Easter 2023 - We have a LOT of work to do before Christmas!!

 Since we have 2 adorable kitties under a year old as well as Oookie who has experience as an Easter bunny-kitty, we decided to try to do a special Easter edition of Our Festive Pets.  We hope to have it become an annual event.  The participants' enthusiasm shall not be discussed.  

We have had mixed results with bunny ears in the past.  This shot of Boo and Dan from 2014 is a timeless classic

It is our first Easter without Jackson and we still miss the original best bunny very much

but the new bunnies are trying to pick up the fluffy-tail baton.  Or something like that.  The show must go on.

Oookie is such a bunny-face that we've been putting ears on him since the beginning.  This was 2021

And this was 2022

 

This year I bought a set of fuzzy black ears because I really wanted Eeek to earn his keep shine.  Eeek's well-earned nickname is Freak and today pushed him to the limit.  We showed him the harmless ears 

and then we caught him and attempted to get adorable (or at least minimally-panicked) photos of Eeek in his ears.  This is what we got:

Not winning any cuteness awards, but at least he settled down a bit.  We moved on to Oookie, who should be a pro by now.  These ears are a little big so they require support

Oookie was willing and we were off to a good start 

when Domovyk decided to get involved.

And just like that, it was game time!  Oookie exited center stage, and Domovyk took over.  

Is it a prop?  Is it a toy?  Is it edible?  Domovyk has questions!

So we added a rabbit stuffie for bonus bunny-points and let the kitten be a kitten!

Domovyk quite enjoyed the photo shoot, and the bunny isn't talking.

HAPPY EASTER!!    

Christmas 2022 - Life Goes On Whether We Like It Or Not

 This one's a tough one.  It's Christmas and the show must go on but this year without its star.  Most of you already know but for those that do not:  we lost Jackson a few days before Thanksgiving.  He made it a month past his 15th birthday which was indeed a miracle but that was not nearly long enough.  We miss him so so so much.  This tradition started before his arrival and it will continue past his departure but I will admit my heart is not in it this year.  I could share a dozen adorable photos of Jack rocking his Christmas finery but you've seen those.  Farewell, beloved boy.  

 Without Jack, we have struggled to get in the spirit.  Crash of course rebounded first.  We spent Thanksgiving with dear friends again this year, and Crash loves being part of a pack of giant dogs at their house.  The annual doling out of the leftovers was photo-worthy again this year.

After Thanksgiving, we added a new adventure to Crash's history - a visit with Santa himself!  Santa helped Crash get his hat on straight

but then he insisted we ditch the traditional boring outfit and let his personality shine.  Crash and Santa are pretty cute together, right?! 

Crash is living his best life here, with way more doggie friends and social activities than he had in California.  He especially loves hanging with his buddies at our favorite winery, even if we do make him wear ridiculous outfits.

The perpetually naughty boy has found his tribe.

We celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary a few days ago with a quick trip to California, our first since we moved.  We surprised everyone by showing up unexpectedly and we had a fantastic time visiting everyone.  We returned just in time for Armageddon picture-taking day and we were blessed with another white Christmas (or day-before-Christmas, anyway).  Stripped of the vinyl siding, freshly painted and landscaped, our house is finally beautiful on the outside even though the inside is still a work in progress.  

Hopefully by next Christmas we'll be showing off the interior.  Hopefully.  Sigh.  Here is a sneak peak at one of the finished rooms:

And now for the main attraction.  Oookie had to carry most of the weight this year but thankfully he has matured into a star in his own quiet way and he rose to the occasion gracefully (well, mostly).   The first Santa suit did not {ahem} suit him and it took a little damage.

    

But then we changed him into a softer, more Oookie-appropriate Santa suit and he started to feel the magic.

We tried another blingy accessory and added the new sleigh prop - and promptly lost him again.

So we ditched the sleigh for this year and went all out for the blingy elf costume of MY dreams.  It might not be Oookie's dream but he humored me remarkably well and we got the shot of the year - finally!

However, the resentment in that face did not go away so after a few less whimsical shots we gave up.  

