My B-day

Yesterday was the big day. At one point the kiddos asked me How come grown ups didn't love their birthdays as much as little kids do. I don’t really know. I do enjoy the day just like the other days. I am glad that I was born and glad that I made it to another year. I couldn’t decide if I wanted to go out to eat or not. We finally decided on Olive Garden after we came home and changed from Mass.





This meant that getting lunch after 11:00 a.m. Mass took up most of the day. We sure had fun, so it was worth the time. My kiddos had the staff surprise me with a song and a cake.


The absolute highlight was watching Cowboy devour his first bread sticks. He fits right in, we all love the bread sticks.

Khloe' Update

So many of you have asked for an update of this little one. We are all so happy that Khloe' came home this week and is doing well. She went to ER when mom and dad could not console her. They think it was pain related and not injury. This young lady and her family have a tough road ahead of them. Please continue to pray and rejoice in the joyous words of Kiley when they brought her home.



We are so happy to finally be home!! What seemed like an eternity ago has actually been only been 19 days, but no matter how much time has passed; it is so worth it to go through whatever we have to in order to have our little girl. She completes our family and just solidifies the love our Father has for us in blessing us with such wonderful and special children as Brandon, Joshua, and now Khloe'.

We have a long and scary road ahead of us. We have only been home since around 4pm, and I am already paranoid about the boys being around her and being sick. They are wearing their masks and it is so hard for them to not touch her or hold her. Please pray for all of us to have patience during this time. The doctors have warned us that if Khloe' gets sick, we will be back in the hospital. Please pray for her guardian angel to protect her from germs and keep her safe.
Kiley



I thank you all for your many prayers. This young lady received a touch of heaven from the many people that prayed for her. She got to taste the communion that we all long for. I am so thankful that her parents have allowed us to journey with them. I know that our family will keep them in our hearts for a long time as I am sure many of you as well. Thank you God for Khloe' she is just beautiful!

Thanksgiving and Another Request for Baby Khloe'

Khloe' is doing well, she got all the tubes out and only has 1 IV, unfortunately they put it in her scalp and it will remain until we go home. It looks scary and painful, but actually it is better than in her hand because she can breastfeed well.

My prayer request comes to you tonight from a very heavy, worried heart. When we found out about Khloe's congenital heart defect, Tetralogy of Fallot, the Cardiologist mentioned briefly that sometimes this heart defect is associated with DiGeorge Syndrome. They took blood samples and are having chromosome testing done, basically it is a deletion of the 22 chromosome. They have not gotten the results yet, and I really don't know what DiGeorge is or how it will affect her if she does have it. But one thing the surgeon said is that her thymus was missing when he did the surgery, I am not sure what that is, but they say that can be an indication that she could have DiGeorge, also the fact that she has Tetralogy could also be an indicator. Sometimes when the thymus is missing or compromised, it could mean she will have immunity issues. So, the immunologist is coming to talk with us tomorrow. This has been a huge fear of mine, that she will get sick and not be able to fight it. I must say, this has me worried tremendously and I am finding it hard to keep my wits about me tonight.

Please pray that Khloe's test will be negative for DiGeorge and that her immunity will be fine. Please also pray for my strength as I feel it dwindling today. I know Ghaleb is extremely worried also, so please pray for him too. I miss all of you and I really just want this nightmare to end and to be home with our family. Blessings to all of you.

~Kiley G~

In Thanksgiving for successful surgery and a speedy recovery.
For Peace for the G family as they learn more about Khloe' and her needs.
For a negative result from the test for DiGeorge Syndrome.


We ask through Christ Our Lord, the Bread of Life.

Valentine Soda Shoppe

I love our neighborhood. They have these great traditions that have been around for years. I didn't realize how much they would become a part of our lives until we lived here for a few years. Now we will do just about anything not to miss the Valentine Soda Shoppe. At the clubhouse for the neighborhood the girl scouts and boy scouts serve the treats.
We all love the good old-fashioned ice cream soda and or the heart shape cookies. It is always very simple and always fun. We catch up with a neighbor or two and then get to enjoy the time at the park. It is always on the Sunday before the 14th. We had beautiful weather this past Saturday. After the ice cream the kiddos enjoyed the park.

