Ode to Laney

Do you have a pet? I have a pet. My family got a dog in 2019 named Laney. 

Part of the reason we got Laney was because my mom took my sister Emma's Halloween candy, and we started asking for a dog around that time. After a lot of planning and discussing, we finally decided to get a dog. Once we got to the dog breeder's house, I saw that there were a lot of dogs. There were big dogs, little dogs, and medium dogs. I was scared of the big dogs. We pet a lot of dogs, and my brother  Adam found a dog he liked, but the dog stuck it's tongue out at mom. 

Next week we came back, and we found Laney. She was so cute! She was brown and white, was 1 year old, and had a wet, black nose. We decided that Laney was the one. 

Next week we came back, and she was still there, with very fluffy hair. When she found out we were getting her, she became very nervous. She hid under a cabinet, which made us all laugh. After a while, she came out. 

On the car ride home, we let her sleep. 

Once we got home, as soon as we opened the door, she went over to the living room and hid behind the curtains. Since we had already set up her room before, we just watched her. After a while, she came out. We lured her out the door with dog kibble. By then, she was more comfortable with us, so we brought her down the deck and onto the grass. She ran around the backyard happily. She was so fluffy that I decided to pet her. Her brown and white fur felt nice and soft. 

Nowadays, Laney is not nervous about us at all and can go up and down the stairs all by herself (sometimes). I am so glad we got Laney.

Falltime Pups and People

 Leah insists that falltime should be a word- this title is for you Leah!  

Outside, beautiful fall leaves, inside, a snuggy pup!

The best purchase we've ever made, Laney is a member of our family and the gift that keeps on giving.  She makes us laugh, teaches us responsibility and patience and smothers us with her unabashed love.   We call her the best alarm clock, who wakes the kids up by hopping on them, licking their faces, and whacking them with her tail. We love Laney!

Emma painted her portrait at a recent birthday party! I love her sweet eyes and simple smile. 

On a hard morning, we thought of five things we were excited about for the day.  It's not easy going to school all day every day every week, but having a positive mindset definitely helps!

Days with friends are extra happy ones!  Emma has worked hard and succeeded at finding a sweet new friend group this year. 

We had to say good-bye for now to one of our favorite missionaries Elder Vaden (standing by Adam) this month. He has done incredile work with the French Swahili members in Des Moines, has a fantastic dry sense of humor, and we will never forget the day he confessed that "there is a storm raging within me Sister Morales".  We love the missionaries!

Emma sang a solo in the Primary program- her last one! 

Of course I thought Emma and Noah were the stars of the show. 

Vacation Detox

 As a symbol of our commitment to stay happily at home for the foreseeable future, we got some fish!

Meet Salt and Pepper. 

He lived for two days, she lived for three.  Obligation fulfilled!

But we are still staying home.  It's been interesting making the shift from countdown to the next adventure to leaning hard into the day in and day out of regular life.  We're saying no to extra events and activities, non-essentials, and all the the exciting extras just because we can/  If I've grown to understand anything as a parent, it's that the parents are the ones who spoil the children. They aren't asking for the vacations or the concert tickets or the next wow event, and there is so much beauty in a night at home, around the fire roasting marshmallows or around the table playing a favorite card game or snuggled up watching a classic movie.  We are very blessed to have the opportunity for all of the above in our lives, but too much of anything sometimes feels like just too much.  Right now, our goal is peace and happiness at home. 

Peace is the beauty of life.

It is sunshine. 

It is the smile of a child, the love of a mother, 

the joy of a father, the togetherness of a family. 

It is the advancement of man, 

the victory of a just cause, 

the triumph of truth.

-Menacham Begin

*****

Perfect happiness is a beautiful sunset, 

the giggle of a grandchild, the first snowfall. 

It's the little things that make happy moments, 

not the grand events. 

Joy comes in sips, not gulps.

