MISC San Angelo Photos

While Jared, Mike and I attended a friend's retirement last Friday the other kids went HIKING up Twin Buttes.

Saturday, Nolan and I went to Medicenter West. He had an ear infection. Everyone else went geocaching.

I wonder how often we'll be able to geocache in Japan.

Choosing Joy!
©2009 D.R.G.

~ Coram Deo ~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Beatrix Jamima Puddleduck Goecker - 1990 - 2009

Beatrix Jamima Puddleduck Goecker entered our lives during the older 4 children's Beatrix Potter phase. ::grin:: In fact, we've had her just a few months shorter than we've had Jared (15 years).

Josiah rescued Bea from the pound. We were told she was NOT a good fit for our family. She had broken bones and had been abused. We wanted to try. She was nervous at first, but with all the attention and love she received she settled down and became a part of our family.

During those early years in Hardin, MT, she was almost like Nana in Peter Pan. She would frolic with the children in the backyard and raise a RUCKUS if any of them went near the gate. She hadn't done that in recent years.....but amused us all as she did the same to Zander and Stacia the last few days of camping.

Beatrix used to love to escape and RUN...FAST....it was a common sight in Hardin to see her streaking through the neighborhood with 4 or 5 children chasing her. Again, with her eyesight failing and her hips giving her trouble, she's not made many breaks for it of late.

The CO air seems to have done her good. The past few days she has tried to nonchalantly saunter away from us....we simply walk around and head her off.

Bea's always had a few quirks....she would NOT let us take a photo of her. Even now that she's been blind she'd uncannily turn her head right as we clicked. This accounts for so many profile photos of Beatrix on the blog. She also wouldn't let us watch her eat.

Recent Attempts at photos....that sort of show her face

Over the years we've all taken turns being Bea's main caretaker. She's been with us through career changes, family additions, deaths in the family, Texas move, Alaska move, deployments....and we agonized over what to do when we received orders to Japan. She wouldn't receive a certificate of health. We doubted she'd survive the flight. We didn't want to put her in quarantine or have her put down.

Our dear camping, college buddies, the Bowers Family, contacted us and suggested they dog sit for three years for us. We all knew that Bea would most likely not survive three years...but they wanted to love her for us. They remembered her from camping trips etc. We made plans to drop Beatrix off in ID.

Yesterday, in the hubbub of setting up camp, Beatrix suffered a terrible accident. I won't share great details as they are painful and we are raw. All of us have "why didn't we?," "What could we have done?", "why" questions. Our dear friend died. The little ones did not see the accident nor her injuries. Mike and Jared did and could use your prayers. This is quite a blow as we are already emotionally fragile. Several have mentioned they simply want to be in Japan and be through with all the goodbyes. We were blessed that a lady who witnessed the accident is the mother of a Vet. She called and the Vet daughter discussed with Mike Beatrix's injuries. Beatrix was not going to make it. Mike stopped a policeman and asked him where the nearest vet was. As they talked, and Jared sat with Bea, she died.

We are all heartbroken to have lost her in this way. We are sad that she is gone. We love her like a part of our family. We wish she had simply died of old age and no accident had been involved. OTOH, we all suspected she would not take being left (abandoned from her perspective) at Bowers well....and that they would have to call us with news shortly after we left her. This is a clean goodbye...but a very painful one as well.

We are in Colorado Springs. Earl, Mike's brother, offered to bury her in the meadow behind his house. His mother's ashes and their old dog are also buried there. He dug the start of a grave with his bulldozer and moved several big rocks from Westcliffe out for us to use....then he left us alone. We buried our friend. This is Stacia's first experience with death. She kept trying to snap her fingers and make "Bea come alive". She is currently telling us that Beatrix is "God's Dog" and that God needs to send us another dog for our trip. Zander is telling us it's a "cruel world out there".

Mike and Jared lower Beatrix into her grave.

Earl explained that the Apache's put rocks in their graves. He had these rocks from Westcliffe and we all put one or two in the grave. Yes, we had a ceremony.

Earl will make a marker for the grave. It is really a gorgeous setting.

Even travelling, Beatrix is a huge part of our routines. It was strange this a.m. not to let her out first thing, have her sit on my feet while I read the word, have her under my feet as I attempted to roust the rest of the crew. We'll miss Beatrix.

Please do pray for us. I wasn't going to write this post....because it does seem the blog has been sad lately...but as Mike says this blog is a family history...and Beatrix is an important part of our family history. I needed to share her passing. I also covet your prayers as several in our family are feeling fairly fragile and wondering what could possibly be next.

We ARE taking comfort in knowing WHERE she is buried and in having been here with her at the end. As Josiah said, "I could write a country song about this week." ::sigh:: ::snort::

Choosing Joy!
©2009 D.R.G.

~ Coram Deo ~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Roadside Photos

Could THIS be why it takes us so long to drive from spot A to spot B? ::snort::

Choosing Joy!
©2009 D.R.G.

~ Coram Deo ~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Email Alert

After 10 hours on the phone with Verizon, they messed us up.

I purchased a domain. They assured me this would allow me to keep our email address and create new ones too....problem is that NOW it is all unusable as DSL was cancelled. They ASSURED me that they'd hold the emails open since the domain was purchased and it was a verizon account..... So...I'm out 10 hours on the phone, $35 for the domain and all our emails.

If you need to reach us use the email in the side bar. Grrrr.... as for all the emails in the outbox...hrumph.

Choosing Joy!
©2009 D.R.G.

