The ending of 2016

The year 2015 was a rough year with losing Daddy.  The whole year feels like a blur to me and I am not sure what good I was able to leave on that time period.  So, I was happy to ring in 2016 last year with a fresh start.  Although this past year brought its own challenges, I could finally start to see some of God's promises and happiness shine again.  We had so many happy moments of 2016, but we did lose another member of the family which devastated us all.  Baylor was the best dog we could have ever imagined for our family and it was quite the shock to lose him on September 30th.  He was a loyal friend and family member for 12.5 years.  He saw our house when it was still bare without furniture, watched us get our first "newer" cars, snuggled with us through tears of loss, and watched our family grow with each kid.  I will never forget how patient he was with me and the kids when they were born.  A few times he was even a better parent than us and watched over them.  God must have known I needed him while saying goodbye to Daddy and Baylor was there every step of the way. He would lay with me, let me cover him in tears, and even get in bed with me.  He was just a perfect family member that will be forever missed.  I know he would be happy that we are holding onto his legacy and preparing our hearts to love another fur baby...but I still wish for one last snuggle.  Today we celebrated by geocaching and getting snocones.  Tonight we stayed home and enjoyed taco salad with Gamee/Grampee before heading out to do fireworks with the neighbors.  The kids enjoyed playing with friends and staying up the entire time.  The helped us ring in the new year and after a brief celebration we hurried off to bed for another day of celebrating the new year of 2017 tomorrow.  Thank you God for the blessings throughout this past year and we look forward to what 2017 holds.