At Milby High School, Andrea graduated at the top of her class and was captain of the swim team. Those who knew her recall her as a perfectionist. "She had very high standards, for herself and others," says Wark. Her mother recalls that Andrea had little social life, especially when it came to boys. "She never had a date, never went to a party," says Karin. "She didn't know how to dance or anything."

Much the same pattern repeated itself in the nursing program at the University of Texas in Houston, where she worked several jobs in addition to her studies. After graduation she took a job as an oncology nurse at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. She met Rusty in 1989, when they lived in the same apartment complex in Houston. Andrea knocked on his door on the pretext of inquiring if he knew who had dented her car. She later admitted to him that she had seen him around and wanted to meet him. They went to the Olive Garden on their first date and held hands. They were married in April 1993. Wark recalls that talk at their wedding reception quickly turned to how many children they would have. At that point Andrea seemed ready for a large family. "She said they were going to use natural planning," says Wark. "And she was open to as many or as few as they had."

Their first child, Noah, arrived in February 1994, followed by John in December 1995 and Paul in September 1997. Despite her knife vision in 1994, outwardly everything seemed fine with Andrea, who quit working after Noah's birth. As her other children were born, she became a model of efficiency. She homeschooled the kids, baked cakes, sewed costumes -- and didn't show any serious symptoms of depression.

Still, life was not easy. In the early years the family lived in cramped quarters, first in a small house, then in a camper, then in a converted Greyhound bus. Rusty thought the bus would be great for taking trips, but it only had about 350 sq. ft. of space. "Andrea was very accommodating with the kids," he says. "She'd let them get out all the paints, all the Play-Doh, all the stuff. It is kind of stressful because it had to be cleaned up."