ThankYou

10-31-07
Wendy
What fun we are having! The girls are so cute - and SMART. We have had some accidents but no big deal. We pretty much know what to watch for and get them outside in time. The eat like big dogs - especially Gracie. I am known as a bit OCD when it comes to my house. Every things needs to be put away,,, NO clutter! That was last week!!! Right now my living room is full of toys - lots and lots of toys. WE LOVE IT!
Here are a few pictures to show you how the girls are adjusting to their new home.
Norma

11-12-07
Hi Wendy -
We just want to let you know the girls are perfect. They are everything we wanted and more! So cute and so much fun. You two did an exceptional job with these puppies. I'm sure all 11 are just like Belle and Gracie.
Belle is "Daddy's girl". Gracie is really close to being a black Mindy. She likes to lay on the kitchen floor and watch me cook - just like Mindy did. I needed a kitchen helper again but never thought I'd get one. Both girls love us both but each has a favorite. Thanks you for doing whatever you did to prepare these puppies for the families that were lucky enough to get them.
I'll keep trying to send you pictures and will get the darn pc working soon - I hope.
Later -
Norma

12-23-07
Hi Wendy & Vivian -
The Girls! We absolutely love them! Gracie 's legs just keep growing. She is so lanky! Gracie is also very smart. She has learned "hands" when she wants up on something. We told her "put your hands here", then boost her up. Now we just tap and say "hands". She us a sofa dog too, as well as a lap dog. She loves to be held. Some of the other things she does reminds us so much of Mindy. We think Gracie is being coaxed by Mindy's spirit.

Belle is our wild child! She is so tough and has no fear. Belle is still a bit on the stubby side but growing like a weed (they both are). We can at least see daylight under Belle. She is mostly hair! Both dogs love to be combed and brushed. New noises sometimes send her in the house on a very fast run, but then she runs out again to see what it is. We are probably bad but we have both dogs in bed with us at night. They are 100% potty trained so we aren't worried about them at all. When we leave them alone, they get in "the box". We just say "get in the box" and they are gone in a flash - just like Mindy did. They love the box. When they are outside and don't want to come in, we shake a treat sack. That always works. Sometimes when we call them, they just look at us and continue whatever they were doing - like digging for peanuts (their favorite pastime), but the sack of treats always works

All the money in the world couldn't get these two puppies away from us. They are here with us forever. We do have to warn people when they come in that the pups love strangers more than they do us. It take a while for us to get them to calm down. When the doorbell rights, they don't bark, they just run to the door (our little Wal-Mart greeters). Gracie is our jumper. She is on the furniture so fast when she wants to! Belle on the other hand jumps straight up in the air - not forward at all to make the jump worthwhile. Rick does have her trained to jump in his hands. It's so cute because she only gets off the floor about a foot. When she comes running, you'd better have your hands out because she is going to jump! So cute to watch!

Have a very Merry Christmas and a wonderful trip in January! Let us know when you get home. Be safe!
Norma (Rick, Belle & Gracie)

2-3-08
HI Wendy
Here are some new pix of our girls. Tomorrow is their big day. Five months old and going in for their spaying. Rick and I are like two worried parents.
Gracie has lost the white patch on the top of her head and her white toes are disappearing too. We can see white hair on the bottom of her feet but not her toes. We describe her hair as looking like that black moss that grows on trees in the forest… only softer. She wags her tail and body so hard, she almost hits herself in the head with it. Belle on the other hand - her tail looks like a beautiful feather lightly blowing in the breeze. She can get up pretty good speed but nothing like Gracie. Belle never holds still. She has to be moving all the time - even in her sleep. Such a funny girl. Gracie is so sweet but outside in the snow - WOW! Both dogs love the snow! I'm really getting sick of it. We got about 3 - 4 more inches again last night. Supposed to get more though out the week.
Take care - Norma

