IT IS FINISHED

IT IS FINISHED.
Happy Easter from The Cheneys!

Our hearts are overjoyed to introduce you to our beautiful children, Oliver Brave and Zola Jo. We’ll share more later on the story behind the kids names, it’s pretty amazing. After living in Uganda for the last 15 months fighting for our kids, we are finally HOME!

We left Uganda on Good Friday and woke up in our home in San Diego for the first time as a family of four on Easter Sunday. His redemption has been so evident in our journey, it only seems fitting that he would end this chapter of our lives on the same weekend we remember His ultimate sacrifice and the beginning of the world’s redemption story.

There are no words for the way our hearts felt walking off the plane yesterday and being welcomed home by friends and family! It was truly the best and sweetest day of my life, since adoption is a difficult process, even more with teens mothers, and that’s why there are resources online with adoption options for teens so they can know what to do if they are opting for child adoption. And if you are interested in foster parenting, make sure to consult first with a professional adoption agency.

Through His grace, and His grace only, we have made it through the most challenging 15 months of our lives. We experienced many trials – from Ollie fighting for his life, to me ending up in a coma in the hospital where I was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) at the age of 26 in the middle of Ollie’s adoption. 2.5 months after my diagnosis, we were asked to foster a sweet girl in Uganda who was also just diagnosed with T1D, which led to her adoption and making her a part of our family forever. I knew there was purpose to my diagnosis the moment we heard about Zola. It has been the most humbling experience to be used by The Lord in this way. The last year has been far from easy, but our faith has been increased far beyond what I knew possible. We have seen beautiful redemption, we know love deeper because of these two children, and we have been wrecked by the love of Jesus. I am overwhelmed by a God who chose to show us His extravagant love for us through this journey. Words cannot express our gratitude for the ways you have fiercely loved and supported our family. We are forever changed because of glory.

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Our first day home has been filled with the most precious moments and I have said “IS THIS REAL LIFE?” probably 100 times already. We were welcomed at the airport yesterday by friends and family, we cried all the tears, and have been soaking in all the firsts with the kids. Zola asks a thousand questions and their faces are filled with such joy as they discover new things. Watching them seem their own bedroom for the first time was the sweetest thing and to meet people that have prayed hard for these kids! Most of the time it doesn’t even feel real that we’re home. We have longed and prayed for this for so long, and it’s finally here! Today has been the most precious gift! God is so good and we are forever changed!

In case you’re new to our story, you can catch up over on Instagram > HERE

Thank you Kandis Marino Photography for capturing these moments at the airport!  Getting ready to board our 16 hours flight from Dubai to LAX. The kids did way better than we expected, no meltdowns, and a whole lot of laps around the plane to keep Ollie entertained!

Dexcom has literally been a lifesaver on multiple occasions living in Uganda with Type 1 Diabetes!

Dexcom twinning!  Thank you Nina & Wes for capturing our sweet family on film! We’d told Zola all about Starbucks and she loves green tea. We weren’t even in the car 5 minutes leaving the airport and she asked where Starbucks was. It’s pretty safe to say she LOVED having her own cup with her beloved tea. And it was the first time I had coffee in months. All the praise hands for knowing the exact amount of carbs in my drink every single time…thanks Starbucks! Oh how I’ve missed iced coffee!

Easter Sunday…the first morning we woke up as a family of four in our home in San Diego. This was the first time I have ever pushed my kids in a stroller. We walked to Starbucks with our dog, Milo, and loved watching the kids ask questions about everything they saw. I think we’ll be logging a lot of miles in this thing!

Thank you Kelly for loving our family well and capturing this sweet moment!

Be sure to stay tuned as we’ll be posting lots of photos of the kids over the coming weeks from our 15 months in Uganda!

We are so excited to get back to work and building, and in the meantime, we listed a ton of new bracelets and necklaces that were handmade in Uganda. These go fast, so grab them while they’re available!

VISIT OUR SHOP > HERE

Instagram > @graceandsalt
Instagram > @type1brave
Facebook > Grace & Salt
Facebook > Type 1 Brave
Youcaring.com/t1djunebug

e-mail: kearydee@me.com or use the contact form on this site