A Visit with Santa

This picture was taken during the only 20 seconds that Dasha wasn't talking at Santa telling him every detail of her life.  Caleb was in awe of the big guy, Matthew was disgusted that I would subject him to a picture with Santa (come on, he's 8!), and Sam is just hoping for that 3DS.   

Changes

Tonight I was preparing for a doctor's appointment that Dasha has on Monday and I needed to get some papers from one of my adoption files.  After I got home from Ukraine and got her social security card and citizenship paperwork dealt with, I relegated that whole crate of documents to the far corners of the basement, hopeful I wouldn't need to look at it again for a while.  As I was sorting through everything this evening, I came across her passport.  I don't think I ever shared her photo.  Sometimes when I look at pictures of her from before she became our daughter, I have trouble believing it's the same little girl we have with us now.

So much different from this:

Just 5 months later.  This is her preschool picture!