A Road Less Traveled: Oct 13, 2015

Tuesday, October 13, 2015

Alexis Li

I have been so excited to write this post! I have the MOST fun story to tell about our Lexi! But first of all, let me just go over a few things about Lexi and what she has been up to this year. For starters, Lexi has always wanted a summer birthday party, but her birthday is at the end of December and of course, she never wants to wait for summer. This year, we had a very balmy January (at least for Utah's standards) and we decided we would give her the summer party she has always wanted. So, in the middle of January, we went outside and roasted hot dogs, played all kinds of summer games and then watched one of Lexi's favorites, "Teen Beach Movie." The kids were fine in jackets and they had a ball. Lexi was thrilled to finally get her summer party!

Lexi and Sophi are the very best of friends. Perhaps the fact that they were adopted from the same orphanage on the same day has led in part to their one-of-a-kind bond. They are mostly inseparable and are just perfect together. This school year has been fun. On the first day of school, I asked Lexi what she wanted to wear and she replied, "Whatever Sophi is wearing." Then I asked Sophi how she wanted her hair fixed and she said, "Like Lexi's." That started a trend and I am a little amazed to say that thus far, they have worn the same outfits and had the same hairdos for school EVERY SINGLE DAY. I've snapped a few pics showing their twin-ness and will add them below. (:

Lexi had a fantastic summer. She attended the Bell Program for two weeks (a braille day camp) and a sports camp for the blind/visually impaired. She loved hanging out with her cousins during our two family reunions and especially enjoyed Lagoon. I was able to take her on an especially fun Mommy date to see "Into the Woods" performed at the Hale Theater. Lexi basically has the whole play memorized and was so excited to "see" it live. When we got there, one of the ushers saw her with her cane and walked right over and asked if she would like a backstage tour. He took her backstage and let her feel some of the costumes and props-- oh how I love thoughtful people!!! It made the experience so much more fun for her. Afterward we were able to meet some of the characters and she thought that was super exciting. Then we went to have Mexican food and she got a whole dessert to herself. We don't often take the kids out to eat (expensive!) and if we do, we skimp on things like drinks and dessert, so she thought it was the coolest thing ever to get a whole dessert and kept telling me so! I sure love that girl.

Lexi is one of the most sensitive, caring, joyous, lovely little human beings on this planet. Her joy is contagious and pure, which makes it so much fun to do things that make her happy. That is why this next story is so much fun! To tell it, I think I'm going to just copy and paste my posts from Facebook. (: That way you can get a taste of the excitement that was happening for us and for Lexi on October 1!

1st post:

HELP WANTED! smile emoticon As anyone close to Lexi knows, she has been a little obsessed with Idina Menzel for the last two years. She listens to her music pretty much every day. She even asks strangers if they know who Idina Menzel is and promptly educates them by singing one of her songs. smile emoticon The biggest compliment you can give Lexi is to tell her that she sounds like Idina when she sings. Her whole face lights up with the biggest smile and giggle! She has asked me MANY times if I think she will ever get to meet Idina. She has me describe to her what she looks like over and over. Well, we just found out that Idina will be in concert TONIGHT in Orem. Jeremy wants to surprise her and take her on a little date. smile emoticon But this is our question-- Does anyone have any connections to Lexi Walker or Gentri (both opening for Idina tonight) or to the UCCU center or to Idina Menzel herself or to ANYONE who might know how to make it possible for Lexi to spend a few seconds actually meeting Idina? Any other child who is going to see their favorite star can do so by simply attending the concert-- but with Lexi, she can't "see" Idina without getting a moment to touch her hand or give her a hug. It would seriously be the most incredible gift you could give Lexi!! It would be the highlight of her life.

This post was followed by a TON of comments and shares all over Facebook with people trying to help us make a connection so that she could meet Idina. I was so over-the-moon happy and grateful and was just sure it was going to happen!

2nd post:

Just told Lexi where Daddy's taking her tonight... Looks like we will have one happy girl even if she doesn't get to meet her in person!

3rd post:

I want to give a very special and big THANK YOU to Mary Rice who was extremely generous in giving us the tickets she and her husband had purchased but decided not to use. We were so, so grateful!!! The kindness of strangers continuously blows me away. Jeremy has been texting me from the concert and they are having a great time. He talked to someone there who told him that Idina does not do meet and greets. ): I told him to keep trying, as I am praying my heart out that she can still meet her. It's crazy to have her so CLOSE (they have seats on the floor pretty close to the stage) and not be able to see her when it's been her dream for so long! It's pretty much driving me out of my mind to not be able to pull it off for her! But I know she is still loving her time there and it will be such a great memory.

During this time, I received a few messages from people who had been trying to pull it off for Lexi but who were unable to do so. I was SO grateful for their efforts and felt so much joy that they would even try, but I was starting to give up hopes that it would happen.

