All Dogs Go To Heaven-especially Tesa

 We said goodbye to Tesa this month.  A routine vet appointment turned into a major decision.  Turns out, Tesa's congenital heart failure was pretty advanced and she was literally drowning from fluid in her lungs (I thought she was coughing from allergies). The vet explained that, without medication, she has only hours to live.  It was a rough afternoon. We decided that we didn't want to just keep her alive for our own comfort.  She had lived a good life and if it was time, that was okay.  But, I knew the kids would need some time to say goodbye. So, we got some medication to keep her alive for a week so we could make arrangements. 

I will never forget going to the vet a few days later with Aiden and Taylor.  I bathed her and put her in the car. Sweet Tesa had no idea was what coming and watching her slip away was surprisingly awful.  Coming home to an empty house has been hard.  We all miss her.  I have hung her collar on the pegs in the kitchen.  Not sure what to do with it but I knew I didn't want to throw it away.

Spain

 A few months ago, Brent found some cheap flights to Spain.  So, we decided to take a trip. 

First, we spent a few days in Madrid.  We saw a ton of beautiful churches and other buildings, took a bike tour, went to a few museums, took a day trip to a small town named Toledo and ate some Paella (a Spanish rice dish.  There was a slight mix up and we ended up getting one filled with seafood.  Brent had to pull his weight on that one).

After Madrid, we took a high speed train to Barcelona and spent several days experiencing that city. Brent was fascinated by the change in languages (Spanish in Madrid and Catalan in Barcelona). We took another bike tour, saw the famous Sagrada Familia, visited Montserrat (a monastery city in the mountains), did a short hike and attended a Flamenco show.

My favorite thing was attending an FC Barcelona soccer game.  We were able to get tickets last minute so we hurried to the stadium and got a jersey for me to wear (really, it was for Taylor-we also got one for Aiden). The crowd at the game was so much fun. They had all sorts of chants/songs/traditions that every single person participated in.  They were also a very soccer-intelligent crowd who was genuinely there to watch the game.  That made it more fun and created a comradery with those around you.  My only complaint was they they served their foot long hot dogs cold. eww