Letter for Give Kids the World

Give Kids the World contacted us last week and asked us if we'd be willing to write a short letter for a book they're compiling for their high-level donors.  We said we'd LOVE to help!!  I've wanted to write on here about how much GKTW has meant to our family, so I'll just post our letter. 

"I can't believe so many people would do this for us!"  We had just found out Cicily's wish would be granted and that our whole family would be staying at Give Kids the World.  We gathered around the computer and were giddy with excitement looking at all the magic GKTW has to offer.  Cicily's big sister Maya asked how much this would all cost us and when she heard it was free, she was in awe.  "I can't believe so many people would do this for us!" Maya said. 
Our week at Give Kids the World was even more than we expected.  Maya, Cicily and Sophie  loved walking out of our villa in the morning and playing on a dream of a playground, going horseback riding, or having a turn on the carousel.  While we were at the amusement parks they talked about the amazing activities GKTW had planned for us that night. 
For our family GKTW is a little slice of heaven.  A place where our family could all be together to relax, laugh, play and make memories.  We won't always have our Cicily with us, but we'll always have the joyful memories of our time with her at GKTW.  We offer our heartfelt gratitude to all the many people who would do this for us! 
With love,
Chris & Janalyn
Maya (7), Cicily (5), Sophie (1)

The letter doesn't really discuss one of the most important things we love about GKTW though.  The kind loving feeling that permeates every part of that village.  It comes from all the "angel" volunteers.  Every single one of them was kind and caring to our whole family.  We never felt like we were just one more family.  It's amazing to us that GKTW hosts families each week of the year, but they make each one feel special and loved.  We were so impressed with the volunteers from all walks of life: retirees, high school students, college sorority sisters, Disney employees, and other local residents. 
Cicily's wish trip was an experience we could never buy or reproduce.  We're so happy to be able to help GKTW in this small way by being part of their book.

Cicily's Thank Yous

We wanted a way to say thank you to all the amazing people who helped with Cicily's wish.  Thinking how much Cicily likes to give gifts, we thought about a card she could hand out to people who help her on her wish trip.  I asked Aunt Ondria if she could use her design skills and create a card.  She did a perfect job!  Cicily (and Maya) really loved giving these little cards to people who helped us during Cicily's trip.  We only wish we had given more of them out!  We left a stack of them at GKTW hoping they could put them in their volunteer room for any of their "angels" that we missed. 
Cicily also framed larger ones and gave them to her wish granters. 
Just a very small token of our HUGE appreciation for everyone involved in Cicily's wish!

Give Kids the World - more pictures

Give Kids the World had professional photographer volunteers at every one of their major events.  At the end of our stay they gave us a CD with all of the great pictures on it.  Like we said, they really think of everything!  Here are some of the pictures from the GKTW CD.

When asked what her favorite part of Cis' wish trip was, Maya usually says, "All of it!"  But if she has to choose, her favorite part was going to the GKTW activities and getting ice cream every single night.  On the second night Maya discovered she loved cookies and cream shakes and that's what she had every night after.  Yes, we have had cookies and cream shakes since we've been home! 

 This was Santa on our first night.  The kindest Santa we've ever met.  He even gave us suggestions on how to get Cis to be the most comfortable on his lap. 

 Maya with the mayor of GKTW Mayor Clayton and his wife Ms. Merry.  They're all dressed up for Pirate and Princess night.

This was a favorite little spot for Sophie and Cicily.  The slide made a magical noise whenever Soph slid down and these boxes also made noises and were just the right height for Cis to open and close.  

Mickey and Minnie take lots of time with the kids at GKTW.  All the girls got one on one time with Mickey and Minnie.  They also get to sign whatever you like at GKTW.  Since each of the girls had a Minnie shirt, we asked them both to sign them all. 

This shot was taken at home a few weeks after we got home.  All 3 girls in their Minnie shirts signed by Mickey and Minnie Mouse.

Cis was so proud that Minnie noticed her Minnie Mouse dress!  She was also a little star struck.  Minnie took time to make her smile though!

So sweet.

Sophie ran up to most of the characters for a big hug.

The cowboy hats the girls got after their horseback rides.  They play with these hats at home now all the time!  We love how a horseback ride isn't enough at GKTW, gotta have the hat to take home to keep the memory alive! 

Cis loving her ride.  She really was proud to teach her sisters how to ride!

Cowgirl Maya learning how to rope on horseback!

One of the nights a bunch of volunteers brought their dogs to the village.  Cicily loved them of course!  She pet every single one and got to give this one some treats. 

Up close picture of Cicily's star that lives at Give Kids the World.  Whenever we read our GKTW book from the trip, she always points out the tower where her star is. 

More Wish trip pictures - Disney World

 Disney World offers a free photopass CD to GKTW families.  You can get all the photopass photos they take of your family at the parks on it ($100 value).  Just another way Disney and GKTW go above and beyond to make a child's wish trip magical and memorable.

 The girls saw so many characters, they almost filled up their autograph books!  They like looking at them and remembering.

 Our girls were a perfect age to all get excited about seeing these guys in real life that they've read about and seen on tv. 

 Mine and Cicily's favorite princess - Belle.  I didn't know Belle was Cis' favorite until this trip.  Right before we went to this castle to meet Belle, Cis was emphatic about buying a Belle doll play set.  I guess we both admire a girl who's smart and wants some substance to her prince. 

 I've always thought Cis looks like Snow White. 

 Aladdin and Jasmin joked with us about being from a desert like them.  We liked how all the characters stay so in character!

 In front of the Animal Kingdom's Tree of Life.  It has thousands of animals carved into it.  Maya and I were trying to see how many we could spot.  We didn't make it to thousands.

