(a really cool shot)

(the view that we get to see from Titusville)

He's been GREAT about keeping them on, but occasionally will wing them off without warning, which Mark found out yesterday morning when he stepped on them in the darkened room!! Fortunately, he was able to bend them back into place. ;op

This one has nothing to do with glasses, but I thought was so funny! I went in yesterday to get him up from his nap and found him like this! His right arm was twisted behind his back, his left leg was crooked and up by his armpit and his left hand was pulling his lower lip WAY down!! It was so funny I knew I had to run and get my camera.

This is a eulogy to one of the most special little creatures in my life, our dog Adam.

He was soooo good during the photo shoot and we got some really cute pictures of him!!

Here he is with Reese, who was then only 8 years old, in the COLD Iowa winter, trying to get him to go potty!

Getting his picture was a challenge when he was a puppy because he was SO busy all of the time, but this is one of my very favorites of all (above). He was 3 1/2 months old.

As he got older, he got to be more fun, and I thought a fun photo shoot with the boys was in order! I like this picture because it looks like he's having such a great time on the fishing trip and is telling all of his stories!

This is a fairly recent one, and I like it because it shows his goofy side a little bit. He was such a happy little character!

He and Reese were such good friends, and Reese loved him like a brother, he often said. Adam could be a pain to handle at times, but Reese had an instinct with Adam and could handle him at any time. They were very close and loved each other dearly.

This one was taken the day of our house fire, when we were all stuck outside, waiting for the Red Cross truck to arrive. Adam didn't seem to notice that anything was amiss and thought it was fun that we were all outside and kept trying to get us to throw his toy for him!

It was a whirlwind trip, to say the least! I worked 1/2 day yesterday (my _0th birthday) then we all packed into the car and drove the 6 hours to the Parris Island area arriving around 9:30pm. Woke up at 5:15am to be there by 7:30am and waited on the bleachers until 9 for the ceremony. It was a beautiful ceremony, and I must admit, I couldn't help but cry on several occasions!! When I first spotted Nat, I got so excited!! I couldn't miss those adorable cheeks of hers!! She looked very serious standing/marching with her battalion and, while she was far away, I used my telephoto lens to get some photos. I noticed that Jennifer (the woman who used to be her foster mother while she was finishing up high school) and a friend (?) of hers was sitting fairly near us, but didn't notice we were there.

Afterward, the kids and I LEAPED from the bleachers to find her!! By the time we found her, she was already with Jennifer, and I practically attacked her (Nat, not Jennifer!)!! I was SO EXCITED and caught up in the moment, that I think I scared her to death when I ran up and hugged her, saying "Natasha! Natasha! It's Mom!!"!! She jumped back and looked at me like I was out of my mind, though she knew who I was (I probably embarrassed her, too). She gave me a slight hug and said she didn't think we were coming (???). She gave Reese and Nikolai slight hugs too but didn't really speak to them, (which crushed Reese, who adores his big sister), and shook Mark's hand. She did seem very uncomfortable to be talking to us. Jennifer was right there the whole time. (I so wished we could have had a few minutes alone with our Natasha...) Nat said she was sorry but she had to go. She politely posed for a few pictures, and left. We drove the 6 hours back home and arrived with one minute to go before the kennel closed and we picked up Adam (we took Daisy with us on the trip).

So while I'm absolutely heartbroken (and shed more than a few tears in the car on the way out of SC) that she was so not-happy to see us, I know in my heart that this is my child and that I was proud as a PEACOCK to see her doing something so wonderful with her life!!! God knows what's going on and I keep hanging on to those 2 completely separate prophecies (one in Wal-Mart, one in the courtyard of our apt. complex) that I received so long ago when she was 5 and 6. I do believe those were given to me by God because God knew the struggles we'd have in later years. I thank Him over and over for those gifts, because without them, I don't know how I would have been able to handle these past hellish 5, almost 6, years.

So it was a bittersweet "reunion" that lasted at most, 2 minutes. Just seeing my beautiful daughter makes everything worthwhile, though. Please do keep the prayers coming (and you know who you are!!).

And now, here are some pictures of my little girl's very big day!!! I'm so proud of her and I love her soooooooo much!!! I only hope she feels it!!! WE LOVE YOU, NATASHA KAPUSTINA!!!!

