It all began

last fall when Roland and I were at the OC Tanner Gift of Music Concert. We were seated in the front row inside the tabernacle for a concert with the Utah Symphony and Mormon Tabernacle Choir. At almost the same moment we turned to each other and remarked that we could just see Emilie playing the violin someday. Knowing how pricey violins can be, we kept these thoughts to ourselves so as not to get Emilie's hopes up.
Somehow, she read our minds. One day when I asked her what she wanted for Christmas she promptly and without hesitation said, "a violin". I was so surprised and a little concerned. How would Santa pull this off? We talked about it, but weren't sure how we could do it this year. I tried to gently lead her in other directions when we talked about Christmas "don't you want a baby doll bed?", "I thought you wanted princess stuff!". Didn't work. Every time anyone asked her, the first thing she said was "violin". I was beginning to worry.
We finally came up with a story about how Santa checked with Mommy and Daddy to see if he should bring a violin and we told him to wait because we needed to find a violin teacher first. Christmas morning came and after the gifts were opened I told Emilie our story. She accepted it but I could tell she was a little disappointed.
A couple hours later I got a call from my Mom who had just had Christmas brunch with my step-brother and his family. She said that she had told them about Emilie and how she was sure that Santa would bring her a violin. My sister-in-law has played the violin since she was a small girl and two of her daughters are learning now. She still has her first violin which both of her girls have used and was not being used at the moment. She immediately offered her violin for Emilie to use. She got it out and gave it to my mom.
My mom took it home and put a bow around it and had my sister make a beautiful tag that read "to: Emilie/Love, Santa". She called me and told me to have Emilie answer the door when the doorbell rang. She left it on the porch and rang the bell. Emilie opened it and could hardly believe her eyes! Santa did bring that violin just like she asked! She carefully opened it and her face lit up when she saw that it was just her size. It was magical.

Not only did my sister-in-law let us borrow her violin she also hooked us up with an adorable violin teacher. Emilie's first lesson was this afternoon. She could hardly sleep last night anticipating her lesson. She loved every minute of it and can't wait to learn more! This is a Christmas Emilie will remember for a long time. Thank you for making it possible, Cassie! We love you!