Wish Day!

So the whole process hasn't gone smoothly; he lost his first wish, the wish granters quit 5 months into the year long process and Make a Wish didn't even know it.  But today, Cole had his day and the girl that was located at the Wish Office city we went to was wonderful.  Ashley was so good and walked around Bass Pro with Cole from 10:45 until 4!  Of course we stopped and ate lunch so that cut out about an hour of that.  We ate at the restaurant in Bass Pro and they kids LOVED it!  They got to get whatever they wanted, so the older 3 picked the buffet and it was full of shrimp, catfish, mahi mahi, roast beef, mashed potatoes, everything!  The little kids and I got meals.  Cole also ordered alligator as an appetizer and we ordered calamari (squid).  Everyone wanted to try it all, but Ashley (from MAW), said she wasn't very adventurous.  :)  Then, after everyone in the family had eaten so much our waitress came in and said they were getting together a special dessert.  Then, they brought out these really pretty, gigantic, wine glass looking things full of white chocolate, chocolate and caramel toppings.  Next game even bigger, gigantic wine glass looking things full of ice cream and fruit and other toppings.  When they placed one in front of Chelsi she took the serving spoon and almost dug right in.  We had to tell her that was for everybody.  But, then she got her own spoon and almost dug in with that.  The waitress started to laugh and told her she brought her a bowl.  It was so kind of the Bass Pro to add the extra dessert to the wish.  That was not part of the gift from Make a Wish.  It was SO nice to not have to worry about adding up everything in my head, worrying about the tip and all the worries to stay in a budget for 7.  That was MY favorite part.

We continued shopping and Cole had everything on his list within a 1/2 hour after lunch.  But, Bass Pro through him for a loop when they gave MAW a 15% discount plus with their tax exempt status, it left him with an extra $200.  It wasn't as easy to spend as you would think.  He really had a hard time since he had nothing on his list.  He had gotten small things for his two grandpas that hunt or fish and something small for his Godfather already.  He ended up going back to spend it on more fishing lures, extra gloves for himself, some shirts (Duck Dynasty and Swamp People) and some other small items.  Each of the little kids got $50 to spend.  Chase got a very expensive Under Armour camo hoodie he would never spend that kind of money on and then paid for the rest with his own Bass Pro gift cards.  Kaelin got a necklace, earrings (literally fishing lures) and something else that escapes me right now.  Chelsi got sunglasses, a hat with a blinged out deer on it, a bracelet made of fishing swivels and a little pink gun.  Jaemin immediately attached himself to a pillow that's a big sea turtle we call Crush (of course from Nemo) and he now has his very first camo hat (Duck Dynasty) he calls Happy, Happy, Happy (if you know the show) and a shirt for deer hunting.  He also spent his own Bass Pro card money and bought his own little gun.

Cole's goodies were so amazing.  On top of that he had already ordered things from Walmart, or rather MAW ordered them for him.  So he will be able to put some small speakers in his car to thump it a little louder.  He also is getting his very own laptop.  So glad.....no more fighting over the computer.

They paid for our gas since it was a 2 1/2 hour trip there and back and also gave him dinner money.  We didn't get home until 7pm and no one was really hungry.  Since he's supposed to enjoy all of his Wish items, we decided to defer his Wish dinner until tomorrow when he could be hungry enough to enjoy it.  We're all just exhausted!

Check out the sign.  It wasn't just a cheap poster board sign, it was heavy duty.  Cole kept it as a souvenir.

Lots and lots of shopping.

And time to eat....look at the ice cream!

And, well, luckily Jaemin had already decided he wanted to buy Crush and he went out after lunch.

Cole shopped and really loaded his carts....multiple.

Make a Wish Update

So, after 7 months of not hearing from Cole's wish granters, I thought I'd just email the local office to get an idea of how things work.  He was asking questions, I just couldn't answer.  They emailed me back and said while the wish granters are supposed to periodically update you on what's going on, they may not have been because we had put down our dates for next year and we're too far out yet.  I now understand why they say they grant most wishes in 6 months.  It's because the physician has to be contacted to make sure the wish is safe for the child, in whatever condition they are currently in, and then the wish can go to the board and be granted.  The approval from the physician is not good for more than 6 months.

She let me know that they plan to contact our cardiologist around November or December so that he can go in May, our first choice.  At this point, we don't suspect Dr. R to say no, but as most parents to heart kids, you also know that you never know anything.  I asked about finding out if Korea is even doable and if they don't anticipate it is if he can go ahead and have his 2nd wish instead, to go to Cabelas this year before wrestling season.  She basically told me that if Cabelas is his one true wish they can change things and arrange for that, but she said generally, unless a doctor says no to a wish for health or safety reasons they will most often get their one true wish.  Of course, this is barred if someone wishes to meet a celebrity or something like that where the celebrity has ultimate control.

So, we're just letting things ride out to see if by the end of December he's either granted Korea or for some reason he gets Cabelas instead and we'll reevaluate what we'll do then.  We're going to try to do both, if at all possible, since Cabelas is not far from here, even though we've never been.  I don't know we can actually afford to go to Korea, but if we can we'll do that as well.  If he gets Korea, we'll let him find something at Cabelas we would never normally do.  Anyone that knows us knows we do NOT over spend or lavish our kids with gifts by any stretch of the means.  We really do just want Cole to feel ever so special one time in his life.  He knows he could have had a worse life or worse case scenario for his healthy, but it doesn't take away his hurt of not doing things other kids can do at this age.  I hope one day he really does understand this and accept it, but for now he's a teenager, that can't see past it. We're doing our best.

