Karmen graduated from Texas A&M University with a B.S. degree and then obtained her master's degree from Baylor College of Medicine. She practices as a PA just south of Houston. She recently purchased her first home on over an acre of land. It is just minutes away from Ana and is perfect for her Friesian mare and her parcel of Papillons.

Ana and Karmen have been involved in Papillons since 1999, when they purchased their first two Papillons, Gabriel and Juliette, with whom they began competing in agility and doing pet therapy. It was their love of these two dogs which sparked their desire to one day breed Papillons. After several years of pedigree research, they purchased their first show dog in 2003. Currently they have 5 show dogs from top American, Scandinavian, and English lines.

Ana and Karmen co-own all of the Papillons at Aleda, however, some are Ana's pets and some are Karmen's. Regardless of with whom the dogs reside, they all live as family members in the home and are deeply loved. They are raised on a natural diet of real meat, veggies, and whole grains and are taken on regular trips to the park or beach for exercise and fun. All of the Papillons at Aleda participate in agility to some degree and are obedience trained using positive reinforcement.

Ana and Karmen are both members of the Papillon Club of America and are co-founding members of the Papillon Club of Houston where both hold office. In addition, Ana serves as the regional reporter for the Papillon Club of America monthly newsletter, PapTalk. In 2001, Ana and Karmen co-authored an in depth research paper on the various Papillon coat colors and their mode of inheritance. To share their research, they created the Papillon Coat Colors website. Soon after, they launched the Papillon Information Site.