Sissy

Just a couple of hours ago we had a special birthday celebration for our sweet, adorable and weird girl Hope, who's also often known as "Sissy" in the Luce household. I guess I'm using the term "celebration" rather loosely, considering we really only walked into the bedroom (where she'd pulled all the covers back on our bed) and fed her a special gigantic biscuit I made her earlier this evening. We sang her happy birthday as well, but since she can hear virtually nothing these days, she just looked sheepish and confused as to what was going on. Hopefully she knows it's her special day though, since she got a new pink glow-in-the-dark leash this morning along with the batch of pumpkin biscuits. As you can see below, she enjoyed her huge biscuit and her brother enjoyed his too.




I don't think I've ever mentioned here that we often call her Sissy, but I think Chad actually started calling her that in the first year we had her. Although I hated the nickname initially (I have no idea why), somehow after Steeler died I warmed up to it. I guess because once she and Celtic only had each other, it just seemed completely appropriate. We used the nickname only occasionally at first, but as the years have gone on I think we now call her Sissy more than we call her Hope, which doesn't really bother her since she can't hear us anyway!

Speaking of years gone by, today isn't truly her birthday, but it's the day we celebrate because it's the anniversary of the day we brought her home and started fostering her. I just can't believe it was only 6 years ago today! I think I probably said this on her birthday last year, but I feel like she's always been a part of our family. I can obviously look back at pictures of the boys and see that we once had no Hope, but it just seems like so many lifetimes ago.

Since we don't really know Hope's true birthday, we also don't really know how old she actually is, but today we're celebrating her 11th trip around the sun. She could be as old as 13, which you would never know except for her grey muzzle, cloudy eyes, terrible teeth and hearing loss. Seriously though, her agility and enthusiasm are still that of a puppy! She goes from dead asleep to 100 miles an hour in about 2 seconds, and she barrels all over the house and yard like a maniac when she's not snoozing. She loves her naps, but she also loves making a dramatic entrance to let you know she's inside!



How sweet is that happy face? We just love our little Sissy so much and are so thankful that's she's celebrating yet another birthday with us!