LEO

 Wordless Wednesday

I have so many words today. My heart is breaking and I hope you will bear with me. Yesterday at approximately  10:28 A. M. this beautiful gentle giant went home to the Rainbow Bridge. It is hard to rest, to think, even the tears are hard to find.  But I can only find goodness in  the life of this virtuous boy who I loved to call LiLo. 

We had a rocky start. He was big, he was stubborn and I am strong willed. It was like fire and gasoline. But I loved him, I truly did. We just butted heads so many times. One  day  in 2016, I came around the corner and he was lying on our bed, always Avery's side, I said to him, what do you think your doing? He gave me that look, what does  it look like, I'm resting on this huge comfy bed! Leo loved his comfort. 

My favorite story of Leo is one morning, after we bought our new adjustable bed, Avery had left for work and I decided to get more sleep. I woke up to a feeling that someone was watching me.  When I opened my eyes, I was staring directly into those big amber colored Leo eyes!  We were literally nose to nose and he gave me that grin, ha, this bed is more comfortable then the old one! 

A gentle giant, a prince among the vast breeds of canines. He was a genteel boy, never allowing puppies to get underneath his feet. I was under those feets a time or two and he was big and strong but he had a kindness you do not often see in the world as much. 

As much as I would rather have him here, I would not want to see him suffer. I am grateful to the Almighty that his suffering was not long and he drifted off to dreams of chasing rabbits I am sure. Of running free with all his friends, Smokey, Bandit, Rose, Tinkerbell, Boots, Spats, Trek, Layla,  He will forever be missed by his precious brother Franklin when he comes to visit and search's the house and yard for Leo!.

Those long legs, huge paws and that precious, sweet and innocent face. He gave more love than most can accumulate in a lifetime. My heart hurts for our sweet boy Finn. He was at Leo's  side constantly. He loved to clean his ears. He ran the yard with him, he chased those rabbits, cause he learned from the master.  His passing was the most peaceful I have ever seen. He knew how loved he was. He knew each one of our faces, He was a people person so why would we leave him in his most trying hour.?

Monday night, Finn was up here on the love seat and he waited and watched that front door. Seeing his best buddy carried out by Zach and Nick and unable to to know what happened and where he was going made this boy so sad. 

The vet who came to our home was a good and very kind soul. He gave us all the space we needed to say our goodbyes. Even the pups were able to come up and love on this boy Leo .Heartbreaking as it was, we knew Leo needed this send off. I think he will stop at the Rainbow Bridge, see his perfect healthy body able to run and play and he will stop and remember all of us.

Goodbye my Lilo. I am going to be so sad without you. 

  And I heard every created thing which is in heaven, or under  the earth , or on the sea,  and all the things in them, saying,  "To Him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be the  blessing, the honor, the glory, and the dominion, forever and ever. " Revelation 5:13

Time flies away

 My phone does not sync with my laptop so I could not post while we were on our little mini vacation. We had a very nice time with Nick. He was really hoping his siblings could come along but no one could. We enjoyed being treated so wonderfully on our flight out of town. Because Nick's job scheduling flight crews  has afforded him enjoying lots of new friends. First rate flight and first class crew. A fun fact DIA, Denver International Airport is the only one US state that has a unique airport. On a top ten list list of unique airports Denver is the only US state there. I was happy to read it as my middle brother Ed worked on that airport and he has always done a first rate job and I am very proud that his work ethic is first class too.

I follow a mom named Kaylene Yoder. She has so many wonderful resources to help me in my Christian walk. This verse was imprinted on my heart yesterday as we left Las Vegas and flew home. Here is the reason why.

We were flying home and this photo out of the plane's window was over Buena Vista, Colorado. You need to know that we saw the first pilot coming into our waiting area and he looked to be approximately 11 years old! I was praying because I think of pilots like Sully who brought a plane down on the Hudson river without loss of life. As we board the plane the second pilot who may have been 12, greeted passengers. Now I was a little nervous. I know we hit turbulence when traveling over the mountains so that was a no brainer. But I was nervous and Avery and I prayed before we took off and all through out flight. Nick was socializing with the crew as they all have stories to share about being scheduled, cancelled flights, etc. As we were heading out to take off the pilot announces that Edward (the American Bald) eagle is flying on the tail with us. Now I feel like maybe things will be ok. We were sitting behind one of the emergency exits. The four people sitting there agreed that in case of emergency they would be prepared to help. We fly into the sky and the pilot is speaking to us and he seems calm and friendly. He comes back on several times to tell us there is a storm and he would like us to stay seated and buckled up. We hit some bad weather and we are bouncing along. Now I figure with Edward back there we might be ok but when the plane tilts a bit I think , boy this kid (pilot) sure knows his stuff! We bounce around quite a bit and suddenly we are 35 minutes to landing! W O W ! This flight was something else.  As we flew into those clouds I assumed either we would meet Jesus or I may just be too old to appreciate a young pilot who had incredibly terrific skill piloting that plane. I knew God was holding us up there and an incredible peace came over me. 

Hello Lord, these clouds are very pretty, the sky is bluer than it was fifteen minutes ago. I am guessing you are pushing us through this weather situation with the help of these two young incredibly savvy pilots! 

Did I mention the young man behind me was griping my seat and holding on for dear life. A sweet lady across from us, had felt ill and they moved her closer to where the attendant in our section was sitting so she could keep an eye on her.  Avery and I prayed so hard on that plane and I felt God 's presence there. I know the Lord is always with me. I will not be shaken for He is right beside me. It is the truth and He held on to every single person on that plane to make sure we all remained cool, calm and collected. What a ride, one I will always hold close to my heart.

WHILE IT LOOKS LIKE THINGS ARE OUT OF CONTROL, BEHIND THE SCENES THERE IS A GOD WHO HAS NOT SURRENDERED HIS AUTHORITY  A.W. TOZER

 While  sometime it looks like things are out of control, they are not. God has proven to me many, many times no one on this earth is in control. He ultimately is and He holds up those who need holding. He proved it to me once again August 24, 2023. Thank you Lord!

 I had to post this sweetness! My friend Shirley and her husband Scott have been married 47 years on August 20, 2023. Shirley and I worked together at the County Treasurer's office in my hometown and she retired from there! Oh My Goodness! She and Scott are the perfect couple, they belong together and always have. She shared this cute meme too. 

I always wanted to stop by this purple zebra and snap a photo with him. In a quick, quiet moment Avery took these shots of me. 

We stopped for a cool beverage on our way back to our hotel room.  We aren't much for liquor so the bartender at our hotel poured us a tall cool glass of 7 Up!

We had a good trip and some fun experiences. I will continue our story tomorrow at my other blog as these days race away and we are still recuperating from running around and then coming home and getting readjusted into our daily lives. We sure missed our adjustable bed. A nice blessing in our lives.

Happy New Year 2022

 

 

Happy 2022 ! Today is the day to clear our minds of stale things and start anew. We can make this year the best or wosrt.  I want to make it the best that I can. Everyday will be challenging but when I can find a sliver of hope or kindness or love, I will take it as a gift.

We have snow, lots of snow. I had to borrow a few photos from my DIL and son so you could see the two hard working snow removal crew members. It was very cold, so they could only be outside for a few minutes but they had a fun time with their shovels and all that fluffy white stuff.

Boys shoveling snow. It was cold and we saw lots of the fluffy white stuff. First storm we had this year ad most of the cold months in 2021. Grateful for the snow.  Have a wonderful new week and beautiful 2022.

Rest well and have sweet dreams. Praying tomorrow's light will bring a new day with much goodness and kindness for all.