No, these are not just delectable treats. These are the words I’d use to describe this precious little sweetheart I’m so happy to call my niece.

Meet Laila!

She turned three weeks old yesterday, and I was able to travel back to Iowa last weekend to snuggle and photograph her. Yes, she is as cute as she appears.

Not that I’m biased or anything…

She’s so tiny, but especially in her daddy’s hands! (Those wrinkly little arms SLAY me.)

Her mama thinks she’s pretty special.

Oh, I LOVE this picture!

This child didn’t take a bad picture, but I’m going to quit my blubbering and let the photos speak for themselves!

 

Laila’s BIG brother, Axle, had to get in on the pictures, too. This Great Dane was such a sweet, gentle guy with his new baby sis.

I’ll wrap things up with my personal favorite. My brother and sister-in-law have such a precious little girl – I’m so glad I was able to take her newborn photos!

Sanctuary: a place of refuge; a shelter from danger or hardship

Wouldn’t we all like to have a sanctuary of our own? A peaceful place to rest, relax, and enjoy your surroundings. Fortunately for a select number of lucky dogs, cats, horses, and even a few roosters, St. Bonnie’s Sanctuary is the place  where they can do just that.

When the good folks at the Lange Foundation asked if I’d like to take photos of their horses at St. Bonnie’s, I jumped at the chance (after a few fist-pumps and Wop-Wops!). It’s a wonderful place where wonderful people work to place animals into loving homes.

St. Bonnie’s has several acres devoted to their equine residents, all of which were rescued from horrible situations and now live a better life. The day I visited was a special one. It was Commodore’s birthday!

This spry young buck was celebrating birthday number 42.

Yes, you read that right. FORTY TWO. Looks pretty good for his age, doesn’t he?

His buddy, Shrimp, seems to think so.

Oh, Shrimp…

The young handsome guy in the next pen is Edgar…

… And Edgar’s ball.

Edgar LOVES his ball. He runs around with it and plays with it like a dog.

In the pen next-door is Hank. He greeted me with a long, loud bray.

Hank’s a pretty popular guy at the Sanctuary. He has such a gentle demeanor.

He’s even got a girlfriend. Meet Charlene!

She’s a sassy one!

Up next is Aladdin. He came to the Sanctuary after being rescued with several other animals from a hoarding situation. He’s such a wonderful guy with oodles of personality. In fact, Aladdin had a thing for me. Well, he had a thing for my bright red camera bag.

He followed me around like my bag was filled with carrots & oats. Which it wasn’t. (I’m pretty sure.)

Even after I left his pen, he followed me down to the next one. Such a fantastic guy!

“Cheeeeeeeeeese…”

Then there was gentle giant Bradley (who was working the wind-swept look particularly well).

And Kawika the pony…

… Whose poofy, frizzy hair made me smile.

Diego and Slim are apparently hoarding Edgar’s spare toys.

Slim is so handsome.

And Diego’s not too shabby, either!

And in the last pen, I found Solo and Stella.

This is beautiful Stella.

Er, excuse me… “STELLAAAAAAAA!”

And here’s Solo.

These two are good friends.

Stella came back to the Sanctuary after being in a home that didn’t have time for her. She’s a little underweight, but they’re gradually getting her back to normal.

To think that any of these beautiful creatures was ever mistreated is just heartbreaking. It makes me so thankful that they’ve found a place like St. Bonnie’s.

These guys love visitors, so if you’re ever in Canyon Country, stop by and pay them some attention!

St. Bonnie’s Sanctuary is a 4.5 acre property in Canyon Country, CA that was purchased in 2007 by the Lange Foundation with the goal of building a beautiful, state-of-the-art rescue kennel, as well as providing sanctuary for horses, dogs and cats who will live out their lives here. St. Bonnie’s Sanctuary is a part of the Lange Foundation, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. If you’d like to do a meet & greet, give them a call at (661) 251-5590, or email them at st.bonnies@gmail.com. You can read more about them on their website: http://www.langefoundation.org/index/St_Bonnies_Sanctuary.html

I’ll leave you with the Birthday Boy’s Birthday Butt Scratch.

Wow, where has the time gone? It’s been a crazy month in our household – we moved to a new house, I got a new day job, and we added a new member to our family. Needless to say, I haven’t had much time to blog. I hope to remedy that soon when things settle down.

In the meantime, I suppose I should probably introduce you to the newest little meatball. Meet Shelby.

My husband would want you to know that her full name is Shelby Cobra Mustang.  Because she can’t be *too* girly, you know.

We’d been wanting to add another dog to our family and knew we wanted to adopt from a rescue or shelter. We found a dog at a rescue that we liked very much, but got really discouraged when they never returned any our phone calls. (Note to rescue groups: You’re not doing the animals any favors by ignoring potential adopters!)

After giving up on that particular dog, I went on a whim to the city shelter. It was early and not many people were there, so the dogs weren’t overly-excited and barking. It’s so heartbreaking walking through a city shelter because you walk past the dogs and realize that they might not get adopted. And we all know what that means.

I walked to the small dog area and stopped at a cage with four or five small chihuahuas. They were excitedly jumping and barking and I went to continue on down the line of kennels when I saw a white fluffy dog coming out from the back of the kennel. She was quiet and calm and stood motionless as the other dogs around her went berserk. She looked at me with her dark brown eyes and I knew I needed to get a closer look at her.

The worker brought her out of the kennel and to a “Meet & Greet” room where the dog promptly crawled into my lap and went belly-up. I called my husband then and there and told him I’d found our dog.

He came to the shelter and met her, too, and fell just as in love as I did. We filled out the paperwork, paid her fee, and after a quick trip to Petco, took her home to meet Toby.

Toby took to her immediately. It makes us *so* happy to see them play together. She’s fit into our family like she always belonged here. She’s quirky, she’s lovable, and she’s a great dog.

So in a way, we’re thankful that the rescue never returned our phone calls. If they had, we may not have brought home our little Shelby (Cobra Mustang).

(Okay, a few words: These kittens were all adopted from the Lange Foundation within hours of these photos being taken.  Check out the Lange Foundation if you’re looking for a furry creature to add to your family!)

This week at the Lange Foundation, it’s all about the cats!

And now, the dogs!

Lange Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to saving homeless and abandoned pets, and preparing them for a journey to a new, safe, loving world.

Lange Foundation
http://www.langefoundation.com/
2106 S. Sepulveda Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90025
Phone: 310-473-5585

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