Waylon

I will never forget the day we got Waylon.  Brad and I had taken in a crazy rescue dog, and we had come to the decision that Maggie needed a friend.  Brad wanted a lab, and we found a breeder outside of Houston that we liked.  After a visit one weekend to my parent's house in Houston, we stopped at the breeder to see the pups he had before heading back to San Antonio.

One by one, he pulled the pups out of their pin.  The first several pups just "smooshed" to the ground and huddled together.  Then there was Waylon.  His little feet hit the ground, and he popped up on all fours with his little tail wagging as hard as it could.  He started running around in circles as excited as he could be and I took one look at him and said, "Brad, that's our pup!"

Over the past 11 years, he's been our constant supporter and the world's best nap partner.  He loved snuggling.  Brad sent him off to "retriever camp" when he was two years old.  We had the perfect "couch" lab, but "birdie" he was not.  It took the little guy 6 months to get trained, but eventually he learned how to retrieve.  Waylon finished retriever camp when we moved to Nashville to begin residency.  Despite all his awesome new skills, Waylon and Brad never went hunting together after that.  But in every city we lived, they found parks to practice retrieving his duck dummy.  With his training collar on and duck dummy in tow, Waylon looked every bit the proud hunter when they went to the park to practice.

Watching Waylon with the kids was so fun.  He loved to watch the babies and of course nap with them.  He was ever gentle and loving; allowing the kids to do anything to him.  His reward for his patience - eating all the food that the kids dropped and licking Campbell clean before bath each night (Mack was not a fan of that practice, C always thought it was hilarious!).

And so our journey continues without our beloved Waylon.  Tomorrow we begin our move to Orlando, FL.  Springfield as it turned out was not our forever home (ha, I will never say never again...).  We're excited for the new opportunities we have in FL and are looking forward to getting settled there.  We had so hoped that Waylon had been able to make the trip with us, but our weary pup just didn't have another move in him.  Waylon we will miss you so much!!

*Photos are not in chronological order because I can't figure out how to re-order them.  :(

Waylon was the best 80 lb. lapdog.

And he loved shredding his bed - why is shredding foam so fun!

Napping in medical school....

Our first "family" Christmas card photo.

Napping in residency...

The pups first snow - they loved our Nashville yard.

Just a few weeks ago with our big five year old.

Waylon had to get creative in our tiny Toronto duplex.

Merry Christmas from Toronto.

Napping with bubba.

Our last Christmas photo of all of us together

Another classic Waylon pose from Toronto.  The winter was so long; he sat in this chair to look out the window.

Waiting for brother to wake up.

Keeping watch over prized possessions.

Enjoying a beautiful day outdoors.

The best movie buddy.

No dog was better at lounging!

Waiting for baby Campbell to arrive.  I was never a napper until I was pregnant and Waylon loved it!

Fast friends.

Waylon meets Campbell.

C and W have been watching movies together since the beginning.

Watching the horns on TV...

Really the couch was his couch, and we just got to share it with him.

Snuggles.

My favorite napping pose.

Checking on his charge.

My attempt at multi-tasking.

Bounce time.

Pretty sure Waylon thought the Boppy pillow was a new special thing just for him.

Best buds.

Waiting for Mackenzie's arrival.

A new nap partner.

Tummy time - Waylon was great at this.

Not many pups have been to Niagara falls!

Waylon showing off his skills at Retriever camp!