Farewell Miss Tag Our Friend - You Will Be Missed

Well the past few days have been a little sad around the Boryczka house. Miss Tag over the last few weeks had really started to slow down, not eat and loose weight. We took her to the vet on Tuesday night and they decided to keep her over night hooked up to an IV because they were afraid she was dehydrated. She stayed another night and got progressively worse. Her blood work looked terrible. We got the phone call this morning that she had blood around her mouth and looked like she may have had seizure activity over night. The vet recommended that we put her to sleep as there really wasn't anything they could do for her. As much as we loved her, we knew that was best for her. So this morning, our sweet little dog fell asleep and went to doggie heaven.

The hardest part has been all the memories that have been flooding back to us. She was our first pet as a married couple, and we got her from the Birmingham Race Course in 2000. The next day we adopted a sister for her - Molly the mutt. I guess the weird thing is that it has always been Molly and Miss Tag together. They always sleep in the bay window in the living room on their beds and it is sad to see one bed empty. I just hope Molly doesn't get too lonely.

We have an area along our back fence with a lot of overgrown bushes and Miss Tag would hang out in there a lot. We called it "Miss Tag's Jungle." She loved to run around our above ground pool, but only a few laps and then it was time to rest again. She traveled a lot with us. She has been to the beach several times - St. George being her favorite as she got to get off her leash and run. She traveled by car all the way to Massachusetts on Christmas and loved every minute of the ride. She use to get really excited when you said the word "Frosty." I have no idea how we discovered that?

Most importantly she was a good friend. She never judged and was always happy to see you. Our house seems a little empty here today without our sweet girl. Thanks for all the happy memories and we will miss you dearly!!

New Year's

Our regular New Year's crew is swarming with babies and tots, so we thought it best to just hang out at someone's house. The kiddies could sleep while we tried to relive our wild days. Brooke and Jon were nice enough to invite us to their new home in the ATL. We also got to meet their new baby Roland and of course visit with his big brother Quinn. Earlier in the night it looked like Tad had everything under control with the kids, so we almost left him to babysit.
Here is the crew after the kiddies went to bed. We were missing one lovely lady Sarah in the picture. Wes and Sarah were kid free that night as they left Anna and Noah at the grandparent's house.

The next morning it was back to business as usual getting everyone fed and happy.

Liam's Patriot's Gear

Aunt Ali and Uncle Brian gave Liam some sweet Patriot's gear for Christmas. He sported it for the game on December 28.

Liam's Baptism - December 26, 2008

During our visit to Massachusetts, we thought it would be nice to have Liam baptized at Tad's mother's church, Holy Name, in Holyoke, MA. The baptism took place on December 26 at 6:15 P.M. It was a very cold night!! The picture below shows Liam's godparent's, Tad's sister Vicki and her husband Jon. The blur in Tad's arm is Little Tad. By his behavior, he may have needed to be baptized again. He wanted to go up on the alter and see the nativity scene or baby as he called it.
Liam didn't love the water being poured on his head, but didn't get too upset.

This is the bib that Vicki's son, Joseph, used at his baptism. It is being saved for the next Boryczka baptism.

The group with Father Darcy.

Afterwards we went back to Tad's mom's house to have dinner with the family. On the couch is Tad and Liam's great grandmother Bachi.

I ordered all the food over the phone from AL before we arrived. I was suspicious that the cake lady did not understand Liam's name. I would say his name and spell it several times and she kept saying something else. I said no - Liam. She said oh I am just saying it the real way. I was like O.K. LIAM. So when I went to pick up the cake of course it was spelled wrong. It was spelled LOEON. At first I thought it said Leon, and that actually might have been funny to leave on his cake - no offense to the Leon's out there. They were able to scrape it off and rewrite his name. The cake and the food were really good, so that is all that matters to me!!

Chistmas 2008 in Massachusetts

All I can say about a plane trip with two little ones is "thank goodness that is over." I must say they were very well behaved, but it was just the logistics of getting through security checks and getting on the plane while holding them, Tad's car seat and a few carry on bags down an aisle that was already tight when it was just me. We did buy this really cool attachment for Tad's car seat so we could wheel him around the airport while he was sitting in his car seat. A very good investment. I meant to get pictures of us in the airport, but I was a little occupied. We did have a few delays and had to sit on the runway for about a hour on one flight, but we made it!!

So we got our white Christmas!!

Tad had fun playing with his cousin Julianne. They were reluctantly sharing Cheezits. Tad got his love of Cheezits from is daddy!!

Christmas morning was fun with the kids. They all got great gifts. Tad liked the blocks that were really for Liam.

Here he is opening a tape measure so he can help his daddy with his projects around the house.

Uncle Brian and Liam hung out after all the excitement!

Christmas 2008 In Alabama

Since Tad and I have been married, we alternate Christmas and Thanksgiving with my family and Tad's family in Massachusetts. This year we celebrated Christmas with my family on December 20 at our house. When you have the most kids, it is easier to clean up dinner than to haul them and all their stuff elsewhere. Unfortunately we seemed to get more video than pictures, so here is one with Tad opening a gift. Liam was of course more interested in boxes and wrapping paper. He wanted to taste them too!