Well I'm the worst dog-mom ever because I am posting this three days late, but Charlie turned 8 years old this week and, like on every birthday, I'm a puddle of emotion. I remember getting him when I was 15 and calculating in my head all the things I'd do when he was my dog. Graduate high school, go to college, hopefully get married, start my adult life, and hopefully have kids (we'll see about that one...it felt a lot farther away then). Well, we've done a lot of those things and so much more and Charlie has been my best buddy through it all. He's down for just about anything, he's extremely opinionated, and his favorite things in the world are snow and shallow water he can play in. Just about everyone who meets him loves him and nobody ever believes he's a day over 3. He makes our lifestyle about 100 times more complicated but I honestly can't imagine it without him. Happy birthday Charles Matthew!!