We just completed the interview stage of the adoption process. Our new adoption clinician, Jennifer, interviewed us individually last week. And today she visited our home for a group interview. Little Man felt it was his duty to supervise the entire proceeding. Like any good supervisor he was constantly interrupting us… either begging Jennifer to pet him or chewing on our paperwork. While we were giving a tour of the child’s room, Little Man actually sat on Jennifer’s foot.

Speaking of the child’s room, we seem to be going with a white and blue color theme. We figured it was a nice neutral base to build upon depending on the child’s gender and interests. In terms of accessories and artwork we seem to be leaning towards animals. Especially happy elephants. If you look closely at the bookcase you will see a line of elephants that we have collected over the years.

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The World Beat is an international festival featuring music, dance, crafts, and food. Our fifth year to the festival is the hottest yet. 100 degrees! The heat wave broke records across Oregon. Phew. We conquered the heat with umbrellas, strawberry lemonade, and ice cream. We baked in the sun at the main amphitheater listening to a Japenese Taiko drums group and later a Steel Drum band. While wandering through the festival looking for tasty treats we watched Hula, Maypole, and Chinese dances.

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The other day I was driving and saw a bunch of hot air balloons. It seemed like a great photo op, so I decided to drive closer to get a better view. There was no wind so I figured I could easily catch up. Well 20 miles later I did finally catch up with them… as they were landing! Who knew those suckers could move, they sure seemed so still in the sky. So my pictures of the balloons are blurry as they are taken from a great distance. But I did a capture beautiful shot of a winery during my pursuit.

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Here are some photos of flowers from our patio garden to brighten your day.

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A little introduction to our cat Little Man

Two and a half years ago he was ‘relocated’ to our neighborhood when he was a few months old. His first family was not able to keep him in the lifestyle he wanted to become accustomed to. He met me while on one of his walkabouts. He could see at once I was an easy mark. He walked right up to me and licked my hand (the chicks dig me – LM). I took him to the doctor and he was  treated for all of the various lifeforms that had attached themselves to him. My few attempts at finding a home for him were for naught. For I really did not want to give him up. He is a sexy beast who loves his tummy rubbed and actually does play fetch.  Little Man was suppose to be a temporary name, but it has stuck. The only issue now is that he is no longer, um, little. His last visit to the vet had him weighting in at 16 lbs, but a diet has brought him down to 13. We are in the process of re-naming, but have yet to find the perfect one. Jeff and I will take all reasonable suggestions and present them to Little Man for consideration.

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