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>Well, after some long and stressful and thoughtful months, we've come full circle. We had originally committed to adopting Simon last fall, but due to fears surrounding travel (Mark was confident, I was NOT) we backed out on him and decided to adopt two gorgeous little girls from Armenia. Mark's heart was not in it, though, and it was hard for me to fully give them my heart, knowing that Simon was supposed to be ours, but we "left him". The long and the short of it is... We are adopting Simon after all!!! We are VERY excited and are working hard to get it all done QUICKLY, as he is overdue to be transferred to the mental institution where he probably will not survive long. With God's help (how else?) we will get this done ASAP and bring our precious little guy HOME!!! I have made my blog private until he comes home for security reasons. So if you are reading this, you are one of the "chosen ones". LOL

PLEASE pray for us that we can get this done quickly, get all of the finances needed in time, and help with details like finding places for the kids and dogs while we're gone, getting good airfares, etc. Thank you!!

Being unwanted, unloved, uncared for, forgotten by everybody, I think
that is a much greater hunger, a much greater poverty than the person
who has nothing to eat.
Mother Teresa

Each one of them is Jesus in disguise.
Mother Teresa

Even the rich are hungry for love, for being cared for, for being
wanted, for having someone to call their own.
Mother Teresa

I do not pray for success, I ask for faithfulness.
Mother Teresa

I have found the paradox, that if you love until it hurts, there can
be no more hurt, only more love.
Mother Teresa

I know God will not give me anything I can't handle. I just wish that
He didn't trust me so much.
Mother Teresa

If you can't feed a hundred people, then feed just one.
Mother Teresa

In this life we cannot do great things. We can only do small things
with great love.
Mother Teresa

Intense love does not measure, it just gives.
Mother Teresa

It is a poverty to decide that a child must die so that you may live
as you wish.
Mother Teresa

It is not the magnitude of our actions but the amount of love that is
put into them that matters.
Mother Teresa

Let us touch the dying, the poor, the lonely and the unwanted
according to the graces we have received and let us not be ashamed or
slow to do the humble work.
Mother Teresa

Loneliness and the feeling of being unwanted is the most terrible
poverty.
Mother Teresa

One of the greatest diseases is to be nobody to anybody.
Mother Teresa

Our life of poverty is as necessary as the work itself. Only in
heaven will we see how much we owe to the poor for helping us to love
God better because of them.
Mother Teresa

The biggest disease today is not leprosy or tuberculosis, but rather
the feeling of being unwanted.
Mother Teresa

The hunger for love is much more difficult to remove than the hunger
for bread.
Mother Teresa

I really needed some R'n'R. Life has been a bit stressful lately for many reasons, so I invited Reese to go to DisneyWorld with me today! Mark wasn't feeling well and Nikolai had had some behaviors this week making him "ineligible" to go, so Reese and I had some good old fashioned "quality time". (Plus, I only had one free pass...!)

Normally, he doesn't really like DisneyWorld, preferring Universal Studios for sure, but he agreed, and as I had my season pass and he had a free ticket, he thought it sounded okay. (Kids these days...!!) We went back and forth all the way to Orlando (an hour) trying to decide which park to go to and we decided on Disney's Hollywood Studios (formerly MGM). Good choice! We had a GREAT time! Reese is one heck of a nice kid: even at 14 he's not too proud to enjoy time with his ooooold mom, and even hugs me in public still!! We really enjoyed each other's company and had some good old bonding time. The weather was beautiful (mid 70's for highs with solid blue skies) and the crowds weren't bad at all.

Here are some pictures:

Here he is outside of the Tower of Terror. I don't remember it being scary or that much of a thrill when we went in 2005, but this time it was GREAT! I really enjoyed it! That elevator dropped so fast that me, at my size, actually lifted out of my seat!! If it weren't for my seatbelt (God bless seatbelts!!) I would have flown up clear out of my seat and into who-knows-who's lap!! What a RIOT!

Okay: I KNOW this picture doesn't exactly show my "best side", but it was so much fun! After we went on this crazy roller coaster that inverts in the DARK, we were in the gift shop. There were some crazy hair wigs and guitar purses, so I got silly and Reese got my picture! This shows how *comfortable* I am with my ...self. (cough!) But it was fun and we had some good laughs.

