Getty Owl Foundation

Full Circle

From Kate:

Sometimes you have moments that make you step back and wonder “how could this be true?”

When Getty was first diagnosed at 4 months, our family was lucky enough to receive an interview by one of our local TV stations that leant their ear and their time to showcase the heartache we were going through. But most importantly the awareness for SMA that we felt was so vital at that moment. The shock we felt with the diagnosis made us instantly want to tell the world about this horrible condition. We were given that time and we were so incredibly thankful.

Fast forward: The camera woman that filmed our interview in 2010 now just happens to work for the same school district as I did for the last ten years as a teacher. It was not until a phone conversation that we both connected the dots. It was a really comforting conversation.  I was excited for her to see Getty after almost two and a half years.

Rebecca’s goal was to interview our story while connecting the story with a program that was going on at New San High School, the very same high school I taught at for ten years. Earth Day was coming up and it was a perfect time to showcase a program that we have had on campus for a considerable amount of time. Headed by Kendall Macgregor, the Community Transition Program, the adults enrolled are learning life skills. They have been recycling at the high school for years and they used the money earned for all kinds of reasons. In the last two years, they have donated some of their funds to Getty Owl Foundation.

We are so proud of their hard work and their willingness to use their hard earned money to donate to helping the fight against SMA.

A video was created by Rebecca yesterday and we wanted to share. It was a very emotional day when Rebecca came but I was also so excited for Getty to show how she is beating the odds.

The bubble Mark and I have created is stable, functioning, and helps Getty thrive. There was a moment in the interview that I became very emotional and I wanted to explain why because to me it is worth noting.

I had a moment to explain how fortunate we are to have an SMA community that helps us care for Getty. It does take a village and I think sitting in front of the camera, I had flashbacks of times in which we needed to make split second decisions and had we not had a conversation on trouble shooting emergency situations, it is very likely Getty would not be with us. We continue to learn from families all over the United States and it is my hope that our family in some way shape or form have been able to contribute in some way as well.

We would like to thank Rebecca Leroux for the interview and for her thoughtful video. Rebecca you have given us another opportunity to educate and tell Getty’s story. We would like to thank Kendall’s awesome kids that believe in making this world a better place and knowing that helping others is the best gift anyone can give of themselves.

Thank you all so very much.

Here is the video, click HERE!

Winner of the Family Four Pack! Sorry so late. :)

From Kate:

We were having a lot of fun over here that we forgot about drawing a winner. Oopsie.

The random winner is……….Heidi!

Thank you all for commenting and participating.

Heidi can you email us at hoot@gettyowl.org so we know for sure you can make the event. If not, I will draw for a new winner.

Happy Friday Everyone!

Ticket Giveaway to Family Fun Fest This Saturday!

From Kate:

Our friends at the Junior League of Sacramento are putting on an incredible event THIS Saturday, April 20th from 5:30-8:30pm at Fairytale Town.

The  Junior League of Sacramento, Inc. is an organization of women committed to promoting voluntarism, developing the potential of women, and improving communities through the effective action and leadership of trained volunteers.

They host events, like this, to raise funds to support community programs. Kids in the Kitchen program, Rethink your Drink campaign, and their Read and Feed Garden, and  The Sacramento Food Bank and Family Services,  are only just a few out of many programs  JLS support.

What to look forward to at Family Fun Fest:

Facepainting

Yoga

Kid’s Cook-off

Kid Friendly Booths as well as many other booths. *They have been nice enough to have us there too. 🙂 We are so excited!

-Make Musical Instruments

-Arts & Crafts

-Food Trivia

-Decorating pots and planting seeds

Live Music

Martial Arts and Dancing Demonstrations

Food

Raffle

You can purchase tickets HERE as well as at the door on the day of. 

GIVEAWAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

JLS has been awesome enough to let us give away one Family Four Pack (A value of $60)

Here is how you win. Leave a comment……it is as easy as that. We will choose randomly on Friday (April 19th at noon). Tickets will be at will call at Fairytale Town for the winner.

We hope you have a terrific time and stop by our booth and say hello. 🙂

Easter With A Side Of Bacon

From Kate:

The week of the 24th of March was pretty busy for Miss Getty. Her birthday was that Monday, Mark’s Birthday was Saturday,  followed by Easter on Sunday. Grammy and Papa to come over for brunch.

Happy Birthday Daddy!

For Easter we kept things pretty low key, we already knew she was pretty pooped and so we did not want to push it. Grammy and Papa came over and we had brunch at the house.

We colored eggs and also dressed a few up from a really cute egg kit. Introducing Getty and King Egg.

She had a great time picking out what each egg was going to look like.  Grammy brought a sweet basket full of fun things for Getty. I was not very festive this year, but I did find these glasses that I thought Getty might like. I think she thinks she is invisible if she wears glasses.

After opening all of her Easter gifts, we all ate brunch.

