Last night we were entertained by Dancing With the Stars dancer and Country Music singer, Julianne Hough. It was a super fun concert and before we knew it, Aidan was up front, on stage, dancing, and taking pictures with Julianne! It was too hilarious. Only Aidan.
Randy and I are completely overwhelmed by this experience. The kids, families, activities planned, everything...it is just incredible. We had a wonderful dinner last night with the families and were able to spend some time getting to know them. Each child gives a "gift" for the other champions. Aidan passed out his super-cool Aidan Stotz trading cards. We then got a chance to meet and thank all of the sponsors for the Children's Miracle Network. Organizations like Walmart, Remax, Dairy Queen, and many others are huge supporters. Aidan was asked to autograph their books, and to take many pictures. After that, we had the huge party! Football player, Steve Young put on a puppet show, and then we rocked out with Julianne. Aidan was exhausted, sunburned, and ready for bed.
This morning was by far, them most emotional and memorable of all. Each "Champion" was brought on stage, in front of hundreds, and was given a medal. Mary Lou Retton spoke, and Miss America and Country singer, Mark Wills, introduced each champ. Aidan received his medal, waved, and danced off the stage jumping up and down. Even as I write this, tears are streaming down my face. How unbelievably proud I am of him. What he has overcome, well, he is such a miracle. We are so grateful to be here. It is a DREAM!
WE are heading out to Animal Kingdom today. I will update later. Oh, and we did receive a personal invitation from Barack Obama. He wants to meet each of the Champions at his house, The White House. Seriously? Wowsers.
If any of our Millburn friends are reading this, Aidan misses you all! Oh, and Miss Shaban, Aidan is obsessing about getting his homework done! Haha! And my Marie Murphy students: you better be good for Mrs. Swoboda! LOL.
Hugs to you ALL!!
With Love from sunny Florida- did I mention it's 83 degrees today? ha!
Hi Carrie and Aidan!
ReplyDeleteWe have been checking your blog daily and how thrilled we are to see the latest!!! Tell Aidan that Dylan misses him. The photos are incredible. We watch Dancing with the Stars and listen to country music all the time, so we are so happy to hear of the entertainment selection. Sounds like you all are having a wonderful time, and deservingly so! We watched Obama on Jay Leno and all we kept thinking about was "Aidan gets to meet him... He is going to read the kids' letters... Oh My Goodness!" We look forward to reading more updates. Have a great time, enjoy your vacation, as it sounds so awesome!!!
Tell Aidan we'll see him soon.
Your Friends,
Shawn and Dylan Paquette
Hi Carrie! Hi Aidan!
ReplyDeleteI am loving your posts! It sounds amazing. Did you know that my profile picture on Facebook was, for a short time last year, Julianne Hough? I think she's so pretty! I haven't heard her music, though. You guys can fill me in on that!
We are so proud of you both! I'm so glad you feel so special! Your story is truly a miracle, Aidan, and your mommy is a miracle to us all at school, too. Tell her we love her so much!
Mrs. Swoboda did a great job this week, so no school worries! It was totally normal to see her in the teacher's lounge at lunch, we had to do a double-take to realize it wasn't so normal anymore!
Anyway, much love to you both, and tell Barack I said hello and to give up this idea of merit pay for teachers. He'll listen to me.
Love from home,
Karah
Aidan we are soooo excited for you! We checked out the blog this morning and the kids are amazed at all you are doing on your trip! We are so proud of you and we really miss you so much. It feels like something is missing from our classroom...you!
ReplyDeleteDon't worry too much about your homework. Enjoy this wonderful experience to the fullest. We are all rooting for you. It looks like so much fun! And all of the famous people-wow!
We can't wait to hear how tomorrow goes. The rest of the class is excited to hear about President Obama!!!
Take care and have a blast!
Miss Shaban and the rest of 1D