Character Awards Ceremony

Shelby and Mr. Bonkoski

It's been a busy week with school winding down. Once a year they hold a Character Awards Ceremony, it is fun to hear the teachers talk about their year. In the 7th- 12th grade they talk about their year and present an award to a student that has been an example to them and others. Our Bible teacher, Mr. Jeff Bonkoski was the first one up, he talked about how the student he chose, "shows concern for others, respects authority, actively lives out the Fruit of the Spirit and has a passionate and growing love for Jesus." He also said this student is, " a humble character, and has a deep desire to grow and understand more about God!" (thanks Jeff for giving me your notes!) Little did I know he was talking about Shelby, our 7th grader. I was so proud of her! Good job Shelby!

In the elementary grades, each teacher gets up and talks about each student, Mrs Aleckson talked about Syfah...talked about his Leadership qualities, it was fun to see the smile on his face.

Mr. Bergman talked about Corbin and awarded her the Sincerity award. Said she was a friend to all!

It's fun this time of year to not only be excited about school being almost over, but to see how your kids have grown spiritually and emotionally as well as in height....sorry Morgan and Seble I think you are not going to get any taller.

Proud of you all!

Love- Mom

TRAVEL DATE....

We have a date!! Today I received an e-mail that said we have a tentative U.S. Embassy date of June 18th in Ethiopia. What this means is that Troy will need to be in Ethiopia by June 17th. We also found out that tentative means it could change to the following Wednesday, June 25th. We will find out for sure by June 10th! What we do for us now is, go with the first date and pray that it works out. Adopting an HIV+ child also adds time to the travel, there is another piece to the puzzle and that is an HIV waiver that needs to be approved before Araya can leave Ethiopia. What this whole adventure entails....2 weeks minimum travel time in Ethiopia, 3 weeks is a possibility!! Please pray that we can get the June 18th date and that Troy only needs to stay 2 weeks, pray that paperwork is processed quickly and HIV waiver goes through quickly!! Please continue to pray for Araya!
Blessings and Thanks!
The Doble

Shelby Mae

Today we were at my parents for an "inside picnic," due to some heavy rain! It seems as though we don't get over their like we used to, I blame it on busyness....not a good excuse! We laughed at many things today...my dad had the idea to take out my wedding dress! That's right, it was my dad's idea! I have not looked at it since Troy and I got married in 1990! It was in a fancy box in the shape of a book, and it used to be sealed, but my parents confessed that they have looked at it. It was stuffed with paper and it still looked liked I remembered it. It was so funny to see the girls reactions as they looked at it! Then we decided what the heck, let's try it on....not me.....them. I cannot believe how thin I used to be (that's another story). We all laughed! I hope someday, someone wears it!

Another subject that came up today was Shelby, Shelby is a delight, however today we brought up the "whiney days." My dad, reminded me of the time that he baby sat the three girls and he called me and said, "I can babysit Morgan and Corbin any day." " Is something wrong with Shelby, she whines constantly." How can you take it? For one thing Shelby was and is very sensitive....in a great way! She is super conscientious of others feelings, she jumps right in and helps anytime she can, she rarely complains (whines:) What I love about Shelby is how she has just blossomed into a young lady! I wouldn't trade those whiney days for anything!

I love ya Shelby, thanks for being you! Love Mom xoxoxo

Waiting for their, "New House."

Troy, Corbin and Syfah put up the birdhouses that they made in school! They are great! I cannot wait to see which bird is the lucky one and gets a "New House."

I was thinking today about what Araya must be wondering about his "New House." Does he even remember what it was like to live in a house? Does he know what it will be like to have his "own" clothes, does he know he will have his own shoes. (I remember our first pictures of Seble and Syfah...Syfah had on two different flip-flops, not the right size, one was pink and I think the other one was a yellow one. He also had on a pink sweatshirt...he did look like a cute little girl.) They share everything at the orphanage, shoes get put in a pile and you grab them, who cares if they match, community clothes, doesn't matter the color. I know these are just material things, and in the big picture they are nothing. I just cannot wait to give him a home, where he is loved by many! I wish we knew if he was doing well ? What he was thinking? Is he ready and waiting? We are!!

