Halloween in Florence

Hi again Uncle Chris – Boy was it a hot time in Florence yesterday! The Old Town merchants had a wonderful Halloween party and I got to participate. Everyone was dressed in their finest costumes and given treats up and down Bay Street. Many places even had treats for ME! WOW!!

You know that I'm really not a little devil but my costume certainly did make folks smile and point. I don’t think that any other 9-month olds had as much fun as I did.

Hugs, Cassie

Fall Wardrobe

I've been told that Winter in the Northwest can get pretty cold and wet. Well, I went shopping and now have a sweater and a rain coat. No booties... That's just going too far! You can see that my signature colors have become red and black. Hope you like the fashion show!

Cassie's First Professional Grooming

Dear Uncle Chris,
Friday was a VERY big day for me! I had my very first professional grooming by Bonnie. She came to the house with her mobile beauty parlor and I had the works. She willingly used the Mars Coat King (in lieu of the clippers) because I want to keep my hard coat; she trimmed & filed my toenails; and she used scissors to start my face shaping. WOW! I can even see better now. What a surprise!

It should take a few more visits to get my face up to snuff. Hopefully my hair will continue to fill out because I want to be just as pretty as Momma Haley.

Thought you might want to know that my back has the most beautiful finger waves - something that Grandma would call 'Marcelle Waves'. They are NOT curls but my hard coat actually has waves. Only time will tell if they'll last but I like them.

Hugs, Cassie

Black Hills Westie Party

Unfortunately, most of the action had already ended when we finally had the presence of mind to get the camera. Here we are at Rafter J-Bar Ranch in Hill City, SD near Mount Rushmore. So many folks travel in their RV with their fur children that this seemed inevitable.

PS: MPEG4 format didn't work well. WMV wouldn't load. Replaced with MPEG2.

Cassie Learns to Swim

Okay - We know that all dogs supposedly know how to swim instinctively. ;-) BUT - Scotties just sink because their little short legs aren't big enough to support their body mass in the water.

Knowing that we would definitely be around water during our Summer trip to Tennessee, Bill decided to give Cassie a chance to learn the basics. Gramps's pool in Whittier proved to be just the spot!

Enjoy!

PS: This is a test from our new toy generating a MPEG2 file. What fun!

Cassie's Vacation

Hello Uncle Chris – It’s been way to long since I wrote and I see from your blog that a lot has happened in your world while we were traveling. WOW and Congratulations!! I even see that I have some new half brothers and sisters from Momma Haley. Life is sweet!

To fill you in just a little bit… In August the three of us headed off on 2-month RV trip covering parts of 17 States. While the primary reason for the trip was to see the new granddaughter in Franklin, TN, we had tons of fun all along the way. Eden Grace was just precious and I liked pushing her swing and giving her kisses. Her fur-sister Maggie & I ran and ran all over the house! What jolly fun we had but there are way too many pictures of our time in TN to share here.




Although every place was extra special, here are photos of some of my favorite activities: Climbing through the mazes of rocks & silly pictures at Rock City (GA); Walking along part of the Appalachian Trail (Great Smoky Mountains, SC); Hiking & once again rock climbing around Sylvan Lake (Custer State Park, SD); Being carried in a sling on trails that didn’t allow pets; Chasing seagulls at Illinois Beach State Park; Seeing cousin Brian at Great Lakes Naval Training Center (IL); Just chillin’ in the motorhome; and Discovering that toilet paper can be fun.

I’ve become a regular social butterfly and made both 2-legged and 4-legged friends all along the way. There was cousin Maggie, of course, but we also had a Westie (and Cairn) party in the Black Hills of South Dakota, a long romp with a black lab puppy at Old Faithful, and absolutely tons of playmates at campgrounds all over the country. WOW!!!

You can probably tell by the photos that I’ve grown quite a bit. At 14.5 pounds, Dr. Suzy wants me to loose a pound so that I fit my petite frame a little better. Oh well... I really like my food! It’s nice to be back home and I’ve become quite comfortable on the love seat in the music room even though Mom quickly shoos me off (after taking a picture, of course!). ;-)

Will sign off for now but am sending hugs your way,

Your niece Cassie

Cassie & Sadie Play Date #2

Dear Uncle Chris – It’s been quite some time since I last wrote but things have been quite a whirl wind around here. Mommy & Aunt Vicki went to California to see their Mom and help with her new house. Boy – Did I have a ball being alone with Daddy or what?!?!? Now we’re getting ready for our BIG trip to Tennessee to see my new niece Eden Grace. Two or three months in the RV will be absolutely fantastic because I’ll have sooooo much of their undivided attention!


