I wish to go to the Smoky Mountain Petting Zoo

Lillian

6

leukemia

Lillian_Petting_Zoo

Smoky Mountain Adventures 

Smoky Mountain Adventures

Lilly's mom describes her daughter as 90% girly and 10% tomboy. Lillian is super-sweet, kind, loving, and always tries to look at the bright side. Her favorite things are ballet dancing, playing dress-up, horses, animals, camping, hiking, exploring, baby dolls, and crafts.

She was diagnosed with leukemia in 2022 and had plenty of “yucky-feeling” days, pokes, prods, and treatments. At one point, her hair even fell out. The good news is that Lilly is expected to recover, but her treatment will continue through 2024.

“I have learned just how resilient, trusting, and brave my little girl is. She has handled everything so much better than I expected and most of the time with a smile on her face. She is amazing,” her mom said.

For her wish, Lillian chose to go to the Smoky Mountain Deer Farm and Exotic Petting Zoo in Sevierville, TN where Lilly could hug zebras, rub a camel's hump for luck, ride ponies, hang out with emus, frolic with Watusi, and hand-feed elk. Lilly chose this wish because she is fascinated by peacocks and wanted to pet all the animals.

But that’s not all she did on her wish. Lillian and her family also went to Anakeesta, a mountaintop adventure park located in Gatlinburg. The park boasts beautiful vistas of the Smoky Mountains, fine dining, zip-lining, roller coasters, and a treehouse adventure.

They also stopped by the world-famous Dollywood in Pigeon Forge. There, the family enjoyed the theme park and an exclusive, behind-the-scenes look at the life and the wardrobe of country music star Dolly Parton.

This trip also marked Lilly’s first time on an airplane. She and all her siblings were excited to travel through the sky, so mom snapped plenty of photos from the plane window. Wish mom Sarah said that going through the photos brought back all the special memories that they made as a family.

“We really had such a wonderful time,” said Sarah