Teresa Cruse's large family began modestly enough with two children of her own - Samantha, now 15, and Ryan, 13.
Several years ago, when Cruse returned to the area to become an instructor at Western Nevada Community College, the same school she attended at 18, she began thinking about adopting a child.
Cruse, never one to leave a stone unturned, flew to the Russian city of Tomsk, five hours from Moscow, on being told of some adoptable children there.
On Christmas Day 2002, she flew back with three siblings: Ethan, now 11; Nick, 9; and Kaitlin, 8.
"In Russia at the adoption agency, there were no personal belongings," Cruse said. "You had two pairs of underwear and two pairs of socks. For your other clothes, you went and found them from a pile."
The floor at the agency was cement, and there were no toys.
"Things like that stick in your mind," she said.
Ethan, Nick and Kaitlin knew no English, and Teresa, Samantha and Ryan knew no Russian. A Russian-English dictionary became their best
friend as their communication progressed from pointing and gesturing. The Russian children picked up a few English words.
"'Ice cream,' that's what they said every morning when they got up," Teresa said. "'Ice cream.' Then 'Pepsi,' 'Coke,' 'McDonald's.' And I'd say, 'No, no. no.'"
Cruse didn't stop there with adopting. Last summer, Cruse, 40, traveled to Guatemala and adopted Danny, who has just turned 1.
And last month, she returned to Guatemala to find Danny a younger sibling, 6-month-old Brady, a cousin of Danny's.
"People ask me why I don't adopt from here," Cruse said. "Well, the poverty there is incredible. These kids have nothing. They're at the complete mercy of charity. They're out on the streets.
"I mean they could die."
As Teresa talks, her children are in constant motion in the living room. Ethan chases a crawling Danny, who is fueled with unstoppable energy. Ryan, an eighth-grader at Eagle Valley Middle School, takes charge of his youngest brother, Brady, providing safety and sanctuary. Kaitlin and Nick sit close to Teresa on the sofa, all smiles. Samantha hovers, checking on everyone, making sure all is well.
"It's a lot of responsibility for me because I want to make sure I set a good example," the Carson High School honor student said.
The children's grandmother, Fran, helps during the day when Teresa, who teaches criminal justice and law, works at WNCC.
"Seven is enough," Cruse said. "Seven is a good number. Although if I left it up to them, it would be more. Ethan keeps telling me 12, like in 'Cheaper by the Dozen.'"
Contact reporter Maggie O'Neill at moneill@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1219.