Rattins living Coram Deo

We have arrived "home" in New Hampshire. Gracie was a gem on the 30 hour journey to America. But now we are all struggling with sickness. We are enjoying family and Gracie is winning hearts left and right (of course). Thank you for your prayers during our journey. Please pray for quick recovery, pray that Gracie does not have malaria and only has a cold, pray that we would bring glory to God's name as we introduce our beautiful image of God's grace in our lives to those around us!

It's always with mixed feelings that we leave Africa. We are even more confused this time. We are on one hand very eager to introduce Gracie to the rest of her family and get into our own home and settle into more of a routine with her. But there remains that longing to keep our feet on African soil and our hearts and minds in African culture. We leave a relational culture for a culture where we have trouble getting to know people who share a hallway with us. We leave a place where we can stay up until 1am talking with our neighbors for a place where we have to obey quiet-hours after 10pm. We leave delightful moist heat and constant sweating for a land of dryness, weak sun, and cold. We leave a place where we never know if there will be electricity for a land where the house stays lit up all night long because of all the street lamps and power-consuming appliances glowing in the night. We leave a place where it may take all day to do one task (due to poor roads, waiting for transpo

Our favorite question! We get this question at least once a day as we walk around the community with our beautiful black baby. Possible responses: 1) "We don't know! She just came out that way!" 2) "I'm black too, can't you tell?" 3) "WHAT?! She BLACK?!" The question represents an underlying discomfort that exists here. One perceived problem is the robbing of natural resources from this country. Although we have been told that in general there there is a relatively small importance placed on children in this land still torn apart by the ravages of war, poverty, and corruption, when it appears that a child is leaving the country to go to America, they are justly concerned. The next question is, "She can' walk?" (i.e. she can't walk?) Our answer of, "not yet, she is weak" justifies us adopting her and the interviewers walk away satisfied that yes, this weak child should indeed go to America. They often say, "Go

I’m gapping oh! - “I’m really hungry!” Since I tend to be oriented toward food, I (Josh) decided to write a short blurb about the food here in Liberia . We have had the privilege of eating real Liberian food at least once day during our stay here, and it is VERY GOOD! The staple here is rice; if a meal does not contain rice, it is not a full meal! Along with the rice, they usually make a “soup” to eat with the rice (to put on-top of the rice). Here on the coast at least, the base of the soup is fish and palm oil. A relatively small fish is gutted and de-headed. It is then cut into cross-wise chunks, fried (skin and bones included) in palm oil. To this base may be added an assortment of different foods to create various dishes. One of our favorites is potato soup. It is made from the greens from sweet potatoes (I’m not clear if these are really sweet potatoes or a type of yam). The greens along with copious amounts of pepper (chili), a litt

We took a moment to pose for real family portraits on the beach outside our residence taken by one of our housemates. The beauty of God's creation right here - one of the most beautiful beaches in the world - is one of Liberia's many blessings from God. God has blessed this land with beautiful nature as well as beautiful people. The beach that we reside on is a popular spot for missionaries, Liberians, and UN personnel (lots of UN trucks most of the time!) and we are so blessed to have had this time on such a beautiful beach introducing Gracie to swimming, the ocean, chasing crabs (Josh's obsession), and meeting the many curious onlookers, spectators to our lives as a new racially-mixed family.

Another photo while the internet is actually working! We attended the embassy today and have been approved. Praise God! We have just one last requirement to complete to get possession of our packet of all her papers but we are assured that the process is done here in Liberia! We are headed home on Wednesday!

Yes, there is life beyond Gracie occuring in this country - believe it or not! But first, the Gracie! We had the most fun birthday party for her - the 3 year old actually had more than 15 people attend her party on Tuesday night! We ordered 20 banana cake muffins from a local cook, found three pints of ice cream (at a high premium), a sweet juicy pineapple, lots of oranges, Fanta and Coke, ice, and even birthday balloons, a banner, and a "3" candle! We do not take credit for most of that as our friend here supplied much of the delicacies and decoration! Gracie had SO much fun with all her friends and was in heaven with all the attention! She is growing up so much and maybe even gaining a little weight? She today actually got a few slimy pieces of banana into her mouth herself while she played with her food! It's very fun to coach her in activities although we wish that we could get her to learn some signs to communicate a little better - but hopefully she'll catch on

