{"id":32895,"date":"2015-12-25T09:04:15","date_gmt":"2015-12-25T17:04:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spijue.wpengine.com\/news\/boy-gets-christmas-wish-a-forever-home-in-alaska\/"},"modified":"2015-12-25T09:04:15","modified_gmt":"2015-12-25T17:04:15","slug":"boy-gets-christmas-wish-a-forever-home-in-alaska","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/news\/boy-gets-christmas-wish-a-forever-home-in-alaska\/","title":{"rendered":"Boy gets Christmas wish: A forever home in Alaska"},"content":{"rendered":"

HOMER<\/strong> \u2014 Like any 9-year-old boy, Isaiah wants all sorts of cool toys for Christmas \u2014 an Xbox, a go-cart, a motorcycle and a Nintendo. On Monday, the winter solstice, he got something a lot of kids take for granted: A home.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was so excited, I wanted to cry,\u201d Isaiah said of arriving in Homer for the holidays. \u201cThat was one of my wishes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stepping off the 3:15 p.m. Ravn flight from Anchorage, Isaiah ambled across the tarmac until he saw his grandmothers, Dawn and Stephanie Leadbetter-Thorp, standing by the window and holding signs that said \u201cWelcome Home, Isaiah.\u201d He then ran full tilt toward the terminal and into the arms of Nana, his name for his maternal grandmother, Dawn Leadbetter-Thorp, 52.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the best Christmas present ever,\u201d she said. \u201cHe\u2019s going to have a stable, loving forever home.\u201d<\/p>\n

Isaiah\u2019s journey to Homer took some tortured bureaucratic twists and turns. It began six months ago when Isaiah\u2019s father dropped him off at a hospital in Billings, Mont., and told him he would no longer be his father. Dawn Leadbetter-Thorp\u2019s daughter and Isaiah\u2019s mother, Tashina, died when he was an infant. <\/p>\n

To protect Isaiah\u2019s privacy, Dawn Leadbetter-Thorp asked that his legal last name not be published. He will eventually get a new legal name.<\/p>\n

The Leadbetter-Thorps had been involved in Isaiah\u2019s life in Montana, but when they moved to Alaska in 2012, Isaiah\u2019s dad cut off contact with them. At first the Montana Division of Family Services didn\u2019t know if Isaiah had any other family, but after two weeks got a tip and found the grandmothers. Isaiah has been in foster care for six months.<\/p>\n

When Isaiah\u2019s father officially relinquished paternal rights on Nov. 12, a Montana judge started expediting the adoption process so Isaiah could be in Alaska by Christmas. Case workers in Montana and Alaska were extremely helpful, Dawn Leadbetter-Thorp said.<\/p>\n

\u201cDFS and the Alaska Office of Children\u2019s Services did a great job with what they had to work with,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The case got stalled when paperwork that needed to be signed languished for three weeks on a Montana judge\u2019s desk. Dawn Leadbetter-Thorp said it took phone calls to the offices of Alaska Gov. Bill Walker and Montana Gov. Steve Bullock to make the adoption happen by Christmas. <\/p>\n

On Dec. 17, the paperwork came through.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe knew he was going to be here and we got that call,\u201d Dawn Leadbetter-Thorp said.<\/p>\n

In a video Dawn Leadbetter-Thorp showed, Isaiah is seen getting the official word from his grandparents that he\u2019ll be in Homer for Christmas. Isaiah jumped up and down cheering with excitement. \u201cI am? I am?\u201d he yells.<\/p>\n

A Montana social worker traveled with Isaiah on his journey that started early Monday morning. She was part of a team from both states who worked with the Leadbetter-Thorps through paperwork, home inspections, interviews and the legal process to make an adoption real. <\/p>\n

With the assistance of Homer Thrift and Helping Hands in Anchor Point, Isaiah got a room set up complete with furniture, winter clothing and stars on the ceiling.<\/p>\n

Isaiah still has some challenges, starting with some back surgery he faces in the near future. <\/p>\n

He starts school in January. The Leadbetter-Thorps have a farm in Anchor Point with about 60 animals \u2014 retired sled dogs, chickens, rabbits, goats and sheep. In March, he\u2019ll go with \u201cNonni\u201d \u2014 Stephanie Leadbetter-Thorp, 49 \u2014 to Nome for the finish of the Iditarod Sled Dog Race.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re going to be dog-sled doggers,\u201d Isaiah said.<\/p>\n

This is Isaiah\u2019s first trip to Alaska. It\u2019s not quite what he expected, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought we\u2019re going to be like New York,\u201d he said, \u201cI like snow, but you get two hours of daylight.\u201d<\/p>\n

Isaiah said he\u2019s looking forward to all sorts of Alaska adventures.<\/p>\n

\u201cI will be able to surf. I would like to learn to ski,\u201d he said. \u201cI would like to go skateboarding \u2014 on the ice.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

HOMER \u2014 Like any 9-year-old boy, Isaiah wants all sorts of cool toys for Christmas \u2014 an Xbox, a go-cart, a motorcycle and a Nintendo. On Monday, the winter solstice, he got something a lot of kids take for granted: A home. \u201cI was so excited, I wanted to cry,\u201d Isaiah said of arriving in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":417,"featured_media":32896,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_stopmodifiedupdate":false,"_modified_date":"","wds_primary_category":4,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[230],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-32895","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-state-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32895","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/417"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32895"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32895\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32896"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32895"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32895"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32895"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=32895"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}