so many! 

This was a quick family shot for Christmas 2012.

Of course, I had to do some ear scratching, because that was one of Mia's favorite spots!

{Her second, or maybe even first, favorite spot was her butt, but that was Kevin's job!}

She loved being outdoors!

She also loved eating stuffed animals!

She would always eat the faces off first and she often fell asleep holding them in her mouth :)

Mia never met a stranger {just like Kevin!}

Peanut Butter!!!!

There is no treat on earth Mia loved more than cleaning out our empty peanut butter jars.

When she was young she had an obsession with chewing on socks.

Luckily, as she got older she stuck to her bones and sticks.

She would usually wait till everybody was calmed down and in bed before she'd start chewing.

I rarely chidded her on the noise (and it could be loud!), because I knew how much she loved it!

Of course a stick was always preferable to a bone, but this picture remindes me of Mia's

theme song, which I used to sing to her and Kevin...

I wagmytailbackandforth

I wagmytailbackandforth

I wagmytailbackandforth

...

...

...

Boy, did she get excited when it snowed.

{Totally acceptable with all that hair she was carting around all the time}

Doesn't her loopy grin just crack you up?!

Mia was so tollerant, whether is was a 2 year old niece using her as a trampoline replacement or her own mother, dressing her up for the holidays - Mia never minded so long as it made her "people" happy.

It's hard to see in this pic, but she's proudly showing off her pink bows after getting her hair cut!

She was a great campsite defender as well. Even though I'm sure her bark was asking the raccoons to come play, happily for me, they didn't think that's what she was saying!

Once, when I first got her, she ran to a baby bird and picked it up in her mouth and then put it down (completely unharmed, except maybe it's heart) and nudged it to get it to play with her.

I'd put blankets right up there with snow and peanut butter as one of her favorite things... well, anything soft really. We had to make her get off the couches all the time!

We loved bringing her with us when we played frisbee!

She's a ISU Gnome fan through and through!

Everywhere we went on walks people would comment on how beautiful Mia was!

I tease that Mia was the reason Kevin & I got married. When she was given to Kevin, he didn't have a place he could keep her so I got to "keep" her for him... well, I was not going to give her up so... here we are, married almost 5 years now!

I even found a couple of puppy pics!

Look at how big her paws were! It's no surprise she weighed in at 110lbs full grown!

Mia was an oops doggie-child. The breader went on vacation and the "help" left a door or two open... Mia is the love child of a golden retriever and a yellow lab.

BEST MISTAKE EVER!

I'm so grateful for the time we got to spend with this giant furry ball of love!

Mia, you will be missed.