Van Boughner

On Sunday, Doris called for a Tipton Family photo shoot down at the mall. She likes to do that around Christmas time every year to get pictures of everyone. I like to think of Doris as an adopted Grandmother, thanks to the fact that she is Rubin’s grandmother and we adopted Rubin when he was 14. She’s warm and caring, places a high priority on her family, and makes a fabulous Christmas dinner.

We originally spent time with her to promote Rubin’s contact with his birth-family, but we got more than we bargained for, we got some additional family. I marvel over how well she has accepted and promoted Phillip and I in our role as Rubin’s new “Dads”, and she adopted us right into her own extended family. She has been a champion for Rubin, and when Phillip began mentoring Rubin, and we later talked about adoption, she was highly supportive.

Thanks to our being invited for the family pictures, we were able to get our own little family shot with Rubin, his wife Marisha, and 1 year old daughter Iceis, on the right. There are other pictures as well, we don’t quite have all of the ones taken that day, but I scanned in the ones we got.

December’s visit by Rubin and his new family to California is the first time Phillip and I have been able to spend time with our new granddaughter Iceis. Wow, I’m a grandfather, gulp! It happened all so fast! Up until now, they were living in Missouri and Germany. Rubin has been stationed with the Army in Germany for almost a year now, and is supposed to be heading to Iraq in March. So, it’ll probably be at least a year and a half before we have a chance to see him again.