Leanne, who I work with said, "Jody, I think you are nesting." I think she is right!! I am getting ready for the new one to join us, and getting anxious at that. Just like the mama birds are looking for their perfect place to make their nest, and add to their families, we are too!!

Please say a prayer tonight for those who have no home to call their own.

We are still waiting for a travel date to bring Araya home!! Waiting stinks!

Education and Awareness!

We have contemplated making our story a public story, but, many of you reading this already know that our son, Araya is HIV+. Often when people inquire about Araya, the first question they ask is, "If he is your Ethiopian kids brother, why did you not adopt him when you adopted Seble and Syfah?" Well, in short we initially did not know of him, we learned of Araya before Troy traveled to pick up Seble and Syfah, Araya was at a different orphanage because he tested HIV+. Four years ago HIV+ children were not eligible to be adopted from Ethiopia due to laws and regulations. Thankfully, rules and regulations have changed!

The true blessing for us already has been learning of the many families that have adopted and are in process of adopting HIV+ children. My hope is that Araya is not known as a child with HIV, but as a child who had a family, experienced horrendous loss of his parents and siblings, and now has a chance to be brought back together with his siblings and a family that will do everything we can for him.
I know that we will face many challenges ahead, it may be the comment that someone speaks to someone else, or the person that doesn't want him in their childs class or on their childs soccer team.
Since we will be bringing Araya home in 4-6 weeks, I thought it would be appropriate to do a little education on HIV. I have copied some info. from our HIV coordinator through our adoption agency. Please read it. If you have questions, please contact us. Hey, if we don't know the answer we will try to find out!

HIV stands for Human Immunodeficiency Virus, and it is the virus that if left untreated, can progress and develop into AIDS. AIDS stands for Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, and occurs when HIV advances and weakens the immune system to the point that the body can no longer fight off illness and infections.

There is currently no cure for HIV or AIDS, however, the medications that are now available to treat HIV are highly effective. HIV is now considered a chronic yet manageable condition in the United States and in other countries where treatment is readily available. Children who receive the proper treatment and medications are expected to live well into adulthood and have close to normal or normal life expectancies, and many people are now living with HIV for indefinite periods of time without developing AIDS.

While the term "HIV+ child" usually makes people imagine a child that is very sickly, the reality is that children who are HIV+ and are receiving the medications, look just like any other child.

When HIV+ children are receiving proper care and are on their medications (when needed), they enjoy very good health and do not need to be isolated from other children or be treated differently.

HIV+ children are NOT a risk to people around them, as HIV can NOT be spread through causal contact. HIV is not spread through hugging, kissing, shaking hands, sharing toys, sneezing, coughing, sharing food, sharing drinks, bathing, swimming or any other causal way.

It has been proven that HIV and AIDS can only be spread through sexual contact, birth, breast milk and blood to blood contact (such as sharing needles). Children who are HIV+ can share food, drink, bath tubs, swimming pools, towels, beds, toys and all other household items with their family members and friends without risk. HIV is not transmitted through urine, stool, snot, tears or sweat.

While it is recommended and wise to handle the blood of an HIV+ child with care, it is also helpful to know that the risk of transmitting HIV through a bloody nose or skinned knee is very minimal. This is especially true for a child that is on HIV medications, because the medications can reduce the amount of HIV in a person's system to the point that the HIV is considered "undetectable", meaning there is only a very tiny amount of virus in the person's system.

Below is some information from the CDC (Center for Disease Control) and a link is provided for more detailed information.

How is HIV passed from one person to another?

HIV is not transmitted by day-to-day contact in the workplace, schools, or social settings. HIV is not transmitted through shaking hands, hugging, or a casual kiss. You cannot become infected from a toilet seat, a drinking fountain, a door knob, dishes, drinking glasses, food, or pets.

HIV is not an airborne or food-borne virus, and it does not live long outside the body.

HIV transmission can occur when blood, semen, pre-seminal fluid, vaginal fluid, or breast milk from an infected person enters the body of an uninfected person.

Intact, healthy skin is an excellent barrier against HIV and other viruses and bacteria.