-Sharon Draper

  Thanks, Salt and Pepper for helping us remember the joy and happiness of being at home!

Pup Snuggles

There is no sad day

that isn't made a little brighter

with a good pup snuggle.

Laney is the best pup we've ever had.

Also, this is known in our house as "the ritual" in which Laney tries to spread her scent all over something.  Usually a bone or a new treat, or apparently Adam's head.

Laney Bear is 3!

 Shhh.... don't tell Laney but we missed her birthday this year while we were in Florida.  But!  We were in Animal Kingdom on her big day (a nod to our favorite animal), and we had a great time celebrating  her when we got home!

To be fair, I didn't exactly hide her presents, but this little snooper pulled both her new dragon and her new rabbit out of their bag and went to town with them!  She did the same thing at Christmastime, only with a toy we had bought for one of her puppy friends.  Silly pup, I don't know how she knows those toys are for her but she sure does love a good new toy to rip to shreds! 

And of course we got her a pupcake!

which she also loved. 

She definitely knew she was the center of attention at this party- just look at that smile!

She looks so little!

And so curious!

But her favorite present was definitely Clucky- 

I wasn't sure how she would like her first chicken head, but those big eyes got even bigger as soon as she caught a whiff of it- 

and she dove right in, carnivore style!

Gross, but the birthday pup sure did like it. 

Ahh sweet Laney.  The best pup we've ever had.  We shared all of the things that we love about Laney at her birthday party and the list was long-

 

*how excited she is to see you when you get home

*the way that she jumps up onto your lap and smells your face

*she's so snuggly and soft and (almost) always willing to cuddle up

*she gets to have sleepovers with the kids!  Well, Emma and Noah love it, Adam wishes that there was more room for her in his bed alongside his long legs, and Leah has zero interest in sharing her bed with a pup who always positions herself smack dab in the middle of the bed. 

*she is adventurous!  She's always up for a romp in the woods, but she doesn't wander too far away. 

*she always cheers you up when you're having a bad day. 

*she is so curious about squirrels and deer and so silly because she loses interest in them the second she runs outside to chase them but catches the scent of something else. 

*she gives us something to be excited about coming home to- Laney is the best end to any vacation!

*she's so tiny!  Laney is our forever pup. 

*she loves us no matter what. 

We say it often- Laney is the only gift we've given our family that just keeps on giving, and she is the perfect pup for us. We are so happy that Laney is one of us!

Happy 3rd birthday Laney Bear!

Rest in Peace Piggie

Well this sad day arrived much sooner than we thought it would.  Miss Tater Piggie Tot, age unknown, passed away peacefully the morning of Wednesday, May 5th.  She developed an eye ulcer that eventually led her to stop eating, the tiniest little cough and eventually, the end of her too-short life.  She was surrounded by our family and tucked into a blue fleece blanket when she quietly took her last breath.

Her last days were sad, quiet ones.  The day before she died I spent a few extra minutes in the morning sitting by her crate with Laney at my side.  She was thinner and clearly nearing the end, and when she finally passed on I cried all day.  Noah cried, Emma cried, and Jason dug a hole.  Leah made a marker for her tree and Adam shared stories of her poorly timed squeaks during his classes.  Now she is resting in our yard, just outside my window and a wonderful reminder of the happy times we shared with her.

Laney's curiosity about the little critter in the house never waned, and she knew something was wrong the day Tater Tot died.  She stayed by the crate side, letting out confused whines and looking around for some kind of explanation right up until we put her in the ground. 

Watching our pet lose her pet/buddy was the hardest part of the loss.  

Tater Tot was a delightful little pet, with big loving eyes, soft fur, and the sweetest coos and purrs when she was happy.  And when she wasn't happy, we all knew it.  If her meals weren't delivered on time, she squeaked at a maximum volume that could be heard throughout the house.

