Happy Birthday Chelsie Belle!

Today is Chelsie's 7th birthday...I can't believe I have had her for nearly 7 years! She was 9 weeks and 15 squirming pounds of black fur when I brought her home to Portland St. The first thing she did upon arriving in her new home was to jump up right onto the couch. :)

Despite our struggles early on (she was a TERRIBLE puppy to housebreak) she has matured into a wonderful adult dog, and is the best companion in the world. She knows what she loves, and loves what she knows...some of ther favorite things include:

- Her mom
- Timbits from Tim Hortons - she thinks every drive thru is Tim Horton's
- Extreme Ball Chasing - her red kong ball is her favorite, esp on Thursday nights in the spring and summer when the softball boys throw it for her (repeatedly, until she is about to have a heart attack)
- Going for a walk
- Riding in the car
- Swimming
- Her morning kong (I freeze vanilla yogurt in it)
- Putting on her red therapy dog jacket and going to "work"
- Agility (definitely the cookies she gets for doing a good job)

Some of my favorite things about her are...

- She is always happy to see me when I get home - whether I have been gone for 5 min, 5 hrs or 5 days, I get the same joyous reaction when I get home
- Her appreciation for the simple things in life - I walk her on the same route most nights (when it is not 3 outside) and she looks back at me as if to say "isn't this great mom?"
- Her exuberance for life in general - I tell everyone she is 60 lbs of pure exuberance
- How she does lab laps around the coffee table with a toy in her mouth when I get home and then abruptly sits down, a sign that she is ready for her breakfast/dinner

Some big milestones this year...

- Earning lots of agility titles - she finished the year with 184 MACH points and 8 double Q's
- Continuing to do very good work at Dodd Hall on Wednesday nights
- Being a very good girl at Aunt B's house when we go see Bryce and Teagan - you have learned to supervise bath time very well and are a very good girl around Bryce and Teagan

Two of mom's favorite memories of this year....hearing Naomi Monroe cheer for us at The Barn when we were getting ready to take out turn and a visit from Alexis Titas at your crate after one of your runs in Cleveland.

Happy birthday Bean!!! Mommy is so proud of the wonderful girl you have turned into and the good work you do - and coming home to you, anytime, from anywhere, is always a highlight in my day!