Thinking about cousin Mikey with a special Mickey balloon.  It flashed different colors at night.  We took it around the park for the afternoon and then as we were leaving we let it go, lighting up into the sky.  Maya said something about how she was glad we got a lighted balloon so Mikey could see it coming.

Chris thought it would be fun to get one last picture on our last day.  I thought it would be funny because we'd all look tired and worn out.  But,  I think you can tell we all just had an amazingly fun week and were not tired of it at all! 

This trip was like a little slice of heaven for us.  Being together with our family and just enjoying each other all day for a whole week without all the usual worries.  Oh yeah, and having non-stop FUN all day long!!!

Angel Girl

I've called Cicily my Angel Girl for a couple years now.  I guess it's my most dear nickname for her.  She's also Cis, Cissy, Cissy Cakes.  But just about every night after I sing her a song about Jesus, I give her a kiss and say, "I love you Angel Girl". 
Since Cis was born people have always noticed something about her.  "She has an old soul."  "Her smile just makes me want to smile."  "Look at those eyes, she just knows things." 
I believe Cicily does know things.  She knows things most of us "normal" people can never understand in our "normal" lives.  She knows the full power of Jesus Christ's love.  I believe that's why Cis is so kind and loving.  Why she faces her challenges with bravery and a smile.  She does understand things, things we don't understand and that enables her to react differently to our world than we do. 

Cicily's not the only angel girl we have living in our world.  There are other brave angels.  They very quietly speak to us in their own way and help us grasp a tiny piece of the love they know. 

Little Sicky

Cicily's been sick this week.  Monday was pretty bad, you can tell because this is Cis' attempt at a smile.   She stayed home from school and we read books like this all afternoon.  This is her favorite thing to do right now.  Let the chickens run around the yard and swing with some good books.  We've been so happy to have great weather to read outside in almost all winter.  This day was a little cold, so we brought out the blanket and pillow she loves from Grandma and Grandpa.  It was a nice afternoon, hope she gets better soon.  (Too much Dr. Seuss maybe??)

Animal Kingdom and Magic Kingdom - Day 6

This was our last full day. :( BOO HOO! We started the day off with breakfast in the Gingerbread house and a carousel ride at GKTW. A lovely way to start the day - delicious belgian waffles with strawberries and cream and a carousel ride. Life doesn't get better than this trip has been!

 We hadn't been to the Animal Kingdom yet, so that's where today's fun was had.  We saw a bunch of birds and ducks on our way to the safari ride.  This ride was super cool.  All the girls loved it. 

 We saw these huge nile crocodiles on our safari.  I'm pretty sure I got goose bumps seeing these monsters sunbathing and walking on the rocks. 

 Whenever we saw an animal Sophie would say, "woah giraffe! (or other animal we were seeing), more giraffe, more giraffe!"  Her favorites were the giraffes, elephants and hippos.  Cicily and Maya also loved the giraffes.

 We went on a nature walk and saw more cool animals.  Here we are in front of a big aquarium.  If you look closely in the tree in the background you can see these cool hanging bird nests.  The birds that built them are a beautiful yellow. 

 Next we went on a train ride to a petting zoo.  Sophie fell asleep in the stroller on our way to the train.  She must have been exhausted, she never falls asleep outside of her bed.  And then she stayed asleep for the train and petting zoo!  Therefore, no pics of the petting zoo.  Cicily liked this little pig that kept coming up to her and of course the goats!  Maya liked brushing the sheep.  Oh, and here we are with Rafiki.

After Animal Kingdom we headed over to Magic Kingdom.  Maya and Soph shared another double stroller. 
Here they are with their cousin Mikey's balloon.  We were pleased that we could participate in this special day and share our love for Mikey.  http://cesarfamily.blogspot.com/

That is where the pictures end for our trip (except for a few more Disney photo pass ones).  Our camera battery ran out of juice - pretty good timing.  We spent most of the day getting videos with our video camera.  So, I'll tell you the rest. 

(Imagine a picture of Maya smiling while driving her own car with Daddy and Sophie as passengers.  And another pic with Cicily smiling while driving her car with Mommy as a passenger.)

This was another thing Cis has been excited about for months.  She really liked driving Dad and then Mom around in her car.  Good thing they let us ride 3 times!  First I went in Maya's car and man is she a crazy driver!!!  Chris will have to take the lead on her driving training in 9 years, I don't have that much patience or bravery.  Then I drove with Cis and she wasn't bad.  She quite appreciated it when I kept saying that she was a much better driver than her big sister!

(Imagine another cute picture in front of Small World with little girls smiling.) 

To end the night we jumped on Small World.  Since there was no line we got to stay on the boat and ride 4 times - making a total of 5 Small World journeys for Cicily's wish trip.  It was the perfect last ride.  It happens to be Cicily's favorite ride of course, and Maya and Sophie's as well.  As you may imagine, Cicily's favorite part is the last room where all the dolls are dressed in white and dancing and singing together.  The angel room as I like to think of it.  Very fitting for my angel girl to love. 

(Imagine a picture of fireworks flashing in the night sky.) 

To send our trip out with a bang, we stayed till closing and enjoyed the fireworks show over the castle.  Well, Maya loved the show, Cicily thought it was sorta cool and Sophie hated it (was exhausted).  So, we left a tiny bit before it was over and made our way to some very last souvenirs on Main Street on our way out of the park.  (Grandma DeEtte would be proud that we left the park 30 mins after it closed, I told Cis.)

Then we caught the ferry boat back to our car.  And I made it to the bathroom just in time to empty my stomach of most of the vacation food I've been eating.  I guess Maya was right on that ice cream for breakfast idea.  I should listen to the good things I've taught my girls I guess!