When You Wish Upon a Star meets How the West Was Won

Tacey R. dreamed of attending the National Finals Rodeo and the Miss Rodeo America Pageant in Las Vegas. With the help of Western Wishes, Wrangler, the Miss Rodeo America organization, and others, those dreams came true!

We flew to Las Vegas where we were whisked to the hotel by a limo from The Mirage where Wrangler had secured a room for our stay. Western Wishes founder, Donnalyn Quintana, had made special arrangements for our family to attend the rodeo, the Miss Rodeo America Pageant and Cowboy Christmas.

Tacey’s face lit up as she was told a stretch limo was waiting for her at the airport. Tacey thinks riding in a limo makes her a true celebrity! In fact, she won’t allow us to sit in the same seat as her. She wants her seat all to herself!

As the family checked into the hotel, Donnalyn met us at the front desk. Other members of Western Wishes, Buzz and Michelle, were waiting to watch the NFR on the big screen and to meet all of us. We had a wonderful time eating, visiting, watching the NFR and getting to know our hosts!

We took the party upstairs to our room where we soon heard a knock on our door. Imagine our surprise as we were greeted by a room service waiter bearing a tray of cookies and candy bars along with a carafe of milk in an ice bucket! The treats were sent on behalf of the Mirage personnel who had made the arrangements for the limo. We took pictures with the waiter and the goodies. (The waiter really wasn’t too sure how to react to all the hoopla. He probably thought we were a bunch of hillbillies or rednecks!)

This was a fabulous end to our first evening. Even more fun and excitement was to come…

The next morning we had breakfast at the hotel while waiting for Buzz. We then headed to Cowboy Christmas where vendors were waiting to pile Tacey high with goodies and special gifts! It is a good thing one of them gave us a Wrangler bag because we needed it to carry home all the extra things Tacey was given! She came away with jewelry, jeans, shirts, jackets, purses, bags, toys, etc. It was Christmas in early December!

We interrupted our “shopping” to go behind the scenes to meet with the contestants of the Miss Rodeo America Pageant. Tacey already knew 9 of them, but was eager to meet the rest. She was super-eager to see her dear friends, Avery, Miss Rodeo Texas, and Dayna, Miss Rodeo Minnesota. They appeared to be just as excited to see her! They made her feel so special. All of the contestants were so sweet to her and treated her like real royalty! They all allowed her to feel their clothes, their crowns, etc. Each of them also posed for numerous pictures with Tacey and signed her souvenir program. Lots of hugs were passed around. Even though we entered the room with favorites (those we had met and knew), we left the room with lots more favorites! I wouldn’t want to be one of the judges!!

We then continued shopping. Throughout the day, we met several cowboys. Each of them signed an autograph for Tacey and posed with her for photos. We saw Stran Smith, Alan Beck, Flint Rasmussen, Cory Wall, K.C. Jones, Tim Fuller, Lane Frost’s parents, and Tuff Hedeman.

We rushed back to the hotel to get Tacey’s chaps. She was going to the Wrangler Suite at the rodeo to meet some of the Wrangler folks so she HAD to wear her Wrangler chaps! The first stop we made was at the Wrangler Suite where she met lots of people. We then headed to our seats to cheer for our cowboy friends.

After the rodeo, we headed to the Gold Coast. This is where they hold National Finals Tonight each night after the rodeo. While waiting for everyone to arrive, we enjoyed some ice cream where we noticed an actor from Home Improvement, Mickey Jones. I approached his table and asked if he would come meet Tacey. He invited me to join him and visit for a while. Several minutes later, we finally made it to the table with the rest of the family. He was super nice to Tacey, posed for several photos and made her feel like a super star!

We went to the lounge where National Finals Tonight was being recorded. In the audience we met, Gary Leffew. He posed for pictures with Tacey and visited with her.

We returned to our room at the hotel to once again find surprises. The room service personnel had delivered Tacey another tray full of cookies and candy, along with 2 carafes of milk, one white and one chocolate. It was actually sent by the Room Service staff! I guess we made such a big deal about the delivery the previous day they wanted to do it again. A basket of stuffed animals and other treats was also waiting for us. The same people who sent the cookies the previous night sent this surprise! Wow! Talk about being treated like royalty!!

The next morning we had to be up and ready super early! Annette had flown from Texarkana to Vegas to fix Tacey’s hair and make-up for the Miss Rodeo America Pageant. We were amazed at what a fantastic job she did!! I just kept saying, “That is really Tacey’s hair! That is really Tacey’s hair!” Wait until you see the pictures.

When we arrived at the Orleans hotel for the MRA pageant, Tacey was whisked back stage to prepare for the beginning ceremonies. Tacey, along with other visited queens, was escorted onto the stage by Master of Ceremonies, Tim Fuller. Tim gave an awesome speech about Tacey that left few, if any, dry eyes in the house! I was peeking from behind stage while wiping tears from my face. It was so moving! Tim had tears in his eyes as he brought Tacey off stage. He was a true gentleman and a new hero in Tacey’s eyes.