Little Erik did SO WELL on the entire trip!!! What an easy kid he's turning out to be!! He just really goes with the flow and just sort of does what we do! Here he is in the hotel. He was 4 hours past his bedtime, no nap, and he discovered the mirror. He had a BALL waggling his dog in the mirror!! It was so cute!!

Here are my men by the Iwa Jima statue replica on base. It meant a lot to Mark as his father George Taborn survived Iwo Jima.

She's in there somewhere...

Here they all are, getting repositioned closer to the bleachers. There were so many of them!!!! Nat was in an all-female battalion, from what I understand. There were 2 of them, and I believe, 6 male battalions. The drums were beating out the tempo of the marching, and I admit, my foot was tapping in time, too! I felt like getting out there and marching right along with them!

Here she is!!!!! In the front, with the black bun. She's the fourth from the left. The pretty one. ;o}

God bless my new camera and it's high powered lens! Here she is again, behind the flag (in front). I was so proud I was literally shaking. Knowing what she's been through since she was born and seeing what she has now accomplished really is incredible. Surely God has his finger on her!! I'm SO honored to be the one who adopted her. That God has used me to bring her here and give her love, a family and a name fills me with so much humility...

This is the former foster parent that Nat lived with for the last couple of years of high school. (I was bored waiting so long in the hot sun so I took her picture.) I guess her husband couldn't make it. She was sitting (in the packed bleachers) down a few rows and over a bit to the left.

Here they are, with the Senior Drill Instructor in front. It was a hot morning, and they'd been standing for such a long time, but no doubt, they were used to it!!

And here we are!! With our whirlwind pictures!! Doesn't she look great?! (My legs were literally shaking so bad I thought I was going to need to sit down or fall down.)

I'm so glad I got one of the two of us!! I just couldn't get enough of looking at her and marveling at her accomplishment!!!! Happy Birthday to me!!

Meeting her baby brother for the first time.

My four wonderful kids, all together for the first time!!! Again, Happy Birthday to me!!!

Are we there yet...??

No, there wasn't a mouse in my shower this morning, yesterday afternoon I took Erik to DisneyWorld to meet "The Mouse"! It was the very last day of our annual passes, and we aren't going to renew (we aren't made of money). We hadn't been to Disney since last spring (too hot and toooooo many tourists!!) and this was our last shot at getting Erik there! Mark wasn't feeling well and our record-high temps were NOT what he was wanting to shlep around in all day, so it was just my boy and me, headed to Dis.

www.DisneyPhotoPass.com

I was so happy that he kept these sunglasses on the whole time we were there!! I was worried about how he might react to his new glasses (they should be in on Friday), but if this is any indication, he'll do fine!

Wow! I don't know if I've been this busy in my life!! (Wait-college plus 2 jobs was busy. But I was young, then!!) I have wanted to keep my blog very updated, but it has just been impossible. I couldn't stretch my patients over a 6 day period this week because I had to take Erik to Orlando to see the ENT and get a hearing test, so I've had to work longer days, and then with supper, groceries, Mark and the boys and the dogs, and all the care Erik needs (he can't walk alone, feed himself, or much of anything) I've been extremely busy. TOO busy. But it won't last forever. Next week will be similar (probably worse!) as I'll have to squeeze my patients into another 5 day work week as we are going to watch my daughter graduate from Marine Corps Basic Training up in SC, so next week will even be worse, but then hopefully, I can go back to easier 6-day work weeks (I say "easier" because instead of having 6 patients every day for 5 days, I only have 5 patients a day for 6 - or thereabouts). I try every day to get home in time to feed Erik and get him ready for his nap, but it has been impossible and I've had to rely on Mark and Reese to get this done. I feel guilty about it, but they've been good about it and haven't complained at all (and Reese likes getting babysitting money!).

This is one of Erik's favorite moments in life - sitting in his seat at the table, waiting for me to bring some food to him!!

Isn't this sweet? Erik has become such a snuggler lately!!! We love it!!

I TOLD myself I wouldn't put any more gross-out food pictures on here, but his expression in this one is so adorable, I couldn't help it!!

Here are Mark, Reese and you-know-who watching Bugs Bunny cartoons on NetFlix Online. They had such a good time!