We just booked their hotel and flights for November 30th-December 4th.  Katie and her family will be staying at the brand new, beautiful, Courtyard Anaheim Theme Park Entrance Hotel. 

http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/snadt-courtyard-anaheim-theme-park-entrance/

Unfortunately the Disneyland Hotel was booked out until February.  We wanted them to go as soon a possible with her eyes declining and before she goes through her intensive guide dog training in January.  The new Courtyard hotel is only 5 minutes from the entrance of Disneyland (10 minutes closer than the Disney Hotel).  It also has an awesome heated water park area and a wonderful large suite that would fit their entire group (we felt especially blessed since this suite is very difficult to find available in December).   The kids still know nothing about the trip but Katie and Jesse are so excited to surprise them and are especially thrilled that we could book the trip so soon.  After the trip we would love to share how the trip went and we'll definitely share some photos.

Thanks to all of you who made this dream, not only possible but better than ever, while Katie can enjoy her one and only wish while she still has enough sight to see the magic on her children's faces.    

We have collected $5,263.36 + points for 4 flights!
If you still want to donate we are accepting donations until they leave for their trip.  
We have used the money received to cover the 3 day Disney passes for 7 people (We were excited to learn that the 3 day passes include 2 magic mornings where they get into Disneyland an hour early with the Disneyland Hotel guests),  4 nights in the new Courtyard suite, 3 flights, a shuttle to and from LAX, & cost of food. We have kept a thorough account of the incoming donations and a thorough calculation of the cost of the trip. If you have any questions feel free to email us.  Any additional donations at this time will go into their trust and will go towards a fun activity such as Goofy's Kitchen (a breakfast with the characters) or the Bibbidi boutique (where the girls get their hair, make-up and nails done and they are dressed up as princesses) or souvenirs for the kids. 

We will close the trust at the time of their trip.

 

  

Please email Ally Griffin at allyvenice@gmail.com if you have questions.

We broke the big news to Katie yesterday...

 it was absolutely touching & heart warming. 

The following is a thank you letter from Katie:

To each and every one of you, THANK YOU!  I’m still overwhelmed by your generous gift for our family.  Thank you for giving me the opportunity to see my children experience joy and happiness in a magical place!  We are going to keep it a secret and surprise them, because who doesn’t love surprises?! 

The most important thing I wanted to express is how your love had touched my soul.  I’ve always prided myself in being able to handle any and everything that has come my way.  Being diagnosed with an eye disease was no different.  I thought I could just keep it to myself and do what I needed to do to learn how to adjust my life according to my present ability to see.  I didn’t, and still don’t want to be a burden on anyone because we all have busy lives and challenges to face.  As time has gone on, I’ve been a little more open with my situation to family and friends.  When I opened the card last Tuesday and saw so many names of friends, people who don’t personally know me, as well as anonymous donors, my heart was completely overcome with thankfulness and love.  I feel like you all are angels who are standing by me and our family as we travel this path.  I don’t feel like a burden but just feel your love and that is so comforting, healing, and truly makes me feel accepted and strong.

Once again, thank you for loving our family, for your generosity, and your service.  It makes me want to be a better person and to reach out to help others who may be climbing their own mountains. 

With love,

                 Katie

We wish you all could have been there to witness the shock, emotion & happy tears as Katie learned her wish had been granted thanks to the love and generosity of all of you.  Since you couldn't be there we thought we would share a bit of the experience.
  
Last night, five friends who led different portions of this fundraiser surprised Katie at BJs for what Katie thought was a simple girls night out.  When we dropped the big surprised it was so sweet to hear her express that she had never won anything before and she couldn't believe the kindness and love everyone has shown her family.  Katie could offer only a few words the first half of the evening because as she tried she became overwhelmed with emotion.  However, when she was able to speak she expressed how shocked, loved, touched, excited, and overcome she felt by the love of both friends and people she didn't know.  She expressed this was truly her one and only wish and it was actually coming true.  

Below is a copy of the card we gave Katie.  We debated whether we should make this anonymous or not and decided there was something beautiful in seeing the 60+ names of all of you who wanted Katie's wish to be granted.  Some families wished to remain anonymous so we mentioned this too.  I blurred the names for the purpose of this post but we thought you might like to see the card we used to help break the big news.

Katie suspected absolutely nothing so when we dropped the news it was a huge surprise.  And when her husband Jesse heard the big news and learned that 3 day passes, 4 nights in a hotel, transportation, and additional perks would all be covered he was shocked & overwhelmed by the love of so many.