Little Warrior Makes a Wish -- Marenna's Pre-Trip Report

[kimmylaj]

great news april will be here so soon

 

[littlewarriorsmom]

Just realized that I only wrote about Marenna, and not the rest of the cast of characters. Well, here we are:

Lilyanne: 6 1/2, Very shy, very sweet, but a hilarious sense of humor that you don't expect because she's so shy. She's Marenna's best friend and they can disappear and just play for hours. She was three when Marenna was first diagnosed and it was very hard for her.

Kaziah: (rhymes with Mariah, a family name). 9 1/2, here with her best friend, "Amelia." (Named after Amelia Earhart.) Never met an animal she didn't love. Has wanted to be a veterinarian since she was 2 years old. Very sociable. She's most excited about going to Sea World.

Jackson: 12 1/2. Straight A student, with the Type A personality to match! Does speech and debate, and plays sax. Extremely protective of his younger sisters, especially Marenna.

Me, Joanna: 39. Mom and seminary student. I've never been to Disney World, so I'm very excited. I have a twisted sense of humor, it'll probably leak out in my posts ...

Tom: 40. My college sweetheart and love of my life. He's the best dad I've ever seen and a wonderful husband. He went to MK and Epcot when he was a teen and is excited about going back again. His (non-custodial) father lived near Disneyland, so he has many memories of going there on their summer visits.

And here's another pic of our Wish kid, Marenna:

So, that's us! My kids can definitely bicker -- wouldn't it be weird if they didn't? But they're pretty close, probably because they've been through Cancerland twice. (Not as much fun as Disneyland.) During Marenna's hospital trips, many times we'd have "slumber parties" and all camp out in Marenna's room. (The oncology floor at Texas Children's Hospital was soooo cool about that sort of thing. ) Tom's and my birthday (yup, same bday, he's one year older) fell on a "hospital Friday" this past year and we just had a big ole family party in the room. That wasn't my plan for Tom turning the big 4-0, but it wound up being a very special memory.

Okay, that's enough of our "book"! Hope you had snacks!

 

[maroo]

I enjoyed my popcorn the whole time!

I have so enjoyed your humor in your caring bridge site and will enjoy it here, too!!

Thanks for introducing your family!!

 

[The Moonk's Mom]

I love your family...sounds like you guys enjoy being a family! LOVE IT! I like to hear about families that just enjoy being togerther. That's how we are...so that's why I like it!

So, seminary and a twited sense of humor...I'm liking you more everyday!

 

[littlewarriorsmom]

Marenna had scans today, to see if the cancer had returned.

Just got a call from the doctor. NED ... No Evidence of Disease!

Since her next scans aren't til May, (after our Wish trip), NOW, we can really start planning in earnest!

Lots of happy in our house today!

 

[iu97alum]

Yea! I posted on her CB site (ours is emy) but WHOO HOO!! It's a happy day ain't it!!
Our next scans are next month. Speaking of which we need to schedule them...... *sigh*

 

[WishMom09]

That is awesome news!! You have a beautiful family!
What part of Texas are you from?

 

[littlewarriorsmom]

That is awesome news!! You have a beautiful family!
What part of Texas are you from?

Thank you! We're in a suburb north of Houston.

 

[kimmylaj]

that is just so wonderful. plan away my friends

 

[maroo]

Marenna had scans today, to see if the cancer had returned.

Just got a call from the doctor. NED ... No Evidence of Disease!

Since her next scans aren't til May, (after our Wish trip), NOW, we can really start planning in earnest!

Lots of happy in our house today!

NED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!








I am so excited!

That is fabulous! Congrats!!! I think all of my smileys hopefully represent my feelings on this!

 

[littlewarriorsmom]

Our MAW rep emailed me ... GKTW was full up, so a very slight date adjustment -- we'll now be going April 23 - 29. I like this better! We'll be getting in Thursday night, so we won't have to worry about coming home early from a park to be there in time for "Christmas."

