Happy Birthday Bridger!

Dear Bridger,

Although you aren't here to celebrate this day with us, it is still a day to celebrate. The day you were born was a wonderful day. You brought so much happiness to your Mom and Dad (and the rest of the family). You were their dream come true. You had a tough life, filled with more trials and battles than anyone should ever have to face. Through it all you smiled and laughed. You showed the rest of the world a great strength that most of us could never even begin to imagine. You touched the lives of so many; your parents, your family, people that didn't even know you, and especially your cousins. You truly are our "Heart Hero"!

So, Bridger, today we celebrate. We celebrate the great day you were born. We celebrate the life you had, even though to us it seemed too short. We celebrate the great joy you brought to the world. We celebrate you!

Happy 1st Birthday, Little Man! We love you!

Love always,

Aunt Maura

Good Bye, Sweet Bridger

After a valiant 11 month and 4 day fight, sweet little Bridger has returned home. We will miss you so much Little Man!!

Daddy please don't look so sad, Momma please don't cry.

Cause I'm in the arms of Jesus, and He sings me lullabies.

Please try not to question God, don't think He is unkind.

Don't think He sent me to you, only to change His mind.

You see I'm a special child, I am needed up above.

I'm the special gift you gave Him, a product of your love.

I'll always be there with you, so watch the sky at night.

Look for the brightest star, and know that's my halo's brilliant light.

You'll see me in the morning frost that mists your window pane.

That's me in the summer showers, I'll be dancing in the rain.

When you feel a gentle breeze from a gentle wind that blows,

Know that it is me planting a kiss upon your nose.

When you see a child playing and your heart feels a tug,

Don't be sad Mommy, that's just me giving your heart a hug.

So Daddy please don't look so sad, Momma please don't cry.

I'm in the arms of Jesus, and He sings me lullabies.

From Bridger's Nana

Cristy, Bridger's Nana, left a very nice comment under the last post. I don't know if everyone reads the comments people leave, and I want to make sure everyone does read it, so I am posting it here for everyone to see. Cristy, I hope you don't mind! : )



I would just like to tell everyone who helped contribute to Bridger's cranes, Thank you. It was an honor for me to be able to work with them. I want all of you to know that I learned something from being able to do this. I believe, it is not the number of cranes that can make the wishes come true, but instead, it is the love, and hope, that was put into each crane that was folded. I could feel that as I was able to handle each crane before I mounted it onto the mat board. Each person who helped, donated their time and talents to wish Bridger better. That is very powerful. Thanks to each of you for loving our sweet baby, and for sending that love with your cranes!
Love,
Cristy

Some new pictures!

Cranes hanging in box frames

Close up of hanging cranes

Staci really wanted to be able to save all of Bridger's cranes. Because of Bridger's fragile immune system, and not wanting to risk exposing him to any germs, she chose to have the cranes framed. This way she can keep them forever.

Cristy, Bridger's Nana, has worked many hours trying to figure out the best way to frame the cranes while still preserving them in their intended shape. She came up with a couple of different ways. First is like the pictures above. By stringing them and putting them in the box frame it allowed her to keep the cranes in their shape without having to flatten them. The second is a larger frame with the cranes slightly flattened and pinned to the back of the frame. This way Cristy was able to put many, many more cranes into the one huge frame. When I get a picture of this other frame I will post it as well. There are cranes from every single person that made them in the frames. All 1000 of them.

Thank you again for all of your continued support. A special thank you to Bridger's Nana for all of your hard work putting the frames together! I will post more pictures as soon as I get them.

A quick update...

We have reached, and exceeded, our goal of 1000 paper cranes! Thank you very much to everyone who contributed. Whether you made one crane, or 200 cranes, they are all very much appreciated.

Since Bridger is currently home from the hospital, his Nana is working very hard to get all of his cranes put together so Staci can have them in his room at home. Once they are finished, I will post new pictures.

Thank you again for all your help!

Bridger's Wristbands Now Available!!

"Bridger's Heart Heroes"

We are now offering wristbands to show support for Bridger. They are red and say "Bridger's Heart Heroes". The wristbands are $5 , and all proceeds will go directly to Danny and Staci to help with Bridger's expenses. Right now we are accepting cash or checks. Please make checks payable to Danny or Staci Smith. If you would like to be one of "Bridger's Heart Heroes", please contact me at 801-633-8817 or email me at jomakamcki@digis.net and I will get one sent out to you. Thank you to everyone for your continued support of Danny, Staci and Bridger!!

From the Eskelson Family

Ever wonder what 200 cranes looks like? Here you go!!

Thank you so much to Yvonne Eskelson, her daughter Jessi and her daughter-in-law Christa for making so many beautiful cranes to add to Bridger's growing collection. They are appreciated greatly!

