Tannenbaum Forest
Dozens of decorated live Christmas trees fill the 100 year old Festhalle Barn. Enjoy the 17’ tall German Christmas pyramid, live animated storybook characters, nativity scene and Santa, of course.

Wreaths for Wishes/Silent Auction
During Prelude, wreaths and other items are on display in the Festhalle Barn for bid. Proceeds go to the Make-A-Wish foundation. The 2008 event sponsored Sophie’s wish.

Sophie’s wish fulfilled
Well, what can I say; Sophie had the time of her life! We were up early in the morning and she was buzzing about going to see Mickey. We took two planes to get there and all the kids did really well with that, and when we arrived it was sunny and welcoming. We arrived at Give Kids The World by 1 p.m. on the first day and they took us to our villa. It was so amazing! It was like a little house of our own. Sophie enjoyed the ice cream shop-breakfast stop one morning there. She loved the pancake house for breakfast and dinner! Her favorite thing there was the carousel. She went to the castle of miracles and made her star with the fairy, and it is permanently in the building on the ceiling - a really neat experience. At the castle of miracles she also made a pillow of her own that she has slept with ever since!

Mickey Mouse and Minnie came to meet the kids at Give Kids The World and she had some great photos taken with them! Santa visited there and brought all the kids gifts as well! She loved taking the train around and playing LIFE-SIZED candy land there! We visited Universal Studios. She had never been there before and had a great time meeting Scooby Doo and Shrek! She road all the roller coasters that she was tall enough for, even the ones that she was a little small for - they let her though. She wore her high heels at all the parks to give her a little more height! She is a total thrill seeker! We road all the roller coasters the park had to offer and did it in great time because they took us to the front of the line when we arrived at the different rides. We went to magic kingdom- she loves It's A Small World and she saw Mickey and Ariel there.

Basically we played in the parks all day and then swam in the late afternoon at the pool right next to our villa, and then ate dinner and went to the activities Give Kids The World had every evening. She participated in the talent show there and sang a Christmas song. Our funniest story about Sophie on the trip had to do with Minnie Mouse. On our last day there, Minnie and Mickey were back from the second visit and Dad and Sophie went to visit again. I packed and got the rest of the family ready to get to the air port. When Sophie got back to the villa, she walked in and had both hands on her hips. She said, “Mom, you’re not going to be very happy about this.” I looked at Karl and he had no idea what she was upset about. She said, "Momma, daddy KISSED MINNIE MOUSE!" She was so upset and thought I would be. She is so funny! We have a picture of the kiss...anyway, she told people all the way home about that. Another cute thing that happened at one of the activities in the evening at Give Kids The World was they had Magic Mirror one night. There was a girl standing about 15 ft from a mirror with a microphone on and a speaker at the mirror, so when Sophie came up to the mirror, the mirror began talking to her. She said, “Are you a magic mirror?” The girl said, “Why yes I am,” and went on to tell Sophie she was so pretty and she liked her dress. Sophie kept batting her eyes and smiling. It was truly the cutest thing I have ever seen!

Thank you SO much for giving this wish to our daughter! She truly had the time of her life and we could not have had better treatment the entire time we stayed there! Everything at Give Kids The World was AMAZING and so much more than we could have ever expected! Our entire family shared so many wonderful moments together and has made memories to last a lifetime! We will NEVER forget the HUGE GIFT you gave her, you gave us!

Warm Regards,
The Lowe's
Karl, Jennifer, Sophie, Cole, Allie and Me

2008 Sponsors