Gracie is exploring her world more every day. She gets a furrowed look on her face while she reaches for something, willing her uncoordinated hands to pick up or play with the object. At times she even pulls at her right hand with her left hand, relaxing the spasm in that hand and getting it to obey her a little better for a while. (so cute!) More milestones in development: - Last night she was really sitting very securely on my lap supporting herself with her own arms only at the table playing with food and even trying to get kernels of rice to her mouth and handing me her cup and guiding her cup to her mouth when she wanted to drink! - Today she rolled over twice from back to stomach! We played for quite a while in the delicious ocean (perfect temperature and waves!) and Gracie loves it! She stands for a long time (of course always supported) to feel the waves crash against her. She even tolerates the splash of waves in her face for the thrill of waves and water around her!

Many are asking what Gracie can do, so here's some info! She's basically at most at a one year old level of development in all aspects. She just sat on her own spontaneously today propped with her two arms between her legs, but otherwise is too floppy to sit on her own. She occasionally stands in a fairly non-functional way if well supported. Her legs lock up so that she cannot take any attempts at steps while standing. She cannot feed herself but I have succeeded in getting her to use her hand at times to guide the food to her mouth so I think that she is not too far from learning that she can feed herself. She understands limits set but tries to push them as much as possible. She has figured out things that we praise her for (saying "ga," standing, pushing up, etc) and will do these things when she's in trouble to get us smile and laugh. She giggles hilariously when anything falls, bumps, jumps, thumps, when she burps, etc. She cannot talk but vocalizes very

Papa with Gracie on a canoe on the Liberian shore. The child LOVES the water! We're all exhausted after too many long days and two few naps! Gracie is making great progress already with lots of TLC, although she's also developping her personality more and pushing limits! It's good to see her exploring and even challenging a little as she clearly is comfortable that we are her parents. It's clear that she will need every form of therapy available and we are excited to see how she grows and develops over the next year - surely in leaps and bounds! She fortunately eats everything and is at the point where her meals only take an hour as we figure out what textures of foods are easiest on her. I'm still not sure if we're feeding her enough and hydrating her enough! But we'll come into it! I am giving seminars to the nannies at the orphanage on various health topics and that is quite enjoyable, although a challenge to switch from the mode of giving talks to coll

Mama and Gracie in her first swimming pool on Sunday November 26, 2006.

Hi, friends - please pray for Gracie (and parents) - she has a fever and belly pain - she was crying through the night (nearly killed me!). Pray that it's NOT malaria! Also, many are asking about her sizes: She wears a 18-24 month top, 18 month bottoms, size 5 shoes at the biggest. She is VERY skinny, so pants don't really stay on her very well. She has pierced ears and beautiful long hair! She loves milk and "Liberian food" (as in rice) but has eaten everything that we have put into her mouth.

It was hard to remember that it was Thanksgiving weekend. Pennsylvania is gearing up to hunt... what a distant thought in a land of living day to day! We had a thanksgiving dinner with a missionary family (and many others). This is a time full of firsts for Gracie and it is so fun because she is able to actively enjoy all her firsts. She enjoyed her ham, turkey, beans, and pumpkin pie (among all the other firsts at that meal). Friday we went to the office and arranged the first several days of our schedule and discussed the challenging logistics of how to teach useful topics to different members of orphanage staff. We then also visited the orphanage for the first time and Gracie (dolled up a bit) received a warm welcome - she was clearly well enjoyed by staff and kids alike. "Little G" and "G-G" and strains of her favorite song rang out as she arrived with her parents! Yesterday (Saturday) we participated in "intake day" at the office - I found it heart wr

We are in Liberia - the electricity goes in and out because the generator is having trouble keeping up these days! So hopefully it will stay on long enough to post and the internet connection will allow me this luxury! We were united with precious Gracie on Thanksgiving day - I will write more about this later. But, oh! is Gracie a joy! She is so beautiful, so joyfilled, and a bit mischievious. Her physical limitations do not permit her to accomplish much mischief, but we can tell that she is trying to push some limits already. If we were not in love with her already, she is irresitable and such a treasure and blessing from God. In our two days together, she has not cried once. She spends most of her days smiling, she loves to snuggle (good match for us!), and has the most contagious laugh! Life takes more effort for her - her cerebral palsy is moderate and every activity is a challenge and is clearly tiring for her. Meal times (which she loves) take a long time and much patience and d

