One holiday down.......Two more to go!

Hope everyone had a fabulous Thanksgiving. We had a wonderful day that was spent with football, friends, food, family and then fun!.......

We started by preparing all our food Wednesday evening, Thursday morning we got up, cleaned the house and popped the 26lb turkey in the oven. Off to Gilligan's we went to watch the Packer Game with friends. It was a nail biter, but the Pack pulled it off.......11-0! Woot! Woot!

After having one two many beers, we went back to the house to finish up the food and waited for the family to arrive. After all my years of making Thanksgiving dinner.....I do have to say that this years was my best ever! Along with Mr. Tom Turkey, we served sweet potato casserole, wild rice stuffing, garlic cauliflower mashed potatoes, cranberry tangerine relish and dinner rolls. Everything was made from scratch, no short cuts here. After our bellies were stuffed, the pies made it to the table, apple, pumpkin and Jonathan's Birthday Pie.....French Silk. We sang Happy Birthday to him and onto the birthday presents. Joel & I had a huge surprise in store for him. His first present was a white basket, his second present was a spool of purple ribbon, his third present was a purple dog coat, his fourth present was a purple food bowl, his fifth present was a purple collar with matching leash and his final present was adoption papers for Chica! Jonathan & Chica had bonded when she came to our house as a foster, when clients came to visit Chica to see if they wanted to adopt her, Jonathan was heartbroken. Chica wasn't what they were looking for, so we pretended we were still searching for a forever home for Chica, when really she was already home with her new Dad! It was priceless to see the joy in his eyes when he realized that Chica was his. I ever so politely reminded him that when he moves out.....Chica goes with him! :)

After the excitement of presents, Jonathan needed to get ready for work.......Black Friday! He is still working in the Electronics Department at Wal*Mart and loves it. He has been there long enough to enjoy benefits and vacation pay. Once he left for work, Joel & Big Joe drove Breeanna home in Shell Lake. The puppies and me took a small nap in preparation for midnight shopping.

We all got up at 11:20 pm, fluffed our hair and off to Black Friday shopping deals we went. Our first stop was Wal*Mart where we purchased a Christmas Present for ALL our guests who sleep in the breezeway......a 32" LCD HD television (even had DVR satellite hooked up on Sunday). Then we were off to Herberger's, Kohl's and Menard's........mission accomplished! We got everything we were going after. Finally got home at 7:30 am and off to bed we went.

Friday was a low key day, Joel worked on the mud room for a bit.

Saturday we were off by 9:00 am to Eau Claire to do some more retail therapy. After a full day of in and out of every store in town, we were back home in Chetek by 5:30 pm to meet Jonathan for his birthday dinner at Gilligan's.

Sunday we went and picked up our tree before it gets so frickin cold. Worked in the house pretty much all day because there was no Packer game :(

All in all the last couple of weeks have been so busy in preparation for getting the house ready for Christmas & the New Year. Joel is trying like crazy to get the mud room completed before we welcome our holiday guests.

This upcoming weekend is already stacking up to be a busy one. Christmas Tree up, finish decorating the house, more wood working in the mud room and last but not least........the Christmas card photo shoot with the puppies! Watch your mail.......

Check Back Often.......Check Back Soon
Joel, Amy and Jonathan

First snow 11-10-11

The Waage's have never been so busy getting ready for the winter to arrive and it is knocking on our door. November 11-10-2011 I awoke to our first snow of the season. We aren't quite ready for it to be here yet. We have replaced both the windows in the breezeway and still have to replace the kitchen window. Hoping with all the changes, new windows and additional insulation we have done since last winter will help a tad with the electric & gas bills! Time will tell.

Our dear little Xandro whom we've had since 10/7/2011 is going to his new forever family tomorrow........Omar & Silvia and his older brother Charlie (Chi/Beagle). He has been such a goof ball and we will miss him. But with each foster we find forever homes allows us to help others.


And don't forget little Chica aka "Baby Girl"......she is still hanging with us awaiting for her forever family to find her. She has adjusted to the move to Wisconsin. She hasn't had many accidents, but most of them were due to not getting to the potty pit in time. Her favorite past time is laying on a lap and giving mega kisses! She will make a great addition to any family.

This evening the Waage Herd will be welcoming :

Ms Paris.......she is a 6 yr old black & rust female, docked tail and beautiful natural ears. 12", 10 lb. Spayed and shots up-to-date. She just arrived earlier this week from San Antonio, TX where the fosters are busting at the seams. Her original adoptive mother rescued her while she was just a pup, now has decided to go to veterinarian school and wouldn't have time for her. According to Paris's Texas foster mother, she is quite the good swimmer and loves water. She loves to play in it, dig in it, chase it and get all wet.

And then because we have the saying around here.......If you have 5, what 7! We took on Lovely Lacey........she is a 5 yr old black & tan female, spayed, docked tail and uncropped ears. 11", 10 lb. Shots up-to-date. Rescued from shelter. Her name should have been Lucky.......because she is a very lucky dog because she was rescued by the people at IMPS on her last day at the shelter! At some point, the people that she trusted really scared her, so her new family will need to be patient, gentle and willing to help her overcome her fears. If you raise your voice, she will drop to the ground because she is afraid she is going to be hit. That doesn't happen anymore (She usually get my ears scratched and is told what a good girl she is), but it's hard to break an old habit. Once she does trust you, she wants to do everything to please you.

If you know of anybody who is looking for an addition to their family, please let me know. There are hundreds of little min pin's throughout the United States that would love to have a forever family. Any of our rescues can be transported to anywhere in the United States with our ground transport. Check out our website: www.minpinrescue.org to view all of our available dogs.

Tomorrow Joel and I are going back to Minnesota to celebrate our elders, Rita (11/7/11) and John (11/12/11) birthdays. We will end up going to Old Country Buffet because it is John's FAVORITE place to go to eat fried chicken. It is going to be a quick trip because Joel & I have a fundraiser for the Lion's Club to attend in the evening. WE have been supporting the Lion's Club for many, many years. It's our way of giving back. When Jonathan was 2 years old, he developed a condition in his eyes requiring him to need bifocal glasses. At the time, we were flat out broke. So our local Lion's Club in South St Paul paid for Jonathan's glasses. Due to the early detection and getting him into those glasses......his eyes were fixed without surgery and after almost 18 years since.......no eye problems. Joel & I always said that when we were able, we would pay them back in some form or another. So for about 10 years, we purchased our Christmas tree from the Lion's and now that we have moved, we support the Lion's Club in Chetek as well. It just a good cause..........

Sunday is going to be more working around the house, putting in the new kitchen window and working on the mud room. I should be able to get a whole days work out of the boys seeing there is no football game until Monday night. Of course, Joel took Monday off so we can go to Gilligan's for the game! John & Courtney are coming up on Monday morning. Courtney has decided to move to Chetek to have a fresh start. Monday afternoon, she is scheduled to take her college entrance exam for WITC in which she will be taking the CNA program. Once she completes that, she will have to decide if she wants to further her education and go onto the nursing course. She has already found a house that she loves and literally can see Grandma Waage's house from her living room window. We are so excited for her........and her new life and new career! Good Luck Courtney!!

Remember even though it is winter, we still have time and space for visitors. If you have nothing better to do on any given weekend......head up to the lake for a visit, we would love to have you:)

Check Back Often.........Check Back Soon
Joel, Amy and Jonathan