.Puppy dog tales.

I have never been a "dog person". Ever. I've always had my kitty cat fur babies!

Cats are a breeze to take care of. All they need is food, water and some love.

Since the mister and I have been together, he has wanted a dog. He is what you would call a "dog person". Unfortunately for him, I rescued a cat (My darling Suzie) that does not care for other animals. At all!

We have had Suzie now for over 5 years. She can be the sweetest ball of fluff... When she wants to be! She loves to snuggle with me, but is a mean kitty when people come to the house! I love this cat more than anything, but I was watching a show on Animal Planet called Dogs 101 and saw the cutest dogs (Australian Shepherds!) and thought, "that kind of do would be a good addition to our little family".

For my amazing husbands 30th birthday, I threw out the idea of maybe getting a puppy. I was more thinking out loud than offering it as his present, but the look of pure joy on his face told me that the damage was done! We were getting a dog.

I did a ton of research on Aussies before we decided for sure on the breed. They are herding dogs, which means high energy. I got some puppy books and started to familiarize myself with what to expect with a puppy in our lives. Once we decided an Aussie was for us, I found a reputable breeder and a week later, we made the hour and a half drive up to Hemet to meet her puppy's.

Since it was the hubby's birthday present, he got to pick the name (Sadie Roofus!) and he got to pick the puppy he wanted. At only 10 days old, how do you pick your future best friend? I don't know how he did it, but he picked the perfect puppy!

Here's Sadie at 10 days old

We were able to visit Sadie a few times while she was with her litter. It was so fun to see her get bigger each week! My mom and grandma even got to see her at 6 weeks old.

Sadie meeting her grandma and great grandma at 6 weeks old.

7 weeks old with her papa!

We got to bring our big fluffy puppy home on Saturday, September 29!

We are so lucky she is such a good girl in the car!

She made the adjustment to her new pack very easily! I was expecting some crying the first night, but she went right to bed! It's like she knows she was meant to be with us.

We have had her home now for 24 days, and she is such a joy! Most of the time at least. She IS a puppy after all.

We enrolled her in a puppy kindergarten class  shortly after we got her. The class is more to teach us what the heck we're doing with this puppy! She is doing very well and has already mastered sit, down, stand and is working hard on roll over! 

She has had a few play dates with her new friends, or "mentor dogs" as we like to call them in puppy class. Mommy loves how tired the little bear butt gets after those play dates ;). 

I think I have officially turned into a "dog person". I did fight it, but I finally gave in! Suzie on the other hand is taking a while longer to warm up, as we expected she would. Maybe one day she will learn to love her sister!

Here's a few more pictures of our little Sadie Bear!

Pretending to be good with her new friend Charlie

The cutest little bee!

Heading out for a play date!

Hanging out on mommy's lap

Sadie Roo is definitely a great addition to our little family! Until next time folks!

~ T.Don 

Wuv, true wuv

It's been quite some time since my last update!

I've had lots of ideas of what to write about, but never the time to actually sit down and write.

So many amazing things have been going on in our little family the last few months! My Mister turned 30, we celebrated our first wedding anniversary, I went to the UK (!!!), we have had lots of visitors, some small trips together... Oh, and of coarse, there is the newest addition to the T-Don family. Our puppy Sadie Roofus!

More on all that at another time!

The Mister and I just got home from a beautiful celebration of love! There is another new Donatelli in my new family! Congratulations to Paul and Mary!

We were so excited to be invited to share this important day in their lives. Anthony and his cousins were not very close over the years, and I didn't even meet them until May of this year (After 6 years together!). Guest lists when you are planning a wedding can be very stressful! When we were making ours, we made a very conscious decision not to invite family members we had not seen in years. In my mind, it would have been rude, and almost like asking for more gifts to invite people who I did not know/Anthony had not seen in probably 15 years.

(P.S. I in no way regret this decision! I was second guessing myself for a second yesterday thinking I should have sucked it up and invited everyone (Because they are all so amazing!), but I stuck to my guns and had my wedding my way.)

I finally met the Donatelli side of the family back in May . The family was brought together to say good bye to the matriarch of the family, Anthony's grandmother. It was not an ideal situation to meet your new family, but they were all wonderful none the less! I had a great time with all the cousins and aunts and uncles! They welcomed me and made me so comfortable, like I have been a part of the family forever! 

After that trip, we were all able to keep in touch with facebook, which helped exponentially this weekend at the wedding because I could remember every one's name! There's nothing worse than going to a family get together and not remembering peoples names!

The wedding was absolutely beautiful. It was held at St. Mary's church in Walnut Creek, CA. It was a full catholic service (which I haven't been to in I don't even know how long!). You could tell all the work they put into their service. The readings were perfect for them, the songs were perfect. It takes a lot of work to make things look that easy! Mary was stunning in her dress! I always tear up watching a bride walk down the isle, and this wedding was no exception!

The reception was at a country club, I wish I could remember the name! It was an open bar (Woo hoo at the time, more like what was I thinking this morning!), the food was delicious and the cake was AMAZING!! Most importantly, the company made the night :). I got to talk to so many of my new cousins and get to know them so much better.

You could feel the love beaming from Paul and Mary the entire evening! We wish them all the love in happiness in their life together! 

All in all, it was an amazing weekend!

Last minute plane tickets to Sacramento... Way too much $

Not having to drive 8 hours each way... Priceless! 

I totally forgot to bring my camera to the wedding (Fail!) so no pictures in this update. Sorry friends! I'll update again soon. Time to relax on the couch with my love and listen to the rain! Until next time!

   ~ T. Don