Spreading love, joy, peace, faith & unity

Posts tagged ‘pets’

Dogs & Baby Boys

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?

Enjoy babies & dogs? I sure do!

Love, JanBeek

Category:

Animals, children, learning, Life's Challenges, Love, pets

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Monday Mournings

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.

Category:

Heartache, Life and Death, Love, mental health, relationships

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My Morning Visitor

Injured moose
I didn’t let Kenny out on purpose!

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.

What do you think?

Protect our animals! And yourselves, too!!

Love, JanBeek

Category:

Animals, Love, Montana, pets

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Snow!!

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?

Love, JanBeek

Category:

Animals, happiness, Love, Montana, pets

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Five Ways to Have Fun

List five things you do for fun.

1) Texting with my daughter in Switzerland and enjoying the fun of watching her with her grandson & the neighbor’s little boy
2) Communicating with Laina, our bonus daughter in Maryland, and watching her enjoy Leo, her grandson
3) 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 backdrop
4) 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.

Love, JanBeek

Category:

blessings, Family, friendship, happiness, Love, mental health, pets

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Gorgeous CA Coast

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.

Love, JanBeek

Category:

blessings, holidays, Love, Montana, Travel

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I Can Enjoy Family Times

I CAN enjoy Fun Times with family …
and I DID!!
It’s been quite a week
Here I am with our “bonus daughter,” Laina, who lives in Maryland,
our grandson, Nick, and his mom, our daughter, DeDe,
both of whom flew here from Switzerland.

Our smiles tell you what fun we were having!
DeDe & Laina have been best buddies since their freshman year in high school. Do you have people with whom you have remained friends for 40 years or more?
Laina, my hubby Bob, & Nick enjoyed time together
at Wasabi’s in Bozeman, Montana this weekend.
Yes, DeDe and I were there, too.
It’s a fun place!
Nick entered a “run” on Saturday in Bozeman.
Can you believe he ran (or walked when necessary)
for a total of 17 miles? Amazing!
No, he didn’t finish in the #1 spot,
but what fun he had eating the chocolate
from the 1st place medallion
that Elaina bought for him!!
Gotta keep movin’ to stay fit!
Fun times indeed!!

What do you do to stay fit?
When not busy running or dining out,
“the kids” found other happy things to do –
like a day in Virginia City
and a trip to Yellowstone.
Every day we were on the go!
Here is Nick at our favorite brunch spot
in Bozeman:
Jam!
If you’re ever in our area,
you gotta be sure
to make this one of your stops!
We knew how to wait happily for our brunch table!
Back home, you can see that our family time
was enhanced by “the pup!”
Kenny has loved all the company … extra playmates!

They leave to return to their homes tomorrow.
We are certainly going to miss them!

Who have you hosted in your home this summer/fall?
I hope you had as much fun with family as we did!

Off to bed now.
See ya tomorrow –
We’re going to the airport bright and early.
Good night!


Love,
JanBeek

Category:

children, Family, friendship, Living in Harmony, Love, Montana, pets, relationships

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Positive Emotion?

Today’s Prompt was:
What positive emotion do you feel most often?

My Response:
Gratitude

I’m grateful for the neighbors who came immediately last night when I called them. I was frantic! Kenny, our pup, was crying. We could hear his barks and his whining, but we couldn’t find him. It sounded like it was coming from under the house. Maybe he went under the deck and got stuck on something. Maybe a rattlesnake bit him (years ago we had that happen to our Boston named Angela). We searched high and low for Kenny. No luck!
We were frantic!
So we called our friends.
They came. Four of them!
We all searched.
Still no luck.
So, we went into the house
(we’d already searched there thoroughly).
When we walked in through the back door,
there was a black and white nose
sticking out from under Bob’s chair!!
Kenny had squeezed under to fetch a toy –
and he got stuck!!
Whew!!!😥
We lifted the chair to release him.
Gratitude?
Ah yes!! 👏🏽
Thank You, Jesus!

Thank You, God,
Thank You, Jesus!
Thank You for neighbors,
for answered prayers,
for the safety of our pup!
Whew!!

Remember that first picture up there of Kenny lying on a quilt?
I’m grateful for it, too.
Do you have a memory quilt?
I love mine!
And no, Kenny doesn’t usually get to lie on it!
It was a retirement gift from my teaching colleagues
when I retired back in 1999.
The sentiments on it
and the remembrances
are so precious!

Marta Garcia did the stitching
and each of my colleagues at school
added a piece with their name
and sometimes a sentiment.
“Stitched with dreams of traveling forever,”
Marta wrote.

If you live in Ennis, Montana
with the Madison River running through it
and the spectacular Rocky Mountains as your backdrop,
and people from all over the world coming here to fish
and to just relax and enjoy the peace, the open spaces,
the wild animals, and the proximity to Yellowstone,
then you live daily with an attitude of gratitude,
and guess what?
Traveling forever is not a daily prayer.
We are grateful that you come to us!
Keep doing it!

What positive emotion do you feel most often?

Cheers from JanBeek

Category:

Animals, blessings, contentment, friendship, God, Gratitude, happiness, Life's Challenges, Living in Harmony, Love, Memories, Montana, pets

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Pursue With-ness

“Take genuine interest in other people… turn to the person next to you in the grocery store and ask what the highlight of their day has been… Your question … will probably be the highlight of their day.”

That quote is from Bob Goff’s Catching Whimsy, 365 Days of Possibility.

He challenges us with today’s action step:

“Engage the people around you
with love and inexplicable curiosity today.”

Time with Saskia & Laszlo is so precious!

I need to be sure and practice “With-ness” with them.
God sent them to us so we could really BE with one another.

Who are you going to really be with today?
Bob Goff uses Galatians 6:10
to remind us of Jesus’ words to the people:
“So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone.”

Let them know you are 100% with them …
and curious about how life is going with them.

How is life going with you!?

My life is quite lovely.
Kenny’s is, too.
I hope yours is, also.

Who can you practice
“With-ness” with today?

Love,
JanBeek

Me with Laszlo
(Yup, that’s “With-ness!”)

Category:

Bible Lessons, blessings, books, friendship, Living in Harmony, Love, pets, relationships

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Playful Pup

Today our 9 1/2 month old pup, Kenny, received a new toy in the mail from our bonus daughter, Laina. She seems to find just the right things for us and for Kenny, and manages to send them just when we need them most. Cookies and a book for Bob. A special message and gift for me… her timing and choices are perfect! Kenny really is enjoying his new toy:

Kenny is so playful! He heard this video and it really set him off!

I hope you are having a lovely, playful start to summer, too.
Kenny wears himself out and then goes to sleep.
Cheers, my friends!

Happy 2nd day of Summer.
I hope you’re having beautiful weather.
Our rainbow tonight as beautiful as they come!!

God bless you and give you peace.
We need peace in this world.
Let’s create it in the corner where we are!

God bless you all… and pray with me for peace in this troubled world.

John 14:27 

Peace I leave with you;
my peace I give to you.
Not as the world gives do I give to you.
Let not your hearts be troubled,
neither let them be afraid.

Love to you from
JanBeek

Category:

Animals, Bible Lessons, Life's Challenges, Living in Christ's Family, Love, peace

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