She created a surprising amount of work for such a tiny little creature- an endless round of feeding and sweeping up poops, changing out bedding and refilling hay almost right up until the end.   In exchange for our diligent efforts Tater Tot rewarded us with the opportunity to witness her quickly scurrying from hidey hole to pink igloo, generally only coming out when she knew food was to be expected, and giving us a good laugh when we put her in the shopping cart or wooden truck for a ride around the house. 

The piggie taught us how to do things we didn't always want to do, to care for something that didn't offer much love in return, and most importantly, to appreciate the time we have together while we have it.  Our time together is unknown.  While we didn't know her exact age, we knew that she was closer to the end of her life than the beginning when we brought her into our home, but we didn't know which cuddle, ride in the shopping cart, or frantic munching of the cilantro we offered her would be the last.  Her happy little life taught us that every one of those moments, someday, become a memory to cherish. 

Rest in peace little piggie.

A Puppy and Her Peanut Butter

 Leah got a phone recently and there are all kinds of treasures from the camera, including this full minute of puppy licking peanut butter cuteness.  

And a bit of Emma, who, not unlike her mother, tried to ride on Laney.  I did that to Daddy's dog Molly the first time I went to his house and he's never let me forget that she died shortly thereafter.  Some dogs just look like they could give you a ride!  But Laney is definitely not one of them... 

An Evening with Tater Tot

 One beautiful spring evening we brought Tater Tot out to the sunroom for an adventure in the fresh air. 

She loved the endless supply of spinach and sniffed all over the room.

Laney was not happy that she wasn't invited to the party. 

But it was a fun night for the piggie.  The kids made several videos to document the event. 

Tater Tot is such a sweet little guinea pig.  Adam was feeding her this morning and she grabbed her Vitamin C tablet and ran off in the direction of her hidey hole only to find that I had moved it, then spun around and scurried off in another direction to find a new safe place to hide.  Adam giggled and said, "This is why we have a guinea pig, for cute moments like that." 

She has a bad eye that the vet treated the morning of the first big snowstorm last winter.  Her eye cleared up after a round of drops but it's come back even worse and she's not doing very well right now.  Less eating and less pooping and we're all just trying to give her as much love as we can while we can.  We know she's closer to the end of her life than the beginning but I don't think any of us will quite be ready when she is no longer with us. 

Laney is Two!

First we did presents- we put a little dab of peanut butter on each one and let Laney sniff it out!

She wasn't quite as thrilled about the new coat. 

The return of the silly hats!  

At one point Adam had six of them on his head.  How did I not get a picture of that? 

There's the shaggy little birthday pup!

What's that I smell??

It's a birthday pup cake!

They were out of cakes, so we opted for a celebration bone and two pup cakes instead. 

Which one.... which one...?

The bone was the winner!

What a fun night to celebrate our best pup. 

When Noah and I picked up Laney's birthday pup-cake we picked up a few treats for some of our dog friends, too.  

M- Let's count our favorite puppy friends.  Of course there's Laney... 

N- Laney is not a puppy friend!  She is a Member of our Family!

True that. 

Laney is absolutely a member of our family.  

She keeps a careful watch over the house 

and the yard at all times. 

Always, always watching.

She gets as close to the food as she possibly can.... 

but is wise enough to not jump up on the chairs or the table. 

We recently revoked an original rule that Laney is not allowed on our bed, and boy is she having fun with it!

She loves to burrow down into the pillows and roll all over them. 

And now we just have one more place to snuggle her sweet little fluffness!

Her current fluff level is just about out of control.

But that just ups the cuteness factor!!

She tolerates the peasants that she rules over, 

and when she turns on the cuteness she is irresistible!!

Laney keeps us moving, keeps us laughing, teaches us responsibility and how to care for others, reminds us to think outside ourselves, is SO incredibly soft, will never give up chasing squirrels (even though she is never going to catch one), loves us when we're sad, and is always so happy when we come home again.  

We all love our little Laney Bear!  She is definitely the best pup ever!!