Back Home Alone

Jeremy, Banyan, & I made our way to the Seattle airport at 5:00AM last Friday morning. It was wet & cold fit our mood perfectly. We got there early in case we had any issues with getting Banyan on the plane. Thankfully he charmed them all and we flew right through security. We ended up having over an hour to wait on our plane. We boarded early and he laid down to snooze.

We flew for the whole two hours in quiet as Banyan slept. We had a really nice gentlemen sitting next to us who fell in love with Jeremy & Banyan. He bought Jeremy the free TV channels so  he could watch cartoons the whole trip. Once we landed and taxied to the gate Jeremy let Banyan get up. Once everyone around realized there had been a dog on board we received all kinds of great responses. Most where shocked & never knew he was there- YAY!

Then we headed to Loveland, CO to visit for the night & next day with Jeremy's cousins, aunts, & Grammy. We had fun catching up as it had been about two years since we had seen any of them. On Saturday we went to a football game & the pumpkin patch. Two first's for Banyan. He did great at both & loved the hayride at the pumpkin patch

We headed home to play after the pumpkin patch in the wonderful 70 degree sunshine.

Soon is it was Sunday & time to leave to head to meet Tina from Noelle's Dogs Four Hope.

I was a nervous mess about leaving Banyan & I'm sure he knew. We went to the hotel first to avoid the inevitable handing off of our boy. Banyan & Jeremy loved the hotel a lot!

After we where all checked in we headed to Colorado Springs to meet Tina's whole family . They where so nice and my how the house was full of dogs! All types from Newfoundlands to Goldens. Soon we had more families over who where puppy raisers as well as families in waiting for dogs. It was nice to finally put some faces to the Facebook profiles. Everyone was so nice to Jeremy & I , we enjoyed the evening . Before I knew it , it was time to hand Banyan off to Tina & Noelle.

 I spent the last thirty minutes hiding out with him & Jeremy in the play room. Getting all my snuggles  & puppy kisses. I knew it was not going to be easy but I did not expect the snotty, heaving sobs that came as I ran for the door. I felt so bad not being able to say goodbye to all the adults left, but I knew it just wasn't possible. This crazy cute cuddly pup had been in my life for ten short months , really what was my problem? The problem is he went everywhere with me almost seven days a week. Only one night spent away from a member of the family in the whole ten  months. I knew he had a hard road ahead with a few kinks to work out that only a real trainer could handle. But it made me so sad to leave him while he smiled back with no clue what was about to happen. It didn't help that Jeremy was crying at that point- we where both a hot mess! We both cried all the way to the McDonalds drive through where Jeremy was slightly consoled with a chocolate milkshake.

That night we where both very restless as Jeremy had caught a nasty chest cough. I woke up with only four hours of broken sleep. We headed out to get Jeremy some pancakes then head to the airport. Our first airplane adventure was coming to a close. The only thing missing was our pup. Thankfully Tina had already been in contact to let us know he was doing okay & starting to figure things out.

Jeremy & I both still have a few moments of tears when we think of him or talk about Banyan. But we both try to laugh and talk about all the silly things he does instead. I know eventually he'll be back in our home & ready to head to school full time with Jeremy. But until he is , he will missed terribly everyday.

**EDIT** The opening title says November 11, 2012 should read November 11, 2011 as Banyan's adoption day.

BINGO FUN

BINGO for BANYAN was a lot of fun & a huge success.  I really enjoyed visiting with old friends as well as making new friends in our community. We had to ask the restaurant owner for more space since we where over flowing the private room they set up for us. We ended up taking over the whole place with the exception of the bar. Jeremy enjoyed playing BINGO with his brothers and friends. We seem to have made enough money to pay for our gas & food when we leave this Friday to Colorado.  As well as have some in savings that may cover the next round of airfare. Everyone was very generous and we just can't express enough thanks to God & our community. Here are a few pictures from our evening. It was Banyan's last public appearance as we leave in 3 days to drop him off. I will post more after our return from Colorado.

My amazingly handsome guys.

Megan the amazing lady who came up with the Fundraiser & had never even met our family.

Banyan outside Fadi's Bar & Grill who hosted our event.

 

 

Thank You for all your Continued Support

Continue to follow Banyan's Journey through his finishing training the next four to five months at Jeremy & Banyan's Journey   On Facebook.

 

Extreme 5K Mud & Fun

Last Saturday I woke up to a very chilly cold Washington morning. I also woke up ready to run my last Mud Run of my season. I was excited because it was also the first Mud Run for several ladies from our workout group. Awhile back my running partner Ashley & I got together with another friend to start a playground moms workout group. It has taken off by leaps and bounds from just us 3 ladies working out three days a week together. Now on any given Mon/Wed/or Fri you can find at least 6 sometimes 13 of us ladies working out hard at the local park. Well a few of those ladies jumped right into my passion for mud runs. When Ashley & I brought up running one last race they asked to join. We told them heck yeah you can & we will stay with you through out the race.That cold Saturday morning found me excited and ready to run!