4th post:

PEOPLE!!!!!! I am DYING!!!!! I JUST got an email from the director of the UCCU Center. I had emailed him earlier today. He said that if Jeremy would meet him after the concert, he would give him a meet and greet ticket for Lexi. That means she will be meeting Idina Menzel in the next little while!!!!! God is SO GOOD!!!!!! smile emoticon I prayed seconds before his email popped up and felt His comforting spirit. Thank you everyone else who prayed as well or shared the post or did anything to help!!!! I can't wait to share how it goes! smile emoticon smile emoticon smile emoticon smile emoticon smile emoticonsmile emoticon

This post was met with so many likes and comments. It made it all the more fun for me to be able to share this experience with friends and family and even strangers that were just so happy for Lexi. It's during times like this I just love Facebook and the good it can do.

5th post:

Oh my goodness, it just keeps getting better. Just got this text from Jeremy: "She is singing her encore. She called up a bunch of little kids to sing 'Let It Go.' Lexi made it up and Idina shook her hand. When she saw Lexi's face, she reached out and caressed her cheek. So sweet." WOW. I'm crying!

6th post:

I just got off the phone with Lexi. Oh my goodness-- it was the most fun phone call of all time. She was GLOWING (can you glow in your voice?) with excitement. She exuded happiness through the phone. I wish I could have recorded the cuteness of the conversation. It went something like this: "So... guess what! I just met Idina Menzel! (giggle) And she loved my voice. (giggle) And she has really beautiful soft hands and was wearing rings. And she touched my cheek which was so cute! And I just really loved her and she really loved me too!" Seriously, it was the best conversation ever! After talking to her for awhile and hearing her cute perspective on it all, I got on the phone with Jeremy and he filled me in on details. Apparently, as the kids were invited onto the stage, it took awhile for him to get Lexi up there and they had closed the line. There were a bunch of kids that didn't get to go. Jeremy said to the person there something like, "Look at this sweet girl. Do you think you might have room for her?" And they replied with "Absolutely." So she got onto the stage even though the line was closed. Apparently everything happened very fast so he didn't get photos/video, but Idina took her hand, then looked at her face and caressed her cheek, which Jeremy said was the most tender moment ever. Then they sang "Let it Go." Supposedly he has some video of that but because of the way Lexi was turned, it's not very good. I so wish I could see that moment where they met on stage,(I wonder if anyone has video of it?) but I'm still just so happy that it happened!!! After the concert, the director met Jeremy and had ONE meet and greet ticket. He said it was the only one he had and that they had VERY strict guidelines about not letting you backstage without a ticket, so Lexi would have to go without Jeremy. Ha! Apparently, someone else was going to have to escort her. Jeremy texted me this and I was seriously laughing out loud-- so happy that Lexi would at least get to go and yet thinking how absurd it was that he couldn't go with. I told him to at least send his phone with so someone could take pictures. Well, when it was time for her to go back, the guy in charge asked Jeremy if he was coming. Jeremy told him that he didn't have a ticket, to which the guy replied, "Are you with her? Then come on back!" So we were so happy that he looked past the typical rules. Apparently, at this moment everything happened VERY quickly-- people were supposed to get like 3 seconds with Idina and were kind of rushed through and he wasn't able to video or take pictures, but "their people" were taking pictures and are going to email them to us. Idina remembered Lexi from the stage and told her that she had a beautiful voice. That was honestly the BEST thing she could have ever said to Lexi. I know she'll ride high on that one for a very long time. Jeremy said she was very sweet with her even though it was a short moment. Honestly, I just couldn't be more happy right now. Lexi faces such tremendous challenges on a daily basis and does it with such grace and courage!! There isn't another girl in all the world that could find as much joy from meeting Idina as Lexi found tonight. My heart is so full! Thank you so much again, everyone, for your kindness and for finding joy in Lexi's joy!!! I will post pictures when I have them. Believe me, I am as anxious to see them as anyone!

People were so happy for Lexi. It was so fun to have such a big group of people to share that joy with! Thank you, Facebook friends!

7th post:

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And with that

Just tucked in one very, very happy girl. Her last words to me: "I wish Idina could come to our house and have a sleepover with me since we like each other so much."

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And with that, I am finally able to share the photos of that night! They came yesterday in my email and seriously, I got teary all over again. I think the one of Idina and Lexi is definitely going to have to be blown up and put on her wall, right? SO cute! And a reminder that Heavenly Father is aware of Lexi and delights in making her smile. I know that he accomplishes His work through GOOD, WONDERFUL, CARING people like you-- so again, a big THANK YOU to all who were a part of Lexi's magical night!!! I know that she will never forget it. (:

Getting ready to leave on the best Daddy date ever!

Backstage with Idina!!!

Aren't they just darling together?!!

Got home close to midnight and was still so hyper about the whole thing. Thought it would be hard waking her up for school the next morning, but she woke up on her own at 6:30 a.m. and was out on the couch singing Idina Menzel songs!