Amongst the Rain there is some Sun

Hello My Family near and far. As most of you all know Michael and I have had quite a few rain clouds lately.
Michael's grandfather, and mine through love, passed away 4-12-11. He was a great man in talents and personality. He was a respected inventor and artist before he became legally blind due to a genetic disease. However, blindness didn't stop him and he kept going and doing things he loved and he was always positive. He knew my name after the second time I met him and he was always a reason for us to visit home. He meant a lot to Michael and Michael bragged about him from the first time we talked. His passing was a harsh blow and he is missed.
Amber and the kiddos visited for Easter and time with the family is the best "pick me up" there is. We had a lot of fun crammed into three short days. Between dinners and parks and ducks and Harry Potter I got to spend time with awesome people. I know money and the exhaustion that usually results I wish we had a family reunion every year. I missed having everybody altogether.
However, good times didn't last long for the Zorn household. Monday night while Michael and I went to Red Robin with Mike, Mom, Dad, Amber + kids our basement flooded. It flooded worse than usual with 6-12 inches of icky nasty water. We called repair people and within two minutes of being in the basement they figured out the main sump pump was not working and not installed right...hurray for homeownership...So we are into day three of clean up and industrial fan world and still more work to be done. Although the six large fans are loud they are somewhat soothing because they are after all fans and fans make the best lullaby .
I included some pics of the kids at the park and Easter egg hunting and of our basement. I also included a video of Alex and Marshall having fun with balloons it was the rare moment when they weren't hitting Mom, Dad, or I. Oo there is also a pic of Elouise because she was a nut ball and loved playing around in the water.

Another Cain Kid crosses into the world of 30 something

April 20, 2011 is the day marked in the history of the Cain Clan that Cara became an official member of the Cain Clan thirty something club.
Some things have changed, but most have been for the good. Despite noticing some body aches and pains that weren't so evident before Cara is still a fitness queen and a model of natural beauty. She is keeping up with, even surpassing her twenty something classmates in college.
Her art skills have now evolved into photography and grafic design. She has been on the Dean's List since beginning classes two years ago. Cara, in her teen something years, declared often she just wasn't the academic type. What a difference a decade or two have made in the evolution of our butterfly. What has remained is her zaney sense of humor, her love of animals, her passion for kindness to the earth and people, and her love of her family. We along with her sweet hubby Aubrey are blessed to be in Cara's sphere, to share her life and her love. Again I quote the doctor who delivered her thirty years ago, the Monday after Easter Sunday, "She's small, but she's a keeper." This sentence has always spoken volumes about the surprise package which is Cara Cain.

Fort Lee, Va

Dear Family,

Here is just a quick update on my training at BOLC (Basic officer leadership course) at Fort Lee, Va. Last week we finished some training on tactics and strategy. We did some training at the firing range and land navigation. This week is an intense week about SLICC (Sling load inspector's career course). We learn about how to inspect cargo carried by helicopters to resupply troops. Lots of material crammed in one week. It has my head spinning. We have our exams on friday so lets keep our fingers crossed. Also we are still waiting for Rada's petition to be approved so it can be sent to the embassy in Kiev so she can have her interview. Hopefully this can happen sometime in July or August. I have included some pics here at training. The smaller machine gun is the m249 and the larger is the .50cal that are typically afixed to gun trucks in a convoy. Also included a pic of my wonderful fiancee Rada. Hope all is well!

Easter Eggs

The kids got to wear there Easter Outfits this week as it was the Easter program at church. We colored eggs last night as the kids and I will be in NY for the Easter weekend. Carl will be here in VA working, doing school stuff and helping with the tornado clean up effort in Pulaski.

No matter what the box says dying easter eggs is a big mess!

Peek-a-boo, Grace

Makin' a mess and proud of it!

A small work of art!

Alex enters the world of social activity classes

Alex discovers lots of new play options in his first recreation play class. He prefers solo play but is learning tolerance for drop in visitors.

His favorite activity time is the large play area. He is not sure yet about the opening circle time and closing circle time where we sing hello and goodbye songs and have to guess what is in Teacher Pat's basket. But he isn't the only one who is shy. He is one of three boys among seven little girls who just drop in on a fellow when they feel like it. Little girls seem to drop by often. They know a Prince when they see one. Of course that's a Nana observation.

Spring in Bloomington

It is crunch time at school, so I don't have much to say. No job yet, but I haven't applied to much since spring break back in early March.

Spring is here in full force, all the trees have blossomed, as have most of the flowers - the daffodils are gone, but lots of other flowers are in full swing: tulips, pansies, impatiens, hyacinths, irises, lilacs, phlox, petunias, and hollyhock (Lauren came up with this list, I couldn't name half that many flowers). The dandelions and the little purple ground cover flowers that are everywhere are blooming too. Adam will say "flower" when he sees them, but it sounds like "fla."

I did want to share some recent pictures of Adam. They were all taken with my phone, so they're not great quality, but we thought they were fun.

Adam likes bubbles


But he loves being outside the most. His most frequent words are "ball," "side" (for outside), and "car" (for his little push toy)


I let him splash around in the creek, despite warm weather the water was still chilly. Also, he loves running water, so we're looking forward to taking him to the community pool this summer

Yes, he can climb up on the fence. Luckily he can't get over yet.


He loves sticks and carries around as many as he can manage


This picture looks more blurry here than it should


He loves pushing things - his little car, the stroller, chairs, anything that moves

Dad's Birthday Mystery

How does Dad fool people who try to guess his age? Where does he go for those secret sips from a fountain of youth that keeps his skin so wrinkle free? Where does he get that worry free, calm, steady, even slow paced composure that draws to him cats, chldren, and tormented souls?

It is a secret source found only in dreams and in prayer.

We ever ready rabbit type Cains might joke about his slow driving, his double checking before leaving, and even about his uncanny ability to sleep almost anywhere. But, as our batteries seem to run down quicker, and we find new wrinkles that aren't from smiling we might want to refer to these pictures of Dad and get some clue of maybe a new approach to life.

The scriptures say there is a time and a season to all things. Those of us who try to go against that wisdom and rush the times and seasons too often fall into holes because we are in too much of a hurry to pay attention. Slow and steady wins the race with the added benefit of also enjoying the scenery along the way. Happy Birthday to the man who attracts cats, dogs, children, and those of us who seek calm waters. 68 years ago on Apr. 7, 1943 Ron's earthly clock started, but I know we knew each other before our earth time began, and I know I loved him then too.

Birthday Dude Jordan

Guess who turned 12 on March 30? Yes, it is a Dude we all know, Jordan. We gathered at Nat's house and celebrated on Sat. Apr.2 with a dinner of Jordan's favorites, hamburgers, hot dogs, chips, cookie cake and ice cream. We adults also had some Mom's potatoe salad. Jordan's birthday poster highlighted some phases of his dudedom, Surfer Dude, Artistic Dude and Prince Charming Dude. Jordan proved to be the King of Cookie Cakes. This was his third of the day. Of course we all had a good time celebrating with Jordan. Believe it or not, he has only one year until the official teen madness sets in. We all have to prepare. Note,

his hair. Does this remind his Cain Aunts and Uncles of those dorkey middle school pictures that lurk in the archives and are waiting to be called into service again? Happy Birthday Jordinian!