Casey loves to be groomed

Michelle had given her a bath yesterday and tonight she was brushing her. Casey just laid there and loved the attention. When Michelle was blow drying her own hair Casey came over so she could be blow dried also. The only thing Casey wasn't wet!

Who knew Christmas could be so tiring!

The dogs got a stocking to share with new toys and boy did they get tired out.

Christmas morning was very relaxing next to the fire and some great Christmas music. Michelle played Santa and delivered the presents.

Lloyd got a nice 18" chainsaw to cut up that firewood that we love so much. A few big chunks at night and you don't have to turn on the heater! We are trying to cut those utility bills to make up for the summer ones.

Well lets just say Christmas for Michelle was all about enough gum, makeup and new clothes to make it through the end of the year. Ok the gum won't make it but this should last for awhile I hope.



She got her PJ's on Christmas eve. I didn't get any for Lloyd and I this year but when Cortney was home I had got for all four of us almost matching Pj's.

Santa has arrived

What would a holiday be without some kind of cute outfit. Yes Sadie tolerates it. The hat and beard came off quickly but the jacket stayed on for a couple of days.

Dec 19th Texas La Quinta

The 1st picture is in our room as we decided we needed a good nights sleep before the 1500 mile drive home. The next 2 pictures show Casey in the backseat. Or should I say most of her in the backseat. She really rather be in the front seat. She has a sturdy Lab body and wavy hair like a poodle but not curly. I am hoping that since we will be breeding her with a poodle and not a Lab more will be wavy or curly making them more hypo allergenic for people. Its the best of both dogs. Casey we are told loves water and will pull you from one end of the pool to the other if you hold her tail. I'm sure I have a few kids that will love this during the summer! She has already been playing in there pool/ water bowl and its cold still so I know once summer hits she will be in it all the time!

Dec 18th Road Trip

Fun rest stop at like 6am Saturday in Texas and freezing!

Ok so Friday December 18th was my last day of work for 2 weeks. Call me crazy but we did a turnaround road trip to Texas, Yes I said Texas! Lloyd has been wanting a Yellow Lab, its not a yellow lab but actually a Labradoodle which is a mix of Poodle and Lab. She sheds but not as much. She is also 1 year old and has papers. Before Christmas I was looking for Labradoodles and they were from 900.00 to 2500.00. Yes folks very expensive and out of the question. I found one online of course from a couple who couldn't manage her anymore.(They were old and had grand babies very young) Casey likes to jump so she would knock over the kids and they couldn't take her for walks either as she is very strong and inerjetic. Ok IE not trained well. If we drove to get her she was free. Of course I'm all about the good deal. With gas round trip and motel room we are looking at 350.00 and we got to see pretty much the whole state of Texas as we were just outside Houston! Yes we had to drive all the way across Texas and that is no little state let me tell you! Casey used to sleep in a cage every night, not anymore she sleeps on our bed or Michelle's bed now and does great. The first few days I wasn't sure the other dogs were going to take to her at all. She was a Alpha dog there and Sadie is our Alpha dog here. 2 Alpha dogs and what do you get. Lots of barking, teeth snarling, chasing and oh my goodness what have I done!! Well its been a week and they are all doing much better. Not where we need to end up but better. They play outside now, ok Willits and her finally play together as Miss Priss Sadie sits there and watches. Casey will go up to her and taunt her until she chases her. Willits and Casey spent last night out together so they can get real chummy. They were playing, sniffing and kissing by this morning. Which is good because in my mind they need to get real friendly! Willits is a boy and shes a girl coming into heat in 2 or 3 months. Then we will have baby Labradoodles that we will sale at pet prices so more people can have them without paying 1000.00. I'm thing 400 or 500 I'm not greedy ok maybe just a little. They will be a lot more work than my miniature poodles were.

Road Trip

Ok I'm just a lil crazy. My husband has been wanting a yellow Lab. I have been trying to talk him out of it since my allergies will really love me. We compromised for a Labradoodle. 1/2 Lab and 1/2 Poodle. They are very expensive but I found one that was papered and I could get her for free. The catch, you know there is always a catch. She is in Texas, yes Texas. Friday after we get off work we are going to drive 22 hours straight and get to Richmond, Texas pretty close to Houston. Get the new 1 year old Girl and stay at Motel 6 as they take dogs and then get up Sunday morning and drive back. Originally we were just going to turn around and drive back so Lloyd could be at work Monday morning but he took the day off. It's still going to be a crazy drive but at least we get to sleep in a bed between 22 hour drives! Yes this means baby Labradoodle is our future! I will be selling pups once again. These however will be much bigger and a lot more of them. I think the average size litter is about 10!

