May 19, 2006 (Friday), Nashville, Tennessee, 3:05 p.m., D.S.T.~

Dear Bitta~

I am sorry for not writing sooner, but I have been unbelievably busy. Between working full time (have been doing a lot of doubles lately; one of my nurses broke her leg, and I have been covering her shift as well as mine; that ought to look really good on the ol' paycheck!), trying to meet deadlines regarding my writing career, raising my ever-growing family, trying to respond to e-mails, and whatnot, it is a wonder why more people aren't annoyed with me.

I am writing, Bitta, to let you know that I am alive (ha, ha), and to let you know that we are going to be adding to the family (again). (No, I am NOT pregnant, but we ARE in the process of adopting a seven-year-old little boy from Russia. He will be arriving within the month, and as you can imagine, we are beyond excited! :) )

The little boy in question is named Vlademir Aleksander, and he is currently in an institution for handicapped children. He was born with spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy; he is in a wheelchair, and he can't walk or talk, according to the medical reports. he has red hair and blue eyes, and he is the cutest little guy! (I will be sending you a picture of our new son-to-be so you can see what he looks like! Isn't he beautiful? :) )

Besides adopting little Vlademir (the adoption has been approved, by the way!), I have received word that my fourth book will be published either later this year (or in early 2007). (It is a children's book about international adoption; it is about our family, and it is geared for children from ages 4-8.) I am very excited; hopefully there will be more books in the near future! :)

So now you know about me and what is new. How are things on your end? How is your family? I hope everyone there is well. The children are all doing splendidly, and we recently went to the Grand Ole Opry (twice) and to the Breaux Bridge Crawfish Festival in Louisiana (my old "stompin' grounds"). We have Fan Fair (now called the CMA Music Festival) to look forward to, and in late June, my hubby and myself are celebrating our fifteenth wedding anniversary by taking a five-day cruise to the Mexican Riviera. This is our first trip to Mexico, and we are going via Carnival Cruise Lines; we are going on the ship Ecstasy. Bill and myself are looking forward to time away from the children (if only for five days, but it will be worth it! *grins*)!

Speaking of cruises, in October of this year, the entire Sandusky family will be cruisin' to Alaska (again on the Carnival Cruise Lines; but this time we are taking the ship Spirit). This will be our second trip to Alaska (meaning Bill, myself, Barbara, and Ronee')--and the first time for the majority of the family--while our seadog of a son (Johnny) will be making his third trip to Alaska! :)

Well, Bitta, this is about all that is new on our end. I certainly hope that life has been treatin' you really good. I have been thinking of you, and I had been meaning to write; but things got out of hand. I hope you understand why I haven't written.

Please write when you can, and God bless  you always! Again, I am sorry for the inconvenience my lapse in responding to your e-mail may have caused; please forgive me for the delay!

Take care and hope to hear from you soon!

(((HUGS))) and much love, your friend in Tennessee, Louie May Sandusky (soon to be the Mamma of *54* Miracles!). :D

P.S.: the pic is obviously not of my son to be; that is enclosed in a letter I will be mailing to you on Monday. I thought you'd like to see an aurora that we saw in Alaska nearly two years ago; my husband took the picture. Wasn't that aurora beautiful? When we saw it we were spellbound! Such a breathtaking sight!

~Louie. :) *grins*