Okay, now tell me ... I figured we would want to avoid going to MK on a weekend. We're going to be so impatient for it, I don't want to wait til Monday -- a) is Friday an okay day to go and b) What about the GKTW Pirates and Princesses party? Is it a "don't miss"? (We have three daughters, ages 3-6-9.)

Guide me, teach me, you GKTW/Disney gurus!

 

[jham]

Yay for trips and dates and best of all NED!!! We just returned from our trip, so I'm excited to follow along as you get ready for yours! Your kids are gorgeous! My youngest Lily is Marenna's age!

 

[MaryAz]

NED!!!!

What an inspirational little girl. Your family is just beautiful. You all will have such a great time!!!

 

[teresajoy]

Our MAW rep emailed me ... GKTW was full up, so a very slight date adjustment -- we'll now be going April 23 - 29. I like this better! We'll be getting in Thursday night, so we won't have to worry about coming home early from a park to be there in time for "Christmas."

Okay, now tell me ... I figured we would want to avoid going to MK on a weekend. We're going to be so impatient for it, I don't want to wait til Monday -- a) is Friday an okay day to go and b) What about the GKTW Pirates and Princesses party? Is it a "don't miss"? (We have three daughters, ages 3-6-9.)

Guide me, teach me, you GKTW/Disney gurus!

Since you are a Wish family, you really don't need to worry about lines, so I would go on Friday!

 

[teresajoy]

Okay, so last night, we let the kids know that Marenna was getting her wish and that we'd be going to WDW in April.

I made "Mickey head" pancakes. Couldn't find my squeeze bottle lid, so I used a funnel. Quite the mess, but I got 4 decent looking ones, which we presented to the children.

"It's Mickey!" they said. But they didn't get that it was the surprise announcement I'd promised.

So, I began spelling out the letters in pancake batter: A-P-R ...

"APR?" they asked. "What's that stand for?"



I - L ...

"Ahh - prill?" they asked. "Huh?"



Finally, they got it. And were quite excited. And then, I got to tell them about the email I received about "The Big Give" ... and then I showed them pictures ...

They were blown away.

I wanted to say that I LOVE this picture!!! And, I got your Give posted today!

Marenna had scans today, to see if the cancer had returned.

Just got a call from the doctor. NED ... No Evidence of Disease!

Since her next scans aren't til May, (after our Wish trip), NOW, we can really start planning in earnest!

Lots of happy in our house today!

WooHOO!!!

 

[MouseTriper]

I just found you guys through the Big Give. Your little warrior is absolutely ADORABLE. I am so happy to hear she is NED right now. That is wonderful news. I am so excited for her MAW trip. I will definitely be following along!!!

 

[billwendy]

Woo Hoo!! So happy for you guys!!

 

[PrincessKell]

Hi! First off YAY for NED!!!! That is 100% awesome.

Your whole family is gorgeous! I wil be followling along, and looking forward to hearing/reading everything.

 

[eyor44]

Our MAW rep emailed me ... GKTW was full up, so a very slight date adjustment -- we'll now be going April 23 - 29. I like this better! We'll be getting in Thursday night, so we won't have to worry about coming home early from a park to be there in time for "Christmas."

Okay, now tell me ... I figured we would want to avoid going to MK on a weekend. We're going to be so impatient for it, I don't want to wait til Monday -- a) is Friday an okay day to go and b) What about the GKTW Pirates and Princesses party? Is it a "don't miss"? (We have three daughters, ages 3-6-9.)

Guide me, teach me, you GKTW/Disney gurus!

Hello
I just checked another site that has a crowd calendar. You are going on a really good weekend and MK was listed as a good park to visit on Friday, April 24. Go for it! (and have lots of fun)

 

[littlewarriorsmom]

Thank you, everybody, for your comments and suggestions. Maroo, I hope you're having a fabbbbulous time this weekend. When you get back, I'll definitely be hitting you up for your expertise!

We just put a new video on Renn's site. Her secret identity is "Super Froggy Girl" and so this is a sequel of her "movie."

Yes, my kids are crazy! They must get it from their father.

Super Froggy Girl Sequel

(The first Frog Girl movie)