Welcome to our blog

Well, I have finally joined the blogging world. Hopefully this will be an easy way to keep everyone updated with all the exciting happenings at the Holle home.

The boys started school last week. Grant is 17 and a senior!! this year. Garrett is 13 and in 8th grade. Gavin is 10 and in 5th grade. All three boys are at a new school this year. All the changes are due to our district finally completing the new high school building. WOW, is it unbelievably nice! Grant's class will be the first to graduate in the new building.

Graycen is 19 1/2 months and such a joy to our family. Yesterday we took her to St. Louis for her initial visit at Children's Hospital Cerebral Palsy Center. We have a definite diagnosis of spastic diplegia cerebral palsy. This basically means that her legs are too stiff, her muscles are over tightening because her brain is sending the wrong messages to them. She does have a little of this condition in her arms also, but mostly in her legs. Her trunk muscles are weak as a result of this, and that is why it is hard for her to sit for very long without wilting over. We were given a list of 13 things to "get started" on, and I feel confident that our visit was definitely the best decision we've made so far regarding her development. We will have more trips to St. Louis in the future for other appointments in the Eye Center and Audiology (hearing) Center. These are routine checkups they prescribe for all new patients.

Well, I hope to be able to use this as a therapeutic tool in dealing with all life is throwing at us right now. Please keep us in your prayers as we are trying to have lots of joy in all the trials we are facing right now (James 1:2)!

I am transferring our China trip from the babyjellybeans site to this one, it will quit being available soon. It's amazing to see how much Graycen has changed since December.

Here's a picture of the kids on the 4th of July...I need to get an updated one!