Happy New Year 2011! Emily's MAW/GKTW Trip - The Final Gives!

[ms_mckenna]

Awesome! I love Emily's feel bag! Very cool idea! So sorry you were sick

 

[that's nice]

WOW! What great gifts!!!!! They are coming in quickly now!

Juliana received an I-Spy bag too. I find myself playing with it from time to time....

 

[cogero]

Such great stuff. Love seeing everyones smiling faces.

 

[Emilyswish]

So glad it all arrived safe & sound. I had a wonderful time putting those bags together.

Thank you again!

Aw, those are really great gives you received. Brenna is too cute her Tink costume. And I love the feely bag for Emily.

Thanks! I know, what a great idea right?

Awesome! I love Emily's feel bag! Very cool idea! So sorry you were sick

Thanks. I'm feeling much better now. Drew was sick yesterday, but he got over it very quickly and is back at school today. Better now than at trip time, right!!!

WOW! What great gifts!!!!! They are coming in quickly now!


Juliana received an I-Spy bag too. I find myself playing with it from time to time....

I was looking for everything too! I was like, "oooh look, there's a bug, and there's a "C", and there's a . . ."

Such great stuff. Love seeing everyones smiling faces.

They make me smile too! My family loved your t shirts at Thanksgiving, they thought they were really great!


I did a little looking on touring plans dot com and I think I might be switching up some of our parks days based on what they recommend. Specifically, I think we're going to try doing MK as early as we can on New Year's Day since I hear most families tend to sleep in and the park is pretty quiet early on. We're early risers so it should be good for us to make it in early that day! I'll have to update my schedule page because it changes which days we'll see the other parks too.

On a different note, Emily has started giving high fives!!!! This is HUGE for her. This is the first thing she has ever done as a response to a specific command. We say, "Emily, high five," with our hand a few inches from her face and then she puts her little hand on our hand!!!! Unbelievable! I haven't gotten it on camera or video yet, and she's a little picky about who she gives them to and when, but I'm hoping to catch it soon! Just thought I'd share that liitle bit of news.

We also got some more pixie dust yesterday, pics to come . . .

 

[Emilyswish]

I made a countdown calendar with my Cricut and Disney cartridges that I hung up for the kids, so I'll post pics of that soon too . . .

I also stumbled across the scrapbooking board here on the Dis!

 

[ms_mckenna]

Most certainly better now than trip time! We found the earlier the better on the parks. It is certainly easier to get around with a wheelchair with less people to step out in front of us (our oldest son uses one in the parks).
AMAZING about high fives! Yeah for Emily!!!!
I can't wait to see what you made! I want a circut but have not made that jump yet.

 

[cogero]

I would love to see your countdown calendar my cricut seems to collect dust

 

[Emilyswish]

Here is a picture of the countdown calendar I made. I used my Cricut Expression (an electronic die cutting machine used for scrapbooking/card making) and Disney cartridges for the shapes and font.

I started it at 28 days because that's the day I finished it (I had wanted to make a 30 day countdown!)!

I wrote the numbers on myself after realizing I had made the mickeyheads too small for die cut numbers.

Each night we tack up a Mickey "thumbs-up" for another day closer to Disney!!!

 

[Emilyswish]

Yesterday we got a package from Jessica M.

Carter had the honor of starting the opening

Inside we found this bag

And in that bag we found:

A first aid kit

Wipes, Tissues, and sunscreen!!

Ponchos!!

And Mickey ear crowns, coloring books, crayons and tons of sparkly stickers!!

Thank you so much Jessica, I'm sure we will use everything you sent!!!!!

Then today, we got a big give box from billwendy

Inside we found individually wrapped rolls for each of us. Drew was especially thrilled that they were held together with silly bands!!!

For Emily: An adorable purple tutu set with a Minnie Mouse/Tinkerbell embroidered on it!

And one for Miss Brenna too!!

Each of the boys and Daddy got embroidered Epcot shirts in different colors and threads! I love the texture of the ball!!

And for me, she made a Figment t shirt - I LOVE Figment!!!!! <3 (I love how Em is peeking out above the shirt in this pic - heehee)

Ahhhh, too many pics to post!
Continued . . .

 

[Emilyswish]

Dh had to run out to work but here are the kids with their shirts/outfits on!

And here is everything all together:

Wendy - Thank you so much - everything is amazing! I think this should now officially be called the Enormous Give!!

 

[billwendy]

I LOVE these pics!!! Everyone looks adorable - but what about Mom and Dad???????? lol!!! Emily's smile is just so cute - I love the peeking out picture too!!!!!!! Girl - your give is just startin!!!! lol

 

[4monkeys]

Love the pictures. The kids look so excited. Love the countdown calendar. That is so cute.

Isn't it amazing how these Big Givers are so generous!! It sure brighten our day today!!

