My Festival of Trees Journey began when I was a little girl. I remember my parents going to Opening Night and we were so excited for them to come home and tell us all about the tree that they bought or to tell us if our tree that we made and donated sold. Our parents would buy a tree one year and then we would donate a tree the next year. I remember walking up and down the isles of beautiful trees, wreaths, blankets and of course the gingerbread houses. As I got older I started to read the stories behind them all and my love for the Festival grew even more. I can't remember a year that I haven't attended the Festival of Trees. As our family got older and started and having families of our own we decided to stop exchanging gifts between us (besides the little ones) and instead take that money and put it into a tree. So we did....The first year we did a theme that was near and dear to our hearts as a family. Growing up we spent a lot of time at Bear Lake (and still do) so we decided to start with that theme to kick off this new tradition. Here is that tree......
We all decided we wanted to keep this tradition and continue to do a tree instead of exchanging gifts. We also loved what it taught our children and now they are just as excited for the Festival and decorating day as we are. The next year we decided to chose a child that we knew and dedicate the tree to them and make the theme around what they love. So we started with a family friend named Teagan, Teagan has HLHS. He has been through so much he is a true super hero, and ironically enough that is just what he wanted the tree to be about so we delivered......he even got a ninja turtle popping up from the sewer!!!! See pics.....
Our hearts are just so full after we make these trees it is so hard to leave them once you set them up. But it's so fun to see it set up knowing you are giving back and we managed to put a smile on many faces including Teagan's. We all decided let's do it again, so we all had a goal of finding a person to honor for the tree and bring it to our next meeting about the tree. Well.... between the time this Festival of Trees ended and the new one began we found a family, but not the family we were expecting. In March of 2015, a beautiful little girl named Emma was born and made this family feel complete. Mom, Dad, big sister Ava (who was four) and now Emma. Four days later Emma started to have seizures. She was rushed to Primary Children's Hospital where 24 hours later she was diagnosed with a rare brain disorder called Lissencephaly meaning smooth brain, 1 in 100,000 live births. Her parents were devastated and wondered how could this be? Her big sister as amazing as can be just holding her and singing to her. At that moment we felt everything would be ok.....yes I said WE...... because Emma is my daughter. Here are some pictures of Emma at 4 days old being admitted to Primary Children's after having 30 seizures that day, her big sister showing her love and how proud she is to be Emma's sister, lastly it shows how amazing PCMC really is by supporting not only the patient but the family.
In 2015, we decided our tree needed to be dedicated to Emma. Never ever did I think a tree at the Festival would be for my child. Will my child really be in a frame next to a tree with her story on the back? It's a hard pill to swallow but man are we so grateful for Primary Children's. Emma deserves to be honored because she is a true fighter. Her life expectancy is unknown, so everyday is a blessing. The first tree we chose for her was nursery rhymes. Here is that tree...
Emma is our little sunshine of life so of course 2016 her tree was "You Are My Sunshine". This was a daring move as you don't see a lot of trees at Christmas time that are yellow. But in my heart I knew this was the theme that was best to honor Emma for that year. So we went for it turned out perfectly.
Picking a theme for your tree is so hard especially when your child is non-verbal. So we try to do our best to do a theme that best honors her. Last year a poem I have always been a fan of called "Welcome to Holland" really stuck out in my mind and we really wanted to figure out how to make it work. I am blessed to have a friend who actually lives there so an idea struck my mind but how were we actually going to pull this off. But, we did! My friend sent us tons of stuff right from Holland and it was beautiful. This tree was going to be even more risky than the previous years tree but it was going to mean so much to us as a family and a beautiful representation of Emma and our journey with her. Here is the poem it will help you to better understand each part of the tree........
I can't thank the Festival of Trees and all the people who come and donate to such a great cause. From the staff, drs, nurses, to the Child Life support and the care that Emma has received while there it's all been amazing. They not only care for the child at Primary Children's but the whole family. As shared in a picture above the Child Life specialists really made Ava feel comfortable even though Emma had all those tubes and wires. It made explaining such a complex thing to a four year old a little easier. To this day Ava is very involved with Emma and loves to help care for her. She is not scared and I attribute that to the Child Life care from Primary Children's. So thank you and thanks to the Festival for giving us a way to share about Emma and her Journey. Emma is now three years old and we are preparing for her 4th tree at Festival of Trees.
Emma's blog: http://embracelifeemma.
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.
Instagram: embrace_life_emma