Here's Stud Man, trying to look reeeeeeal tough in his Rocker hair-do. I don't know how many times we tried to get this picture - he kept smiling!! He had to keep doing that thing where you pull on your lips to try to make a serious face. This was the best he got. He's just not a serious person. (Thank goodness!) I tried telling him to make a pouty, kissy face, but he just couldn't keep a straight face. LOL

Okay: Disney Hollywood Studios has this new ride that if you go there, you HAVE to go on this thing!! It is called something like "Toy Story Mania" or something, and it's like you've stepped into a world of toys!! Imagine being the size of a Barbie Doll in Andy's room (from the movie). The set of this ride is worth the experience even without the ride just from the atmosphere!! It was easily our favorite ride there. The ride is really cool: you wear 3-D glasses and you sit with your partner in a little car. It takes you along in front of these different arcade games where you have to pop balloons with darts, or throw rings around the Pizza Planet aliens, or whatever, with your little gun thingy. Nothing actually moves, it's all computer generated, but with the 3-D glasses, it really looks like you are playing! I, ahem, have to admit that even though I am soooooooooooo extremely old, I did beat the young whipper-snapper both times in score...!! Poor kid was humilated, but that's experience over youth, I guess...! LOL (I love it!!)

Ah, and here we are, on our way out of the park after a fun fun afternoon. Gosh, I love living in Florida!! I can't wait to take Nikolai and Mark on that Toy Story ride next time we come! They'll both LOVE it! Bye for now!

We have had the pleasure of hosting a woman from Russia for the past few weeks. She is a chaperone on an orphan hosting program. We couldn't host a child at this time (and we thought we'd be back in our home from the fire anyway!) but we agreed to take a chaperone. She is the best houseguest!! She cleans everything, she is always offering to help, she is very quiet, she is pleasant and smiles all the time, and never complains about anything! She really is about the perfect houseguest. (And all of this is with her knowing about 3 words in English!!)

She enjoyed Christmas with us, and last Sunday I took her to DisneyWorld (Mark wasn't feeling up to it and the boys don't really care for Disney - they MUCH prefer Universal Studios!). We had so much fun! It is so much fun watching her experience all of the conveniences and modern things we have in America. Things that she hadn't experienced before: fountain drinks in convenience stores, ice and water dispensers in the refrigerator door, a food processor, a crock pot, a microwave oven! It has been fun. She really enjoyed the beach and kept saying how beautiful it was (it really was and the day that we went was spectacular). So despite what the house is going through with us moving in after the fire and trying to pick up the pieces of our lives, it's going really well with her here. I was able to use a translator thing on Google to explain to her what was going on and that was helpful. Anyway, here are some pictures to share!

We didn't have a routine-type Christmas this year: we were moving back into our house after being out for 8 months after a fire; we had a Russian woman staying with us for a month (yes, bad timing!); and we were not unpacked, had very little furniture, no presents bought (even for our own kids!), few decorations up, etc. but we made the most of it! Here are a few pictures. Looking at the pictures, I can see that we did have what we needed, including OURSELVES. :o) This will be a Christmas we will talk about for awhile, I'm sure. The only main thing missing was of course, Natasha. She did not wish to spend Christmas with us again this year. :o( We pray that in future years, she will join her family for this very special and blessed occasion. :o) And without further ado, here are some pictures:

I'm sorry - I thought that until we officially had her on hold for us, I'd better not post her photos. Not just yet. Give us a week or so to get the money saved to put down the fees and then I'll get that back up. If you'd like to see them, e-mail me privately and I'll send them to you. mjtaborn@cfl.rr.com

Here is a photo montage of the little girl that we hope to adopt. I also want a second little girl in her orphanage along with this one, but if we can't afford the fees for two children, we will have to leave her there... I know, two little ones is a LOT, but goodness, if we can't serve each other enough that we can't take care of a bundle of God's blessings (a child), what good are we? After all, God adopted all of us. He didn't leave us Fatherless...

Vindicate the weak and Fatherless; do justice to the afflicted and destitute. Rescue the weak and needy; deliver them." Psalm 82:3-4