About Us

Zilly (short for Godzilla!) is our newest family member!

She joined us as an early 2021 Christmas present for Andrew and Jackson, and has sure made life interesting!

As our first ever lizard, we definately have a learning curve, but we are getting there!

Zilly loves eating bugs and playing hide and seek with the kids...

Phoebe was one of the few bright things to come out of 2020! Kalie drove to Minnesota to get her on Christmas Eve morning and she has been part of our family since then.

At right around 11 lbs., she is the smallest miniature schnauzer we have had. Mike was initially quite opposed to getting another dog at that time, but Kalie convinced him (read: made him) and Phoebe has turned into a daddy’s girl... She loves to give kisses and loves to have her belly rubbed.

Phoebe acts tough if Toby is around.But she is definitely submissive when compared to her slightly older brother...

Toby joined us in the summer of 2019 with the hope of getting a schnauzer puppy to "learn good habits" from Chloe. It was a good plan that Kalie had, but Toby may be a little too strong willed for that! He is definitely "all boy" as Kalie likes to say!

Toby is however one of the best listening dogs we have ever had. Kalie has worked hard on training him and he loves going on hikes off leash. Now if we could just train him to not bark at every dog that walks past!

We joke that Toby must be invincible. After only being with us for a couple of weeks, he wiggled between the spindles of our second story deck and launched himself onto the concrete below.He also had his paw run over by our minivan.In both instances, he was completely unharmed!

Toby's greatest accomplishment so far in his young life was saving his sister from an imminent coyote attack in our backyard, keeping the coyote at bay until Mike could get there to chase it off! Very impressive!

We joke that Chloe was our "accident" dog. We went into a pet store looking for a few koi for our new koi pond, and found this little schnauzer with a reverse mohawk and neither Kalie or Mike could say no to her. So we came home with her that day!

While we don't like to play favorites, Chloe may have been the greatest dog of all time. We won't count those dreaded puppy years with her though! On the day that Jackson came home from the hospital, Chloe decided it would be a good idea to chew up the carpet in the family room, causing Mike to scramble to get the carpet fixed before Jackson came home for the first time! She also chewed the carpet in the bedroom, chewed on the wooden bedframe in the master bedroom, and chewed up the wooden arm of a chair!

But as she grew up, it would be hard to find a more loyal and loving dog.She was a fantastic listener and would also come and sit in your lap if you sat down. And if you weren't paying enough attention to her, she would make sure you knew it!

Miles was an impulse buy for Mike when he was a sophomore in college in Iowa City. He may have been one of those dogs that "only a father could love". But he was very loyal to Mike throughout the years back in Mike's bachelor days!

Miles' favorite song (or least favorite?) was a song by the Dixie Chicks called Ready to Run. Any time that song would come on, Miles would throw his head back and howl at the top of his lungs. We weren’t sure if he was singing along with it because he loved the song, or if he was begging for the song to be over!

Miles also had the highest vertical leap of any dog we have ever had. When he was excited to be going outside, he would stand by the door and leap about three feet in the air. Michael Jordan would be jealous of such a vertical!

Quito was described as an "old soul". He was very "chill" and loved to just bask in the sun...

Kalie found Quito hiding under her car in her apartment parking lot shortly after Mike and Kalie started dating. Ever the animal lover, she didn't want to just leave the cat in the parking lot. It was clear that he had been out there for a while as his hair was matted and he was slightly under weight. After making several attempts to find a pet shelter that seemed clean and wouldn't put him down if not claimed, Kalie convinced Mike to keep him until she could find the owner. Determined to find the owner, she had flyers printed up, although those posters never actually made their way out of the house! Eventually, he just became a part of the family...

It is pretty well known that cats get into everything and can be a bit mischievous. This really wasn't the case with Quito. He was always pretty good (other than always wanting to get up on the kitchen counter!). And that meow of his was definitely unique!

Mickey was one if Kalie's two cats prior to meeting Mike. Mike may not have been a cat person when he met Kalie, but if anything helped him come around, it was Mickey. There has never been a cat that loved to cuddle more than Mickey. He didn't care who you were – if you sat down to watch TV, he needed to come and just drape himself over you...

He was also fantastic with baby Jackson. Jackson would pull on whiskers and ears and Mickey never seemed to mind. Jackson would even tackle Mickey and use him as a pillow. Mickey would not only take it, but almost seemed to like it!

A funny Mickey story: on the day that Kalie moved from her apartment into Mike's house, both of the cats made the move as well. And when bringing in some of Kalie's larger items, the door had been propped open. It was a very cold evening that day, and as Kalie was standing out front, she claimed to have seen Mickey standing in the driveway and run off. In a panic, a rescue party was organized and we looked everywhere throughout the neighborhood. Except – Mickey had been hiding under a bed in the house the entire time!

What is there to say about Jasmine... She was lovingly referred to as the "little b***h" of the house. Always in to everything and had to be the center of the world. She loved playing with sparkle balls and chasing any toys that you would throw for her.

She was definitely the reason that Mike started losing his hair, which may have been good practice for when kids started showing up!

It was long assumed we would never be able to have another cat again because of Andrew's allergies. But after a couple years of allergy shots, here we are!

Meet Moose (Andrew named him, can you tell?)... He is a new addition, so check back soon for more info!