Goodbye, Pup.

My heart feels very heavy today. We lost a very important member of our family on Easter sunday, March 31st, 2013. Our sweet little Juneau was hit by a car and passed away a few minutes later. She was only 1 1/2 years old. It was a huge shock to me and Austin and we are both really sad and upset about it. There is a giant hole in our home right now where she used to be. We already miss her so much.

A little bit of history on Juneau:

Austin bought Juneau for me for Christmas in 2011 right after we found out we were expecting Oliver. We wanted to get a puppy before Ollie was born so we could train her and get her ready for the baby. We picked her up when she was 8 weeks old and brought her to our home in Provo, Utah. She was the most fun and sweet little thing. She loved to snuggle but also loved hiking mountains and camping with us. She was the perfect dog for our little family.

We moved to Montana when she was about 6 months old. She loved it there too. When Oliver was born she was amazing! She was gentle and loving to him and treated him like a fragile little puppy. She never chewed his toys or clothes. We couldn't have asked for a better dog.

Then, we moved to Michigan. Life got a little harder because there weren't any mountains to climb or huge, open spaces to let her run in. But, there were a lot of parks (granted, she had to be leashed) and lakes to swim in. She loved chasing ducks and geese in the water! We took frequent trips out of town to find places for her to run and play without having to be leashed. It was so fun to go out as a family like that and to watch her in her element.

As Ollie grew she was always right there next to him (literally always). She sat next to his high chair while he ate in hopes of catching anything that might fall. She sat next to the tub while I bathed him and tried to drink the bath water or lick the drops of water off his skin (which we didn't let her do). She sat by his bedroom door while he napped just waiting and hoping he would wake up soon. Sometimes she would even whine and make noise to try and wake him up early.

They were seriously best buds! Two pals that were meant to grow up together. We were so happy with her and grateful we had her in our little family. I couldn't wait to see the day when they would run outside and explore together. It breaks my heart to not only lose her but also to know that Ollie won't even remember her and how close they were.

Some of Juneau's nicknames:
June
June bug
June woman
June pup
June dog
J.D. (short for June dog)
J
Crazy J
pupster
'lil pup

She loved being in our laps as a puppy. Even when she was full grown she thought she could still fit.

My Christmas puppy. I never knew I could love a dog this much!

Snowshoeing with her. She LOVED hiking and exploring in the mountains with us.

She loved Jim's (my father in law's) beehives. Even after being stung over and over she still went back to try and catch them. One time her entire face swelled up because she was stung so many times. haha!

A beautiful view in Montana. We lived there between Utah and Michigan.

While in Montana we had her trained for bird hunting. She had the most beautiful point when she found a bird. The instructor loved Juneau. He said that she was a world class bird dog and he wished we would put her in competitions.

Juneau was in love with Ollie

Her favorite spot in the house was by this heater.

I always caught her trying to lay on top of Oliver. haha.

She liked to lay on anything that belonged to us. Our blankets, clothing, etc. because they smelled like us.

She always sat right here and watched me put on my make up and get ready for the day.

She loved being snuggled and held like a baby. 

I could always find her sitting right next to Ollie. She never once tried to chew his toys.

Sometimes Ollie would get mad if she put too much weight on him. He would cry out for help and I'd find them like this. haha.

We'll never forget our crazy J. She loved us with all her heart. And, we loved her more than I can put into words. I'm so sad to say "goodbye" to her. She was way too young and had so much life ahead of her. But, we'll always have the memories of all our fun adventures together. We love you, J.