Side-note: When Mark and I were dating we often went out to dinner. One thing that I noticed about Mark’s choice of entrees ALWAYS included meat. In his opinion, breakfast, lunch and/or dinner did not count without a slice of meat. I never understood it. I still don’t. 🙂

Typically for special meals, we will give Getty a chance to try different fruits and vegetables. I get really nervous when it comes to giving Getty food. I obviously don’t want her to swallow the food, but I also get nervous because food increases secretions and so in between tastes, I suction like crazy. Having said that, the great thing about having Getty taste different foods helps to increase mouth and tongue movement.

So here we were all are sitting at the kitchen table eating brunch and I was choosing different fruits and vegetables for Getty to try. Getty was loving it. Cantaloupe, strawberries, and mangoes were all big hits. Then I heard a voice across the table. “Have her try a piece of bacon.” said my husband. I think I glared back at him as if to say, a) My daughter will not eat meat, b) There is grease on it, c) Getty won’t like it.

Well I was wrong. Getty LOVED bacon. Once she tasted the bacon, she did not want to go back to any of that silly fruit stuff. 🙂

In between bacon tastes, I suctioned. The grease was very scary for me, but we saw how much she enjoyed it, there was no way I could deny her of her genetic love of meat and in this case, bacon.

Easter was a beautiful day spent with family. The weather was perfect and so was the Bacon! 🙂

Number 3

From Kate:

These past few weeks have been a blur and I have not had a chance to recap Getty’s beautiful birthday. Well……it was beautiful. It was such a celebratory day and it was quite fitting for our little lady. It did occur to us that this birthday in particular she knew what was going on. Meaning her first birthday I think she was just thinking all the colors and candles and signing was just pretty cool. Getty’s 2nd birthday was also a lot of fun, but again not sure if she was putting two and two together that this was her special day. Well I am here to tell you that “she gets it now”.

Getty clearly knows what the word “present” means. We needed to be very careful how we used that word in the house. Now that I think about it, “surprise” was a word we needed to use carefully as well. Little stinker knew something was up and she knew it had something to do about her. 🙂

We started Getty’s birthday at the Sacramento Zoo. We packed up the van and we were off for adventure. Getty got to wear her birthday dress and sunglasses, however we needed a hat for her. The weather was nice and cloudy, but we wanted to still be careful for the occasional burst of sun. We ventured into the gift shop and found just the right hat. Pink seems to now be a must in regards to color for Getty lately. Good thing her hat fit perfect, or we may have needed to buy her an huge adult hat. 🙂

We got a chance to move about the park easy. The park was not very busy, which made for better views for Getty.

The giraffes were out, which was nice. I think last time we came, they were in their home. Her owl friend was hanging out waiting to wish Getty a happy birthday. The flamingos were so regal and proud to parade around while Getty talked to them and as we were able to capture some great pictures of her in awe of their bright colors.

After making our way around the entire park we took the opportunity to ride on the carousel. This was Getty’s first time. Mark and I were really excited to experience this with her. I originally was a bit nervous about taking her on it. It just seemed so fast. I was also nervous about the “stopping” part. Was Getty going to have a meltdown knowing the song was over and the ride was over. Geeeeesh!

Well in true Getty form, neither happened. She loved it! We loved that she not only had a great time but also got to experience something new. And now we know we will need to hit the carousel before we leave the zoo every time now.

Once we got home it was off to a birthday nap. 🙂

Once Getty was up and ready to go after her breathing treatment, it was present time.

Grammy and Papa came over and we all were able to spend some nice time as a family.

Grandma Evelyn, Grandpa Evin and her cousins (Rachel and Sarah) sang her the Happy Birthday song by phone. She loved both versions. 🙂

Miss Princess Getty wore her tiara and held her scepter the entire night if that gives you any indication of how much she was enjoying her birthday. She was in great spirits the entire night and she just seemed to really soak in the birthday festivities. She now has a healthy obsession with Tinkerbell (I will talk about this later), so her cake needed to be fairy like with Tinkerbell on top. 🙂

Getty loved all of her presents, cards, txts, emails, fb comments. Thank you all for the love and support.

Getty received books, all things Tinkerbell, Disney big and small. Getty loved each and everyone of them and we are still really enjoying everything.

March 25, 2013 was a beautiful day. Our little lady is 3. Getty’s  life is blossoming, memories continue as a family, and life is beautiful. As parents, Mark and I got a chance to soak up the day in the way I would guess any parent might do. We are so proud of Getty, we are embracing all the memories made this day and so looking forward to more.

As I laid next to her sleeping body that night I could not take my eyes off of her. She slept so soundly and so beautifully. I held her little right hand and I touched it against my face. I needed to feel closer to her at that moment. I was hoping  that in some way she could feel my warm cheek and my kisses as she dreamed that night. I wanted Getty to feel my love, I wanted her to dream about how much her mommy loves her and how proud I am of her.

I know Getty did not choose this life. I know we did not choose this life. But we are choosing to live life together and the ride so far has been breathtaking. Here is to looking forward and taking advantage of 2013.

Happy Birthday sweet Getty Emelia. We ALL love you.