[I'm in front and Sadie is standing.]


I’ll be laying low for a couple of weeks because I’m having my ‘procedure’ next Tuesday. In the meantime, I’ve been having an absolute TON of play dates to work off some of this puppy energy. My favorite has to be my 2nd play date with cousin Sadie (formerly known as Katie). We all went over to Lynn & Bernie’s house to see Sadie yesterday afternoon for a romp.


Now… ‘Romp’ may be to gentle a word for this get-together. We ran and ran and ran and chased each other all over the house. Then we would roll around on the floor and wrestle before taking short rest times under the coffee table or under one of the dining chairs. Oddly enough, we were so very quiet during all of this playing. We didn’t need to say a word to each other – we just read each others minds and acted accordingly.


We were both VERY well mannered, like good White Diamond Westies should be! It’s a good thing that I wore my red collar (left) and Sadie wore her blue one (right) so that all of the parents could tell the blurs apart!



I think you’ll see that I’m much bigger now at about 12.5 pounds. I'm the smaller one on the left. My hair is shaping up nicely and I’m starting to look more like a grown-up Westie each and every day.

Sending many hugs your way, Cassie



PS: Sorry for the poor picture quality. Cell phone cameras are nice but really don’t catch all of the action. Oh well….

Cousin, Cousins Everywhere !

Oh Boy! Oh Boy!! Oh Boy!!!

We had cousin company from Hawaii this week - YIPPEE!! Uncle Brian and Cousin Conor came all the way here just to see me!

Not really - They actually started off with the Pac-10 Track Finals at Hayward Field at the University of Oregon. Of course, being the good Ducks that they are, Cousin Megan & her boyfriend Matt joined them for the events. They even included Daddy for the weekend.



Afterwards, they ALL came over to the Coast to be with us. Oh Boy - Did I ever eat up all of the love!!

Oh - How I've Grown!!

I'm just growing by leaps and bounds and was trying to think of just how to show you when I came up with this WONDERFUL idea. I really am quite a lap dog and one of my favorite activities is stretching up on Daddy's chest for scratches and kisses.

When I was little, I barely reached as you can see from my 'just adopted' picture at 9 weeks old and a little over 4 pounds.


Now look at me! Here I am at 15 weeks old and a little over 8 pounds. Boy - Can I ever reach or what? I can kiss noses and ears and a bunch of other pieces. I especially like to gently grab Mom's pony tail, but you'll never see a picture of that because she's usually the one who takes the pictures. ;-)

I'll follow soon with another post. We've had just oodles and oodles of company and I can't wait to share the joy with you.

Happy Mother's Day, Haley!

Dear Momma Haley –
I just wanted to send you a great big hug and a very wet kiss on your very 1st Mother’s Day. You were a WONDERFUL Mom to me (and Piper and Gavin, too) and I’ll never forget you! Have a GREAT DAY!!
Love, Cassie

PS: To Piper & Gavin – I know you’re having wonderful lives and hope that you’ll be sending some new pics so that I can see how much you’ve grown.

Cassie Has Homework!!

Dear Uncle Chris –
School Started Yesterday – and I already have homework. YIPPEE!!


As you know, Mom & Dad started my training very early – almost as soon as I first got to my new home. I liked the clicker, LOVED the treats, and quickly picked up on SIT, DOWN, COME, FETCH and HEEL. STAY and WAIT are still a little challenging because I am just a puppy after all. I can only wait just sooooo long. Unfortunately, I also wanted to focus on the treat bag instead of on my lessons. HEEL particularly became a problem. I was getting out in front and looking at the bag instead of paying attention and looking at Mom & Dad. Oh well…. That quickly came to an end last night when our trainer Gary came for my first private lesson. (Group lessons still have to wait until at least summer school.)


Gary critiqued what Mom & Dad were doing with me, praised them for what they were doing right, and taught them some new tricks for getting better results from me. Gee…. I guess they’re in school too!! We now have some great additions to our daily training routines and I’ve been able to practice outside in the beautiful spring weather.


