What An Incredible Gift~

Nov.17th - 2024~
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What An Incredible Gift~
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We basically have two families - living here now~
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And yes - of course we’re all part of one big family - but there’s definitely some astonishment - when walking Timber and Mimi and there son ‘Softy’ - who we just had to keep :)
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It’s wild. He’s getting so big already - and they both just love him - so much!! Watching him and Timber wrestle/play - father and son~ and then Softy continuously bugging Mimi for attention - mother and son~
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It’s just been something else - to witness/be a part of.
And for the most part - was a really chill/fun experience.
Her Birth was as smooth as can be~ We went to bed at midnight with no signs that she was in labour~ And around 3:30am Jeff woke me up and said ‘I hear puppies!’ :)
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I got up and went to her whelping zone and was immediately wrapped up in full-body goosebump/awe. There was no mess - just Mimi laying on her pillow - with 8 ultra-unique looking pups - all getting their booba on. It was beautiful. Like look at her eyes!~ Full-on/Bliss-State~

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For the first 3 weeks - I’ll be honest - we really gave them their space/bonding time with Mimi. It naturally felt right - and then boom- it was game on - in the puppy handling department over here!~ The ultimate best!
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Flora-Julez turned 4 and got to have a puppy party!~ Where every single friend- had a puppy to hold :) Like how was this real life!~ Felt so surreal in so many magical ways~

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We soon had to start looking for homes for the cuties~ And thankfully! - So thankfully~ It didn’t take us long. And every single person who got a pup - we just knew it was meant to be!~ Everyone had a story - that made my day~
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From the woman who named her pup ‘Liberty’ who’s originally from the states (and the pups were born- the Fourth of July)
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To the newly engaged couple in Vic - who have been arguing for over 6 months - on what breed of dog they wanted~ He wanted a Cane Corso and she wanted a Bernese Mountain Dog~ WELL - Timber is half Bernese Mountain Dog/40 percent Cane Corso and like 10 percent ish great dane~ They got what the both wanted!~
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To one of my favourite clients and her man - getting one of the males - that we were obsessed with - and now get to see on the regular~
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I’ll end with this wild one - ugh - hate to end the joy with a big boom - but yah - there was one~
My mom (baba Jo) and one of my brothers were driving back to Saskie from visiting us.  She was hoping I would bring her ‘Panda Bear’ (this pup looked like Panda Poe) when I travelled back with the kids - for harvest time a few weeks later....

Unfortunately - After they drove through all the mountains and windy roads through B.C. and Alberta - they were hit by a truck in the prairies - when they were only 4 hours from home. Long story short - They were driving down the highway and a couple young dudes (I’m thinking possibly the mayors sons……… as in - a big sketchy shit-show with no accountability went down) the 2 dudes were flying/driving down a backroad - through the stop sign and right into the front of my moms truck- while she was doing highway speed..… They then left the scene (while dripping all kinds of fluids and rolled their suburban a mile away)- proceeded to tell the cops that they didn’t hit my mom - and that the damage was from their roll over……. Blah blah blah - (they didn't get away with it - don't worry- but my spidie senses think that one of the guys blew for the other guy - and now doesn't want to have the claim - as in he's been MIA since the accident.....) anyways-
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They missed hitting my moms door - and killing her and my brother - BY A MILLISECOND……. No Joke~ Here’s a few pics:

(sidenote: angels are real - and they have more than a few watching over them~ we all do!~ and I can't forget to mention - that in the waiting room - in the smalltown Prairie hospital they were in....... RANDOMLY - the pictures on the walls - were pictures of all of these special/different places - on Vancouver Island!! Like what!!? The oddest/meaningful chances~

