In October of 2018, after several long months of back and forth with the California foster care system, our oldest daughter was placed in our care. We had driven to CA to visit her and were shocked to find out we would be returning to Arizona with her. Dozens of inter-state visits with her biological family, thousands of miles traveled, lots of tears cried, and nearly two years later we had the honor of adopting Beverley, March of 2020.

Just weeks before Beverley came home with us we also discovered we were pregnant. Having previously suffered two complicated miscarriages, we were cautiously optimistic. The first half of the pregnancy went smoothly. We found out we would have another daughter. Then at 19 weeks pregnant our doctors discovered what would be the first of many congenital anomalies. From that point we had weekly doctors' visits. These visits consisted of non stress tests, fetal echos, and many in depth ultrasounds. We did this all while making the 10 plus hour drive to CA almost every week until April of 2019.

May of 2019, Cordelia was born. A team had been assembled and was waiting to take Cordelia to the NICU directly after birth. At this point we did not know the extent or even the number of birth defects they would discover. Cordelia had anomalies with her esophagus, trachea, heart, ribs, spine, and kidneys. She spent the next five months at Phoenix Children’s Hospital because she had "long gap esophageal atresia and TE fistulas". To put it simply, her stomach and esophagus were not attached and they were not close enough to attach directly after birth. The small part of esophagus she did have was also attached to her trachea.

During her stay in the hospital, Cordelia underwent in depth genetic testing, scans, and multiple surgeries, beginning with a g-tube placement at just 3 days old. Then in August of 2019 came the highly invasive esophageal attachment surgery. The recovery was much harder than expected. She was sedated for 10 days and became septic. During this time the doctors were not even certain the surgery had been successful. Fortunately, to the surprise of us all, the surgery had been successful and after those 10 days Cordelia began to make progress and recover.

Cordelia finally came home September of 2019 and to this day her medical journey is still a very large part of our lives. Since coming home she has had over 20 procedures under anesthesia and continues to deal with challenges related to her esophagus. We also have regular appointments with many specialists for other congenital anomalies and have had multiple hospital stays. Next up for Cordelia will be open heart surgery. As of now there is no official date but her cardiologist has recommended surgery sometime between the ages of 3-5. She will be 4 this May.

These last four years have been scary, uncertain and lonely. We are eternally grateful for all that have come alongside us and blessed us with prayer, gifts, and financial help. We remember each one of you and are truly overwhelmed by your generosity and love. This is one reason we have waited so long to ask for the help... We truly have been given so much already.

But looking back, we have come to realize we should have asked for more help. Many continued to offer but due to the chaos of our lives we found it hard to accept or ask. We also felt immensely protective of both girls, not ready to share so openly all that was going on to protect their privacy as well as give us time to process the information. We were overwhelmed and only now, as things begin to calm down medically, have we been able to feel the full weight of the debt collected over the past 4 years. This debt is a combination of large medical bills, travel expenses from visitation in CA, and credit cards used to make ends meet during this time.

We are now asking for the help we should have asked for and accepted along the way. We want to provide our girls with a house, excellent education, and long term financial and medical stability. This debt is drastically delaying and currently preventing this. The thought of enduring another major medical procedure with this financial burden is also weighing heavily on us. We would like to be in a more stable position by the time Cordelia requires heart surgery, and as the girls start their schooling.

Please prayerfully consider helping. Our family would be immensely blessed by your financial help as well as your prayers. Thank you all.