Tanner!

Mr. Tanner is now a teenager, how is that possible!? Past birthdays have never really been a big deal to him other than the parties and the gifts (of course :) ) but this one was different. For the past few months leading up to his birthday he made people aware that he was about to turn 13! He has made a lot of changes in the past year, some I was not ready for. I wanted him to always be my little boy, he suddenly went from what seemed like a little boy to a teenager with a little more independence which is a good thing I suppose. Tanner has brought more joy to my life than I could ever have imagined. He has been through a lot the past few months but he takes it in stride and has been such a trooper with it. Tanner has taught me so much about love. I wish I could see everything through his eyes. As I reminisce over his life and recall the day he was born and then his diagnosis and how hard that was at the time, now setting here looking at it and realizing the magnitude of what God had blessed me with in giving me Tanner makes me smile. He has brought more joy than I could ever tell. He and I have been through some tough days together, but we have also known great blessings. As each day passes the more I realize how much I really am blessed to have Tanner. I tell people that every family needs a Tanner! He loves church and Sunday School, he enjoys reading his bible - his favorite verse is about Dog’s, imagine that! He asked his Sunday School teacher if there were dogs in the Bible, she showed him the scripture and he has not forgot it! We took him on “the town” for his Birthday, along with some of his favorite people, his cousins! We went to Mellow Mushroom, his favorite eating place and then to Academy. We went home afterwards and ate his “CIA” cake and opened gifts. He had a great time. Happy Birthday Tanner, we love you more than you’ll ever know, and we are so proud of the little man you are becoming!

Lincoln James

This post is long overdue, and it will be a very short version of the story. I plan to write an actual post about this in the near future.  Lincoln James joined our family April 26th, 2017 in Ohau, HI.  He was not even two days old. He completed the puzzle to our family, and we are overjoyed with the little guy! We were abundantly blessed again by God!

Update on Tanner: Tanner is doing amazing. He has had 12 esophaguel dilations at Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital.  God placed us in the path of some amazing Doctors. We feel they have been the hands and feet of Jesus in helping Tanner. Tanner is now eating solid foods after 4 long years of only eating puréed food, he is eating things he had never ate his entire life, and he loves it! God has truly performed some miracles in Tanners mind and allowed him to realize food was ok, and that it wouldn’t hurt him. We have enjoyed watching him eat, but most of all being able to set down and eat with him. He loves his Doctor there, and loves to go to Vanderbilt! The truth is we all love them, the staff there is amazing and they feel like family to us. We are ready for Tanner to get the surgeries behind him, but will honestly feel a little sad to know we won’t get to see the good people of Vanderbilt as often! God has been so good to us throughout this journey with Tanner!