Make-A-Wish

February 8th, 2012 is a day that I will never forget. That day I saw pure joy and excitement as Annabelle was honored at her wish declaration party at A Wishing Place in Utah. I cannot say enough good things about the Make-A-Wish program. Their whole mission is to give children with critical illnesses something to look forward to and that is exactly what they have given Annabelle! They encourage each wish kid to think of themselves and what it is that THEY want, not what other people might want for them. This is their chance to be a bit selfish and ask for anything they want. It is amazing how they manage to pull off some of the wishes and how communities really come together to make things happen.

The Montana chapter is handling the granting and actual arrangements of Annabelle's wish, but she was able to declare her wish here in Utah. There are only 5 locations in the U.S. that have Wishing Places and Utah happens to be one of them. The building itself is amazing and such a special opportunity for kids like Annabelle. We were very fortunate to have family visiting that week, which made it extra special! Annabelle surprised us by starting to swallow her spit the night before her big day so she wouldn't have to take a spit bucket. There was all kinds of celebration over that during the morning. We left in the afternoon and went to dinner at Annabelle's pick, Texas Roadhouse, and then we continued the rest of the way to A Wishing Place.

Annabelle with her special key she received in the mail.

Talking about wish ideas such as people we'd like to meet, places we'd like to go and things we'd like to have. She was able to make 3 wishes, just in case the wizard couldn't grant the first or second ones. Annabelle's wishes were:

1) Go to DisneyWorld and meet her favorite princess, Sleeping Beauty!

2) A castle play house for the yard.

3) A big wheels jeep for her and Layla to ride in.

Trying out her key to see if it would unlock the door to the wishing room.

Placing her wish into the wizards hat.

There was sounds and the lighting changed which signaled that the wizard had received the wish. It was adorable to see Annabelle completely buy into everything!

We found out a couple of weeks ago that the wizard is able to grant Annabelle's wish to go to DisneyWorld!!! Josh, me and the girls will be headed to Florida in September! Thank you Make-A-Wish for everything you do, and especially for bringing many smiles and happy thoughts to my sweet Annabelle. We look forward to making many memories together on our trip!