2/27/08
Hi -
When are Greta's new puppies going to get here? I keep checking your website hoping to see new pictures. I told Belle and Gracie that they are going to be big sisters soon.
I'm only guessing at the girls weights but I think Gracie is probably 16 lbs and Belle, maybe 11. Gracie is so LONG! Her legs are long, her body is long - she is just very lanky and a real lap dog. She is so nice to hold and she loves to be held. She doesn't whine so much any more - since she learned to bark - which is more of a hound bark. Very funny to watch and listen to. Belle barks at everything. She has extra sharp hearing and does a little "woof" under her breath. But when she really barks, she really barks! We love our girls!!!
Keep in touch,
Norma

5-2-08
Hi -
The girls are doing great and LOVING our spring weather - FINALLY. Belle had no after effects of the rhubarb leaf eating event. She is just as sassy as ever - in fact we think maybe we should have named her Sassy. (We considered changing her name to either Paris or Britney.) Nothing new to tell you about our pups except that we absolutely love them! They are finally at the age Mindy was when we got her so we are expecting some pretty strange happenings for another year - if they follow in Mindy's footsteps.
Here is some of the latest picture. I keep taking pictures but don't upload them promptly. The baby is our 4 week old Great granddaughter. It was love at first sight with Gracie - as you will see. She still perks up when she hears a baby cry. Belle and our great grandson Jack (Jaxon) hit it off from the start. They loved running in the yard. It was fun for all of us!
We plan to stick around home for the summer unless we can take Belle and Gracie. They are still a bit wild to leave them with my sister and her husband, or our neighbors, who have both offered to baby sit. We would just worry about them so we wouldn't have any fun anyway. We'll just stay home with our girls.
Keep in touch - so will I.
Norma

7-24-08

Hi you world travelers!

How was the trip and how is it being home and back to normal. Is Tessa pregnant for sure? I hope she has a larger letter than Greta's last one!

We are all doing very well. Trying to get rid of some of the grass in our front yard to cut down on mowing and watering. You probably don't have bill bugs up in Washington. We do and they are terrible. The eat the grass roots and of course, that kills the grass. We spend so much each year to kill them but they usually do a lot of damage. For some reason the front yard is much worse than the back. The back yard belongs to our dogs so we are very careful about what the products we use back there. They MUST be pet friendly!!! If the dogs want to wreck the back yard, that's ok… it's their yard! They are so good though. This morning however, Belle decided to eat two roses! She was laying in a "bed of red rose peddles" when I found her and of course, I didn't have my camera on me - DARN.

Here are some of the latest pictures. WE LOVE OUR GIRLS!

Norma & Rick

11-30-08
Hi Wendy,

Now for the really good part of our lives - our girls! Belle and Gracie are still wonderful. They are healthy and love life. They are still so full of nonsense. Rick and I are both football fanatics but if the girls start their antics, football gets put of the back burner. They love their yard, birds, squirrels and butterflies (when it was warmer). Speaking of warmer - our fall has been amazing. Last year we had lots of snow. This year we haven't even had a hard freeze. The grass is still green and the girls can still find worms and bugs - they love worms and bugs.
Remember last spring when I sent you pictures of my great grandkids - a 4 year old boy (Jaxon) and his baby sister Reece. They were here for Thanksgiving and the dogs love those kids. Gracie was especially fond of Reece when she was about 6 weeks old. Reece is 8 ½ months old and Gracie still loves her, but not as gently as she did before. That baby had so many dog kisses! We all had fun but like all of us, when the grandkids come to visit, the visit is never long enough - especially when they come from out of town.
I check your websitea lot and watched those last four puppies grow - and get adopted. It is nice to see Belle's and Gracie's litter mates too. I hope everyone keeps in touch with you regarding their dogs.

Take care and have a wonder Christmas,

Norma, Rick, Belle & Gracie

4-24-09
Hi Wendy

I finally got some new pix of our girls. These are all inside pictures but the grass is finally green and spring is making outside look better every day so I'll soon get some outside activities sent your way.

Nothing new here.... yet! I'm getting a new kitchen! Belle is my kitchen helper so we are both happy about it. I'll send you a picture when it's done - about 3 weeks. Rick and Gracie love to relax in the recliner whenever possible. Belle is our floor dog. She like to lay on her back in the middle of the great room. She prefers to sleep in her crate at night while Gracie sleeps with us. Four's a croud I guess.

We hope you are having nice weather and those new cute babies are getting out. They are so cute!

Take care -

Norm