BILLINGS - Terry Fosjord was on top of the world Thursday morning.

The 11-year-old was actually about 20 feet up in "Bigfoot," a monster truck that he escorted to Highland Elementary. The boy rode with Bigfoot driver Kevin Sturgeon in a City Towing truck that brought the big vehicle to school as a treat for Terry.

Terry, showing a toothy grin, clambered in and out of Bigfoot. He got in the cab through the open firewall area of the Ford and leaned out the driver's side window to give two-handed waves to his classmates filing onto the playground to view the truck.

"He's going to go to sleep tonight with that smile on his face," Sturgeon said. "He's on top of the world."

Terry's family and the Make-A-Wish Foundation worked together to make the event happen. Terry's Make-A-Wish was granted in 2005 when the family was sent to Disneyland. The Fosjords do what they can to support the program, said Terry's adoptive mom, Phyllis Fosjord.

Ed Beckley, who travels with the world-famous monster truck, said the Bigfoot organization participates in causes like Make-A-Wish when it can. The Fosjord family also received tickets to the monster truck show at MetraPark on Saturday.

"It's all about the kids," Beckley said. "Especially somebody that is so innocent."

Terry's medical struggles are "like a bad grocery list of afflictions," Beckley said.

He has cystic fibrosis, severe child migraines that give him seizures, epilepsy, fetal alcohol syndrome and asthma, Phyllis Fosjord said. Terry eats, but his nutrition is supplemented by a feeding tube.

"He's really not able to do things other kids can do," she said.

Before leaving for the school, Fosjord sat in a lawn chair on the sidewalk and enjoyed watching Terry in the truck, which blocked the street in front of their Missouri Avenue home.

Fosjord deserved a little time to sit and relax: Thursday was her 82nd birthday. Terry is the youngest of nine children the Fosjords have adopted, in addition to eight of their own and five foster children. Terry's foster brother posed for a photo by Bigfoot's big tires, each of which is 66 inches tall and 4 feet wide and weighs 1,000 pounds.

After checking out the monster truck, Terry climbed behind the wheel of a City Towing truck. He found the siren, gave it a short blast then grinned over his shoulder at the on-looking adults.

City Towing Owner Dave Albrecht and his crew were having about as much fun as Terry.

"You only get an opportunity to make someone's day better once in a while," Albrecht said.

Two police cars escorted the entourage of tow trucks and Bigfoot to the school. All five vehicles had their emergency flashing lights going to add to the excitement of the morning. Highland Elementary students ran along the sidewalk to welcome the vehicles with cheers.

Terry received a trio of "hip-hip-hoorays!" when the students assembled around the truck. Principal Carol Forney led the cheer and said everyone was happy for Terry, who is well known and liked throughout the school.

"Terry works really hard," she said. "He has a lot of things he has to overcome every day. If we can make it a special day for him, everybody would like to make that happen."

Forney was in the middle of the fray as kids rushed to get a close-up look at Bigfoot. Unlike Terry, the others didn't get to climb up on the lowboy trailer, let alone into the cab. But they were obviously thrilled to touch the tires and crane their neck to look up into the undercarriage.

"He made all of these kids happy," Forney said. "That's another feather in his cap."