B is going to Boise and Disney World, too!

 The Akron Zips qualified to go to a bowl game this year.  Shelby heard this week that the band will get to go too.  So next week the band will board chartered planes to go the "Famous Idaho Potato Bowl" in Boise.  The game will be on ESPN Tues December 22 at 3:30.

As exciting as Boise sounds (ok we are really excited!!), she also found a few months ago that she will be working at Disney World for her spring semester in their college program!! Thankfully she  can keep her college status while she works there in merchandising.  She has talked about working Disney for a long time and she took a full course load this summer, in hopes she would get accepted into the program.  I am driving down with her in January to take her car (praying it holds out a little bit longer!).  I will help her get settled and hop on the next plane back while Jeff holds the fort down. I am sure I will be a hot mess on the way back, but I am so excited for this opportunity for our girl.

2006 

Braces for Robbie

After much wait, Robbie has started to get his braces on.  His orthodontist has one of his offices within walking distance of our house.  This office is in his home, so it's pretty funny to hang out in the dentists sun room and pet his cat Schwarz (which means black in German) while you wait.  Funny story, I about busted a gut the first time we went because I thought for sure he was calling the cat "Farts".  I still have the humor of a 3rd grade boy.

So far the braces are going well for him and by the time he gets them off he will be driving! They should be on for about 2 1/2 years.  He of course chose the maize and blue for his first brace colors.

Little Swimmers

We started Grace and Matt in swim lessons about a month ago at the University of Akron.  So far so good! It's nice to have an activity that they can both do at the same time.  

Just eating her cereal...

This time last year I impatiently waited to be matched to our new child.    Late on November 11th the day before Jeff's birthday, I sat on the couch and pulled up our agency's list for the 546,890th time that week.   Funny enough a new child's profile popped without any pictures.  I read her profile and my heart started to beat like crazy.  We did not have her particular medical needs (Spina Bifida) listed in our paperwork, but something told me to look into her anyway.

The next day her pictures also appeared and this little one had my heart.  We had requested her file and received the sweetest video of a  little girl walking around picking up stuffed animals.  Not only did we receive her file on Jeff's birthday, but her birthday was also our anniversary date.  We poured over the information in her file and even though we had more information than with Matthew's adoption, there was still a lot of medical information we didn't have answers to.    Over the next week, I spoke with two different Spina Bifida clinics, one told me to expect the worse with a list of unforseen possibilities and the other shared much hope.  Grace's file had a lot of unknowns with the limited medical information and no MRI.  I shared all this information with Jeff and had a pit in my stomach.  Would we be both still be on board and be ok if the worse case scenario was the reality with this little girl?  Jeff asked me what I thought and I shared that I kept having a picture in my head of her eating breakfast with us at our table just munching on her cereal.  Thankfully, Grace had already captured his heart as well as mine, we knew she was our daughter no matter what.  

I know the breakfast picture in my head was kind of weird, but I think God wanted to give me a glimpse that despite some of this medical stuff, Grace was just a little girl who needed a family to eat her breakfast with everyday.  He wanted me to remember the everyday ordinary stuff was the important stuff.  Not having a family really was her biggest need.  Her life with us is so much more than managing her condition.  Thankfully her original medical file didn't include the MRI.  Her MRI is pretty scary  and doesn't give much of a glimpse to all that she has accomplished and who she is.    She does actually have one of the most severe forms of Spina Bifida.  Every doctor we see is totally surprised she is walking and is gaining more and more function.  Granted we are still in the process how exactly SB effects Gracie - She does take some medicine, she has physical therapy and some other various things to manage her condition - but she has a very full ordinary life.  She is starting to ride a bike with training wheels, she can climb all types of playground equipment and funny enough she loves cereal.  

Grace is such a sweet and spicy little girl.  Stinking cute doesn't even begin to describe her. Rules seem to be merely a suggestion to her and  as the mom to 3 other rule followers this has been a constant lesson in patience for me.   She is chatty and unfortunately discovered the word "why????".  She loves baby dolls and singing songs.  Grace is walking better, but she is still prone to falling very easily.

 It still never gets old to see a child blossom into their family like she has done in ours.    She no longer has to be an army of one and she can relax in the fact she is a treasured daughter and sister.  If you sat down with her, I would guess the average person would have no idea she has only been in this country for a short time, she is very much a Starkey. One of the most beautiful things I have seen, is the relationship between her and Matthew.  These two care so much about each other, it's like they have been brother and sister for a lifetime not just 7 months.  Sure they fuss and fight a lot, but each of them is just about golden to the other.  

So as I pick up all the cereal off the floor under our table and I am not thoroughly overjoyed picking it up, but I am over joyed and humbled that God would allow us to be her momma and daddy.  Amazed how God has worked in all our lives to bring us together and make us a family.  

Boo at the Zoo

It's a lot of fun to introduce Grace to all our weird American customs like Halloween.  I dare say you will find anyone more excited about candy than Matthew and he has been trying to prepare Grace for all of this.  He has been asking for weeks if it's time to trick or treat yet.  Thankfully We had Boo at the Zoo to warm us up to trick or treat and we even got to see our favorite zookeeper Aunt Jenny.  

Last game for middle school

Robbie played in his last game for the middle school season yesterday.  So proud of this boy, he really had a great season.  I would love to give you all the football jargon of what he did, but I still continue to mess that up.  Let's say he caught some great passes and had some amazing tackles for someone who is 5'9" and 120 pounds.  He played both defense and offense and coach kept him in for the entirety of most games.  Even though he is currently a tuba player, I am guessing he will not be continuing in the family marching band legacy.  

here is a video from when he was 7

Fun on the Farm

While the big boys went paintballing, the rest went to the farm where Shelby works.  What a great place! However,  I think we will be finding corn for days.