Spring snow

We were so excited for the first day of spring. Flowers were starting to bloom and the desire for sunshine is great around here. It hasn't been a super cold winter but it's been wetter than ever. Just the idea that it was now spring, according to the calendar, was hope that sunny days with warm, dry weather are close.

I do believe that winter decided to have one last who-rah before giving way to spring. I hope it's the last we'll see of him till December! I can't complain, something about snow, at least when there's a lot of it, feels like Christmas. I told Ana and Jorryn that it was Christmas to see how fast they'd get out of bed. Within 15 minutes Ana was dressed, happily awake, and building a snowman. That is incredible. We ended up taking two snow days and didn't do school. I read a book sitting in front of the wood burning stove. It couldn't have felt more like a fine winter day!

I did try and get pictures taken. It was fun being out in the falling snow but I was worried about my camera getting all wet and I couldn't keep it off the lens so some pics have blurry spots. A few of our trees fell over from the weight of the snow. The top of the tree in our back yard snapped off. The second day Ana and Jorryn built snow forts (that mice would be proud of ;)) and had a snowball fight. The sun was out and made it easier to stay warm outside. Chance loved the snow and I don't think he could have gotten any wetter or muddier in it! He was cold or maybe just thought we should be out there playing with him more cuz he didn't stop yipin and yappin till this evening. It was so beautiful I just can't believe that someone would deny there's a Creator who designed it all. Our snow days of spring were a blessing in disguise you could say.

Piggies

I'm exhausted but thought if I don't get something blogged tonight I won't. So here is a few pictures and little description of whats going on around our place. I have been pestering Jeremy for some time now to let me breed the goats or get another puppy or even a cute little bunny. It's spring time soon and I need a baby something around! Thankfully, Jorryn wanted to do a 4H project this year and is going to raise a pig to show and sell at fair. Since it is a temporary animal and will teach Jorryn about responsibility (and hopefully help him make some money), Jer agreed and was almost as excited about getting piglets as me. Jorryn bought one piglet while we bought the other, as a back up and also for us to butcher after his goes to fair. We brought them home today. They are 6 weeks old. Jorryn named one Mr Red and the other Pork Chop. Jer is calling Pork Chop, Evil Dr. Pork Chop.

Jer spent the last 2 days building a "pig house". Most of the materials were things we had lying around or had "donated". I'm thinking that Chance and the goats need new housing after seeing what Jer built for the pigs! I'm super impressed! We still need to get the panels up so they have more room, (my project for tomorrow afternoon) but I think they are very pampered pigs already.

Ironically, Ana seems to be as excited about the pigs as the rest of us. She doesn't want to do 4H but I'm glad she is interested!

Ana used most of her money that she'd saved up to buy a guitar. She would really like to take lessons but for now her and Jer will be trying to teach themselves.

You might wonder why I have pictures of the balloons on here. Well they are the same balloons that were at Jer's 40th Birthday Party November 19, 2011. Tomorrow will be 100 days that they have been floating in our room! I'd like to know what the record is but can't seem to find one. I started taking pictures of them at the beginning of February so I'd have proof that they lasted so long. Kinda silly but it's been fun to see every night if they are still up. I will try to be better about blogging....this is a start! :)

Jami

Lots of rain...

Well, too much rain. We are sitting on a hill, but our neoghbors have a little bit of a water issue.



Here is a link to a few videos as well.

1st video

2nd video

3rd video

Our foot bridge.

More to follow.

The waterlogged Von Rudens

Gabriel

Today is a mixed feelings day. A day where we lose a friend and companion, and yet at the same time, his suffering is gone.

Our dog Gabe had developed an autoimmune disease that we have been watching and treating for many years now, and it has been slowly catching up to him. When we first started to treat him, we noticed improvement. He seemed back to his normal happy self, for awhile. Then we noticed the medication had some new symptoms. Decreased appetite, blood in his urine among other things. We tried to get a balance of medication and diet, buying him expensive dog foods. (Jer stopped here, unable to finish so I'm going to try.) Eventually the medication didn't give him any relief. Then neither did his diet. He didn't like the expensive food anyways and would often go days without eating. When we realized he would eat his breakfast and dinner and often more if we just fed him pedigree, we thought at least he'd put on weight. And he was happier. If only for a short time.

