Five!!! Seriously!!!

My little Tan Tan the Tanner Man (yes this is his registered name, thanks to my comedian husband) turned five on Monday!!! I can't believe it, I still remember the night we brought him home, a tiny little bundle of adorable! And the following weeks when he learned to love us and depend on us. The months where I thought my heart was breaking when he would cry out in pain, and during his recovery. That was a difficult time, keeping a young lab from being a puppy and a lab at the same time. Then the success after he started feeling better and was finally able to go camping again, the wag in his tail was much more enthusiastic! There isn't a day I can't remember now without him right by my side, and that may seem silly, but he has been a great companion to Scott and I. I wouldn't trade the months of carrying him up and down the stairs to protect his elbows, the weeks of trying to figure out his allergies, the vet bills to keep his elbows feeling good, giving up half of my pillow at night and part of my side of the bed. Because none of that means nothing when I come home to him and he acts like he hasn't seen me in forever, he is so overjoyed to have me home, he comforts me when I cry, he makes me laugh when he's being a goofball, and he can always make me smile!! I can't believe what he has given me! And I can't imagine what a child will do to me, knowing a dog can give me as much as he has!

My favorite brown eyes....

This is his ability to make me smile. He is fine, he played too hard camping that he fell asleep on the fishing poles and with each bump in the road his head drooped while his nose and lip stayed leaning on the poles. :)

Yes, he is spoiled, but he is my spoiled boy...