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LEH — A Lehi family made a big donation to Primary Children's Hospital as they prepare for the first Christmas without their 4-year-old daughter.
Every kid knows Christmas is just two nights away, as of Wednesday.
For as much as Sloan and Lydia Preston enjoy making ornaments to put on their tree, though, you can't blame them for being focused on what's under it.
"They were definitely on the nice list," said their mother, Lindsey Preston, with a laugh.
Preston, and Santa of course, have spent a lot of time Christmas shopping for her 8- and 10-year-old daughters this year.
"They write their lists like most kids," said Preston. "And there's a couple of different lists and they change throughout the season."
However, while Christmas shopping, Preston kept realizing one list was missing.
"It started out rough," she said. "I figured it would be a hard year. Harper passed away in April, so it's our first Christmas without her."
Harper Preston was only 4 years old when an awful grinch known as brain cancer stole far more than just Christmas.
"She got it when she was 15 months old — well, that's when she was diagnosed," said Preston.
The family put up a stocking for Harper this year.
They even put pictures of her on their tree. But when it came to Christmas shopping, that was the tough part.
"I would just see something and know she would love it, and then, like I said, I wasn't able to pick it up and buy it for her," said Preston. "Until I decided I'm just going to buy it anyway."
That's right — any toys Harper would've liked, mom bought.
You don't need a Christmas list to do that.
A Lehi mom felt odd Christmas shopping for her kids this year. One list was missing because of cancer. So, she bought gifts for her 4-yr old anyway and donated them to @primarychildren. This story runs on @KSL5TV at 6. My thanks to the Preston's for trusting me with this one. pic.twitter.com/JKzePDZ8Rk
— Alex Cabrero (@KSL_AlexCabrero) December 23, 2020
"It all started with me just wanting to heal my heart of wanting to buy those presents," she said.
Those presents were for Harper, but having spent so much time at Primary Children's Hospital in Salt Lake City and St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, the family decided to donate those gifts.
Instead of keeping them, the family decided to give them to all the kids at Primary Children's Hospital who were staying there for Christmas this year.
The Prestons have had to stay there before during Christmas.
"The kids wake up Christmas morning with a pile of presents and a big Christmas celebration, and so I wanted to provide that for kids since Harper wasn't here that I wanted to do that for them," said Preston.
Originally, it was just the Preston family themselves buying gifts to donate to the hospital.
However, as other family members, friends and neighbors started hearing about this, it turned into a whole lot more.
"We ended up taking over $7,000 worth of stuff. We had to drive three cars and caravan all of our stuff up there," said Preston with a big smile across her face.
It's all because of a little 4-year-old girl, as well as her family's love for her and Christmas.
"It just made the holiday season so much more joyful for us," said Preston.
That's something not even cancer can take away.
