My Flame

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Today's tribute is to my big bro, Flame, who had to give up only child status when I came along.

Thanks for sitting still while I take photos of you!
Yep, I do take some awesome photos now that I'm getting more practice! This is one of my masterpieces.
Thanks for cleaning yourself regularly and setting a good example for your lil sis... (And for shedding lots of hair so Pappa gets on your case instead of mine.)
Thanks for listening (sometimes) when I order you around to get off the chair or out of the bedroom or out of the closet - places you spend 80 percent of your time even though you're not allowed there. And thanks for not chasing my birdy Tweety (or me when I wear butterfly wings).
Thanks for being willing to give kisses, even though Mommy and Pappa say it's not allowed.
And now we even have skateboarding in common! Thanks for skateboarding with me.

Yep, I got the best cat bro in the world!

The Eyes Have It - Pet Week

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You may have seen this photo on our blog before, but we just had to post it again, since it fits this week's I Heart Faces theme so well. So here we are, me and Nula, Ouma's kitkat, in South Africa last month. The eyes definitely have it!

Furry

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For this week's Photohunt theme of "furry," here is a photo of me and my Flame, Kitkat. Papa says we look related. But I'm not quite as furry as he is.

KitKat

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I've got so much to catch up and blog about that it's been tough getting started - one of those insurmountable challenges.

But I guess we'll start simple and just start with where we're at right now, since we still haven't sorted through the 2 zillion photos of Scotland and England yet - of which at least 599 are of my feet and pants, since I've been learning photography and those are my favorite subjects.

So right now we are at our house by the North Umpqua River close to Roseburg, Oregon. We've got stuff to sort out here before we go on to Zimbabwe in a month...

And it feels downright balmy here at 50-some degrees compared to snow flurries and below freezing in London. We've been having rain, of course; some excellent rainbow weather, too.

And I get to see my fabulous big brother Flame boy again - I'd forgotten how pretty he is. He isn't quite as tolerant as Ouma's cat, but he's soft and fluffy and fun to follow around until his paws start swiping.
Speaking of Ouma's cat - my cousin Emily (or "Emy," my name for her) calls the cat "Nula" so that's what I call her, too. Sometimes. Other times I call her KitKat, which is my generic name for all cats.

Here are a couple of photos of me and Nula last month when we were in South Africa. She is such a nice kitty and I'm sure she loves me as much as I love her. Though nobody else thinks that.

Home Sweet Home

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On Sunday, Mommy got her hair done and then to A’s bridle (or bridal) shower, while I stayed with Daddy. We went to Dairy Queen. I'm clapping - guess what I'm gonna eat!
Then I got to do some remodeling work with Uncle J. I am very good!
Mommy & Daddy spent lots of time looking at papers, on the computer, and on the phone this week. They are “refinancing” their house, and that is really complicated, it sounds like. So I read books and played with garbage and unpacked suitcases.

I had fun playing with my kitty, Flame, and Auntie D’s dog, Butterscotch. Auntie D rents our house since we aren’t there most of the time. I love Flame, but he doesn’t like my attention too much and swipes at me sometimes. And Thursday was very sad – Butterscotch got killed by a car in front of the house. Here's a old photo of Flamey & Butterscotch.
BTW, my ninth tooth – a BIG molar, is coming in now. Soon I will be able to eat absolutely everything! I have been working on wood, but I like eating paper better, especially napkins.

Oh, and the weather got really hot this week – up to the 100s. This is the prettiest time of year in Roseburg, when all the hills and trees are green and there are bright splashes of color from azaleas, rhodies, dogwoods, tulips, scotch brush, and more.

On Thursday I went to town with Mommy and saw lots of people at Sunrise Enterprises, where she used to work. They all remember me from when I was really little. I wasn’t shy at all. Then we had lunch with A at Stewart Park and went for a walk. Here’s a blue-eyed photo at the park, the train I saw on my walk, and a photo with A. We did some shopping later.

On Friday Daddy & I checked out Big 5. Here I am trying to decide which golf clubs to buy.
Then we went to a BBQ at E & G’s house. I played in G’s wading pool and then fell asleep in my stroller while Daddy took a little jog with me.

Here people are getting ready for a group photo. Mommy didn’t get the actual group photo on her camera, though.
I had a fun time at TurningPoint Church on Sabbath. I starting spinning in circles for the first time – it made me dizzy so I could hardly stand up straight!

Here I am after church working with G. on some of the finer points of skateboarding, with Uncle J.’s help.
After lunch a bunch of us went to River Forks Park. Here I am climbing trees.
And pinching Daddy.
And riding Uncle J’s bike.

To the Island

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After the LOOOOONG airplane ride, I got to sit in a car instead. Looking pretty chipper, eh?

Here’s what I saw of Seattle. Pretty cool, eh?
It is really cold here.

So after we landed in Seattle, we checked out Target to get me a car seat for our rental car. While there, Daddy decided to get a camera as well. That’s the camera taking all these pictures.

Then we stopped at T Mobile to get cards for our cell phones. I LOVE phones – all the demo phones were heavenly! Here I am checking them out.

While there, I set off the alarm on the cell phone case. Then I hit the panic button on the car keys. I am making a nam. . . noise for myself wherever I go!

We stopped at a Taco Bell to grab some food. I was so tired, I barely got a few bites of my gordita in before I passed out.

The next thing I knew, we were at my Uncle E and Auntie B’s house in Burlington. It was REALLY late, but my cousin K got up and we played with Midnight. I love kitties!
I slept from about 2 a.m. to 6:30 a.m., then got up and ate Cheerios for the first time! Here I am with my cousin B.
Unfortunately, my cousins had to go to school, so I hugged them goodbye. Then I watched the fish.

Then Mommy & Daddy & I drove up to Canada (my 6th country) and caught the ferry going to Vancouver Island.

Here I am at the playground waiting for the ferry. I never knew there could be so many fun things to play on! You don't get playgrounds like this in Mozambique.

We did a little shopping while waiting for the ferry. Should I get these or not?

We grabbed some salad that we then ate on the ferry. I liked the pasta noodles best of all.

Here are some pictures of me with Mommy and Daddy on the ferry.



There was a really cool slide on the ferry – here are some pictures of it.
And a video of me climbing up and sliding down. I was a little nervous coming down this time, but it sure was fun!


We spent about two hours on the ferry – then we got in the car again and I fell asleep.

When I woke up again, it was dark, and I was in my Grandma & Grandpa’s house. I’ll tell you about that later.