Getty Owl Foundation

Our Most Sincere Thank You!

From Kate:

I want to start by apologizing in advance for the late posting about the Getty Owl Run/Walk. After Sunday was complete, I think I can speak for everyone on board, that we were pooped. 🙂 It is also amazing that all of the year long planning was for one day. Just doesn’t seem fair. 🙂 And in pure Kate fashion, once one thing ends another begins, so we are moving into another house this week. We have time right? 🙂

Before I even talk about the amazing day, I have to thank so many incredible people that helped make this happen.

I want to thank our board for giving us all you had that day and more. Getty Owl Foundation is and will always be a 100% volunteer foundation. There are certain times of the year when we put in very long hours to make an event something special and I just want to thank Stacey, Takoa, and Morgan for their love and their willingness to roll  up their sleeves and make a day memorable beyond belief. Thank you for your time and your passion.

Thank you to Chrissy and Sarita who have stepped in to add such richness to our fun little group. We appreciate your kind willingness to help us and we are so happy you are supporting us.

And if you were wondering what all of these lovely ladies look like I thought this picture fit quite nicely.It has been named, “the most awkward picture”, but in certain respects aren’t we all a little awkward. 🙂

Thank you to all of the hilarious helpers on packet pick-up days at Roseville Fleet Feet. I say hilarious because it has been a long time since I have really belly laughed and I seemed as though I  did two days straight with our weekend gang. Thank you to the San Juan HS ladies for all of your help and trouble we got into. Trina, Eileen, Mitzi and Shannon you gals do not disappoint and it was a pleasure to hang out with you all. We froze our butts off, but we did it in style. Thank you to Claudia and Denise. for hanging out and making Saturday a great day as well. I want to also thank trio of wonderful kiddos from Casa Robles  HS: Alex, Dani, Cameron.

Essential thank yous go to Rich and Kellie from Capital Road Race Management and Julie from Nor Cal Ultras. It was a pleasure working with you all and looking forward to next year.

Thank you to Kirk and the staff at Fleet Feet Roseville for hosting our packet pick-up. You were very accommodating and we really appreciate the support.

Thank you to all of the sponsors of the Getty Owl Run/Walk. Without your support, this day could never have happened, period! I am still in awe of the countless companies that stepped in to assist in so many different ways to make this day what it became, a huge success. We are a brand new foundation and for some companies, I know you were taking a big chance on us. My hope is that we have proven to you we can organize a successful family/community centered event. So thank you! Thank you!

I want to thank my husband for being daddy of the year for the past few weeks. Well let’s face it, Mark is awesome and he should get a medal for his support all year long, but for now I am giving him 1st place for the “ability to step in and help during the crazy last few weeks up till the race”. It has been crazy for all the right reasons and it was so comforting to know that he was right there help out with caring for Getty when I needed to make a phone call, write and email.

So you work all year long and then the day comes and you just have this moment of paralysis. “What if no one comes? What if too many people come? What if we forgot something? What if the beautiful weather instantly changes and everyone leaves?” I am sure I had crazy enough amounts of more thoughts like this, but once we got there and started unloading the truck and getting things done, it just kind turned into autopilot and we were rockin & rollin!

We had tons of post-race food, donated by Raley’s and Go Girl. We had the surprise giveaways of yummy owl decorated sugar cookies from the hands of San Juan HS FHA-HERO students. Kids, you do realize they will need to made again next year right? We received so much awesome feedback on the cookies to the point that adults said they were coming back for sure because of the cookies. 🙂

Our Post-race family festival was getting ready and people were still registering and then at one point I just kind of looked around and thought holy! We did this and this is really happening. Our goal of spreading awareness to a captive audience is coming true. It has been built and they are coming. At that point I went into focus mode. If I were to get through this day I needed a coping mechanism and that is my go to.

The kids race was first up and that couldn’t have been any cuter. Dinger from the Sacramento River Cats, several Disney Princesses and our own Hoot the Owl was there to run with the kids.

Grammy Linda, thank you again for the cute costume. I know the kids were so excited. We were as well, folks this is handmade. So cute!

Kids received their ribbons and then it as time to get to the main event. This race was such a community event, it was hard not to see someone you knew. Hugs were plentiful and catching up with so many people I had not seen in years was an awesome experience to the point I forgot that I needed to speak before the race began. Ooops!

I want to thank Sacramento City Councilmember Kevin McCarty for welcoming the crowd and saying some really nice words about our family and Getty Owl Foundation. Now the speaking turn came to me and I stepped up on the ladder to view an insane number of people. I told myself earlier that I was going to keep it short if I thought I was going to cry. I get all blubbering when that happens and that would stink for someone to hear that and then still have to run the race. 🙂 And then something really kind of weird happened. I really felt Getty’s presence with me, even though she was nestled in her bed at home with Mark.  I heard this teenage annoyed  like voice, “Mooooooom talk to them.”  And so I did. I thanked everyone for coming. I told them about SMA and how Getty was diagnosed at 4 months. I told them that 1 in 40 are carriers. most unknowingly.  I told them that is over 10 million Americans. I told them that it is as simple as blood test to determine for their generations to come. I told them that their is hope for our children. Then before I lost it, I thanked them for coming. It was very surreal to a) be  up there in front of the crowd and b) realize that for a moment over 850 people heard Spinal Muscular Atrophy.

