Scallops – yum!Fresh crab legs! Yum!!Dig right in! Enjoy!!Chef John at the Continental Divide here in Ennis, MT is a master!Bob enjoyed his Rosé, tooMeantime our daughter, DeAna, in Switzerland, was enjoying some yummies at her choir party. And…… our daughter, Laina, was enjoying the opportunity to celebrate her grandson’s first birthday with a trip and yummy food and fun rides In DisneyWorld. Happy Birthday, Leo! Winnie the Pooh is a favorite Disney character for many of us. Kenny wishes Leo a Happy 1st birthday while he celebrates his 2nd! Yum!!
What “Yum” have you experienced recently? Tell me about it!
If your pet could talk, what would be the first thing it says?
Karen Kelly posts the cutest Boston Terrier images!
Our Kenny looks very much like this Boston. And at 2 years of age he still is very much a puppy! Even though he has calmed down some, his energy level still creates a challenge at times.
Occasionally you can see him resting on his favorite blanket, but usually he is up and about looking for mischief!
What would his first words be? “Tummy rub!!”
How about your pet? What would the first words be? Kenny’s other “first words” would be: LET’S PLAY!
What’s the best local dish you’ve ever eaten while traveling?
My son-in-law, André Solioz, is a phenomenal chef. When we travel to Switzerland to be with him, our daughter, and their family, his food is to die for!! The local dish is cheese fondue and it’s wonderful. But his specialty that I love is a pork roast. Oh, he creates it in such a mouth-watering way. You’d love it! But, his dishes all are amazing!
Here’s André … We get to see him and eat his wonderful food this October. Yay!
Every morning I interact on WhatsApp with my daughter, De, in Switzerland and bonus daughter, Laina, who lives near Baltimore. We exchange love, lives, pictures of our loved ones, and weather reports.
Laina & Leo
Leo’s parents are happy about sharing his face on social media. Laina, his grama, knows how to make him smile. He’s such a happy baby.
DeDe, our daughter in Switzerland, is thoroughly enjoying being a Grama. This is not Ethan, because his parents don’t want his photo on Social Media But you can see where Ethan & DeDe go for walks
And that baby up there looks a lot like Ethan did at that age. He’ll be 2 end of October. We hope to go there to celebrate with him. We were there for his one week birthday! But two years is a long time not to be able to see your great-grandson. He won’t know us 😩
Here’s Lacey, Laina’s granddog. He was the “flower dog” in his people parents’ wedding. A real companion now for Leo!And here is our Kenny, a thoroughly spoiled Boston Terrier, soon to be two. Kenny has calmed down a lot, but he still doesn’t understand what’s his to chew and what’s not!!
It’s not like he doesn’t have enough toys and chew sticks of his own!
Why does he abandon them and go after our stuff! Ah, pups! Such a challenge!Look how big Lacey looks next to little Leo!
Kenny loves Yak Sticks. Do you know about them?
That little piece is what’s left of one 10x longer. If you have a dog, you may wanna give these a try. Kenny loves ‘em. Best wishes training that active pup, huh?
Only thing harder to train than a pup might be a baby… or a husband?
Hah! I can’t get this guy to stop shouting “No” when Kenny is biting at his slippers. It’s a game. Sigh!
The dog trainer told us “No” is not understood. It’s just paying attention and giving his positive attention for negative behavior. Oh my! We’ve spent two years reinforcing bad habits. Help!
Time for a walk to the neighbors. Isn’t this the cutest baby?
This is the anniversary of our pup, Owen’s death. I posted “A Day from Hell” in my blog. So many dear friends wrote, called, came to offer condolences and support.
A different kind of death
Yesterday we had a different kind of death here. One of our beautiful evergreens succumbed to the 50 mph winds. It was 25 years old. Looked healthy on the outside, but when it blew over, it was revealed that there seemed to be no root structure to hold it. Hmmm … how had it survived all those years?
Even with roots, a tree can be toppled.
But that tree was young and immature.
Life can be like that. Young, immature, lacking a sufficient root system.
So today I mourn our tree, our loss of Owen, but most of all the loss of friends’ young sons.
Two of our friends lost 30 year old sons to suicide this past month. No tree or dog can compare. It’s an unimaginable sorrow. My heart goes out to those families.
Monday mourning
God bless you. May your life be deeply rooted in love and purpose.
Hugs, JanBeek (with my life’s love … thank you, Bob… I am so blessed!)
Here we are at a recent amazing Pittsburgh Pirates game.
We seldom see moose in our neighborhood during the day. They sometimes come down out of the mountains at night to nibble on our evergreens when their natural habitat up in the Gravellies or the Madison Range is snow covered. But this guy showed up in broad daylight.
Just sitting outside my kitchen door !
He had a ragged spot in his back and a bum leg. Probably had been injured by some other animal that attacked him.
After I got Kenny back inside, Bob & I chased the young moose off to the neighbor’s. He was nibbling on our trees! Fortunately, after I contacted the neighbor and explained, he called the animal protective services. Hopefully they came to help… I don’t want to think about how.
Yay!! Today’s snow is an answer to prayer. We have desperately needed the moisture. Isn’t it beautiful?
That’s our house behind the snow-laden trees.
And our Kenny absolutely loves it!
Crazy pup!!
Have a beautiful Thursday afternoon/evening, my friends.
I attended an art workshop this week. We all painted butterflies. 🦋 Mine’s not as good as I had hoped, but I had fun doing it. That’s what counts, right?
1) Texting with my daughter in Switzerland and enjoying the fun of watching her with her grandson & the neighbor’s little boy2) Communicating with Laina, our bonus daughter in Maryland, and watching her enjoy Leo, her grandson3) Volunteering at our local nursing home and watching the residents’ big smiles as they get dolled up for glamorous photos in front of this lovely backdrop4) Playing with my Boston “Terror” Kenny (he’s such a character)
5) Visiting with my dear hubby (Bionic Bob) and appreciating his recent improved hearing due to his cochlear implant
That’s the exterior that is magnetized to the magnet implant… and the new aid for his other ear. Amazing new technology! Learning to make full use of these? Not fun! A work in progress!What are your top 5 ways to have fun? My morning chats with De & Laina and my quiet time up in my sanctuary always start my days on a fun, happy note. I hope yours start happily, too.
It was an extra 6 hour drive – stressful in torrential rains, but well worth it to be able to spend time at Carmel by the Sea and experience the Asilomar coast. Sooo beautiful!
We lucked out- a break in the storm!
Don’t know what that white is…
Don’t know what that black spot is!
I know what that smudge on the left is… my thumb!The waves were crashing, the clouds parted , and we marveled at the fresh ocean air and gorgeous vistas. And headed back to our son’s in Placerville, the rain was heavy and the traffic was crazy. There was a terrible accident that delayed us awhile – all lanes closed. But on our way again, God sent this reassurance:A full rainbow with a break in the rain for about 15 reassuring minutes!!
God is good! Now, a safe drive to Sacramento airport early tomorrow- and I’ll see you back in Montana.
Kenny will be waiting for us. But will he want to come home? I don’t know. He’s had a wonderful 3 weeks with his Rover dog sitter. Thank you, Jenna. Happy New Year.
