From A Mom of Boys and a Bulgarian Princess

Dear Life,

Kumaka has had the most challenging year of his life this year. He has pretty much lived in a cast the whole year. I think he's only been out of a cast for 3 weeks or so. He's broken two bones, fractured one bone, and had a twelve hour surgery requiring a blood transfusion. He's had to have a broken hip plate replaced, and a bad break repaired. To top it off he got cellulitis. He has been to the emergency room five times this year. But one thing has not changed.

THIS SMILE

In February, two very special people came to visit Kumaka. (See HERE) They were wish grantors from Make-A-Wish. They talked to him about three things:

Where he would love to go

Who he would love to meet

What he loves to do

Kumaka was pretty shy....and although we determined he loves Justin Bieber, and he loves Macaroni and Cheese, the only other thing we figured out is that he loves Disneyland, and that he would LOVE to go to DisneyWorld. The wish grantors took all of the info they received, and after a few months, we heard the news that our whole family would be going to Walt Disneyworld in Orlando, Florida.

To announce everything to Kumaka, we were able to have a fun party which included pizza from our favorite local pizza place, Lamppost Pizza, and our close friends and family. It was perfect. Kumaka had the best time, and was so excited to hear all of the things that would be happening. On December 16, a limosine will be picking up our family and taking all seven of us to the airport. We will then be boarding a flight to Florida. We have not all traveled on an airplane together...ever. I had not even flown with my husband anywhere until this summer when we went to Hawaii. We will be staying at Give Kids the World, a wonderful amazing place that has a variety of amazing places to eat, play, and have fun at. Everything is completely accessible, and everything is completely free! We will have our own villa....and our kids can eat ice cream for breakfast if they want. (Should I tell them about that???) There is miniature golfing, the latest in Xbox and Wii games...and pizza. There is a swimming pool, and movie nights. That in alone is amazing. Add to that the three day Park Hopper Tickets for the all things Disney, which includes Epcot Center, Disney's Hollywood Studios, Disney's Animal Kingdom, and of course the Magic Kingdom itself. That all will blow our mind. But wait...there's more. A two day park hopper pass for Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure. Spongebob and Harry Potter here we come! Finally, we will have one fantastic day of SeaWorld. One of the very best things that just is conincidental is the date of it all...Kumaka's birthday is December 20th. We will be at the happiest place on earth celebrating like rock stars for this amazing kid who really and truly is a rock star. We are so thrilled that Kumaka will have this experience....and after the year he's had....he truly deserves seven days of fun!

Kumaka's wish party made the local paper...see it here:

Kumaka, Dad and Mom at his Wish Granting Party