The countdown started and they were off! If anyone has been an observer of a start of a race I think you know the feeling of adrenaline I might have been feeling. Pure adrenaline knowing that we had created this day for these people to run and walk. These people were lined up to sprint, jog, and walk the designated route along the Sacramento River. Such a feeling of accomplishment. Click here to check race results.

Post-Race Family Festival went great. There was food and hot drinks, smoothies by Jamba Juice, crafts, vendor booths, and people seemed to be having a great time. I want to thank all of the vendors for coming and supporting our event. It was nice to watch families finish the race together and then extend their day walking around the park.

We had our Getty Owl Foundation booth there as well to hand out information to people interested in learning more about SMA. Thanks to Frances and Chris for holding down the fort, while the rest of us were able to walk around and enjoy the day.

I want to thank all of the volunteers that came to support the event. Fraternities, sororities, Key Clubs and people with no affiliation came to lend a hand. Thank you so very much. You hard work was evident with how clean and organized everything was. We hope to work with you in the future.

This was a very special day. For any first time run I have heard that there is a level of uncertainty, especially knowing how many other races people could have gone to on this day. So to have over 850 registrations and making over $20,000 was mind boggling. We cannot even begin to explain how wonderful this makes us all feel.

We are just so thankful and humbled by the support and we are so excited to get planning on next years race. The 2nd Annual Getty Owl Run/Walk will happen and it will be even bigger and better next year.

So I thank you all for coming to our race. Thank you for giving us a platform to spread SMA awareness and in turn raise money for families affected by SMA and SMA research. We are beyond excited for what is to come for 2012. I think we already started off on the right foot. 🙂

Getty Owl Run/Walk Logistics

From Kate:

Okay so here we go. Less than a week out and I can’t tell you how crazy excited we are for Sunday to come. I wanted to do  little housekeeping today so if some of our participants have questions, I can try and answer them now.  If for some reason I have not answered your question, comment to this post or email us at hoot@gettyowl.org.

1) Am I going to have an amazing time? Yes

2) What time do the races begin? The 1/4 mile kids race starts at 8:05am. The 5K & 10K begin at 8:30am. Click here for more information.

3) Where is Packet Pick-Up? Go to Race Information under the events tab and there will be all of the dates and times. Packet Pick-up is Fleet Feet, Roseville both the Friday, 24th (2-8pm) and Saturday, 25th (10-6pm).

4) Can I wait and pick up my stuff on Sunday instead? Yes, it will be ready for you at the registration tent.

5) Can I register at Fleet Feet, Roseville and/or on the the day of the race, Sunday 26th? Absolutely! Registration fees will reflect the late registration price. You can pay with cash, check or credit.

6) What are the hours of the Post-Race family Festival? Vendor booths will be available as early as 7am, but the festival will really get jumping after the race.  Festival will end at 12 noon. Want to see a map of the park and find out who to be there? Click here!

7) Can I bring a stroller? Absolutely. We suggest that strollers start in the back.

8 ) Can my dog(s) run with me? It pains me to say this, but no.

9) Where do I park? There is parking on N Street for sure. Otherwise, we are downtown and parking is available on the streets. It is also on a Sunday and most parking is free. We highly encourage car pooling.

Thank you for helping to end SMA!

Have a terrific time!

Hoot! Hoot! 

And So The Countdown Begins!

From Kate:

With a week before the Getty Owl Run/Walk, I think everything is starting to hit me finally. I was cruising along pretty well for a while. At times I even forget that I was helping to organize a run. I guess I was just getting  into the grove and at times lost sight of what I was actually doing in the process of just pushing ahead. Perhaps we all do that in some ways.

But everything pretty much hit me today. Not in an emotional way, but more in like a triumphant way. I really felt like today I was making a difference to help end SMA. This feeling of empowerment was exhilarating.

Today I drove by the hospital where I gave birth to Getty. It is the same place we go to for all of her appointments, but on the one side of the block you can only see the hospital.

This was the place where I was admitted to be induced. I had enough magazines to occupy my pregnant mind. I had my pillow, my iPod for soothing music, etc. This was the place that told me that my baby’s heartbeat was great. This was the place where my military mid-wife “coached me”, more like “ordered me”  through almost 24 hours of labor. This was the place that was going to do everything in their power to make sure I was that mom, who got to carry out her healthy baby and start an incredible life as a family.

Even though we go to this place frequently for appointments, there is just something about seeing the hospital that I still hold resentment. I know in time it will diminish, but I still have strong feelings that Getty, Mark, and I were all robbed of that stereotypical reality. And now the reasons for going to that hospital is because of interventions we make to help make sure Getty can eat safely and interventions we make to make sure she recovers from sickness.