Baby Khloe' is out of Surgery, Praise God!

Thank you all for all of your prayers!! Please say a few more for Khloe’ as she recovers. I will post her mom's update again but it is good news. Now the problems are known and they are no longer fighting the unknown’s and what if’s. I beg you to continue to uplift this family in prayer and I thank each of you for once again answering the call to pray.

We just finished meeting with the surgeon. He said that all the repairs went well, as he expected. . . All in all, surgery went well and the repairs are good. The pressures in her heart all measure very good, and she required little medication to get off the bypass machine. In fact, he said most children don't do well coming off the bypass, but our Khloe' didn't have any problems at all. She is fiesty!!

Praise God that all went well. We are waiting to see her now. Please pray for our strength to endure this sight, and for Khloe's strenght to recover quickly so she can be taken off the ventilator. Thanks be to God! Thanks to all of you for your constant prayers today and in the past days. God be with you all and God be with our precious Khloe'.

Kiley, Khloe's mom at 7:00 p.m.



I didn't realize how upset I was about this until I found out that her heart had started back up. I had a hard time today. It is amazing how this friend’s experience has taken us right back to those feelings of fear and dread and then relief and joy that we felt so personally just a few short years ago. Once again thank you for all your support two and half years ago when our own Moogie needed those prayers. Thank you God for bringing Khloe’ through today and thank you for allowing our Moogie to continue to live her life with a healed heart!

Khloe's mom's 1:30p.m. update

Khloe' has been on the bypass machine since 11:30am, she is doing well. The echo images were correct, so PRAISE GOD the surgeon will do the complete repair. He will begin with the small amount of tissue he has to remove from the right ventricle, next he will cut and widen the pulmonary artery and valve, then repair the hole between the ventricles, and then connect the left pulmonary artery that is disconnected. Once all the repairs are done, they will do another echo before they close her up to make sure everything is working as it should. There was also an issue of a subclavian artery that he had to release, but the nurse didn't mention that. Another update will follow around 3pm. Keep praying for Dr. Morales, he has been in with Khloe' all this time and I am sure he is needing strenght and precision right now. We are holding up but it is just about unbearable. Thank you all for lifting us up in prayer.

Kiley, Khloe's mom 1:30 p.m.

This update brought J and I to tears. Remembering that time in waiting while we knew that Moogie was on the perfusion machine was agony. We felt so alone, even though we were together, food didn't taste, we could hear and see people but we didn't interact, time was still, we dreaded each minute and yet were glad when it passed. The only hope we had was the tangible prayers we could "feel" from all of you. We couldn't pray our selves; at least we didn't "feel" like we could pray. We were very disconnected. I imagine that it is what purgatory must be like. The relief comes only when the little one heart starts back up again after the repairs. I pray that Khloe' will continue to be strong and do well and that God will continue to guide the doctors and staff.

I will copy more when we have more information.

Please Pray for Baby Khloe'

We have an immediate need to remember baby Khloe' today in our prayers! She is a newborn of a homeschooling family in the Bread of Life Group that we belong to. This very young baby will be undergoing open heart surgery today (Monday morning) to fix a congenital heart condition. Khloe' has been diagnosed with a severe congenital heart defect called Tetralogy of Fallot, where there are four issues wrong in the heart. To make matters worse, she also has an additional defect called Discontinuous Pulmonary Arteries, meaning her pulmonary artery, which would usually leave the right ventricle as one artery then split to the left and right, is "disconnected" on the right side.

The surgery is expected to last 7 to 9 hours. Please pray for her physical strength and her parent’s spiritual strength to endure this difficult time. We pray that the doctor’s hands will be guided and that Khloe's heart will be healed.
We ask this through Christ Our Lord, the Bread of Life.