Shane and Amanda's wedding

We had beautiful weather for the wedding in the mountains of New Hampshire - we were so blessed to all four be in the wedding of our dear friends! The girls were so good when it mattered most and cooperated nicely. Ana walked down the aisle with me; she got to carry a very special ring bearer pillow (no rings involved). Gracie was pushed down the aisle in her wheelchair by Auntie Amy; I decorated her wheelchair - I think it looks so cute! Josh and I provided some music. It ended up being very hot standing in the sun so long... Gracie does NOT handle such extreme weather changes well - we're planning on a slow start to our lives in Uganda to get us all used to the heat! More photos on facebook, so if you want to see more - go to my facebook!

(oh yeah, the hair was a pain - even this simple little hair-do resulted in lots of tears!)

Snuggling with Auntie Amy during the rehearsal.

Ana modeled the dress, socks, and shoes for us as the most cooperative of the four flower girls. Also the most girly of the girls as she was thrilled to have her hair dolled up and her nails painted!

Grandma with her flower girls! Yes, Amanda's mom MADE the flower girl dresses! adorable!

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Check out this progress!

A year ago, my friend Rachel http://josiecomehome.blogspot.com/ emailed a photo of her beautiful son standing on his own... I've since dreamed of having a photo to post of Gracie doing the same thing. It was always one of those wild-don't-think-it'll-ever-happen kind of dreams, a romantic, fairy tale type of dream. But this week, Gracie made another leap in development and muscle tone. It started when I leaned her up against the wall and planted her feet a shoulder-width apart. For the first time, she didn't lunge for the safety of my arms or hands, but rather, she allowed herself to stand steadily on her own two feet and she kept her center of gravity centered over her feet instead of wildly in front of her or to one side or the other. She even quickly figured out that she couldn't lurch around in excitement while standing on her own two feet with no support but a wall behind her back, but rather had to express her excitement over this new development with a gentl

Family of Three!

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

Amazing girls!

Gracie and Ana have taken to walking around the church together - Ana pushes Gracie's gait trainer as Gracie walks along. Between the two of them, they make a pretty efficient team (except for the steering part!). They love it and could do it for hours! Gracie has made amazing strides (no pun intended) in standing up - we'll get some video up soon of her standing, supporting herself ONLY with her right hand (her otherwise useless hand) - it's amazing! We didn't dream that we'd see her looking this strong and steady. Plus, now she's smiling and her little heart isn't pounding out of her chest with stress at the thought of standing up without human contact - God is SO good! Gracie went to music camp this summer at the Y which was somewhat fun for her, but definitely good to have her around other kids.

Rattins living Coram Deo

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