Adoption Day Anniversary

One year ago today we were in court for Tanner's adoption! We watched the adoption video together this morning and Tanner loved it! It was fun watching it with him and seeing his expressions and excitement. Tonight, he wants to eat pizza to celebrate, so, that's what we'll do!

May 1, 2007, what dreams we had! Dreams we never even imagined when Tanner came to live with us on Jan. 28, 2005 as a foster child. We always assumed Tanner would be with us for a short time and then he would leave until God brought other children into our lives. What different plans God had for us, exciting, wonderful plans that we never could have dreamed.

Then, September 27, 2006, our lives changed when we were in court and realized we were going to be able to adopt Tanner. How fun to dream about his future and our future as a family; where will he go to college, who will he marry, what nursing home will he put us in :). Then, new changes again when in March we received the diagnosis of leukodystrophy.

When we were becoming foster parents, we knew that we would love whomever came into our lives for a just a little while before their next phase of life. I tried to hold onto that even after the adoption, that everyone is His and that we were given Tanner to love and take care of for a time. It was harder to remember after the adoption, because it seemed a little more permanent, but, it's been brought back again with this diagnosis. We remember that Tanner is not really ours, God just gave him to us for a short time (in our eyes) to love until it's time for him to go to Jesus.

The good thing is that it helps us to appreciate and enjoy whatever we do with each other and spend more time making memories as a family. Tonight, we're going to celebrate 1 year of Tanner's adoption and on Sunday, we'll celebrate 7 years of Tanner's life! Right now, life feels good. It's not that we don't think about the leukodystrophy daily, or worry about how many adoption days and birthdays we will be able to celebrate, but, for today, for this moment, God is giving us a wonderful feeling of peace.

Thank you for your prayers. It has made a big difference in our lives. My sleep is much better, my overwhelming fears are much less significant, and we are feeling our Savior's comfort.

We appreciate continued prayers for God's peace about the situation, for Tanner to maintain his abilities (physical, behavioral and cognitive) without fast or significant regression, and for us to continue to use this situation to tell others about God's goodness.