Eight-year-old Kelly Aleman dreamed of wearing shoes like other kids for so long, she doesn't want to take off her first-ever pair.

Not even at bedtime.

"Because they light up," she said Tuesday while demonstrating the shoe's special feature to the sheriff's officers who made her dream -- and theirs -- possible.

Kelly, who has spina bifida and uses a wheelchair, can make lights on the shoes twinkle by tilting her wheelchair back and then letting the front wheels fall back to the floor.

The bounce sets off little colored lights in the rhinestone-studded rubber toes and up the sides of the black tennis shoes. The bright pink lining is Kelly's favorite color, and three buckles are covered in pink, purple and turquoise glitter.

On Tuesday, the Aleman family of Malaga -- parents Robert and Martha and daughters Jessica, 12, Kelly and Leslie, 6, -- joined community service officers who run the Fresno County Sheriff's Activity League program that Kelly attends for a special thank you.

When Kelly came to a SAL summer camp in 2010, she was wearing braces to keep her feet straight. But the braces made her feet too big to fit inside shoes, so Kelly just wore socks. Kelly's parents told officers who staffed the camp that she would eventually have surgery on her feet that would let her wear shoes -- something she dearly wanted to do.

"We decided that summer that whenever she had the surgery, we would buy her first pair of shoes," said Addie Delgadillo with the Sheriff's Foundation for Public Service, which sponsors the SAL program.

Kelly had successful surgery in August and now wears lighter-weight braces that can fit inside shoes.

On Friday, Delgadillo and community service officer Rose Slonski took Kelly, her mother, sister Leslie and grandmother Gloria Aleman of Fresno shopping to buy shoes for Kelly.

She knew just the ones she wanted -- the flashy ones she had seen in a television commercial -- and was excited when her mother found the exact pair.

After the shopping trip, Kelly's family thanked the SAL officers, but also wanted to thank the person in charge.

So on Tuesday, Kelly and her family came to the Fresno sheriff's headquarters to say thank you to Sheriff Margaret Mims.

"I have a real badge for you, just like the one I wear," Mims said as she pinned a small metal star on the pocket of Kelly's shirt. "Now raise your right hand," Mims said. Kelly did, and then repeated after Mims: "I solemnly swear to be a good girl for my mother."

Mims listened to the story of the shoes and gave them her appraisal: "Oh my gosh, look at those! There's a lot of bling on those shoes. Those are beautiful."

After meeting Kelly's parents and sisters and hearing more stories about the SAL summer camp -- including Kelly "skating" in her wheelchair during a roller rink field trip -- Mims posed for pictures with the family.

Martha Aleman wiped away tears. The SAL program has brought Kelly out of her shell and made her more confident and independent, she told Mims.

"We wanted to say thank you for doing this for us," Robert Aleman said. "It's very special."

And Kelly had an early Christmas gift for Mims.

"I would like to say thank you for buying me my dream," Kelly had written inside a Christmas card. "Thank you and God bless you. Have a wonderful Christmas."