God gave us TJ and took Grandma home

On July 9, 2009, Tyler James (TJ) joined our family, bringing truth to our motto, "One At A Time". We picked him up from his emergency receiving foster placement, along with his personal items and headed home. After lunch and his nap, we headed for our visit, Grandma Eley. She was coming home that day from the hospice facility to enjoy her final days at home. She had seen pictures of TJ from our earlier visits with him, and she was very excited to see him in person, as was the rest of the family who was at her house that afternoon.

We left for vacation the next day for 8 days to beautiful Hawley Lake, AZ (where the high is the high 70's and you use a fireplace to warm up your cabin in July). We had a great time getting to bond with TJ, as well as spending time with my parents, who were in the cabin next door to ours. We came home on Saturday, the 18th and Mark immediately headed over to see Grandma (we had been calling in a regular basis to check on her). On Monday night the 20th, she went to see Jesus.

TJ turned 3 on July 21st. We celebrated Grandma Eley's 91st birthday on July 23rd. Through this time of sorrow, the unconditional love that God has allowed our extended family to experience through TJ has been a huge blessing. Although we no longer have Grandma with us physically, she will always be in our hearts, and we have TJ that we can share our memories of Grandma with.

TJ is adjusting very well to being a part of our family and we are adjusting well to having a toddler in our house for the first time in thirteen years. We anticipate making TJ a legal part of our family next spring. We still need to wade through some legal stuff and a waiting period before we can file the petition to adopt him; however, we are his forever family.

TJ does have some mild medical issues that we are working through right now; he is in the process of being scheduled for a MRI, which will require sedation. The MRI is to rule out a seizure disorder. He also have some GI issues that require daily medication to his drinks 2 to 4 times a day, which is no easy task to accomplish. Please pray for him and the specialists that are working on helping him. We do not have any authority in his treatment plan, we have to follow what we're told, so although we don't like the idea of the MRI and don't see a need for it, we are doing what we're asked and praying for TJ. The specialists at Phoenix Children's Hospital seem to have TJ's best interests at heart, which is a comfort to us.

We are stepping out of the boat and trusting God to take care of TJ. We continue to grieve for our loss of Grandma Eley, but know that she is now in heaven, able to walk with her head held high and is with Mark's mom. We are so thankful to all of our family and friends who have been so supportive during this very stressful time in our lives. We are blessed!