Beautiful Gianna

Today, my good friend Vicki's daughter Gianna passed away. I can't even begin to imagine the pain that family is feeling. Gianna is one of the most gentle kind person I have ever meet. Please keep the family in your thoughts and prayers.

Gianna Update

Gianna continues to be in critical condition. She was placed on a ventilator earlier today and her brain is swelling. The dialysis machine has arrived from California and they are waiting for the pressure to go down before she is placed on the machine. Please continue to pray for her.

Prayers for Gianna

Beautiful Gianna

Please pray for Gianna Esposito. Gianna is the eighteen-year-old daughter of my very good friend Vicki, and the sister of Alyssa's best friend, Val. On Thursday, Gianna called her mom from Columbia College, where she is attending, complaining of vomiting and dizziness. Friday night, Vicki took Gianna to Palos emergency room. On Saturday, she was transferred to University of Chicago hospital in critical condition. Initially she was diagnosed with hepatitis as her liver was shutting down. As of the writing of this post, they are not sure what she has. Her liver and know her kidneys have shut down. She is on the list for a liver transplant. In addition, there is a machine that can be used like dialysis. It is not FDA approved so U of C personnel need to contact Washington for approval prior to it being used. If Gianna is able to use the machine, it could help her kidneys and liver start working on their own or it could keep her alive until a donor becomes available. Today her condition has stayed the same as yesterday.

Apple Picking 2001

Apple Picking Tradition

Every year, since Alyssa was 2 years old, we have gone apple picking. It began with just my family, then we started going with Cathy Martin and her kids. Then last year, Amy and her kids joined us. This we went to a different orchard. The jury is still out as to which is the better orchard.

Happy Birthday Times Three

Do you believe it, three special people celebrating their birthdays on the same day. We have my great- nephew Cooper, my niece Samantha, and a great nephew Eric.

May your birthdays be as wonderful as you are!!

Soccer Fun

The weekend was spent at the soccer field. Jared's team had a soccer tournament with 2 shorten games on Saturday and a shorten game Sunday to advance to the championship game on Sunday afternoon. His team is amazing because of the skill, sense of the game, high level of sportsmanship, and most importantly, they had fun.

Soccer Part 2

Being a player is tough work- almost as tough as being a spectator. The game to advance to the championship game ended in a tie, which means there needs to be a shootout. Each team is allowed to select 5 players to take a shot at the goal. After 3 kicks from each side, we were still in a tie situation. Finally, we had a goal to advance us to the championship game. Unfortunately, we did not fair as well in the championship game and ended up losing the game. The kids were sad until one of the parents pulled out Silly String. What a great idea as it put smiles back on the kid's faces.

Opening Blog

Well this is it. I fought the temptation to create a blog for a long time and finally gave in. I am still trying to figure out why I am doing this. It will be interesting to see how long I blog. I mean honestly, do I need to add one more thing to my life? Did you every wonder why they call it blog. I'm thinking it should be called blah, blah, blah.