I guess that at 7 ½ pounds I need to start acting more like a little lady. I’ll save that for on-leash right now BUT I still really look forward to my off-leash romps and runs. WHAT JOY!!

Sending hugs up to you, Cassie

Heather and the 2009 Eugene Marathon

I’m getting bigger!
Well, I weighed in at 6 lbs 3 ozs at my Monday’s vet appointment and have grown even more since then. YIPPEE!! I still have quite a way to go as you can see by comparing my current size to that of my 11-year old friend and fellow Westie Heather. She was so patient with me when we visited at her house last week. But, oh what fun I had! Both of us tromped through the lobelias and rested in their cushiony mat (but not long enough for a picture).

On Friday I had yet another motorhome trip – this time to Eugene for the 2009 Eugene Marathon and shorter races. Dad and Matt (Megan’s boyfriend) ran in the 5k with Dad winning 3rd in his age group and Matt finishing 28th (out of 446) overall and 7th in his age group. WOW!!

Next year I’ll be big enough to actually go see them off and be standing by to greet them at the finish line. I can’t wait!! Maybe the Pancake Man and Fork (Mac the Fork) will run again next year.
Yum Yum!

In the meantime, I know I’m really getting bigger because I can now go down the RV steps without any help at all. Sometimes I try to go right back up the steps just so I can come right back down again. Gee…. It doesn’t take much to make me happy, does it??

Upcoming Events –
School Starts This Friday! Our renowned local animal behaviorist and trainer is coming by just to see me and to give Mom & Dad a few tips on my training. I hope to be starting in his summer school class in June but I also want to get a head start on the lessons. Watch out for updates!

Oh Boy! Visit to Molly & Missy

I got to go over to Molly & Missy's house this weekend. What fun we had!

Molly gave me a great big smooch ...

and Missy put up with my antics.
I even got to take a lap snooze after romping in their big back yard. Oh Boy!! Let's go again - really soon. Okay?

I'd Do Anything for Kibble!

I've said it before BUT I'd really do anything for kibble - especially when it's something FUN!

Here I am with one of my favorite toys: a Bob-A-Lot. Mom & Dad fill it with treats and I have to get out the treats by rolling it, bouncing it, and spinning it. I get lots of exercise and I love the yummy treats.

(Yes, I know it's really my kibble BUT it's still oodles of fun!)
Just look at my great form:









YUMMY!!!

WOW - Beach Time!

This was my very first trip to the beach!
WHAT FUN!!

Dear Uncle Chris,
I just had to write you again because I’m getting to be such a BIG girl now! There has been a lot going on here especially with the UO Hawaii Club Luau last weekend. I got to help with the decorating at Mac Court and enjoyed a lot of time with family visiting from Hawaii and California. I even went to an outdoor ‘lounge’ in Eugene and ‘ate’ at a restaurant overlooking the Siuslaw River in Florence. My good manners are really paying off BIG TIME!

I’m still enjoying my clicker training and have added ‘heel’, ‘fetch’ and ‘step up’ (the motorhome steps) to my bag of tricks. It’s still a little scary to ‘step down’ the RV steps – maybe when I’m a little bigger than my now 5 ½ pounds. Mom & Dad still keep me going over all of the old skills just to keep me in practice. My ‘sit’ has improved to a big girl sit instead of my old ‘lazy puppy’ sit. I’d do just about anything to keep those kibble treats coming my way!

Today was another FIRST in my adventures – the BEACH. There was a bit of fog, but the sea birds were out in force and it was great fun to see them fly out of my way.

Let's go!

There were also a lot of fun sand dunes to climb and I just LOVE to climb to the tops of any hill. The view is soooo much better from up high.

The smells, too! You never know what is lurking on the dunes!



I hope you enjoy these pictures even though I keep acting a pointer when I’m doing something new.



I’ll write again soon. In the meantime, I’m sending hugs your way. Cassie

First Play Date - Cassie & Molly!

WOW - I have a real live playmate!


Play times are kind of tough right now because I haven't yet had all of my puppy shots. Pretty soon...


In the meantime, I do have a couple of fur-friends that I get to play with and Molly is one of the ABSOLUTE BEST!! She came with her Mom & Dad for a meet n' greet on April 14th and I had an absolute ball.


Molly's a smart little Yorkie and managed to quickly find that I couldn't follow her up on the ottoman.




What fun I had!! Thank you, Molly!!!

