New to the Family

We have introduced two new puppies and possible future book ideas into our family :>) Lasso and Luna! Lasso and Luna are brother and sister and are just the sweetest puppies EVER!! They are so much fun and we are having a blast training them. I'm already trying to think of the adventures these siblings will get themselves into.

Lindale Veterinary Clinic Open House

Lindale Vet Clinic

I'm so EXCITED to be a part of the Lindale Veterinary Clinic's Open House this Saturday between 1- 3 pm!!I will be reading "Greta's Purpose" and "Rudy's Path" around 1:30 and 2:30. This will be a first time for me not to have Greta by my side.  But, I think I am going to bring RUDY. This Clinic was so GREAT to Rudy when we lost him for 3 days and found him stuck in a hole with a severe spider bite(s). I would really appreciate any of my local friends to come and support the Clinic's Open House and me as well!

Goodbye our dearest Greta

This week we are extremely sorrowful for the loss or our Great Dane, Greta Dean. She was our first baby and my heart breaks for her very unexpected departure from our family. Greta would have been 7 in November. While we knew that the life span of Great Danes was shorter than other breeds, we felt like 6.5-10 years was forever in the distance. The thing that this has taught us is that time goes by so fast...too fast.
She was a Gentle Giant who loved us, loved our human babies, and even the cats that she would mother. Greta found her "purpose" in the book I wrote about her ("Greta's Purpose" & "Rudy's Path).......but most of all she helped me find my purpose. We will always love her and miss her greatly.

More Rudy updates

If you read the post and see the pictures below you will see that our Chocolate Lab, Rudy had gone through quite an ordeal over the last several weeks.

It is so great to have happy endings when it comes to our pets who are also our family members. But, even though we found Rudy he still has had some major challenges to overcome as his body heals from the inside out.

Below are some more Facebook updates that I posted as we went through the days of recovery for Rudy.

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Rebecca Stevens Helvey taking Rudy to the vet :'(

Rebecca Stevens Helvey Rudy may have a bite under his arm (very possible since we found him in an animal's den) causing fever,shaking,swelling & loss of appetite. The Vet optimistic about him getting back to normal w/ the 3 different antibiotics that I will have to MAKE him take. Better Outcome than I was expecting!!!! YEAH! Cross your Fingers!!

NOT FOR THE THOSE w/ WEAK Stomachs!!We took Rudy to the vet again on Friday..The abcess under his arm has gotten so bad that it has eaten away at the skin & hair. Learned it was probably because of Brown Recluse Spider bites.

By far the worst thing I have ever seen on an animal or human being for that matter! Poor Rudy! We finally had to place the "cone of shame" on him to keep him from biting and chewing at his wound.

Rudy Lost His Path

On April 6th our Chocolate Lab, Rudy went out to play (as he often does) and didn't return home. In the past years he and our other dogs get the itchin' to go on a "joy run" but they all usually return within a few hours. We have 150 acres around us and there is NO telling which way they go.

I was deeply concerned for his well being since he is now older and struggles with arthritis in his back legs. You can see that he is in some sort of pain when he walks..."the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak."

I happened to post "status updates" on my Facebook page and to my surprise... I was getting quite a following of people checking on updates for his well being. I am going to post those updates below.

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Rebecca Stevens Helvey My heart is heavy with worry for our elderly dog,Rudy. He's been gone all day...the other two dogs are here at home. We are going on a search for him as soon as Jonathan gets home. Praying he isn't hurt :>(

Rebecca Stevens Helvey Just want to thank my dear friend Kelley Ramsey Dickerson for being so sweet and braving the woods looking for my beloved Rudy. What great friends I have! :>( and no...we still can't find him...but Kelley's act of compassion and kindness really made my day!

Rebecca Stevens Helvey Not sure if my voice being hoarse is from allergies or from me yelling for Rudy? Sure it is a mixture of both.

Rebecca Stevens Helvey After 3 days of searching & accepting we may never see Rudy again,Jon hiked into the woods hearing what sounded like a puppy yelping.It was RUDY! He was stuck in a deep hole & there's no doubt he would have died there if Jon hadn't followed the barks.He is extremely weak,dehydrated,& what seems like in shock but we did... catch a glimpse of a tail wagging.Thank you "DOG LOVERS" for all of your thoughts & kind words .

Rebecca Stevens Helvey After 3 days of searching for our beloved Rudy..and pretty much giving up....my husband found him stuck in a deep hole. My husband is my hero...and I know Rudy's too!

The animal den that Jonathan found Rudy within. Rudy was only seen from the front legs up.

I know it doesn't look that deep but the hole goes down pretty deep and another entrance/exit into the den is located above it.

Poor Guy. He was lifeless.
My sweet husband had to drape him over his shoulders to carry him approx. 1/4 mile home.

We were thankful that he at least would drink the water we placed in front of him. Eating food was a WHOLE other story.