These are the most common ways that HIV is transmitted from one person to another:
* by having sex with an HIV-infected person;
* by sharing needles or injection equipment with an injection drug user who is infected with HIV; or
* from HIV-infected women to their babies before or during birth, or through breast-feeding after birth.

HIV also can be transmitted through receipt of infected blood or blood clotting factors. However, since 1985, all donated blood in the United States has been tested for HIV. Therefore, the risk of infection through transfusion of blood or blood products is extremely low. The U.S. blood supply is considered to be among the safest in the world.

For more detailed information you can visit: http://www.thebody.com/content/whatis/art30024.html#q15

HAPPY TRAILS........

Proud new owners of our horse "Montana!"

Syfah on Montana!

Corbin on Montana!

Morgan has always liked horses, my parents bought Morgan a horse about 3 years ago, she has always been able to talk them in to anything! We fenced in an acre...built a barn....and became owners of a quarter horse named, "Montana!" Montana is a good size horse, about 15 hands for you horse lovers!

The problem began about a year ago, Morgan lost interest in her horse. Horses are a lot of work, feed in the morning, feed in the night, clean out the water, clean out the stall, spend time with the horse and most of all ride the horse. Life is busy for a teenager :)We decided we needed to find Montana a new home! That did not go so well at our house. Syfah and Corbin decided that they would share Montana! Well without saying too much (family rule)...Syfah and Corbin are not the most likely out of all of our kids to do much sharing amongst each other. We had a "family discussion" and I am pleased to announce that they are the new owners of, "Montana."

It has only been a week, but, things are going smoothly. I am hopeful that this will be a great thing for them and also Montana.

The other day I was joking with my dad, he also bought Troy his first dog, Seble a cat, Shelby and Corbin rabbits..the list goes on...he doesn't want anyone to be left out.

Thanks Dad, Montana is a good horse, but please no more animals!

P.S. Dad, remember Morgan will be driving soon...have you thought about looking into cars instead of animals?

Love ya-Jody

Four years ago today......

Four years ago today, Seble and Syfah traveled in a plane for the first time, met me (mom) for the first time, met their new sisters for the first time, met grandparents for the first time, had their own room for the first time! What a day it was, excitement, anxiety, and exhaustion!

I remember that day well, we did not have a lot of people at the airport, didn't want to overwhelm them. We waited and waited...I remember seeing on the screen at the airport that they had landed! I remember thinking, "what is taking so long?" I called Troy, never thinking he would answer his cell phone, he said, "Hi honey, we landed, we are going to the bathroom to change clothes before we come down to see you all." I said, "no, come now. He said, "Jody, you will thank me later, they need to change clothes." I think our dear friend Deb, (who traveled with Troy) knew me too well, and she had also recommended to Troy that they change.

From the time they left Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, they had been on a plane about 19 hours, not including stops in Rome and New York and you cannot forget going through customs and almost missing connections from N.Y to Minneapolis.

We all remember that day! I think of all of the firsts that these 2 kids have shared with us and the firsts that we have been blessed to experience with them.

We cannot wait for Araya to have his firsts too! These three have not physically been in the same house since 2002, what a night it will be!

By the way, Troy did the right thing when he had the kids change clothes, when I opened their backpacks, those clothes were a sight!

Jody
www.jabberjawjody.blogspot.com

Exciting News!!

Araya (Abi)



We have exciting news to share today!!! We are officially a family of 8!! Today I received an e-mail from our adoption agency:


Hi Troy and Jody,

Your case was approved today in court! An embassy visa interview date will be scheduled for your family later this week. Once the embassy informs me of this date, I will notify your family. Most likely it will be in mid to late June.

Thanks and congratulations!
Susan

Adoption Advocates International



One of the reasons this was extremely exciting is that a couple of weeks ago we were informed that our case would be submitted to court on May 26th, with travel sometime in July. We just were not expecting to hear already, this is great news, and earlier than we expected...rarely does "early" happen in adoption! When I read the e-mail at work today, I screamed. I had the same scream when I read the e-mail that Seble and Syfah were ours..... My girls remember it well. They thought something had happened to me!

