What a sweetheart! She's so adorable that I'd want to hug her extra tightly, which wouldn't be good for her, as she's also so tiny. Janis, I think all of the GP loves her along with you. Even non-dog lovers couldn't resist her.

Katrina and I dropped Sassi off Monday morning for surgery. We rented a room at a pet friendly hotel and checked in by eleven o'clock. Katrina has been having a lot more health problems and she really needed to rest. It was still raining cats and dogs when we picked up Sassi at four o'clock. We took her back to the hotel where she spent the night crying and being miserable. This morning Sassi was up and she wanted to go home. She kept looking at the luggage and going to the door. Back and forth from Katrina to me to the door to the bags. We got a good report on the surgery at this morning's appointment so we are back at home. There are a gazillion drops to do several times daily plus the collar to deal with. Tomorrow it's an early appointment for Katrina to see if she has to have yet another blood transfusion and so it goes. Thanks to all of you for your kindness and West Gardener thanks for the beautiful sunflower picture. I think I'll herd everyone to bed now and hopefully Sassi can sleep tonight and so can I.

Jill, that is so precious....Amber sure has grown and is just as pretty as ever. Thanks for sharing these special photos with us and I hope you and your family have a wonderful Christmas. Jan

My DD is 8 and probably one of the thinnest girls in her class at school. It's hard to shop for her. Even with the pants with the adjustable waistband, we cinch those up tight as they go. At the same time, she has a big appetite. So while people tell me how thin she is, if they've seen her eat they never ask "Don't you feed her?" LOL. She is a gymnast. So when people see her in short sleeves and shorts, summer clothes, what they notice is how muscular she is. Her practices include conditioning and her coaches talk to the girls about making healthy food choices. So while DD eats several times a day, she eats bananas, yogurt, etc. DD is average height. Some of the girls on her gym team are also shorter than average, so overall very petit. But when they do more sit ups than anyone else in PE as school, no one tells them they are "too skinny" or makes any assumptions about their size! The girls surely know they are small. But they know first that they are strong. Some people have expressed concern about young girls being in gymnastics, that they will feel pressure to by skinny, not eat well. But clearly, we've had exactly the opposite experience! The coaches want the girls to feel strong and healthy and to love their bodies enough to care for them. I would completely ignore the comments of others. Put her in a sport that suits her, that will develop a healthy body image that is about strength and fitness. She is my only DD (my others are boys). At her age, her body image is developing and how that takes shape now will last a lifetime. I cannot say enough about the positive impact I think being involved in a sport she loves is having on her self-esteem and body image. On the occassion that DD is told she's skinny, she will show them her muscles! LOL!