Bathroom decorated for Christmas

A lil church that holds a tealight by the fireplace. I love decorating the whole house.

Can you say Beauty Parlor

Well the dogs got a bath and blow dry this last weekend. Lets just say Sadie is much easier than Willits. Sadie will sit there and get a blow dry and then let you dress her. Willits on the other hand is a handful and bearly will let you blow dry him.

Can anyone say numb face!

Ok Michelle had 5 cavities when she left 14 months ago and yes she came back with 5 cavities still needing to be filled. She got 3 filled and had the wonderful experience of a numb face for many hours. Have to love the crooked smile.

Packer Sundays

Have you ever seen a dog represent so well? Well its really Lloyd's beanie but we taught him how to share!

Stitches are out and looking better

Well the stitches came out a couple weeks ago and now for the healing. Starting this week we were allowed to put Mederma on the scar to help it heal. It is so much smaller and flat now, it really looks good. Even better than this picture. We will update again soon with a new picture.

Sunday November 29th

We decorated the tree! Or should I say Michelle decorated the tree. Well I put the 1st decoration on and Lloyd put on the top and I did a few in between. It must of been hard work as she fell asleep on the floor on the dogs pillow.

Rain and Hail Today!

We woke up to a wet newspaper as it rained sometime in the night or morning. We didn't hear a thing but found some hail or ice in the truck bed this morning. The mountain above our house got some snow even! Its getting a bit cold at night but the house is staying warm with the fireplace. We haven't even ran the heater and our goal is not to. Rainy day relaxing before we get out all the Christmas decorations.

Our 1st Christmas Tree at our House

Well after date night! Yes we had a date night as Michelle left for 2 days with Grandma Eleanor to visit other family in California. After our movie we went and bought our Christmas Tree. We went to a small lot but of course their ATM was down. Who carries cash?! We were ready to spend 57.00 on a tree. We decided to check Walmart and surprise surprise 32.00 with tax. A nice savings and you know me I am all about the best price! We put it in the stand last night and watered it and let the branches come down over night. I trimmed about 3 branches and Lloyd put the lights on. We will wait to decorate until Michelle gets home so we can do it as a family.

Table was set

The table was set all ready for a grand feast. Lloyd was busy cooking a turkey, ham, green beans, mashed potatoes and gravy, yams, sweet carrots, stuffing and so much more!

Grandma Eleanor, Michelle, Crystal
Crystal, Cliff, Brittany above

Lloyd and Eleanor to the left.

Me well I was taking the picture.

We all ate until we were so full we couldn't eat anymore!

Thanksgiving Day Morning

Lloyd was all ready with his Packer apron!

My hair was curled by Michelle so it could look nice for the day. It even looked good the next day! Curls don't usually last that long but some mousse and hair spray seemed to do the trick!

Tamale Making

Today I learned how to make the red sauce for Tamales from the California Red Chili's. Just in time for the holidays. I cooked 2 tri tip roasts in the crock pot Tuesday Nov 24 and went on my way to Gloria's. She taught me how to make the sauce and when I got home Lloyd shredded the meat for me. I mixed in the sauce and put in the refrig until the next day. We had family coming in for dinner so I thought this would be perfect. Michelle and I made them and started cooking them in some small tamale steamers. It should of only taken a hour to cook but mine were a bit over two hours for some reason and I still microwaved them for a minute before serving them. They were delicious everyone enjoyed them!!!

Nov 18 Tape off Michelle's stitches

Well this was just a few days past one week after the surgery. They took the tape off of the incision and checked it out. The stitches are still in and should come out Monday November 30th. In the pictures it is still a bit swollen and red. It is much smaller than it used to be. Before it was about the size of a baseball and puffed out. Now its only about 1/2 by 3 and almost flat. I think in a couple more weeks it is really going to look good. We have been battling trying to keep the stitches from pulling so its been bandages and socks. It will be a lot better after Monday we wont have to deal with those knots at each end.