Many people have visited our site over the years, seeing the Matrushka doll banner of our family here on the "Quarternote". It occured to me that I've never posted the full picture! So, here it is below.

The idea for the picture was that we are all nested together in a family. The traditional Russian nesting dolls are a bit more matriarchal, with the mother figure often being the largest doll. The Russian name is "Matrushka" or "little mother" -- often with one mother doll after the next nested inside. (Actually, the name in Russian is pronounced Matryoshka, which we've Anglicized.)

In the family, each individual makes up the whole. Now that our family has moved on and we have an "empty nest", we certainly miss our kids, but they're creating their own families, and we're very happy for them. We're so thankful for PRAYER, which still keeps us connected! [...and Lex, if you read this, just remember that just because your doll is the smallest, that doesn't mean you are the least important!]