At this point it was 38 degrees & I was to cold!

The fabulous group of ladies had 4 veteran mud runners & 5 newbies.

This was the first year for this fun run and I really held no expectations of greatness. With new runs I've learned you just go for the pure fun of playing in the mud. It turned out that the course was amazing! We took off right into some beautiful trails- YIPPIE! The first Obstacle was a low crawl through a tunnel filled with ice cold water & mud. At this point I could no longer feel my toes. More running on trails then we hit mud so thick people where losing shoes right & left. A few of our girls had to retrieve theirs before moving on to the switchbacks. Now my legs where numb from the knees down so I took off with two of the girls because we where advised for our safety to keep moving. I hoped at that point that the rest of our group would catch up as Ashley was with them. Finally we got hung up in a line for a horse hurdle & the gang all showed up. Thankfully this was not a timed race or I would have been upset waiting. But we waited jumped around trying to stay warm. Here is the obstacle from the camera I carried.

That would be my hiney climbing up and flipping over. This was a great obstacle, but challenging for us shorties in the group. It was easily 4 ft off the ground & then another 3or 4 to even lift yourself up & over.

More running to an amazing slip & slide that was the steepest I had ever been down. It rocked! More running in open fields until we came to the trench of terror. I had just got dry so I was not to thrilled to get down on my belly to crawl through a trench done like a maze filled with water & electric barb wire over my head. I was so cold by that point I knew I must have hypothermia. But we all survived and here is the picture a lovely freelance photographer grabbed then posted later .

 

 

We carried amo cases, crawled through a lot of mud , jumped over two 8 ft walls, & jumped fire at the end. We found out after that the course was 3.6 miles of fun & cold! I was so very proud that all the ladies kept going even when they needed to walk they where laughing. It may not have been my best time for the season but it was fun to watch the ladies fall in love with getting dirty.

After it was done we ate from some great vendors. This was a nice after party with several food selections. Beating out all the other runs I had been to all year. The ladies enjoyed their beer, mine I gave away after a picture. Not a fan of dark bitter fall beers. Ashley & I found a huge Hamster for a picture.

My running partner & I have now signed up for our first road race 10k . I've never just run a regular race before that doesn't involve mud or obstacles. This should be good for me to try. I am dragging my husband along for the fun on November 4th. Stay tuned for how it all turns out. In the meantime I am excited to report most of the ladies are already asking about the next run- I think I have created some mud divas!

Jaime the reason my mud insanity began 3 years ago- love her!

12 Days Away

Banyan heads to his new trainer Tonia in twelve short days. I am a nervous wreck about the plane trip although I know he will most likely be perfect. Jeremy is starting to ask daily if Banyan has to go away yet. I think he understands that we need to have Banyan go finish his training but he doesn't understand why we aren't staying with Banyan. We have only left him over night once in the past ten months. He is such a huge personality in our home he will be missed.
 I know that his time with Tonia is going to go great. From everything I've seen on video and heard she is an amazing dog training. Banyan will live in her home with her family and receive so much that I can't begin to teach him. I just hope over the next four or five months he works hard so he can get back home to us quickly. For now I am snapping pictures daily so Jeremy can have them to look at while Banyan is gone. Here is this afternoons of the two of them laying round after school. 

Sweet moments captured in pictures to get us through the long winter months with no puppy kisses.

Homework Happiness

Homework & happiness are two words I never thought would go together in my world with Jeremy. But last night as I sat at the kitchen table with Jeremy as he read his little book to me & then wrote out all the answers to the questions, I was smiling like a fool from ear to ear. There was a time when this child could not remember the name of a letter & he was already 7 years old. Seizures had robbed him of his ability to recall little things like letters & sounds they make. Something most kids take for granted. Not Jeremy & not me. I hated when he would ask what the words on the TV said & when would he learn how to read. Was he really just stupid, he would ask. Some days even hitting himself in the head over & over because the work was just to hard at 8 & 9 years of age even though most kindergarten children could do it easily.

Last night I watched him blossom before my eyes. It was truly a moment I thought might never come. It was in that moment I realized he may take longer then most kids his age but he can now sound out words & read full sentences. Still not at a 11 year old boys "normal" level but at a level that makes me know he will be okay. That if he ever got separated from his dad, me or his brothers, he could figure out where he was & let someone know. Thankfully he will have Banyan with him full time in a few months which is another huge relief. Jeremy is so small with such a huge personality. It made my year to see him finally beaming up at me as he read & then say "I did it all mom  can I go play now?". Little steps that hopefully lead to bigger things for this young man who turns 12 this month- that too still boggles my mind.