BreAnne is 24 today! Happy Birthday, daughter. We look forward to catching up with you soon.
You've been a delight to parent and are a delight as an adult child/friend.
Choosing Joy!
©2009 D.R.G.
~ Coram Deo ~
Living all of life before the face of God...
We drove through MORE beautiful country today. I hadn't a clue that SD was this pretty. We did not start out to visit SD - but here we are in Hill City.
Earlier in the day the wiper on the Toyota fell off. Mike happened to be behind us and stopped to see what was going on.
We finally met up at the KOA here quite late and decided to go out to dinner rather than cook in the trailer. I DID get the laundry done. We found a Route 16 (that isn't a type o) diner....food was good, waitress needs more tips. It is COLD here....I had taken little ones and swimsuits ahead but there was NO WAY we were going in when it was 54* outside. ::snort::
We had to take this photo for Jamin - notice the sign above their heads, Jamin.
We ran into some guys who come up each night from Rapid City to put on a Western gunfight. They do it for donations and all monies go to the Children's Miracle Network. It was a lot of fun.
We ran up to Rushmore on a lark (we plan to go tomorrow)...WOW. We visited the exhibits, watched a few movies....and stayed for the lighting ceremony. They had all vets and military members come forward during the ceremony and at the end said, "These are the "men" willing to give their lives to keep your life safe." Everyone cheered. Zander looked at me and said, "Oh great...NOW Dad is going to give his life for them???!!" I told him, "That's what the military does, Zander." We talked more.
Photos (we'll take the Nikon tomorrow LOL).
Amazing! I'm so glad to have made it. Thanks, Krista, for the plan and Mike for being willing to drive out of the way to make it happen.
Zander & Stacia loved the little plunger/explosion display. ::snort:: Zander held court in the amphitheater....I heard him telling all the kids around him, "This was built in the 1980's and BHO is going to have his face up there next to President Lincoln." I got his facts straightened out. ::snort::
I LOVE this photo. They had a coke machine at the entrance...Keep dreaming son, keep dreaming. Why not in 2029?
Lots of Vets and active duty...Mike is the one with military bearing....first long row...second from the right.
FUN and FULL day. We didn't know we were doing this in time to get in touch with the M and L families from Alaska. We tried. It's killing me to be 29 miles from good friends and not reach them.....but this is what happens on spontaneous adjustments. LOL
Rushmore is beautiful lit up and night, but my little Cannon didn't do it justice. Five hour drive to Hardin tomorrow.
Choosing Joy!
©2009 D.R.G.
~ Coram Deo ~
Living all of life before the face of God...
The drive from Westcliffe to Colorado Springs is GORGEOUS. I could happily build a cabin and retire in this area.
Here is one photo that couldn't be passed up...
On the 6th, we said goodbye to Beatrix but we also said HELLO to Lilly Samantha....
Isn't she gorgeous? She's our niece's baby...born just two days before we arrived. We were thrilled at how the timing worked out. God's been reminding me of lessons I've learned before...His timing is right. Here Great Uncle Mike just HAS to hold her....
We had a great visit with Mike's 1/2 brother Earl, his wife, Mary and their children...including Crystal, Sammo, Dom and LILLY! Kathy (1/2 sister) drove down from Denver. Jerome graduated a few weeks ago....hard to believe he and Jared are adults. LOL Mary's brother and daughter were also in town. Fun evening....
Saturday we slept in and rested. Earl and Mary came by the trailer and we had a good visit.
What do you think, Jamin? ::snort::
In the evening we went up to some friends from Alaska who now live in the Springs. The S family. Their daughter's Rachel and Katrina were in youth group with Bre, Krista, Josiah and Jamin. Krista had fun catching up. The Robinson's (retired Chaplains) came down too and we had a great reunion. I love chatting with Lynn and Frances. It was a balm I needed...two moms who've been in our moving boat and were happy to love on us.
The men enjoyed the Laker/Orlando game.
Group photo....R's on the left, Goeckers in the middle and S's on the right. Pretty good without a flash and camera balanced on a cooler! ::snort:: Yes, that IS Matt R....don't you think Lynn should start a blog so we don't have to endure the shock of Matt's rapid changes????? ::snort::
Tomorrow, bright and early, we will leave for Hill City, SD. We'll see Mt Rushmore on the 9th and head to Hardin, MT...hope to be there by 4 p.m.
Choosing Joy!
©2009 D.R.G.
~ Coram Deo ~
Living all of life before the face of God...
While Jared, Mike and I attended a friend's retirement last Friday the other kids went HIKING up Twin Buttes.
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...
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 will make a marker for the grave. It is really a gorgeous setting.
Choosing Joy!
©2009 D.R.G.
~ Coram Deo ~
Living all of life before the face of God...
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...