 

[NurseAnn]

This is my first post and I don't know about signatures and avatars or pm and what all the initials mean. I still need to read all the directions but I tend to be a hands on, learn as I go so I apologize if this ends up in some strange location. I wanted to comment on many other members thread but have not build up my courage, mostly because I'm not sure how it works yet. I have spent many hours reading through many members experiences, with the Make A Wish, the GTKTW resort, the big give and just their daily lives. I thank Aimee for my new addiction I can honestly say that this site has taken me through stories of adventure, drama, comedy, sadness, great happiness and learned about so many good Big hearted people, I no longer need my kindle. I enjoy reading all the stories thank you all for letting me share in your experiences.

I love the many pictures, it looks like so much fun, can't believe is only about 3 weeks away I am so looking forward to hearing more about Emily's pre and post trip. Keep taking lots of pictures.

Ann

 

[ms_mckenna]

Here is a picture of the countdown calendar I made. I used my Cricut Expression (an electronic die cutting machine used for scrapbooking/card making) and Disney cartridges for the shapes and font.

Love it!

And Mickey ear crowns, coloring books, crayons and tons of sparkly stickers!!

Thank you so much Jessica, I'm sure we will use everything you sent!!!!!

Then today, we got a big give box from billwendy

And one for Miss Brenna too!!

Each of the boys and Daddy got embroidered Epcot shirts in different colors and threads! I love the texture of the ball!!

And for me, she made a Figment t shirt - I LOVE Figment!!!!! <3 (I love how Em is peeking out above the shirt in this pic - heehee)

Love sparkly stickers they are a little girls best friend! The kiddos are so precious Miss Emily looks tuckered out.

Wendys turned out so cute! There is Emily's awesome smile again. Actually looking all your kiddos have great smiles!

I LOVE these pics!!! Everyone looks adorable - but what about Mom and Dad???????? lol!!! Emily's smile is just so cute - I love the peeking out picture too!!!!!!! Girl - your give is just startin!!!! lol

I totally agree! What about Mom and Dad!
And yep it's getting warmed up now

 

[Emilyswish]

Hi Ann!!!! Thanks for finally coming out of "lurkdom"!

Ann is one of Emily's amazing nurses!!!

I can't believe there is more pixie dust coming, you all have really made the kids (and us) feel so special! Thank you Big Givers!!

 

[ms_mckenna]

This is my first post and I don't know about signatures and avatars or pm and what all the initials mean. I still need to read all the directions but I tend to be a hands on, learn as I go so I apologize if this ends up in some strange location. I wanted to comment on many other members thread but have not build up my courage, mostly because I'm not sure how it works yet. I have spent many hours reading through many members experiences, with the Make A Wish, the GTKTW resort, the big give and just their daily lives. I thank Aimee for my new addiction I can honestly say that this site has taken me through stories of adventure, drama, comedy, sadness, great happiness and learned about so many good Big hearted people, I no longer need my kindle. I enjoy reading all the stories thank you all for letting me share in your experiences.

I love the many pictures, it looks like so much fun, can't believe is only about 3 weeks away I am so looking forward to hearing more about Emily's pre and post trip. Keep taking lots of pictures.

Ann

Oh ! Yeah for Emily's nurse! And to the Dis!

 

[Emilyswish]

What is the best kind of pen/marker for getting autographs (I'm trying to make books for the kids if I can get them done in time!!!)? I saw a pic of someone witha sharpie that looked like it clicked open instead of having a cap, that seems like a good one. What do you recommend?

Also, we use an IV pole for hanging Emily's feeding overnight. I saw someone else said GKTW gave them one for their villa. Do they really have those there? When I get the packet from GKTW will there be a number that I can call them directly? If not, I'll ask our MAW coordinator.

***I have 2 more gives to post when I get a chance. Emily started with diarrhea on Friday night and threw up last night. Please pray or send positive thoughts our way for this to be a quick uncomplicated bug for her as 3/4 stomach bugs in the past have landed her in the hospital due to her low blood sugars and risk of increased seizures if she can't tolerate her feedings! ***

 

[cogero]

We use Sharpies there is a clicker pen sharpie which is the same size as a regular sharpie.

 

[katieswish]

So what's with the all the "hating" on Figment? For me, he's one of the things I remember most from my 2 childhood trips to Disney/Epcot. I think he's cute and remember enjoying the Imagination ride too.

It seems that when I tell people I know (acquaintances not DISers) that Figment is on my "to see", they're pretty negative about it.

So where's the love?

Thank you for sharing Emily's story she sounds like an amazing young lady. I love Figament he always reminds me of my youngest brother he loved Figament when he was little and had a plush figament from our first disney visit. He is a must see for me every time we visit

 

[ms_mckenna]

I agree with the sharpie clickables those have been the best things we found for autographs

Saying extra prayers for Miss Emily today. I hope she can stay out the hospital and that it is an easy virus for her