Can you believe these guys are one year old? Dear Bella - she might be chronologically one year - but she's still 5 months in her brain and heart. She's the sweetest creature you can imagine - but, well...how can I put this? She's not necessarily the brightest bulb in the chandelier. It just adds to her charm though.

After over 8 months of trying to teach her to "sit", "stay", "no" - we've come to the conclusion that a bit of her processing ability must have leaked out of those holes in her head! Its just a colossal family joke now. Everyone hugs and smooches the socks off of her - and everyone expects to be walked on, smashed, tripped and have to play dodge 'em when she's wound up. After all - she's Bella! And you know, I bet those ultra brilliant obstacle course dogs don't play tea party with little girls.

We had an out of town friend in last weekend. He brought his digital camera with him - one that is far superior to my little cheapie. It occured to us the day he was leaving that we should try to get some good pictures for you. Note the phrase - "it occured to US". The "us" did not include Bella. Twenty attempted pictures later - we had nothing that didn't look like we were strangling her. A) she thought very little of the birthday hat and blower - B) "Sitting" was not on her agenda that morning. So my friend and I decided "What the heck?" - why not show you what her life is really like?

So - that's what I'm sending you. The first picture is the best of the "posed" shots. After that the pictures will be in the order they were taken, as Bella and Aurora played their usual game of "tag". "Tag" with Aurora is by far Bella's favorite thing in the world. At least Bella has learned to stay out of my flower beds. I decided that I would be grateful for that and not stress over the no siting thing.

Bella runs after Aurora and swipes her with her paw - or better yet - nibbles her feet or bum. Aurora then chases Bella and tags her on the bum and they switch back. When all is said and done they are both panting and Aurora has giant muddy pawprints EVERYWHERE. And I forgot to mention - Bella loves to flatten Aurora and lay on top of her while chewing on her. If she manages to get Aurora flat during a game of tag - she considers herself the "winner".

Now - my internet connection usually won't allow me to send too many photos at once, so I will have to break them into several emails. Sorry for the long download times - but I hope its worth it.

Thanks for Bella's birthday card - that was adorable!

Love - Bella's cleanup crew, laundry service, and restauranteur.