It is a great day!

God has been so faithful through this adoption, and has clearly said, "it will be o.k.!" Thank you for your continued prayers and support as we get ready to bring Araya home!

Love~The Doble Family

CCS Formal and Preparations

Saturday was a crazy day at our house. It was the Cambridge Christian School's Formal. It started out with Morgans friend staying overnight and several girls showing up on Saturday for, "Hair-do's! It was chaotic and fun...we started at 10:00 a.m. The CCS formal is for 9-12th graders. Since many of these kids do not drive, Troy, I, Jeff and Shelley took a group of 18 to Rockwoods Grill in Otsego, MN, it was a wonderful place to go. The kids were great! We were chaperones for the evening, and a dance was held at CCS, with decorations to the hilt! We had a chocolate fountain with many treats to dip, individual cakes, punch and to end the night we ordered out Pizza at 11:00. We had a wonderful time..although I think I am going to the dr. tomorrow, we joined in on the dancing and I think I did something to my knee, I actually heard it pop....miserable! Troy even was able to dance with his daughter!

Happy Mothers Day to you all!!

Great Friends!

What a great friend! Ellie stayed with Seble today. She is doing great.....showing a little drama! Having fun!

Thanks for staying with Seble today Ellie-What a friend! We love ya! It sounds like you two had a lot of fun today!

SMILE FOR THE CAMERA

Well, the one thing that I realized since I have started this blogging stuff, is that you really do need to bring your camera everywhere with you. I don't like my camera, I think you need to like it to want to bring it with you every where you go....Hey Kids...Mother's Day is coming up!!

Yesterday, 3 kids and I had dentist appointments, for those of you that know me super well, you know that dentists rank in my top 3 for things that "freak" me out. I found a dentist that I love and their staff is fabulous too! I should of had my camera, because it was a great experience! Morgan received her first filling! Not bad for an almost 15 year old, again, I should of had my camera...she is thankful that I DID NOT!

Today, the day started out with everyone getting up at 6:00 a.m. (not unusual) the unusual thing was that Dad was even home today until 6:30 a.m., he had meetings that didn't start until 8:00. Troy is usually on the road to Plymouth by 5:00 a.m....so it was a treat to let him see how fun it is to get everyone rolling in the morning....It would have been a great picture!

A picture that I did remember to take this morning was that of Seble, it was a picture of her clutching her new Teddy Bear and sitting on the couch with her brothers arm around her. Seble was being very brave as she was anticipating surgery today. I will tell you that I even brought my camera to the hospital....guess what....I did not take one picture!

Another surprise for me this morning as I was waiting in the waiting room for Seble to get out of surgery, was my wonderful friend, who happens to be my cousin, Sandy. Sandy came to see how I was...(and Seble.) it was a treat since we really don't get to see each other that much these days! The other thing I was thinking was.....you guessed it....I didn't get a picture. I realized on my way home from the hospital that I don't have a picture with her and I together! I am taking one next time I see her! (Thanks Sandy)

Have a great day!!
Jody

Girls in the House!

I have promised my girls that I would try to not ever say anything that will embarrass them, which means not a lot of details! Our mornings get a little crazy around here, they consist of girls arguing (discussing ;) over a hair straightener (I even get in on that one, because I am now doing a little straightening myself), my perfume, who is showering next, who is using who's make-up, who is wearing who's shirt and threw it on the floor because they chose not to wear it, who wore who's shoes last and didn't put them back and now they can only find one, who used my special body wash.....the list goes on!

I love my girls and wouldn't trade any of them for anything....Corbin is 11 and really wants to wear mascara, (she has even snuck in a leg shaving)...Shelby has red hair..by her choice (and a little help from me), Seble has started to wear her hair down, which is a big deal when you have ethnic hair that gets a little (lot) crazy..it looks great, Morgan has discovered that she can go on a class trip and not shower for 2 days! I love chatting and catching up everyday with the girls, they are all so different! I am thankful for their individuality!

As Shelby said this morning, "Mom, 18 more mornings, before we can sleep in." I have to confess, that I am a little excited! Summer here we come!

Out to lunch!

