Christmas 2007

Hello everybody! I hope everyone had a fun, safe and relaxing Christmas and will have a fun and safe New Years. (Above is Britches displaying his holiday joy)

John and Mom

Unfortunately, Mark and I have had a rather difficult month with Mark's serious flu (followed by a lingering cold), truck and plow problems, Roxy's unexpected death and, most recently, my bout with the flu during the Christmas weekend. However, with time and with love and support from our family and friends, we are slowly recovering and healing. This month has reminded us how we cannot take good health for granted and how much joy and pure love our animals give us. If you have an animal...love 'em up as much as you can!!

Mark playing with Mingo

Home in Rhinelander

Of course, our big news is that we just picked up another Llewellin Setter yesterday afternoon. Lily is the newest member of our family, but I'm jumping ahead of myself here.

Lily!!

My last day of school was Friday December 21. I worked some holiday parties Friday and Saturday night at the restaurant. By 4:00 am Sunday morning though, I became very ill and spent the entire day Sunday sick. I was worried that Mark and I would have to cancel our holiday travels to Rhinelander, but when I woke up Monday (Christmas Eve) morning, I felt weak but okay. We jammed our truck full of presents, luggage, dog accessories and Mingo and were off to the Northwoods. As the day progressed, I knew something still wasn't quite right. I went for a beautiful walk with mom and Mingo in the woods, but really struggled getting back. By the time we were opening gifts with John and Jim, I was entirely spent and really just needed to go to bed.

Mark and Crazy-Face Jojo

Dad, Mark and Mingo in the kitchen

Dad's tractor and garage

While he is finishing his research and hours and hours of Turkish translations for his doctorate, my brother, John, is also working this winter with my other brother, Bob, in Madison doing snow removal. As everyone is probably aware, there has been quite a bit of snow here (as I write this it is snowing again with an expected snowfall of 3-6 inches), so my brothers have been busting their tailends with all of the hard labor--and inconvenient hours--of the task. There had been snow and heavy winds the day before Christmas Eve, so John was still in the process from recovering from that...so we both said our thank-yous and goodnights to everybody and went to bed immediately after the gift opening. I guess Jim and Mark and mom and dad had a really good time though just hanging out and drinking a couple beers and wine coolers!

Dad shows us his dry-wall machine

Jim and Mark
Mom whooping it up

Christmas morning I was still ill and missed attending the mass with everyone. By Christmas afternoon I was able to sit up and have a very small plate of food, but it was another early night for me.

Jim reading the paper
Romeo bats around a gift

John and Jim left Rhinelander the morning after Christmas, and by then I was able to at least be vertical and perhaps not be as utterly repulsive as I had been. What a bummer! I couldn't really spend time with everyone, I was physically gross, I couldn't eat any of that good, naughty Christmas food OR partake in any holiday beveraging either!! Phooey!

Check out the distance that snow will fly!
Me, John and Mom

Mark and I did take a short day trip with mom and dad up to Mercer the afternoon of the 26th. It was snowing quite a bit that day, and the roads were still fairly snowcovered, so it took us awhile to get up there and it seemed like you really needed to have a snowmobile anyway to do what all the other people were doing up there. Lots and lots and lots of snowmobiles were being transported north that day. Lots. Sidenote: On our way back to Cross Plains yesterday, from Merrill to Wausau we counted over 70 snowmobiles being transported north!

The Mercer loon

Mom

We also learned a valuable lesson on this trip: Always check the expiration dates on any sodas you purchase at a gas station, particularly if that gas station seems a little dicey. Dad, Mark and I bought a few Diet Mountain Dews and they were absolutely rancid. We then observed that the expiration dates varied from October 2007 to April 2007 to January 2007! Gross!

Mark heading towards the cozy house

Mark and I said our goodbyes to mom and dad yesterday morning after one final, beautiful walk in the pines. What a great spot mom and dad have. I think Mingo appreciates this just as much as anyone else. He, like always, had a blast running and exploring the property. Much to our chagrin, he did chase after a deer or rabbit at one point, because upon returning from his adventure, he was panting heavily and had haunches covered in so much snow it resembled a pair of cottonball britches! (Snow collects in the long hairs that hang from his legs).

Mingo covered in snowballs
The Pines

My in-laws had checked on our cats while we were away and they were happy and healthy when we returned home. We unpacked our vehicle and spent a few minutes with Fanny and Britches and were off to Mounds to purchase a few necessary items before we picked up Lily.

Mingo on-guard

Lily is a 5-month old Llewellin and is the half-sister of Mingo and Roxy (same father). She is a beauty and seems very sweet. She's still very shy and doesn't always want to come out of her kennel, but we know she will adjust. Mingo also seems a little concerned, but once she starts playing with him, they'll become fast friends. The cats look at Mark and I with looks of annoyance, as if saying "good grief, here we go again."

Britches and Fanny observing Lily

Lily in her kennel

Last night we celebrated Christmas with the Valaskeys. It was a time used to introduce Lily to all her hound dog cousins and Van and Judy. We had a great dinner (like always) and drank some good wine (I was healthy enough to partake in both moderately). In the Valaskey household, the gift exchange and the unwrapping of gifts for the dogs is quite an event! My brother-in-law's yellow lab, Abby, is just adorable to watch at this time. She becomes so excited and really wears a smile on her face as she tears open different toy and treat packages.

Abby eagerly awaiting her gift
Greg and Renee with Sam

With the exception of my flu bug, we had a nice Christmas and were happy we could spend the time with family. We hope that everyone else had a great Christmas and we hope to hear from you all soon!

Mingo, Lizzy and Sam napping by Mark


Britches getting a closer look at Lily

Mingo smells something!