~ Coram Deo ~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Skydiving - Part 2

Here are the photos that Mike took (except for the airplane/sign) of the Skydiving Road Trip.

Can you read the sign?

Just in case you can't....

All four of the "children" signed away their lives....

Annie & Jennie Z - Annie jumped.

Krista

Josiah

Jamin

Suiting up....

The 2009 Grads Jamin, Roy and Annie ::snort::

Loading Up

Jumping photos of Krista and Jamin I already posted....but here are photos of the landings...

Krista


Jamin

Roy

Annie

Josiah

Random Photos and Thoughts:

Freebird is a GREAT burrito spot...thanks for introducing us to them, Roy.

Stella and Stacia love Jared....Stacia is jealous of Stella.

Hmmm....looks like a fish story...but I'm guessing it's a jump story. ::snort::

One should expect comments such as, "Is this a family reunion," when two large families travel together.

It IS possible to play Mafia in a dark van for hours at a time. Loved it guys! LOL

Subway in San Marcos is amazing at handling unexpected big crowds.

The Whole Goecker - Zesch Gangs (minus Bre)


Choosing Joy!
©2009 D.R.G.

~ Coram Deo ~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Day 3 - Amish & Altitude

It didn't take long to notices that we were in for a new adventure when we arrived at Grape Creek RV Park, behind Westcliffe, CO. An Amish group came out of a cabin. Not a big surprise. There is an Amish farm/community in Westcliffe. They DO have warning signs on the hwy....you know horse and buggy warnings.

BUT...this was different....there were VANS of Amish, BUGGIES of Amish...Amish in the spot next to us and then that night.....the filled the meadow behind us with tents of Amish. What a great way for God to give us an adventure adjusting to a culture different than ours. ::snort::

We discovered that these were groups from MO and WI in town for two weddings. Their leader decided they could use the washers and dryers....I was reading the Word when I realized that they were having quite a bit of trouble. I was trying to disappear as I sensed disapproval from one lady....I was wearing plaid pj's and had painted nails...well YOU KNOW....but they needed my help. They were sure the dryer was broken. They kept opening it to see if things were dry every minute or so, and then feeding it more quarters because it wouldn't work. I didn't catch what was happening...until one showed up with a tool box. THEN I realized with all the opening they weren't pushing the "start" button when they shut the door. I demonstrated.....a group of about 20 came to open the door and have me demonstarte again. They liked me.

Meanwhile they LOVED Mike. He's great at talking with anyone, anywhere. I'm shy and have to push myself. Mike really liked that their youth could DISCUSS just about anything with him.....and they loved it when they realized that our kids were homeschooled and had never been to "government school."

They went hiking...we went hiking.

They got married....and they set up a honeymoon tent right behind our trailer...and all cleared out for the afternoon.....and I won't say much more, but I will say it was HILARIOUS....even when we had to answer questions about out of the ordinary conduct to our younger ones.

They all came back early evening.....and while walking....one tripped over a water main or some such thing..and the entire camp lost water. ::snort:: The best part was that they loved to tell us the story of the one who tripped and the water "geysed" and got him all wet...in very private areas. Poor thing.....I can relate. ::snort::

I took the girls up at about 10:00 p.m. for a final potty break. Two went into stalls. I took Stacia around to wash her face and discovered our young Amish newlyweds. ::snort:: ::gasp:: We heard great laughter and Nolan told me later he thought, "oh oh," when the young man came racing out of the women's bathroom. Thus ends my retelling of our Amish Adventure. We LOVED the chance to converse and share a couple of nights and a day with them.

We spent the afternoon hiking up in the Sangre de Cristo mountains. GORGEOUS! I love this area. Jared wanted to come here, and I'm glad he suggested it. He DID inform us that this is nice, but he prefers West TX. It seems he likes the sound of wind whistling through the Cactus more than wind whistling through the Alpine.

Early this a.m. we heard a tractor arrive to haul off a trailer the Amish group had borrowed. They hooked up...but forgot to put the slide out in or pull the jacks up....Mike ran out to help them.

Here are some photos....we're missing our 3 adult children.....but we're having fun on our way to the West Coast.

Mike, Jared, Arielle, Nolan, Zander and Beatrix began at one end of the trail. Krista, Stacia and I drove to the head, parked and headed out to meet them. Along the way they crossed swollen creeks that were fast and big...at this one they placed branches over the water to create a make-shift bridge.

They removed Beatrix's leash so she could swim across. She took one look, turned around and started back down the trail. ::snort:: Mike carried her across. Yep, showing her age.

Meanwhile we enjoyed the views...

Our two groups met at a great creek/bridge....about a mile from the van.

Cy and Jamin, along the trail, Stacia kept wanting to ride. I realized that this is her first walk on your own two feet hike..... but when we met up with the others Dad obliged. ::snort::

We were blessed to be given the SAME campsite we had last summer on our family vacation. We did NOT ask for this and they do NOT have a computer system. A hug from God.

See, a post with no tears. Warning that Day 4 is not so carefree.

Choosing Joy!
©2009 D.R.G.

~ Coram Deo ~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Super Size Saturday - Vacations/Staycations

This week's SSS topic is VACATIONS or STAYCATIONS. Please share your favorite tips for fun with your family.

I've still not had time to see what the warning from MR. Linky was about....so simply write a post and leave the link in the comment section....or share your comments alone if you don't have time to write a post.

For Super Size Saturday schedule and such, click the link under the header at the top of the blog.
Choosing Joy!
©2009 D.R.G.

~ Coram Deo ~
Living all of life before the face of God...