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!