In Memory of Bear

Last night Jim came home and found Bear underneath some azalea bushes behind the house. He had passed away. Tristan and Collin cried so. I felt so bad for them. They have lost so much lately. A song called "There will be a day" by Jeremy Camp came to my mind as I cried missing our long time doggy friend and our dear friends and family that have passed away recently. Here are some of the words that bring comfort:

Troubled soul don’t lose your heart
Cause joy and peace he brings
And the beauty that’s in store
Outweighs the hurt of life’s sting

But I hold on to this hope and the promise that He brings
That there will be a place with no more suffering

There will be a day with no more tears, no more pain, and no more
fears
There will be a day when the burdens of this place, will be no more,
we'll see Jesus face to face
But until that day, we'll hold on to you always....

I played it for the boys last night and they really like the song too.

Revelation 21:4: "And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away."
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Tonight we went to the pond across the street. It reminds us of our best memories with Bear. He loved going to the pond and fetching sticks. He would also chase Jim's fishing lures, and one time even swam out to Jim when he was on his float tube out on the pond. Then proceeded to jump on board with Jim. I have photos that I will have to dig up as they are hilarious. He will be missed greatly by our family. He was my protector when Jim was gone. I always felt safe knowing he would never let harm come our way. I told the boys that maybe Papa needed Bear up in heaven with him to keep him company.

The night was beautiful and reminded me that through all of the troubles we have faced, God's beauty always remains if we just stand still long enough to look. Here are some photos of our evening:




She's got some mighty big paws to fill :(
She is the newest addition to the Davis family.


I thought the sunlight shining on the dandelions looked beautiful. If you look close you can see sparkles of light above the dandelions and Jim says they are Mayflies. Who knew bugs could be so beautiful in sunlight?


I showed the boys how to blow on the dandelions. I use to love doing this as a child and they seemed to enjoy it as well:




Dalton spent the morning at the pediatrician's with Daddy. He has another bad ear infection and fell asleep shortly after we got back from our walk:



It has been a really rough week. Just before Easter the twins came down with a stomach bug. At the time, we thought it was just a 24 hour thing so when they seemed better on Saturday, we went to the Easter Egg hunt at church where Cousins surprised us by coming directly to the church. Everyone had a great time and had lots of Candy. We had a great Easter Sunday as well. It wasn't until the late hours of Sunday that the sickness decided to run rampant through the house. I was so sick Monday morning that I called Jim to come home from work as I didn't think I could handle the kids when Carolyn went visiting for the day.

The boys got it pretty bad too. Here is what you look like when you don't want to admit that the bug is kicking your tail and you are too exhausted to admit it :)



Five days later and I am still battling it. It seems to get better and then out of the blue your stomach begins hurting and you don't get too far from your bathroom for a while. Everyone in our family and Carolyn's family (except for Jim, Tina, and Abby) has gotten this nasty bug. We've been home bound for days, but have at least gotten to go outside to enjoy the nice weather for a little while. The boys found a butterfly the other day and we managed to get him on film:





I'll try to do another post in the next few days and post some pictures of our Easter activities.