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So first: We have no idea when we’re going to die…. Or when our loved ones will. The entire sitch - really fuct me up a bit. As I went to a place of Knowing - that if my mom or brother died - I would not be ok. And that I/my body most likely - would’ve shut down - I woulda pushed everyone away from me - and yah - not been ok - for more reasons than one of course~
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When I told one of my clients or homies (I forget who) this true fact/feeling. She asked me what I learned from it all. And I laughed and said ‘What did I learn?? Hah! I learned that I still have many hard times coming - and that no matter what - we cannot escape these traumatic experiences. It’s all part of the human experience.
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The good and the bad - we have no choice but to taste it all~~~ And inevitably - death is coming for all of us- it just is....
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Anyways - I would not go as far to say that this freak accident was meant to be - because honestly - my mom has been through more than anyone I’ve ever known….. and she could use a little smooth sailing - in the uneventful department~
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But yah - she decided that she had’/has her hands full - with her recovery and that getting a puppy right now - was probably not the best idea. Besides - It’s not like she doesn’t have any fur babies around. They have a Pug named Zeus and a Bernese Mountain dog named Gypsy~ She’s got enough dog-love/commitments around her~
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So here we were - the week the pups started going to their new homes - not knowing where Panda Bear - was going to go. We weren’t super concerned - as Jeffs dad wanted her -if noone took her by the time we were going out to Saskie~
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But In all honesty - I was wiped. I had been solo parenting for a few months - while Jeff was working in the Kootenays. I was still working and homesteading and basically ‘doing all the things’ - by myself. It was going to be enough for me to haul ass - like I needed to- getting off the garden ect. Packing up the kids for our almost 4 week road trip. The thought of adding another thing to my plate - and taking Panda Bear with us - on a 20 hour road trip….Let's just say : I had hopes that someone was going to snag her…….
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And yes - this was all in the works already - and I had no idea!~
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The day before my moms accident - I was at one of my best friends - for her chicken kill day. It went very smooth - and we dominated when it came to time/getting shit done. And even though it went smooth - energetically these special days - are like - hmmmm - the only way I can describe the feeling - is it’s like the same feeling - when being at a birth. I tend to fly high - and then need some downtime after~
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Anyways - before we went that day - the first Pup to go - went to his new home…. I started thinking to myself - I have a lot going on - but things will get easier - once I don’t have the responsibility - of taking care of all of these dogs……~
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So we get home - wiped from the epic day~ We do all the puppy/dog things~ and I tell the kids - it’s gonna be a early night~ I almost fell asleep cuddling them in our room - But then I woke up - and decided to go downstairs and clean up the kitchen. I grabbed my laptop to listen to some tunes and checked my email first - only to get an email from one of our sweet neighbours - that Mimi and 5 of the puppies were on facebook - and seen at the springs/resort near us -
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My heart stopped - and I was like OMG!!! She’s looking for her puppy that left today!!! I quickly ran out to the new dog zone - we built before Jeff left to work - and sure enough - Timber and 2 of the pups were chillin in the dog house - and a hole had been dug on the side of the fence - where her and her babes - took off on their venture to find their son/brother - who was missing.....
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I was so choked. This was supposed to be a chill/early night. I was so tired! Scared shitless that Mimi took them in the forest and that they might not be able - to keep up/get lost/eaten by cougar/ect ect.