New Photos!

Abby King and Kayla Smith (Bridger's cousins)

Todd Smith (Bridger's Papa)

Abby King and Cristy Smith (Bridger's Nana)



Abby, Kayla and Nana



The end result...well some of it! : )

Thank you Nana and Papa for sending the pictures!

Mrs. Andes 3rd Grade Class

Today I went to McKenna's (my daughter in 3rd grade) class so they could help us fold cranes for Bridger. Mrs. Andes had already read them Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes earlier in the week, so I didn't read it again. The kids were told ahead of time about Bridger and why we were folding the cranes for him. They asked a few questions; mostly things like how long he had been in the hospital, what was wrong with his heart, how old he was...basic things like that. Then we got to the folding. That was quite the experience! I knew going into this that it might be difficult for a bunch of 9 year olds to figure out. Some did surprisingly well, others really struggled. I was there for about an hour and each of the kids only made one. But, we have 30 more than we did before!

Thank you to all of Mrs. Andes' students for your help!

I would love to be able to post more stories and pictures, other than my own. Please send them my way, jomakamcki@digis.net, and I will get them on the blog. Thanks!

Where do we stand?

Tough little Bridger is working hard to fight off another infection. Poor little guy just can't catch a break! So, since it looks like Bridger will be spending a little more time at his home away from home, it would be great if we could get his cranes up to him pretty quickly.

I would like to get a rough estimate of how many cranes have been made so far. If you have made any, even just one or two, please respond to this post so we can get a current count. I am more than happy to stop by any one's house/work this weekend to pick them up. If you would like me to do that, please let me know that in your response as well. Also, don't forget to email me any pictures you have taken. We would love to see them!

Thanks to everyone for continuing to support Danny, Staci and Bridger. It means more than you will ever know!

Thank you Eagle Mountain 6th Ward Young Women!

Last night, when the Young Women had their meeting, they spent the entire hour and a half folding cranes for Bridger. None of these girls even know Bridger, but they were all very excited about the idea of helping to get his wish. The result...150 cranes! Many of the girls even talked about how they would like to make more at home. Very sweet.

A special thank you to Alisa Lyman, for helping us teach everyone how to fold the cranes, and thank you to all the leaders for changing your planned activity to allow the girls to make the cranes.

Thank you so much to the young women of the Eagle Mountain 6th Ward for spending your time folding cranes for someone you don't even know. What a great service project!

Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes

There is a story about a little girl named Sadako. She was 2 and living in Japan when the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. When she was 12 she developed Leukemia. A friend of hers took a paper crane to the hospital for her, telling her the Japanese legend behind the crane. Her story has inspired thousands and has spread the legend throughout the world.

There are many different books written about Sadako, if you have any interest in reading them. There is a picture book titled Sadako written by Eleanor Coerr, and also a young reader book by the same author titled Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes. There are also others more for adults.

I am going to my 3rd grader's class and reading them the story of Sadako. Then the entire class is going to help fold paper cranes for Bridger. I mention this simply because I am hoping to inspire others to get large groups involved as well. The more we can get made quickly, the better. Please ask everyone you know to help out. School classes, church groups, social groups...everyone. And, don't forget to take pictures and send them along to me so I can post them!

Welcome to Paper Cranes for Bridger

There is an old Japanese legend that states that anyone who has a thousand paper cranes will be granted a wish. We are going to make a thousand paper cranes to be hung in Bridger's hospital room so that Danny and Staci will get their wish for Bridger.

This blog is an extension of Bridger's Bulletin. We wanted a second blog so that we can post various pictures of all the people that contribute to Bridger's thousand cranes, without taking away from the importance of Bridger's Bulletin. We are asking anyone and everyone who wants to make a crane (or many cranes) to please do so. We are using 6 x 6 origami paper, simply because it is easier to fold than the 3 x 3 size. It can be any color, any pattern, foil, etc...The only thing that is "required" is that you please put your name and the date on the crane. If you make cranes, please take pictures and send them to me (jomakamcki@digis.net) and I will post them on the blog. We would love to have pictures of people in the process of making cranes, finished cranes, groups making cranes...whatever you would like to take pictures of. Once you have finished your cranes, you can give them to me, or someone else in the family that you know, and we will make sure they get to Bridger.

If you need help making an origami crane, there are plenty of sites online with directions. One I used was www.pacificfriend.ca/html/how_to_make_a_paper_crane.html. It can be a bit confusing if you have never done it before. I found it much easier to do after watching this video posted on Youtube, www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9VF3gdf_Hk. If you need more help after that, feel free to contact me and I will get with you and show you how.

Thank you for helping get us closer to making our wish for Bridger come true.