Dog House

On our list of many things to have done before Winter, building a dog house/shelter was one of them. I was thinking something enough that they could fit in, but it was Stephen's project and he was the designer. I have to say, as simple and basic as it is, it is probably the coolest dog house ever. We made it for the cost of screws - $12.00, because we got all the wood free from his work. SO awesome!!


The beginning of the frame

 

He has really good helpers

 

 

Finishing touches

A place to all home :)

 

Goofy puppies

Love you Shar Pei

Sweet Shar Pei passed away sometime in the night last night. She stopped eating her food 2 days ago, and I had a feeling it was going to happen soon. We had been preparing all summer for the fact that she wouldn't make it another winter, but never felt right about taking her in to the vet to be put down. This was especially hard for Stephen, and I am so glad she went on her own, because he wouldn't have survived taking her in.





Stephen got Shra Pei a month before he turned 12. He said he was in a very depressed place and that is why his parents let him get her. He wanted her brother in the beginning, but prayed over it and was told to pick her. That was the best thing for him. She was by his side for 15 years. Waiting for him while he was on his mission, and supporting him through the most trying times in his life. Honestly, whoever said that Dog is Man's best friend, was really inspired, because I don't know of a closer relationship.

With her not eating for 2 days, the kids and I were gone somewhere and he was able to spend about 20 minutes with her, loving her and thanking her for everything. He gave her permission to leave, telling her it was ok and that he would be ok. I honestly believe that is the only reason she was able to go, she needed to know he would be ok. And so she went that night. He said he had a feeling she would go around the time his first child was going to be born, which is only a little over a month away.

When he went to leave for work, he called her like to normal to say goodbye and she never came. He saw Kimber sitting next to her, and when he noticed them Kimber ran away. He walked over to her and checked on her and figured she passed as she was laying down to sleep that night. All night I had been dreading the morning because I had a feeling it was going to happen and I did not want to be the one to find her, and need to call him at work. When he walked into the bedroom after he had already told me goodbye for the day, he didn't even have to say anything.

He took a half day off work, and we found a special spot in the back yard, up on a hill so she could watch over our family and property, or as we called it, Her Queendom :)

Pets, to us, are family. They hold a dear place in our hearts and are just as important to us as other family members. These things are extremely difficult to us, losing a loved one. I am SO grateful to know that not only do we get to be with our family forever, through God's plan, but our animals will be there with us also.

Random Family Moments

I think the pictures do the best at describing this.....

 

 Savannah and Remington... if you look closely you will notice she is wearing a skirt, with her pink soccer socks and cowboy boots :)

It was raining outside and I couldn't find Savannah and Dechlin anywhere. I looked outside and asked what they were doing - they said they were working on survival things :) They crack me up :)

 

My Man from Snowy River :)

My all time favorite movie is The Man From Snowy River :) Stephen was out working with Winchester one night and I snapped these pictures..... perfect :) This is on the hill in our back yard.

 

 

 

Ride 'em Cowboy!

Stephen started riding Winchester over Labor Day weekend. He is doing SO good!!

 

 

 

Super Dog

Silly Kimber -  She is my best buddy :)

 

 

Geldings!!

So we got Moonlight on Saturday and had all three of the boys cut on Monday  - Yay! We are Stud free :)

 

Remington

 

I had to write the story of this little pup because I think it is so cool how Heavenly Father works. I don't think there is any other explanation except that Rem is supposed to be in our family for whatever reason :)

On January 12,2012 we were on our way into Montrose when Stephen pointed out the window across the highway and said" Look at that Coon Hound" I looked and saw a blue/teal like flash of a collar and my first thought was Kimber - same black and tan and same collar coloring. We were about 10 miles from home and it wouldn't have been possible to be her,  but for some reason I felt we had to make sure it wasn't. So we turned around and drove up to where he was. He was chewing on an old deer leg trying to get anything he could off of it. He was SO skinny. He had tags, and was near some houses but we felt we should pick him up and call in to the animal shelter.