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Ugh - gotta love adrenaline ~ I ran to the house and woke up Rocky-Bear - to come help me look for them. I took our best flashlight and off the 2 of us went - on our bicycles -in the darkest of dark.
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Halfway to the springs our flashlight died!!………
Rocky was like ‘mom - I’m scared-‘ I was like ‘ah dude- I’m sorry - we’re almost there~’
Into the springs we went - quickly finding some people that had them in the front of their driveway.
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I was so effing relieved. And sadly embarrassed - feeling irresponsible and like ‘oh yay - our dogs are on Facebook yet again - not the kinda attention we like to seek’~ 2 of the dudes that work there - helped us carry the pups home. They were so kind to us - as I’m sure they could tell - I was a smidge overwhelmed.
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And yah - within a few days of Panda being up for grabs - One of the guys who helped us that night - he was walking my neighbours dog into my driveway. I smiled and was like ‘yes! It’ not our dog that's out! Haha~ yay!- he belongs to the neighbours’. I walked up closer to chat - and met his woman- who is one of the sweetest souls - literally. And they asked if we had any puppies left.
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I smiled and was like ‘yah! - we actually do!’ And told them about my mom and so on~ And then he was like ahhhhhh - I wish there wasn’t one left!~’ I laughed and told them I would go get her - so they could meet her. And yah - that was it!~ He was basically in the cutest tears (64 year old man :)) and they said they’d get back to us.
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I couldn’t believe it/was laughing so hard - that the shitstorm of Mimi taking off with her puppies - WAS what was meant to be~ It’s like my moms accident wasn’t what was meant to be for them to get the puppy - it was mimi taking off and this sweet man - falling in love with all of them :)
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Within a few hours he texted Jeff and said they wanted to add her to their furfam :) It was so easy/amazing~ And the cutest thing - is that they said they had to call her Panda Bear - as it was too perfect! But within a few days of them getting her - they decided to call her ORCA!!!!! :) Which is even cuter - if you ask me! :)

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Back to the shitshow—-
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After we got the puppies and Mimi back home - we put everyone in the house!~ I was so tired. The high from the chicken kill day and then the adrenaline from finding the pups - was officially over. I crashed so hard. And then woke up - to the puppies pee and poop - all over the main floor in the morning.... To be honest I didn't even care! i was just so happy nothing bad happened to them - and that they weren't lost~

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I exhaustingly cleaned it all up - and then went outside to feed the chickens - and was weirdly like float-walking - and tripped off our front step - onto my knees and hands - scraping off all the skin - on one of my knees……
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I was so done - I laid there in tears - feeling the pain and shaking my head - as days later I was going to be officiating our very close friends wedding. Yep - That special - short black dress I was so stoked to wear - would do a really great job of showing off my mutant looking knee……
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I got up - as I didn’t want to scare the kids as they surrounded me with concern. And I said - that tonight was the night - and we were going to have a puppy/cuddlefest - in our bed - with the 7 remaining pups. The next day, 2 were leaving - and our time with all these little sweethearts - was almost over.
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And then yah - within hours - I got the shock that my mom and bro were in this ridiculous/terrifying accident - and in the hospital. I cannot express how frazzled I was. The chain of events - was just a little much - even for a hardcore like me :)….
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So we had the cuddlefest - and again - the timing couldn’t have been better!~ These puppies were the medicine we all needed!!!~

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Slowly but surely - all of the puppies went to their new homes- within that week~
And then all of a sudden - our sweet boy Softy - not only had his mama - all to himself - but also this paranoia - that he was going to be taken - anytime we had a friend or clients over - who would try to go and pet him. He was scared/would run away~
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I was like ‘ahhhhhhh - of course this is happening/makes so much sense!’ But how do we get him to know - he isn’t going anywhere?~ It was simple - we needed to take him on a little family venture!~ Which is what we did/squeezed in - right before we left to Saskatchewan~
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The weather was primo in Sept. with an entire campground empty at Horne Lake. We packed up our gear and took Mimi and Softy for a little tenting venture~ I might be out to lunch - but I swear it worked!~ And after we got back - Softy was/has been walking around - like he owns the joint :) without any worries ~

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So yah - that pretty much sums up the Puppy venture and our experience with breeding Timber and Mimi and having their little family - now that Softy is here~ We got Mimi spayed a few days ago - and she is healing beautifully. She is such a honey and such a great mama! It was so wild - watching the 8 pups latched onto her - and how quickly they grew - all from what her body was providing.

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None of this stuff will ever get old for me~
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And Sunny-Rae - finally got to get her own puppy!! (We got Timber for Rocky-Bear and Mimi for Flora-Julez on her second birth day) She was feeling a little left out - until now :)

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Life is good! In more ways than one!~ That’s for sure!!~

So very grateful for Softy and even more grateful - that my mama and brother are still rockin' and a rollin~ yep yeppp~

Xoxo

Krystal