What makes Gabe so special? Let me tell you about an unbelievable dog and his fight to live many times over. Gabe was the third and last puppy born to our first German Shepherd, Diva. He probably should have died that night but Jeremy finally pulled him out after being stuck in the birth canal for 30 minutes. He was gasping for air almost the whole time since Diva had licked off the sack. He amazed us by immediately latching on to mom. We knew he was going to be tuff. A few days later, Diva stepped on him and he didn't stop squawking for an hour. After talking to the veterinarian he said there was very little that could be done for him if he did have internal damage since he was so young. He seemed to be ok and turned out to be the alpha of the litter. He also preferred to be outside and aloof. When it came time to sell the puppies we had to choose the best fit for some friends who wanted one of the two males. I had grown very attached to the other male, Chance, and wanted to keep him. Since they would have an outside dog we thought Gabe would be a better fit for them, also. His strong will and their dedication were a good match that first year. I believe it was his first night with them that an owl tried to carry him away. His persistent yelping got them to have mercy on him and discover he really was in danger and not being a troublesome puppy.

When he was 6 months old he managed to jump over their wood fence that enclosed a pool and land in the water. It was winter and extremely cold outside. Again his persistence in barking got him rescued. They treated him for hypothermia the best they could and he bounced back.

We took him to his first show in the spring and got lots of attention for his conformation and "look at me" presence. I had huge hopes of making him a champion.

I'm not sure when this next life threatening event happened to him. I think it must of been after the show because the weather was very nice. I was with Ana and Jorryn dropping Gabe off at his owners after watching him while they were on vacation. They have a giant swing with a specially made wood seat so the little kids wont fall out while being pushed. It's very sturdy and I was pushing Ana in it. I'm thinking the arc was about 12 ft, much higher than just any swing. Gabe ran thru just as the swing came down and hit him in the side of the head knocking him out cold for just a few very long seconds. I'm still horrified when I think of it. He was bleeding from the mouth and could hardly stand. I knew the family would be back soon and by the time they were he was acting normal. They agreed to keep an eye on him but as far as I know he never showed any signs of trauma. He eventually developed a white line across that side of his head that we thought must be from that accident.

We moved to Lebanon in August 2006 and just before we did, Gabe's owners, felt it better for him, (and I think for me too) to give him back to us. We had intentions on finding him a "show" home. But Gabe had a very dominate, stubborn temperament that quickly made me realize he would be too aggressive in the show ring, and with the wrong owner, dangerous. We had him altered and with in a week he was a different dog. It was night and day. He loved everybody and even other dogs. It didn't take Jer long to realize I wouldn't let him go again and Gabe had always been Jer's favorite. He even became the kids favorite and almost everyone who met him. He was 3 yrs old when he when discovered the auto immune disease. The first vet that we consulted, said she was so sorry and that there wasn't much that could be done. I finally found a vet with experience with his type of disease and she helped maintain him comfortably for a year. With more research I found that I could help him with diet.

When eventually even the diet wasn't helping, his discomfort was more than Jer and I could bare. It's an extremely hard and agonizing decision to make that the quality of your beloved pet it more important than the quantity. He was a huge part of our family and will be greatly missed.

Skunks!

Jami takes care of a neighbors in the afternoons, and there is a resident skunk that has been there stinking up the place for a couple years now. I know what some of you are thinking, WHY in the world haven't we rid the barn of the skunk? I'll tell you. I don't know.

So this momma skunk has 5 little pups running around now, and they are quite cute. The picture above is not them, but they look just like them. There is wooden floor in the barn that they live under, and on the wooden floor is where the grain is for the horse. Sometimes they come out and hang out around that area and Jami doesn't want to go near them for fear of getting sprayed as you can imagine. Sometimes Jami goes to get the grain and momma comes running, and Jami goes running! I get a phone call to come and take care of them, but by the time I get there they are always gone. I thought of live traps, we have a few, but I have been lazy.

Today Jami went to the barn and there was a few baby skunks there looking like they were sick and dying. As far as we know they hadn't been poisoned, but they sure were acting like it. We decided it was time to get rid of them permanently. Shot the two that looked sick, and two more came out from under the flooring to check things out. Ended up just getting the four, and there is the momma still there and one more pup. Not sure where they were this afternoon, but we might run into them later.