Cassie's First Easter!

Hi Chris – We just had to send along a few pics of this weekend’s activities and bring you up to date on Cassie’s progress.

What fun we’ve been having! Cassie has really taken to clicker training and is sitting (automatically at doors and upon request), drops things out of her mouth upon request, comes when called, and walks along quite well on a leash (even though she sometimes puts on the brakes if she has a mind to go in a different direction). WOW! All this at now only 10 weeks old! Do you breed the best or what? What talent!! Even our vet was impressed!

The ‘sitting’ has really come in handy for food time and for posing for photos as she did this weekend for her ‘cousin’ Brian’s cell phone photo (immediately sent out to ALL of his young friends). It was so special to have him and my sister Vicki drive down from WA for a visit to meet and greet the new baby.

Cassie’s ears went straight up Sunday morning and seem to be staying that way. Here’s the proof with her very proud auntie. While it’s nothing new for Florence, Cassie had her first rainy day Easter Egg hunt this morning courtesy of her Aunt Carol’s early morning ‘Easter Bunny’ activities. Eggs were rolling and wobbling everywhere but Cassie kept up with each and every one of them.

We can’t THANK YOU enough for the wonderful job you did with these little ones! Cassie has been an absolutely joyful addition to our family!

Hugs to you! Debbie & Bill

Road Trip Success!

Here's the letter I wrote after a few days in my new home.

Dear Uncle Chris,
I just had to write and tell you about the adventures that have been filling my life since I left my WONDERFUL first home with you on Sunday! While I miss you a bunch, I’ve been seeing a whole lot of new things and meeting a lot of fun people. I’ve even become quite a lap dog – a good thing because I couldn’t reach the keyboard without being on Mom’s lap. ;-) In fact her lap was even better for my first Skype call to some friends in Missouri. They could see me and I could see them. What fun!

While most puppies wouldn’t relish a VERY long road trip as a novice traveler, I had quite a time and didn’t even get ‘car’ sick. I had my cozy little den and snuggle puppy for quiet times and I got to see out of the BIG windows. You know, that’s the absolute best way to see horses and cows and sheep – from way up high!. Some big truck drivers even honked their air horns at me when I waved at them.


Once we got to the non-rolling house in Florence, I had a great time exploring all of the nooks and crannies and even found my dinner cupboard without any help at all. You can see by the picture that I’m making myself quite at home in my new digs. As long as I have lots of love and a little food, I’m a very happy girl!


I even found a playmate right here at home. While I’m certain that the reflection is really Gavin or Piper and not a reflection at all, Mom & Dad just laugh at my antics and get out the Windex.
I’ll write more later, but it’s time for me to hit my potty spot right now. I just love the pea gravel because it crunches and flies all over the place when I scratch at it.

Hugs to you! From your niece Cassie

PS: How’s this for a full name: White Diamond Rollalong Cassidy? The name kind of says it all, doesn’t it?

Here's my new Family!

Three little West Highland White Terriers (Westies) were born on February 1, 2009 to the gorgeous Lymehills White Diamond
"Haley" and the handsome Lymehills Famous Grouse "Jack".

Momma Haley did a wonderful job caring for us in our early weeks and Uncle Chris continued with fantastic care of me, my big sister Piper and my brother Gavin after our teeth got too sharp for Momma's taste. It was sad to leave his loving hands, but we were all set to head for any new adventures the universe chooses to provide to these

At exactly nine weeks old, I became a very big part of my new family. Mom & Dad traveled up by motorhome to officially adopt me from my loving 'Uncle Chris' at White Diamond Terriers.

But.... More about my first travel adventure in my next post.

In the beginning...

Here are a few favorite photos of the beginning of my wonderful life!

Here we are at 1 week -
Gavin on the right, Piper at the top and me (Cassie) at the bottom.

Look at our properly black feet!





At 3 Weeks Old - (L to R)
Gavin, Piper & Cassie

Quite a handful!!









At almost 4 Weeks Old -
With our beautiful mother "Haley"
Lymehills White Diamond










At 6 Weeks Old -
My ears are getting bigger & I seem to be a little camera shy.
Boy - Will that ever change!









At almost 9 Weeks Old - First Bath

I'm really getting ready for Halloween with my Yoda Costume!


I'm now growing to be such a BIG girl!

Can't wait for all of life's adventures to come my way!! See you soon!