So he rode around with us. We had a turkey carcass in some grocery bags that Stephen was going to take out to see what critters he could draw in at work one night, but they didn't do it so there it sat. He was so gentle that he tried sticking his nose in the hole at the top, but it wouldn't fit so he left it alone. I know other dogs that hungry would have just ripped it open. So at one of our stops, Stephen opened it and pulled some of the fat off and he licked the bones clean.

We brought him home and introduced him to Kimber. They liked each other right off the bat and he LOVED the kids. It was so good for Kimber, because she has been lonely, not getting a whole lot of attention. We started calling him Remington because we didn't have any idea what his name was, and it stuck and he responded to it really good.

Now I am a stickler about animals in the house. It took very cold nights for me to let Kimber and Shar Pei into the shoe area in our house. I just have a hard time with pet hair! I have been praying for a soft heart in other area's of my life, again, Heavenly Father teaches us in interesting ways.

So, I felt so bad for him, having to have been out for weeks, that we let them in and they were SO good.

His tags were from Mesa County, so we called the animal shelter and reported him found on their automated system. We took a liking to him so quickly and he seemed to just fit so naturally. We were so very anxious about anyone calling for him.

It was about noon yesterday and no one had called, not even the shelter. So I called them and talked to a lady. She said because of where he got his license from or something, that she didn't have any information on him. The rabies tag would let us know, but it didn't have the complete phone number. So with a little research, we called the place he received his rabies shot, Banfield and they told us his name was Tucker and was from Fruita. She said she would call the owners and have them call me.

That was a long couple hours of waiting. I was sure they were going to call wanting him back and we would all be sad, but happy a family got their dog back.

So Dan called me, with an interesting story about Rem. They got him as a 6 week old puppy in May 2011. They loved him so much. They have 6 kids and being a coon hound pup, he was very playful and would knock the kids over. With time that would have been ok, but Dan's job was changing and hours to take care of him were slim. With sad hearts they decided it was best for him to give him away. They turned 6 people down, because they wanted him to have the very best, not to just be a hunting dog stuck in a kennel his whole life. Finally the found someone to take him and they wanted to stay in touch so they could watch him grow, and they were to be informed first if he was going to be given away or anything like that. Unfortunately that wasn't the case, he was given to a family in Montrose and so they lost contact with him.

 

After talking with Dan for a while about the situation, he said he would rather us keep him, then try to find out where he had last been. And we both felt that if he was gone for that  long, someone would have been looking for him and we never saw any ads about him, and if he wasn't gone that long then he wasn't being fed good because of how skinny he was.

So I told Dan, be friends with me on facebook and you can stay in touch with him, and we get to keep him!

ZOO Trip!!!

My posts are a little out of order, but at least I am staying on top of things now instead of in a few months or even a year later right? I got to go to the Zoo with the Kindergarten class on May 13. I had Savannah and her friend Nauli in my group and we had so much fun. They learned there is only one species of giraffe, that rhino and elephant poop is good because it plants seeds everywhere :) And we got to see the baby lemurs, and the baby orangutan play around and be silly :)

Her facial expression is the absolute best!!!

Our newest addition!!

So we were able to adopt the sweetest girl yesterday :) We are so excited. She is a 10 mth old Coon Hound. She was really scared. We are thinking abused some and she was tied up her whole life living under a trailer. She is warming up so well, licking us all over, wagging her tail and even played with some toys today. The kids just adore her, and I love to hear her hound howl :) Her name is probably going to be Kimber Lady - we've been calling her Lady, but daddy is thinking she is more of a Kimber :) So excited, she is going to be so amazing for our family!!!

She is such a sweetie and has a VERY good nose :) Walking around the yard on a leash is torture for her because she'll pick up a scent and has to drag me around to follow it. She wanted 2 kitty's today very badly. She is going to be so much fun!!!