Happy Day!

Our friends Tom and Joanna have been in the process of adopting Alejandro, a wonderful little boy from Guatemala, for over a year. Joanna has been in Guatemala as his "foster mom" since March. It's been a long, slow process, but they are finally out of the Guatemalan court system. This means he is theirs legally, and as Joanna says"the Guatemalan government finally recognizes what we have known for over a year: We are Alejandro's parents." They should be home by October! We can't wait to meet Alejandro in person, and are so happy for them all.

For more great pictures, visit their blog.

We got a video camera!

It's just a tiny thing to capture video for the web, perfect to subject you to tons of clips. Fair warning! Here are our first attempts, edited into one clip.

And some regular photos.

Happy Birthday to our Friend Cait!

Back from the North Woods

Lily and Michael got home today. I am so happy to have them back, and even happier to see what a great time they had. Here are some of Michael's pictures, taken with the old camera - it had a smudge on the lens and he didn't realize it. But I think the photos capture the fun anyway. A huge thank you to to Don, Joann, and Claire for making the visit so special.

Fishing with a bamboo pole, with real bait, instead of the wood chip we use in the stream at home.

Hoxie keeping a lookout.

Lily caught three sunfish, including the biggest of the day. She was ecstatic. Check out the look on her face! And yes, she did eat (one bite) of her fish.

I'm still not entirely clear how she ended up walking around town without pants. But Mike did accessorize her with an Indian-beaded belt, at least.

Making smores around a campfire.

Camping, "for real, Mom!!"

The infamous sandpit Hoxie (or Musi, or Baci, depending on Lily's mood) knocked Lily into last summer. Papa saved her. She still tells the story.

Safety first.

Helping Grandma Joann make Lily's birthday cake.

Lily and the "World's Largest Penny."

New flip flops.

Lily, Aunt Claire, and "Claire the Loon."

School Pictures

Who had to clean this up?

Timely article, given my last post. Read the whole article, and get the creepy crawlies. Lily and Mike had better come home soon so I can get back to cute posts about Lily.

Pet spider kills its owner

A MAN who lived in his own “zoo” of lizards and insects was fatally bitten by a pet black widow spider — then eaten by the other creepy-crawlies.

Police broke in to Mark Voegel’s apartment to find spider Bettina along with 200 others, several snakes, a gecko lizard called Helmut and several thousand termites had gorged on his body.

Neighbours alerted police after becoming alarmed by the stink.

And horrified officers were met by a nightmare scene.

A police spokesman said: “It was like a horror movie. His corpse was over the sofa.

“Giant webs draped him, spiders were all over him. They were coming out of his nose and his mouth.

“There was everything there one could imagine in the world of reptiles.

“Larger pieces of flesh torn off by the lizards were scooped up and taken back to the webs of tarantulas and other bird-eating spiders.”

Charlotte?

Look what was on my parents' front door yesterday! It spent all morning there. My mom says it was the size of a hand! Apparently, it's a "fishing spider," capable of walking on water and catching small toads. According to an article in Natural History:

Fishing spiders live throughout the United States, although they're particularly abundant in the South. They lurk along the edges of ponds and streams, and when insects drop to the water, these spiders rush across the surface to attack. They can also dip their legs underwater and grab swimming tadpoles and small fish.

Harmless to humans, but still . . .