I came home smelling like skunk, but Jami at least shouldn't be getting sprayed anytime soon.

We have two working cats here on the property as well. Tiger and Captain. Tiger is the young hunter, and he is constantly leaving piles of guts right in the footpath of the back door. If your not careful you will step in them. Lately the piles are bigger than normal. We recognized a few as rats, and found out today that he has been getting a few gophers as well. Goooooood Kitty!!!!


Until next time,

Jer

Reminiscing

Ran across some pictures that just reinforce Gods gift to me in giving me Jami as my wife.



Love ya Jami!

Jer

Mud & Snow

I came across a few pictures of Matt & I playing in the hills. The one in the mud was up Post canyon, Hood River area. We had gone up to visit Thad, and got a little crazy in the mud. I got high centered in a stump that I couldn't see as I was trying to stay on the road. That one took about 45 minutes to get out of, with about 40' of chain and two hi-lift jacks.

The snow pick is some Saturday afternoon with nothing better to do than to go push snow with the front bumper of the truck. If I remember right, we passed three other rigs that couldn't go any further and were trying to back down the road and one got stuck.

The other is the fun coast trip Matt & I had many many moons ago. We have a whole series of pics from that trip. if only I can find them.



Jeremy

Skipping Phase Three until further notice

There are a lot of current events that we want to start sharing with you, but first we thought we should tell you why we skipped phase 3 of last years trip.

Phase three was supposed to be last summer in Nebraska, but nothing materialized. We have pictures of branding, kids on quads, rattle snakes, horseback riding, bathroom remolding. Where are the pictures? Here somewhere. Why haven't we posted? Some say we are procrastinators. Some say too lazy. I say, I might tell you later after a nap.

Jeremy

Road Trip Phase Two

Long time between post, but Jami was supposed to write up phase two.
So after leaving Cedaredge, we headed to Denver to see Jamis cousin Laura and meet the rest of the family from Osh Kosh to go to Elitch Gardens Six Flaggs.
We got a decent night sleep even after getting in so late at Laura's place, and all of us were ready to go when it came time to get up and get ready for the theme park. We met up with the Osh Kosh crew around 9ish and were off to the park. I was just as excited as the kids I think, and could hardly wait to hit the big rides with them as well. I was thinking the biggest rides would scare them off, but I was wrong. One ride, the TOWER of DOOM, which looms 200ft into the air and free falls you to the ground, was begging all of us to try it. Jorryn runs up to the measuring stick to check and see if the kids meet the height requirements and when he checked himself and realized he was tall enough, he starts yelling for all the crowd to hear, "I am TALL enough! I can RIDE IT! I CAN RIDE IT!" All this shouting and jumping in the air at the same time. This ride as we found out later would end up to be his favorite for the whole day. Jami found a new boyfriend at the park, I wasn't too jealous though, so I took the picture of them so she can remember him after the day was over.
We did some water rides, and then the kids went to the water park towards the end of the day and got soaked. We stayed there until it closed at 6, then a cool wind started up and those who were wet, (kids), got pretty cold. Ana had some extra clothes, but Jorryn needed a shirt, so he and I went to the gift shops to look for a cool one from the park. Finally found one after about 15 minutes that wasn't too high a price and one I thought he would wear on a regular basis. Mission accomplished! Until we went outside. Apparently the cool wind was binging in more than just a mild change in temperature, but also some thunder showers. We put up with a few rain drops, then some thunder claps, then came the heavy downpour. Soaked us to the bone. So much for the new dry shirt I just bought him 10 minutes earlier! We found some shelter, then ran to another ride and stood in line amidst the intermittent rain. Just when we were next to board, they decided that there was too much lightening and all the rides in the park were closed. CLOSED! ugh. What an abrupt end to a pretty fun day.
We found the rest of the crew and all went back to the hotel where the grandparents were staying and the kids ended up playing in the pool. Lots of fun.
Laura was also having her shower in the master bathroom replaced and I ended up pushing a wall back for her, opening up the shower another foot or so and then dropping the ceiling a few inches so they can have plumbing run above the shower for an over the head shower head. I was glad to help, and the payment was a pretty awesome dinner that filled me beyond capacity.

Enjoy the few pics, next phase is in OshKosh.