Going Digital

 I got our first digital camera for David's birthday in 2002.  David was turning 24.  I was 22.  I remember that I was SO excited about this gift and thought it would be the coolest thing ever---and it totally was.  I remember we went up to Phoenix to have a birthday dinner with David's sisters and our good friends the Aarons.  My friend Ami and I had been friends since I was 12.  Sorry for the picture Ami--I guess I hadn't quite learned the lesson that you can take as many pictures as you want when they are digital!!  I love how young everyone looks here.  So fun!!! I think this is at Carrabas. 

After we got home I had a few more gifts for David, so we celebrated with our doggies!!  Back then all we seemed to take pictures of were the dogs--they were kind of like our kids and always seemed to be doing something cute. 

Doesn't David look so young?

 This has always been one of my favorite pictures of Dukie Boy!!

 Getting old!

 She taught Duke as a puppy to play and fight hard and then she was all done--she was getting old and tired.  We still had some good years after this, but she was getting tired and old for sure.  It was the last two years that she really changed and wasn't the same dog.  Those last few years gave me such a perspective on aging--that I have found makes sense to me with people too.  I remember when she finally passed, I missed and mourned that dog that she had been and not so much the dog we had lived with the last year or two.  At the end she was more of a shell of who she had been- so changed.  More of just the physical dog and not as much the spirit of who she was.  It is hard to describe.  I still miss her when I think of her. 

 I love this picture of Duke!! 

I also like that this picture shows the patio extension that David did--looks pretty good huh.  That was a LOT of work hauling all those pavers in; we did it a few at a time since we didn't have a truck, 

All nice & fresh from a bath!!