Tuesday, October 2nd - Fabulous Days!!

Hello Friends,

Wow what incredible days we have had recently. I've posted some pics for you to enjoy. First of all I want to say thank you to Susan and The Brown Family and the kids at Primrose in Arizona for a wonderful gift and lovely card! It was such a surprise and we have the banner hanging in our living room so we can enjoy it all the time!! You are so kind and loving to think of Alex and follow his story. We cherish your kindness and loving spirit!!

I also want to thank the following for their generosity and kindness towards Alex and our family:

Judicial Arbiter Group, Inc
Don Kramer and his associates
The Fix family
Missy Hooper
Karlyn and Vikram
Jo-Nell and Katharine
Sky Chair
Kris (OT)
The Honorable Virginia Chavez
Alex Garlin
Patricia and Howard McCarthy
Ben Michaels
The Honorable William Meyer
Kathy Cavanaugh
Valerie, Fernando, Gabriela & Sebastian
Courtney & Steve
Tina, Gregg, Samantha and Aidan
Paul and Diane
Stephanie, Blake & Evan Winston
Ms. Alicia
Ms. Grace
The Slater Family
The Hunter Family
Ben, Crissy, Esther and Wiley
Mark, Thea, Callan and Allyson
Merrie Jones
Joanne Olmstead
Kat
Ms. Olga
Nadine
Heather and Alan
Steve K.
Beecher
Patty
The Honorable Daniel Shannon and Joyce Shannon
Kevin and Cydney
Heather and Duncan
Marilyn and Ben
Annie, Sam, Jackson and Alex
Chantall and family and the TC2 community
Jane and Lucas
Brook, Kelly, Casey and Zack
and everyone else that has loved and supported us through this journey!!

We love you all!!

So, some of the pics show Alex enjoying his new Wii game. Going fast at the Nature and Science Museum with his cousin. Then Alex and friends at the first Play, Pavers and Prayers party. Alex made a beautiful stepping stone and so did his friends. We had to cancel this last Sunday's party due to exhaustion, but will do it again soon (just on a smaller scale).

Then there are pics from the birthday party Jo-Nell, Judicial Arbiter Group, Inc. and the Downtown Aquarium made possible and absolutely fantastic! Spiderman showed up as a complete surprise to Alex and he really made it a very special day for Alex and everyone in attendance. It was incredibly joyous to see Alex enjoying himself and his friends so much!! I know everyone there was moved and felt the wonder of the moment(s). I had a blast but singing the "Happy Birthday" song really took me off guard. I almost lost it right then. I so don't want this to be Alex's last birthday and am putting so much energy into prayer and hope.


Finally, there are pics of Alex on his new track (riding his trike!!!!) and in his graciously donated Sky Chair. Steve and company have built a swing arbor, track and installed mulch in the play area. Also completed are a new fence for the back yard and the transformation of a Bali firebowl into a really neat water fountain with changing lights at night!! This is really coming together thanks to all of the hard work of many dedicated and loving persons! Thank you all!!

Also, I want to tell you all about Alex's introduction to Dr. Jesus. My sister's in-laws drove all the way from Oklahoma to tell Alex a very special story about the greatest superhero of all time, Dr. Jesus. Dr. Jesus' special power is taking away bumps (at which Alex replied "I have a bump!") and he loves healing children the most!! Alex (and everyone there) called Dr. Jesus to come and take Alex's bump and allow him to run and play like he used to do before the bump. Since then, Alex has asked Dr. Jesus to take his dizzy eyes away. This morning Alex proclaimed, "Hey, Mom, I think my bumps are gone. I think Dr. Jesus took them away!" I agreed and told him Dr. Jesus could do that and that he was absolutely right to say so.

There have been so many blessing lately that I can't even recall them all. Steve's dear friends from California came out this past weekend for a visit and my sister and her family were here for the bday party and to offer more support as well. Steve's sister came out as well and had a lovely visit with us. We have been surrounded by so much love that one can only be grateful and filled with the energy and support of those around us.

Alex is actually doing remarkably well. He has slept well at night mostly. And except for some nausea episodes (tummy bug hit this house over the weekend) that are very scary for everyone; Alex has really seemed to enjoy being home. He got upset with me yesterday, when "no friends came over to see him". I had to remind him that his cousin had just departed around noon and that he counted as a visitor. Everyone here is exhausted from the last week or so and I had to call for a break from visitors. I think I am going to have to limit our home visits so that the complete exhaustion does not get more of a hold on us. I still feel like I could sleep for days, but with Alex's medicine schedule, it is impossible to sleep past 7:30am each day. The days get so busy too that I find my self overwhelmed with basic life stuff. I even took a week off from opening mail just because I couldn't handle it!

Okay, well that is all I can think of right now. I hope each of you make this a great day and enjoy those who love you!

God bless!
G