New Addition to the Blog for Make a Wish

No, there's no update for Cole's wish, but I thought it would be a good time to add a link to donate to Make a Wish.  It's  great foundation and if you just Google wish stories, you'd be amazed by what some families go through and the joy a simple wish can bring to a very ill child or a child who has spent their life fighting or a child who had to live life differently because of whatever was handed to them to deal with.  In the future, I'll add other great organizations, but thought my new area "Great Write Offs", as in tax write offs, would be great to start with Make a Wish.

Make someone's wish come true.

No MAW Update

Quite a few people have asked me if we've heard anything from Make a Wish for Cole's wishes. We haven't heard anything. Trust me. As soon as he knows I will say something. Then, everyone asks if that means he's not getting the trip to Korea, his #1 wish option. I don't have any idea for sure, but my theory is that they just don't know, but they must be at least trying for Korea. His wishes were turned in over a month ago to the main office for our state. Usually families hear back really quick; as in days to less than a month. But, since we put down travel date options as next year they know they have time with us. I think that as long as they think it's a possibility, they're not going to totally rule Korea out and give him the #2 wish. I would say that as soon as they burn up all their options and realize that they can't send our, large, family to Korea they'll notify him pretty quickly that he'll get his #2 wish for a Cabela's shopping spree. I wouldn't think that would be a terribly difficult wish to grant. So, the short answer is we really do know nothing. We're still hoping and planning to go to Korea next year, no matter what. The thick of it is that Cole is going to have his surgery. We don't know when, but it is inevitable. We want to go as long as he's in the clear and before we're treading on too thin of ice and getting too close to the date. So, next year seems like a good time. If we drain ourselves to go, we drain ourselves. You can't wait for everything in life. There's never a perfect time for important things in your life, you just have to grab it and experience it. We're looking forward to such a memorable experience together. 

Shoulda, woulda, coulda

I hate that.  I know something's coming, whatever it may be.  I plan it all in my head, how it's going to go and the conversation that will take place.  And after it's all said and done, I do nothing.  Everything I mean to say and do, I don't.  I'm always afraid of sounding dumb or saying something really wrong.

We had Cole's Make a Wish meeting tonight.  The two young ladies that came out were very nice.  They tried so hard to pry out of Cole his favorite anythings.  He wasn't very giving, but Cole...well that is Cole.  Outside of hunting and fishing, he doesn't have any major sports or hobbies.  No things he has to do or see.

They asked for his wishes and he told them Korea as #1 and Cabelas as #2.  Now that they're gone, I'm having all these panics.  Just on the very off chance he gets granted for us all to go to Korea, I'm nervous.  I mean really we were planning to go there one day, but I really didn't think it would ever happen, if it does.  I didn't think we'd have the money or Cole's heart surgery would come up instead, whatever.  I figured we'd end up not going.  So now that I'm even entertaining the idea of them granting it, I'm sort of freaking out.  I mean, Jaemin and all his freaking out issues on a plane for 13 hours?  I want to believe he'll do better than I think.  And what about Brian.  if we end up on a plan to Korea that's not got much room for him to stretch he just doesn't do well since his accident.  I'm sure I'm just nervous and totally underestimating them, but it still leaves me to worry.  I'm so great at having no control over a situation anyways.  Anyone who knows me knows this is when I freak out.  :)

I'm sure he won't get it, so I'll have to try to remember that and let myself destress.  I should have told her about Brian's issues and Jaemin's issues??

Breathing again.

Make a Wish Meeting Soon

The Make a Wish folks called tonight to set up our first meeting.  They will come out later this week to talk to all the kids to find out what all the likes and dislikes are and to talk, in-depth, to Cole.  We got the packet from them late last week and went through it to see what to expect.  Since Cole's top wishes originally were a car to drive when he turns 16 or a hunting trip and they can no longer grant those he had to rethink.

The packet says they need 2 wishes in case their number 1 can't be accomplished.  Cole told us tonight that his #1 wish it for us all to go to Korea, to which I'm very proud of him for, but don't see how they can possibly accomplish that for a family of 7.  I asked him if he had a #2 he really wanted and he said no, not yet.  He's really been struggling with this.  I told him just to tell them the truth that he doesn't have a #2 that he really, really wants and then they can help him figure something out.

I asked him if he really wanted to go to Korea and he said 'yes'.  I didn't really know he'd thought that much about it. He never talks to us about it.  Teens are so non-verbal....like having a toddler again.  I guess this should be interesting to say the least.  And while I do know of a family of 7 that were granted the trip to Korea, I think they were just lucky enough they happened to find a donor willing to pay for the entire trip.  What are the chances of this chapter finding that person?  We'll see.  All I know is we had to have copies of our drivers licenses and the kids' birth certificates (all 5) ready for the meeting, so Brian did that Saturday.  Aren't you impressed?  Brian figured out how to use the scanner, so I wouldn't have to.