Some of you already know that we did adopt a new kitty the week we lost Jack, mainly as a companion to Oookie who was not okay being a solo cat.  His name is Eeek! because that is his main expression and so far, his personality.  He is polydactyl and fluffy and his right hind foot is on backwards and we thought he would fit in quite well around here.  He and Oookie have bonded very well and are truly adorable together.  

However he is still warming up to us and is quite shy, which means that he was duly horrified by our holiday tradition.  We tried, we really did, but the best we could do was to put this boring Christmas sweater on him and squeeze off a couple quick shots before he bolted back under the bed - sans sweater thank goodness! 

Hopefully by next year he will have adjusted to life with the Beagles and will embrace his humiliation like a seasoned trooper.  

Since we are still unable to decorate inside for Christmas due to the remodel, we'll steal this picture of the tree at our favorite winery for the ending shot.  We will be tramping through the snow to join friends there tonight and that makes us feel very much at home in our little home town.  

Merry Christmas from Dan & Robyn!

Dauntless Wines, Forest Grove, Oregon

Christmas 2021 - Waiting for snow.

 Oregon, year two:  Waiting for the snow.  We had 2 awesome snowstorms earlier this year, and while we probably won't have a white Christmas, we're looking very good for a snowy Boxing Day!  We love the snow.  This photo is from earlier in the year:

 No new additions to the Beagle family, but the Beagle house is gaining an addition. 

We are waist-deep in adding on to the back of the house and the entire existing house is stacked with unlabeled boxes.  Luckily we were able to find some new accessories (Robyn discovered Dollar Store!) so the pets can still rock the season for the Beagle tradition.  Life up here has new challenges - as we were taking some of these photos, unbeknownst to us our basement was filling up with several inches of water - but overall we are settling in well and loving our new life up here.  The pizza oven is firing Robyn's signature pies, installed under feline supervision of course.  

We had custom windows made for the living room and Jackson posed with them pre-install, the photo of which was chosen for December 2022 for the Restore Oregon calendar!  

  We've made some wonderful friends and so has Crash.  He spent Thanksgiving learning new tricks with his buddies: 

Of course, the flip side of all that fun is earning your keep and Crash paid his dues by sporting ALL the sparkly green things with astounding polish:   

We also lit him up while visiting local spots last week.  It may not look like much but the crowd was pleased.

  

Crash has been our social ambassador to this town and we are very lucky to have him - he's way better at meeting people than we are!  He'll be 9 in the spring and is slowing down but still takes his duty as Official Greeter of all humans very seriously.

  At home, we have our fluffy angels to keep us company.  Jackson is still doing well!  He turned 14 in October and we are almost 5 years past the cancer diagnosis which was supposed to end his life.  We know every day with him is a small miracle and we are so grateful to have all this time with him.  That said, his days of starring in the Christmas email may be past...  We tried, we really did, to get him in the holiday spirit.  But the fluffy-britches star of so many holidays simply did not show up this year.  We tried the new antlers:

 And we tried the lights:

And we even put a VERY festive hat on him, but there was no joy from him this year.

Luckily, we have Oookie, our newer shining star.  Technically his name is still Luca but around here, names evolve.  Oookie had HUGE paws to fill, taking over for Cheek and Boo and now picking up the slack for Jackson, but he does seem to be rising to the occasion.  First we had to get him into some Christmas jammies and fire up the favorite toy:

Oh no, could this be a sleepy Oookie in jammies?

Next we tried the new Christmas tree cape and "Woe, woe is me" turned into naptime again...

We brooded on the lights:

And then we tried to pose him with these adorable little elf feet and a blingy tree and a feather boa (did we mention Dollar Store??) and what started out cute quickly turned ugly...

Suffice to say, thank goodness no actual elves were used during this filming!!  Order was restored long enough for one more shot before we hid the feathers:

This yearly Christmas card is about the pets, not us, but we do want to say how much we miss our friends and family back in California and especially our First Friday tradition... but also how grateful we are for the wonderful friends we are making here in Oregon, and how happy we are that you are now sharing this holiday tradition with us.  The world is going to Hell in a handbasket, but we are glad we have like-minded company in our little basket!

Merry Christmas everyone!

Love, 

Dan & Robyn