The time is fast approaching! Here is our itinerary as we know if so far! Leave Boston Nov 21st, fly through Brusells, arrive in Monrovia, Liberia Weds evening November 22nd. Get gracie Nov 23rd (thanksgiving!) Spend some time doing NOTHING (yay!) except spending time with Gracie and learning about Liberian culture. Then Abby will do some medical work teaching medical/developmental topics to the Acres of Hope staff, working in the local hospital, and hopefully participating in rural clinics. Leave Liberia Weds December 13th (IF Grace's visa gets processed in time - Pray! - otherwise, we'll stay until she's ready to go) Arrive home Thurs December 14th and hibernate for a few days.

Gracie's adoption has been completed (as far as we can tell) in Liberia this week (10/11/06)! One step closer to having our precious one with us! As many of you are asking, we are currently planning on 3T clothing and size 6 shoes (might be a little big, but better big than small!).

We are happy to receive a little update on Gracie - a new photo and updated measurements. We received new and supposedly accurate measurements on our tiny Gracie: Wt-16 lbs, ht-32.5 inches, ft-5, hd-16.5 inches. Tiny! But reportedly very healthy. Keep praying for her! Note: I really think that she must have weighed 26 lbs at that time, 16 lbs just doesn't make since!

Our current address: 13-1 Strawberry Bank Road Nashua, NH 03062

Update on Gracie: As of 8/30/06 she weighs an estimated 20 pounds and wears a size 2T. Per the orphange staff, she stands on her own, eats and drinks well, takes a few steps, and is saying a few words. She lives with a foster family. So you're asking where we are registered - here's the answer, but there's a twist! Read on for how you can help us travel to Liberia just by giving us something that we need to get ready for Gracie! First of all, we're happy to receive used items - these things don't have to be new! :) We are registered at: www.target.com for baby items and a couple things to be used for home physical therapy; www.alibris.com for books, search wishlist by email josh.rattin@gmail.com ; www.etoys.com for educational toys, search wishlist by Rattin. Purchases online from each of these sites will gain us American Airline miles if you enter through www.aa.com and login as one of us. ... We are also registered at www.chooseydiapers.com for cloth diapers

Announcing our daughter, Gracie! Gracie was born in Liberia December 4, 2003 and we will be celebrating her 3rd birthday with her in Liberia! We are well along in the adoption process. Continue to pray for Gracie - health, development, safety. Pray for us as we prepare to adopt this toddler with some special needs. Pray for our families as they prepare for their granddaughter/niece/great-granddaughter. If you want to help us - we will have some fund-raisers forth coming. We are also collecting American Airlines miles which can be used to fly us and our daughter to and from Liberia. Needless to say, we need LOTS of miles - if you want to donate AA miles.... Thank you!

We received our INS approval in record time - 1 week and 2 days after our fingerprinting which was done in Manchester, NH! Amazing! After all the waiting, we got such a quick response. Then the new waiting - waiting for the phone call, a referral of a child... who would it be? The emotional rollar coaster began... continued?

We have finally gotten our fingerprinting done... perhaps I should back up. Here's the process for US so far in New Hampshire for international adoption: 1. Decide that we will adopt from Africa on our return from Africa May 2005... 2. Group meeting at Bethany Christian Services... 3. Survive first months of Family Practice residency... 4. Submit our application to Bethany Christian for home assessment in November 2005... 5. Application on hold until we decided which state we'll be living in... 5. Find a place to live that is bigger than a closet... 6. Decide which state to live in... 7. Move in to new place in NH in February 2006... 8. Rush through home assesment (several visits to our case worker's office and a visit to our home)... 9. Attend the mandatory NH 8 hour seminar on adoption/attachment issues/etc... 10. Get all the details together - recommendation letters to home assesment agency AND to adoption agency, medical exams and tests, visit police station, etc. etc.

Announcement: We are adopting! We are pursuing adoption through Acres of Hope ( www.acresofhope.org ) in Liberia. Please understand that with international adoptions there are many uncertainties, so nothing is "for sure" until it's all said and done. We have finished our home study with Bethany Christian Services and are awaiting INS proceedings as well as a referral from Acres of Hope. The paper work is never ending! We will keep this site updated with our adoption plans and progress!