Opie, our other sweet mutt, was thanking Jonathan for finding his buddy and bringing him home :>)

Also, Jonathan is displaying his dirty/muddy arms that he used to dig Rudy out of the hole. There was no time to go home and get a shovel. His adrenaline kicked in and he rescued our Rudy from certain doom.

Greta's New Massage Therapist

This was way TOO CUTE for me to pass up the opportunity to pull out the video camera! And to think I was afraid they wouldn't get along.

Why Did God Create the Flea?

It is now the season for those ugly, pesty, insects to start showing themselves in droves. For the first time in our living in East Texas (almost 6 years in this house) we decided to hire an exterminator. He came out about 2 months ago and I have been so pleased. Peace of mind is worth so much. I have been less stressed about Clara running into fire ants or getting stung by a wasp. But, it seems that they are beginning to show themselves again. ESPECIALLY, the little HORRID, Fleas!! With 3 dogs and a new kitten we just can't seem to get them under control. I have flea collars, flea drops, flea spray, and flea shampoo and have administered all of this on all of my pets. Unfortuneately, it has done very little to help with the problem. The exterminator came out last Wednesday and sprayed the yard but two days later....YEP they were still jumping on our legs. I really hate to be high maintance but I called the Bug guy again and requested that he come back out again today. I'm hoping that does it. After putting down Clara for a nap, I went outside gave all of the dogs flea baths and applied flea drops. I'm pretty proud of myself for being a 9 month pregnant woman still able to accomplish much....but boy is it taking a toll on my body. Needless to say, I'm exhausted. But, it is days like this where I wonder, "Why DID God create the Flea?" Do they really benefit anything? Are they on the food chain for some bird? Does anyone know?

The Joys of Being a Mother

I just had to post some of these pictures of my daughter. It makes my heart smile when I see these. I'm so thankful for cameras which will help me recall these wonderful memories a litte more clearly.

"Controlled Burn" What Exactly is that?!?!

Just wanted to share some photos with you from last night. Sorry for most of the blur. It was hard to take good shots in the dark. And of course these pictures don't give you a full picture of what it really looked like.

We came home from services and as we crossed over the creek we saw the sky glowing bright orange. We knew that our fairly new neighbor across the street had been attempting to perform a "CONTROLLED BURN" earlier in the day...In which the fire department was called and asked to come over because it had gotten a little out of hand. So, we knew it wasn't our house...or at least not yet.

But as we got closer, we were a bit alarmed to discover that maybe this guy was a pyromaniac. I'm not the best judge of acreage but I would have to guess (my husband would probably disagree) maybe 30+ acres on FIRE!!! Is that considered a "CONTROLLED BURN" when you have one man manning a brush fires of 30+ acres????!!?!?!?

We drove down the road and discovered our neighbors that live behind our home were all outside at their barn watching with a bit of concern as well. I doubt we all got much sleep last night. At the time the wind was blowing South(away from our house). But, the wind did change and began to blow North and it was an eery sight to see the flames were now working their way over the hill, now down to the road that divides our property. Jonathan's concern was that a tree would ignite and fall across the street, catching our property on fire. He spent most of the evening, until about 11:30pm with the water hose ,trying to kill the fire and wet the grass and trees down. SOOOOOOOO glad that we to pay that water bill! Numerous trucks pulled over to make sure everything was okay because like I said earlier it was Alarming and looked a bit out of control.

We did get the camera and video camera out for "DOCUMENTATION" just in case something were to go HORRIBLY wrong. Our crazy neighbor then pulled out of his driveway around 11:30ish and saw us outside and stopped to have a chat (I quickly hid the camera). He didn't seem to be concerned but it made us feel better that he was there and was awake and not sleeping. He then proceeded to ask us, "Do ya'll have a gun?" Jonathan replied, "Not on me." Then he said that he received word from the Fire Chief (he'd been checking in with him every 30 minutes...what a relief) that there was a woman who was being held hostage by her boyfriend...down our road....holding a gun inside her mouth and law enforcement had been notified. He apparently got scared and fled her house on foot and there was a manhunt looking for him. Needless to say, we decided to come inside and lock the house down...bring the dogs in... and Jonathan loaded his gun and placed it beside our bed. How do you think we slept last night?????

Good news is that God heard our prayers. We still have a home and we woke up to a usual Monday morning. However, I did wake up extremely nauseous around 4am. The smoke must have been seeping its way into the house and I felt like I was in the process of being poisoned. And, Jonathan woke up seriously tired. He wondered what heavy smoke can do to your body? However, Jonathan wakes up EVERY morning SERIOUSLY tired. So that could be just part of our usual Monday morning. :>)

Did hear on the morning news that they still haven't caught the boyfriend. I think I will proceed with caution and keep all the doors locked just in case. THE JOYS and ADVENTURES that come with living in the WOODS! :>) Anyone up for coming and staying with us for a weekend? ha. It is probably stories like this that keep our company level down.