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			More of Our Story....
	Lexi's birthday came and I purchased a little house for indoors play. I used to stick my head through the window and make her laugh. She would push me back out the window and close it. And yes, we would do this over and over.  There wasn't anything I did not enjoy or adore about Lexi. Not much different from most grandparents. One time I stoppped at Sara's house and Lexi was eating dinner. When I came in the door she got up from the table and started to come to me with her arms outstreatched. I told her to finish her dinner. Lexi stopped dead in her tracks and hung her head of to one side with such a look of disappointment. I then said "come to grandpa" and she startied coming to me, big smiles, arms up. I thought I would see how she would react if I told her to finish dinner again. Again, Lexi stopped hung her head with the same pitiful look on her face. This was soooo cute. I at last told her to come to grandpa and she did. Holloween came and Sara asked me if I would like to go with them trick or treating. Of course I didn't pass this up. In fact I was so wrapped up in it that I had to stop and let Sara and Patty have a turn at walking Lexi up to the door. I enjoyed this night. At first Lexi was hesitant to go up to these people. However it did not take her long to get the hang of things. Lexi was very meticulas when doing anything. She was such a little lady. On the way we gave her a piece of chocolate, which of couse ended up all over her face and hands. When Sara took her out of the van, Lexi stood holding her hands up waiting to be cleaned up. She didn't like having her hands dirty. When Lexi would pick a piece of candy from a bowl, she would open her bag, put the piece in, close it up in her hand. The funny part about this is Lexi wouldn't leave until she went through this routine at every house. There was always a line of children behind her. By the third house she was saying "tank you" and did it at every house there after. Lexi was growing up. This night was the first time that Lexi actually called me "papa". Sara had been telling me that she was saying it, but she wouldn't do it in my presence. This night she did and I was so proud to be called "papa". I could go on with many, many memories. and fill the pages up, but for now I will try to continue our story. One other notable thing I would like to state is of all the things that a grandparent can be proud to witness during their grandchilds development, is that it's the little insignificant things a child does that you remember most.      Sara met dale. He seeemed like an alright guy. I, as a parent reserved my oppinion until I get to know the person. He had custody of his two children, both toddlers. I asked Sara if she was ready for three kids in diapers. She took on this challenge and did very well. She was in love.The more I got to know dale he seemed to have his act together. Good job, his own trailer, custody of his kids, etc., he did lack his own car. It wasn't long before I began to wonder. dale hurt his back at work. Soon they they all moved in with dale's parents. Eventually, Sara got a job and they moved back to the trailer. They would alternate back and forth between the two places. dale and his mom would babysit for Lexi while Sara worked. Sara was now the family supporter. dale was off work and waiting on a settlement. During this time Sara asked if I would co-sign a loan against her van to repair it and payoff some ofLexi's medical bills. These were mainly from the typical ear infections, flu, a car accident and  some of the wierd things that began to happen. She had been working for some time now and I felt it was worth the risk. After I helped her with the loan, I would follow up with her as to how the payoffs were coming. She told me that she had paid some, but before long I was being told that they used the money for other things and that when dale got his settlement he was going to finish paying off those bills. You guessed it, when dale got his settlement he paid off his bills and Sara was left hanging. After the settlement his employer fired him and he didn't work after that. He had a back problem. He had fun doing all kinds of other activities that didn't seem to bother him, just couldn't work. Why should he, Sara was supporting him.  I was beginning to lose respect for dale.       Then the odd things began. When we would get together with Sara and Lexi, Lexi would frequently have a goose egg on her head or bruises. Sara would tell me that one of dale's kids hit Lexi with a toy or she fell off the bed or something. I pretty much believed her, I didn't have any reason not to. It wasn't long and I would question Sara further and I found out that in most instances, Lexi's bumps and bruises were occuring while she was at work. One time when Sara came to visit, Lexi had little finger sized bruises all over her chest and back. I was very concerned and urged Sara to take Lexi to the doctor. They said that Lexi's white blood cell count was really low. A few days later the followup test didn't show anything. A few weeks later the same thing happened. It went away as misteriuosly as it came. I felt this was very odd. I was also concerned that Lexi could have a medical condition that hadn't surfaced fully or found during the doctors tests. Lexi never had a problem with it after the second episode. Soon after child protective services was out to visit Sara and found nothing out of the ordinary. Sara said that Jesse, Lexi's father was the one who called and that he was trying to cause trouble. This was believable. Jesse had to be hauled into court to prove paternaty and have support established.      About a year after Lexi was born Sara went to court to prove Jesse as the father of my sweet little grandduaghter. When the blood tests came back positive he requested visitation and all. Being the protective person that I am, I was concerned about this new situation, after all for almost two years Jesse didn't want anything to do with Lexi.  Sara was worried about how she would handle not having Lexi at her side for the first time, she was also worried how Lexi would react. Jesse was ordered to take parenting classes before he would get visitation. When the time came Lexi began going with her father every other weekend. For a while this was a struggle for everyone. Lexi would always cry when she went. I established a good repore with Jesse. I really didn't have anything against him and he was Lexi's father. I had went to court with Sara and helped her understand and express herself in court. I also helped Jesse understand what the court had told him to do. This happened when he called and was going to pay Sara  the child support directly. I didn't think my daughter would take advantage of him, but I told him to pay the court and let them send the support payments. I wanted him to be protected too. Anyway, Jesse picked up Lexi for every visit. One weekend that was his, I called to see if Lexi could spend that saturday with me.