Tacey and I quickly made our way into the audience where we joined the family on the FRONT row! That was too cool!

Avery and Dayna both made it to the top 10! We were so proud of both of them. They represented their states, but more importantly themselves and God better than anyone could ask! They were winners just by their glowing auras!

Immediately following the crowning of Miss Rodeo California as 2009 Miss Rodeo America, we hurried to the Rodeo Round-up, the first annual reunion of rodeo stars. Tacey was once again escorted onto the stage by Miss Rodeo America 2008 and Miss Rodeo America 2009. Bob Tallman introduced each of them to the audience. He then told Tacey’s story. Again, very few dry eyes were in the arena!

We headed to the hotel for a short rest time. We then got ready to attend the rodeo. Unfortunately, there were some problems with the tickets we were promised by an acquaintance. Since Western Wishes thought we had tickets, they didn’t get extra tickets for us. By the time we found out the promised tickets weren’t coming, it was too late to try to get other tickets from Western Wishes or anyone else. As it turns out, we took the opportunity to rest at the hotel before we headed to the Gold Coast to prepare for Tacey’s appearance on National Finals Tonight. I was also able to reach a cousin I hadn’t seen in 25 years!! She came to the Gold Coast to visit with us and to watch Tacey “perform.” It was wonderful to spend time with Kathy. We were practically inseparable as children!

After doing some fancy dancing with Buzz on the dance floor, Tacey was taken back stage by Donnalyn and Michelle. There she visited with Bob Tallman, Donnie Gay, Joe Beaver, Dan Miller and cowboys from the NFR. Tacey was the first guest on stage with Dan Miller, Donnie Gay and Joe Beaver. You can see her interview at the following link. Click on Dec. 6 in the right window. Her interview starts about 11:10 into the show. http://thev.tv/archive/rodeo/

As soon as her interview was complete, Tacey was ready to head to the hotel and her bed! The rest of us we ready, too. As much fun as we had that day, we were also very tired.

The next morning we slept a little late. After breakfast, we headed back to Cowboy Christmas. Even though Tacey had done a lot of shopping, the rest of us still had lots of things we wanted to see. After they finished church, Kathy and her husband, Greg, joined us for the afternoon. We had lots of fun showing them all the neat western things and introducing them to friends.

We also took the opportunity to allow Tacey to explore every western sculpture in the building! It was intriguing to watch the artists as they watched Tacey explore their artwork. As Tacey would describe what she was feeling, their faces would light up with joy only a creator could experience. It was too neat! More than one of them had tears in his eyes as he watched Tacey enjoy the art.

Once again we left Cowboy Christmas bearing gifts for Tacey. As vendors met Tacey and watched her with fascination, they asked questions. Moved by her story, they offered her special gifts to make her experience that much more memorable. Their generosity was overwhelming to all of us!

It was hard and sad to say good-bye to Kathy and Greg at the end of the day! Hopefully we will be returning to Vegas in January for the CBR. If so, we will spend more time with Kathy and Greg. If not, it will be way too long until the summer when we can see them again!

We returned to the hotel to get our stuff packed for a 6 am flight the next morning. We had 2 tickets to the rodeo, so Michael and Mom went to the rodeo while Tacey, Dad and I watched it on the large TVs in our rooms. Don’t tell Michael and Mom, but I think we had better seats! Actually, we were sorry to miss the excitement but had lots to do to get ready for our flight.

Donnalyn, Buzz and Michelle came to our room to visit with us and say a final farewell after the rodeo. Again, it was hard and sad to say good-bye but we know we will be seeing them again in the near future as we all work hard toward the debut of the Texas branch of Western Wishes! Tacey, Michael and I hope to be heavily involved and an integral part of its debut!!

Okay, I will admit getting up, ready and to the airport for a 6 am flight was the hardest part of the whole trip! It didn’t help that we left my parents in their room still sleeping. We made it to the airport and onto our flight. Tacey slept the entire way home! In fact, we nearly had trouble getting her off the first plane and onto the second plane because she was asleep. We had great help from the airport personnel and made it onto the flight home with time to spare. Bryan/College Station was a great sight from the air! Having a wonderful trip is fun, but getting home feels terrific, too! I think we all slept most of Monday afternoon, evening and through the night.

We cannot thank everyone enough for this incredible adventure! From Western Wishes to Wrangler to The Mirage to the MRA organization to the PRCA to all the NFR staff, cowboys, etc. to all the vendors…well I could go on and on naming groups and individuals. Everyone went out of their way to show us a wonderful time and make Tacey feel like the most important person they met. From the perspective of a parent, there is no greater feeling than for your child to be treated so well by everyone she meets except for the feeling you get when you see that person moved to tears by your child’s story. That is truly a priceless feeling. Making wishes come true for a special child can cost a small amount to individuals, but become priceless to that child and family!!