More Lutsen pictures

Taking a rest....

Puzzle Time

Riding in the Jeep!


Dexter loves daddy

Lutsen

This year, we took a trip after Christmas with BB, Susan, and Liv to ski for a few days at Lutsen Mountain! We were able to bring Dexter along and he enjoyed hanging out with Ginger as well. We skied for two days, had fun putting together puzzles at night, and playing board games.

Liv and KT
The question in the game was "What is the most useless household item?"
Colin had just responded "a broom".....Nice - we know who does the cleaning in our house!

Dexter's favorite - duck!

On the slopes....

Presents!

Dexter got a lot of presents this year - a vest for taking walks, a sweater, shoes to keep him warm, and a huge gift set with his favorite - ducks! One of my favorite pictures is posing next to an elephant that Colin and I got for Landry!

Gingerbread Men

Colin and I made huge Gingerbread cookies this year as part of our Christmas present cooking tradition (last year we made Kalhua). Colin decorated them with gumdrops and frosting - yum!

Christmas Card

Christmas Play

KT, Colin, and Olivia

Every year, the King family goes to a Christmas play - this year we went and saw A Christmas Carol at the Guthrie. It was fun night!

Confirmed Diagnosis

After visiting the University of Minnesota and our local vet, it seems clear that Dexter does indeed have cancer. We have been working with our local vet to make him as comfortable as possible during this time and he will be starting steroids immediately to help him feel better. Our vet thinks that he may have another 6-8 weeks depending on how the cancer reacts to the steroid treatments, but eventually the cancer will beat the steroids and "take over". While Colin and I are really struggling, we know that all we can do is make him comfortable and give him all the love we can for the next few weeks. Looking back on the past few months (and his entire life), I feel like I continue to question if I should have noticed something earlier. It wouldn't have necessarily made a difference, but it has become obvious over the past few months that he has lost weight. I guess when you are in the thick of something, it's harder to notice what you aren't looking for. I just keep thinking back to how much fun he had at the King cabin in August - and now he seems to get tired just walking a little ways down the street. As you all know, he is an extremely finicky eater that I have always cooked for, and this was because he never had a strong stomach and had a hard time eating. Now that we know he has lymphoma that has infected his intestines, it makes a lot more sense why he was a picky eater.