Hank

A couple of Sundays ago we had the carpet ripped out from under us when we unexpectedly had to say good-bye to our beloved Hank.  He was only nine years old.  To make a long story short he collapsed, we took him into the vet where they found that he had a tumor around his heart.

Ryan and I like to say that Hank was our first born.  He was the first pet we had that belonged to us and that we raised from a little puppy.  I got Hank as a Christmas gift for Ryan before we were married.  Ryan likes to joke that he had no choice but to marry me once I gave him Hank.

Unfortunately, due to the move, Hank's puppy book (yes, you read that right, we had a puppy/baby book for Hank) is in storage.  Luckily I had this picture at my work desk that was taken the night I gave Hank to Ryan:

It's small, but hopefully you can see what a cute puppy he was. He was such a mellow dog and very rarely gave us any problems.  He was the ring bearer at our wedding (if you can't tell - we really loved our dog) and a constant fishing companion for Ryan.

It seemed every time we took Hank for a walk someone would stop us and comment on how handsome he was and how they loved his big head (oh how I miss petting that big head).

Hank loved the snow and would play/lay around in it all day if we let him.  Here he is outside of our condo in Sun Valley:

He was with us when we grew our family (even if he didn't really like it that much):

But the kids grew to love him and he in turn grew to love them as well (I believe the mess they left after every meal for him to clean up helped):

Although I feel so much guilt that his last years weren't filled with as much loves or hikes I have to focus on the good years and hope he does to:

These were the last pictures we got of Hank at The Plex.  Isla wanted her picture taken with him and I'm so glad that I took them:

Hank had a great life and we feel lucky to have had him for nine years, even if we wish it would have been for longer. We love you Hanky and miss you terribly.