What struck me this time as I drove by that hospital today was this: Life just isn’t fair! Simple as that.

I would give anything to take SMA away from Getty and any child for that matter. But since there is no cure yet, what I do have the power to do is plenty. I have the ability to give her all the nutrients she need. I have the ability to support her respiratory needs. I have the ability to constantly teach our doctors best practices. I have the ability to help make her happy,  however I’ll be honest, she does a good job of that herself. 🙂 And yes, life might not be fair, but I can do something.

So today I did.  With the help of some awesome and very generous people we did this!

We packed the swagger wagon with 800 goody bags full of stuff for all the participants for the run next Sunday. I should have taken a pictures, especially of all of the great kids from William Jessup University, Casa Robles High School, and some great ladies (Denise and her daughter, Morgan, Takoa, and Shea and her two daughters). Thank you all for helping.

800 goody bags who will be getting all kinds of swag from:

Thanks to all of the companies that offered to be a part of not only adding items to our goody bags, but for also supporting our race. The support from local and national companies has been an unbelievable blessing.

So back to the “Life isn’t fair” statement. Yep, it is true maybe is not, but since Getty’s diagnosis what I am learning is, what to do with that uncertainly to make it a positive.

So this is what I do know.

I know that 800 bags will be given out that has information about Spinal Muscular Atrophy.

I know that the Getty Owl Run/Walk is all about raising awareness about SMA and raising funds for reasearch.

I know that we will have a booth at the post-race family festival and I know that people will stop by.

I know that many people had heard about our foundation and signed up for the run/walk.

I know we are doing something positive.

Perhaps someone in the crowd will learn about SMA and educate another person. Perhaps someone will notice the 1 in 40 SMA carrier statistic and feel compelled to get a simple blood test that can educate generations to come. Perhaps someone in the crowd will hear that 1 in every 6,000 births is to a child with SMA and now want to do more to help find a cure. And hopefully everyone has such a great time next Sunday, that they want to come back next year.

Oh yes, we are doing this again next year and the next and the next! 🙂

So you can probably guess what I was feeling on the way back from the goody bag assembly party today. I felt amazing and I also could not wait to get back to Miss Getty. Wouldn’t you know it the timing was perfect, it was nap time. I joined her as quickly as I could. I kissed her on the head and brushed her hair and I just told her how proud I am of her. She is such an inspiration and I am just so incredibly fortunate to be her mommy. I also told her that there are even more warriors out their learning and fighting against SMA. More soldiers trying desperately to help find a cure. Getty just kind of looked at me as if to say, “Mom enough already, it’s neenie time (that is what we call nap time), quit talking and get to snuggling.” Man she is pushy. 🙂

So the countdown begins to the first of many Getty Owl Run/Walk. We are all so very excited. There are so many cool things happening Sunday, February 26th. Some surprises that I know everyone their will say, WHAT? This is awesome! A new surprise just came up today. I can’t tell you what “it” is, but I do want to thank Mama Linda for being so crafty.

Thank you all in advance for registering. For others who have not yet, I hope you can join us, there is still lots of time to register.

Hoot!

2012 Valentine’s Day Montage

From Kate:

Last year we put together a little collection of pictures played to music “montage”. So I thought why not do it again. Getty is becoming such a little lady and I want to celebrate her girliness and individuality. We are so, so blessed to have had another year of beautiful pictures of Miss Getty.

Update on her health is simple……she is doing awesome and with every passing day she is getting more personality. She is so sassy and so sure of herself. We are all enjoying her so much. She is starting to formulate sounds and words better. I wish I could bottle up her loud squeals, they are magical and they brighten our day.

Since 2011 Valentine’s Day, it has been a year of blessings, worries, education, understanding, forgiving, fighting (in a good way :)), good fortune, love, commitment, uncertainty, and perseverance.  This journey is very windy and there are times when not being able to see around the next corner can be so scary and then we just look at Getty and things just seem to work out. I need to keep remembering that she is driving. And what kind of car is she driving? If I had to guess it would be something fast with flames on it. She is not the type to not be noticed. 🙂

Happy Valentine’s Day

Thank You Inside Publications

From Kate:

We wanted to take a moment to thank Inside Publications and more specifically Terry Kaufman for a very special interview and article in this month’s February edition. The article talks about our Miss Getty, about SMA, about Getty Owl Foundation, and about our fight as a family to spread SMA awareness and help fight to find a cure for Getty and her friends.

We have always been a big fan of Inside Publications. They do an outstanding job of embracing our community and giving us all a chance to meet some incredible people that live among us and the contributions they make to the community. So when we got the call to do this article, well we were beside ourselves. It has been such a humbling experience to be given this opportunity.

We got great feedback from lots of people about the article. Thank you for all the nice emails and comments.

Getty had a great time getting her picture taken. I swear she is beginning to turn into a little diva. She followed the camera the entire time of the photo shoot. It was so cute. 🙂

Here is the article in its entirety.