December 10, 2025
Howdy and Advent Greetings from Granbury, Texas!
Our family update “newsletter” finds us grateful for another year of God’s remarkable kindness. Through the routine, great joys, and hard providences we’ve seen Him miraculously move circumstances from hard to hope.
2025 began with Ezra’s (Ji) continued recovery from genome therapy which, we’re amazed to say, cured the Beta Thalassemia Major he’s coped with since birth. Sparing the fine details, in the 2nd half of 2024 he endured 3x surgeries, 3x hospital stays (the long one was 5 weeks) and a ferocious round of chemo that readied his body to receive genetically altered cells that resolved his need for monthly blood infusions and nightly chelation infusions. Ji’s treatment took place at Children’s Medical – Dallas in conjunction with Bluebird Bio’s Zynteglo genome therapy. We’re grateful beyond words for the doctors, nurses, biomedical engineers, and the countless support staff lending their talents and compassion to his care and cure, and your prayers!
Many of you know that our youngest daughter Millie, adopted on the same China trip with Ji in 2017, came to us fully hearing impaired and had 2x successful cochlear implant surgeries in 2017. She was making good progress communicating, and educationally, until we hit a speed bump in June of 2024. Again, sparing many details, Millie began having acute involuntary and often violent movements in one of her arms. We took her to the Children’s Medical – Dallas ER and she was kept 3 days for testing. Two months later she was diagnosed with Deafness Dystonia Syndrome through genetic testing. Dystonia is an incurable form of cerebral palsy. While her prognosis at the time was very hard, we were made aware of a treatment option called Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) that has been used successfully for decades to treat Parkinson’s patients. Millie began the treatment in February of this year, 5x surgeries + recoveries, which completed in September. Again, we’re amazed and grateful to report that Millie’s Dystonia symptoms are being managed through the DBS treatment and she’s well on her way to recovering 18 months of lost ground in her communications and educational progress. While her long-term prognosis remains unclear, we rest easy in God’s perfect will for her and again, give deep thanks for her doctors, nurses, therapists and the support staff at Children’s Medical, ENT for Children, and the Callier Center, and of course your continued prayers!
Looking beyond the medical events of 2025; Abby graduated from Wheaton College in May, and we celebrated Ailey’s graduation from the Author Conservatory in September. Abby is pursuing her master’s at TCU now and we’re excited for Mimi’s graduation from Wheaton in 2026.
In other news, we’re expecting three more grandchildren in 2026 [Natalie (Tucker) is due in January, Henri (Noah) in April and Emma (Joe) in June] taking us to 16 thus far – the “first” 13 are pictured herein with DeeDee and me :0)
Our children, at home and away, and their spouses are all working hard, studying hard or a combination of both, and growing in humble faithfulness. We’re so proud of each one. As for our grandchildren, they’re being kiddos perfectly and we enjoy them immensely.
Come see us in Granbury if you get a chance; our guest cabin is cozy, the sunsets, star gazing, and Lily’s pastries are amazing …and Sophie might even coax you into the saddle. There’s a button with our contact details on this site.
May 2026 find you and yours blessed, grateful, and filled with joy. We think of and pray for you often.
Hold fast,
Tony (for my dearest Dianne and the Granbury Clan)
P.S. The family photos were taken in May at the Outer Banks of NC where we try to gather every 3 years.