Today I was given the opportunity to join (chaperone) the 7th grade class at Cambridge Christian School to the Q Mandarin restaurant in Cambridge. First of all, I love 7th graders, I really do, I worked in the classroom the year that these kids were in 3rd grade. It was a treat to go with them...in 7th grade it seems as though the kids still like you (me!) I need to confess though, I really don't like Chinese food...I heard a story once about Chinese food...I cannot get it out of my mind, but, for those of you that enjoy Chinese food, I won't share the story! I watched as the 7th graders, two of which were my daughters ate things that I wouldn't dream of eating. I ate rice and found out that I do like deep fried chicken balls, it might have something to do with the fact that it was deep fried. However, when one of the kids put one in Ms. Sarah's drink, I had had enough, they were debating if it would sink or float....it sunk. That's how those chicken balls felt in my stomach all day..yuck! I also remembered the 2nd date that my husband took me on, it was the, "Golden Nugget." For those of you that have been around town for awhile you know the place. I didn't have the heart to tell my Troy, who I hardly knew, that Chinese was not my favorite, I ate egg drop soup and a few other things...no idea what it was. What I will confess is that when he went to the bathroom I put it back on the platter and he ate the rest. Troy has learned that I also choked down mushrooms that were on the pizza, on our first date...those are not something I enjoy either. Thankfully he knows now. What I thought of today was that fact that It doesn't matter what we are doing, or eating it is who we are doing it with. I enjoyed today, and I enjoyed getting to know my husband over that egg drop soup almost 18 years ago....Thanks for inviting me! Jody

Beautiful Sunday Morning~

It's a beautiful day today! I love what God does this time of year, teases us with a winter that seemed never-ending, and then wakes us up to the birds, squirrels (we even have a black one enjoying our bird seed) and even a flower blooming. Thank you Lord for today!

The kids woke up with colds today, could it be that it is because they thought it was summer yesterday and wore shorts and T's when it was only 60 degrees, that is definitely a conversation or is it battle, that I don't have with them...so not worth it! Yesterday, Corbin and I were at Costco, an older gentlemen smiled at Corbin and I, I then heard him say to his wife, "That little girl has no socks on and she is wearing flip-flops." She did have a sweatshirt on though, which I thought was pretty good.

Another thought I had today while laying in my bed, I looked out the window in our bedroom. My view was somewhat blocked by the treadmill and ironing board......I said to Troy, "what do a treadmill and an ironing board have in common?" He looked at me crazily and said, "what did you just say?" I repeated my question....then I fired out the answer. They are things I really despise doing! For those of you that know me well, you know that I iron every single day! I am not one of those people that iron in one lump of time. I am a little obsessive about ironing...my kids know it. I even have tried to teach Syfah how to iron....it was a disaster. The logo on his shirt ended up on the iron and smeared on a few other items...it was not good. I realized today that looking at that everyday is bringing me down. I am going to start putting that ironing board away every day, and as for that treadmill, I think I am taking it out too! Maybe to the garage, Troy's going to love moving that thing. Hey, I might even get my flip-flops on and go for a walk outside!
Have a great day!!!
Jody

Where do I Begin?

Where do I begin? I have thought about this for a while....the thing is I really don't know where to begin. I decided that I would just start with why I titled my blog, "Is Eight Enough?" Many of you reading this know that we are adding to our family again through the miracle and blessing of adoption. In May of 2004, we went from a family of 5, Troy, myself, Morgan, Shelby and Corbin to a family of 7, with Seble and Syfah coming to us from Ethiopia. What a blessing it has been. We are now anticipating the arrival of Araya (Abi) , Seble and Syfah's biological brother. Troy will hopefully be traveling to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in June. We are trying to prepare for the arrival of another boy...Syfah cannot wait..he is tired of being the only boy with 4 sisters! Is Eight enough? I think so...but, this week I was having a casual conversation with my mom, Jane. She asked me something about our adoption and out of my mouth came the words, "I would love to have another little baby around here." There was silence on the other end...."Jody," my mom said, "Do not let your Dad hear you say that!" We had a good laugh....So, is Eight Enough?