Go Get Your Coffee Today!

From Kate:

Bucks for Kids going on RIGHT NOW!!!! Huge thanks to Dutch Bros. Coffee of Citrus Heights and Fair Oaks for being such an amazing supporters of Getty Owl Foundation. Share, share, share! Coffee, coffee, coffee! Help raise funds to support our fight to end SMA! $1 from every single sale goes directly helping us fight SMA and provide support to families affected by SMA. We could not exist as a foundation without the amazing support of companies such as Dutch Bros. Every year they step to help make a difference and for that we are so humbled and thankful.

Adventures of Getty!

From Kate:

Time is certainly jetting by us at the speed of light. So many memories created and cherished throughout the spring and summer. I have been so guilty of not getting to the blog and talking about all of them. Something incredible will happen and then while I would like to post about it, something even cooler happens. I guess you can say we have all been under a huge stack of awesome. Stopping to write about it has just been difficult.

So I used what movie skills I currently have (which is almost none) to create a video of Getty’s Adventures. Some huge highlights of the past 6 months:

-Turned 6!

-Movie Days with friends. Zootopia, Finding Dory, The Secret Life of Pets.

-Kindergarten was so amazing.

-Spending time with fur brothers.

-Easter fun.

-Make A Wish meeting!

-OMG a week at Disneyland!

-Met all different cast members.

-Went swimming in a big pool.

-Sunbathed beside the big pool.

-Got VIP status at the Disney parade.

-Met baby KJ.

-Celebrated Mother’s Day and Father’s Day.

-Spent time up in the stander and sitting upright.

-Got a haircut.

-Listened to tons of music and books.

-Lost teeth and got cool presents from the Tooth-fairy.

-Reading on my own and out loud.

-Graduated from Kindergarten.

-Celebrated with my friends.

-Spent a week near the beach to relax.

-Enjoyed a few playdates and birthday parties with my friends.

-4th of July was awesome.

-Went shopping.

-Canned Pickles.

-Had a good time at the State Fair.

-Watching lots and lots of soccer!

-Loved time with family and friends.

That is a pretty stellar list, if you ask me. Getty was active, mobile, and just so social this year. We are so proud of her growth and independence.

Enjoy the video.

While Getty may have SMA, but SMA clearly does not have her.

Click below for video

Adventures of Getty

We Are Out To Discover Giveaway Announcement!!!!!

From Kate:

We would like to thank everyone who participated. We are so thankful to be able to have a vehicle for helping fellow SMA families. It was so great to get to know many families in the SMA Community. Thank you all for your time.

We hope to be able to do another giveaway just like this for the upcoming school year in September. So keep a look out near the beginning of September. 🙂

We hope this giveaway was helpful. Again, I know when we were up and mobile with external power, the world just kind of opened up for Getty and our ability to take her places to explore.

We hope you all have a great time this summer. Sounds like you all have some very fun activities planned for your kiddos. Enjoy!

Here are our 6 recipients.

GIVEAWAY: We Are Out To Discover!

From Kate:

As the end of school year draws to a close, we take pause in how incredible this year has been for Getty. Many firsts for our little lady. Many memories made. Much growth in all kinds of ways. With the end of the school year we try our best to get out of town to basically breathe for the year. It gives us all a chance to change the scenery. Our lives kind revolve around the academic school year, as many families do. Fall is the beginning of school, new people, new things. Near the end of fall we start to move more inside and we basically shutter off our lives from November-April. When RSV season rears its ugly head, we need to keep Getty as healthy and safe as we can and most of the time that means we cannot venture out into the rest of the world. We just completed our sixth RSV season and while it always seems daunting to retreat inside the four walls of our home, we have seemed to nail the idea of truly living life enclosed. It is amazing how much life you can conquer while sequestered for months on end. 🙂 However isolation never truly gets comfortable and I find that near the end of March, everyone in the house is hankering for some sun, breeze, and new places.

We are lucky enough to be able to find little niches during the summer to get away, recoup and enjoy the summer. In order to leave the house for hours/days, we have to have backup power for all of Getty’s machines. It is a nonnegotiable. It will always be a nonnegotiable. Most of Getty’s machines come with back-up battery power, but it seems that those that are the most important either do not come with this option or that the power offered is not powerful enough to sustain a long trip in the car. So a battery/inverter system is essential for safe travel.

Many aspects of an SMA life are not paid through insurance. Many life saving options are either denied for various reasons or they aren’t even considered. Out of pocket expenses can truly add up and they can become a financial burden.

So we want to help some SMA families get the back-up power they need to get moving this summer and lessen the financial load in powering up life saving machines for their amazing warrior kiddos. We are having a giveaway!!!!!!!!

We will be giving away 6 battery/inverter systems and a getaway quilt to help some SMA families get moving this summer!!!!!!!

How to enter:

Email one submission to hoot@gettyowl.org with the following information:

-Your first and last name. 

-Your address.

-Your child’s name.

-SMA type. 

-What special trip would you go on this summer to make memories if you had this system? 

-Submit a picture of your child and/or entire family. 

*No purchase necessary. One submission per household. All entires are available for submission starting today (now), May 31st-June 7th (6pm, pacific time). 

* The six SMA families will be chosen at random using random.com. All winners will be announced on June 8th. If you have any questions, please feel free to email us. 

-A BIG thank you to fellow SMA mama Barb for making such beautiful quilts. Thank you to all of our donors for giving us the ability to purchase these battery/inverter systems for SMA families.

Getty’s Door To Inclusion

From Kate:

Getty’s academic journey has been a very exciting road. She is now nearing the end of Kindergarten and as I look back, she has grown heaps from the infant program to pre-school and now to kindergarten. She is academically ready for 1st grade. She is also knocking it out of the park socially. With the help of the telepresence robot called VGo, she is able to connect, communicate, and develop relationships.

Technology can be a great burden, but it can also be a welcome addition to a little girl that just wants to be one of the kids. This technology is giving her the ability, power, and independence to do so. We have had some incredible people along the way of Getty’s educational journey. Many have been here from the start and they were/are huge advocates in assisting with Getty’s needs and abilities.

A video was created last year by an amazing man named Larry Edelman that truly captured Getty’s pre-school experience. The hope was to offer counties, districts, teachers, advocates, parents an option for obtaining as close to inclusion experience for their child that may be homebound temporally or permanently. The video was a huge success and I tip my hat to Larry who was able to really capture Getty’s early experiences with the VGo and her classmates.

This past year Larry came back to do an update and…. well…..this video is amazing. I have no other words to say. Please watch, please share, and please keep in mind that education should be for all kids. True education, inclusive education regardless of special need.

Enjoy

*Larry, you are wonderful and a loving addition to Getty’s village. Thank you for your kindness and attention to detail.

Click below!

Getty’s Door to Inclusion on VGo