What a wonderful week.......full of wonderful memories!! Thanks Pittsburgh...

Well it has been a month since we came home from the games, and once again it was a wonderful experience for my family and myself. Seeing all of you again, and making some new friends throughout the week was such a special experience for us. Thank You all for that!! Before we get to far back into the daily routines, I want to finish blogging our great experience in Pittsburgh.

I have included a few pictures of the voleyball game, basketball games, and track and field events. Joe won 2 bronze medals this week. One in the 200 m and one in the 400 m. Track and Field is something new for him at this years games, and we all enjoyed the day at the track so much. We will be back. The weeks events were topped off by the announcement at the closing ceremonies that the 2010 U.S.Transplant Games were set to be held in Madison Wisconsin. Yes, as you can imagine, we got real loud. That feeling will have to last us two long years now! Keep the feeling and spirit alive by coming out to support some our fundraisers throught these years. Hope to see you all soon.

Gold, Silver, Bronze, yes, everyone is a Winner at these Games!!

The quilt at the Convention Center is an awe inspiring sight!

Let me start this blog segment out by saying that if I were in charge of handing out the medals at this years games, a Gold medal would go to each of our own Team Wisconsin Cheerleaders! These girls are great, and really know how to get the crowd going. The cheers are great, their never ending spirit is great, and now they are even doing lifts! What next?

What a great day of sporting events, led off by the 5k walk/run. The events were so much fun to watch. We saw table tennis, basketball, and stopped for a while to reflect on the Donor Quilt. We took a picture of Joe's Donor's Quilt Square and I e-mailed it to our donor family this morning. They are gonna love it.

The table tennis matches were so much fun to watch. Bob and Darin you guys rock.....
In the evening we went to watch Basketball. Each of our teams won there first game and gave it their best in the second games. Good fight team! The fan support at these games was something to see. What a special group of people!

More to follow tomorrow.......see you then !!!

Opening Ceremonies/5K Walk

Opening Ceremonies

Team Wisconsin fans, all I can say is WOW!!! Once again, we made our voices heard (or should I say herd.) The signs were waved proudly by so many of you, and the cows were flying high. Our Team Wisconsin Cheerleaders led us in some great cheers. Thanks girls! What a great ceremony. It was such an honor to see our awesome Team Wisconsin athletes, living donors and donor families enter the arena. We are so proud of each and every one of you and all the efforts you put forth to be here. It is an honor and a privilege to cheer for you. The ceremony was a great celebration of the Gift of Life. Touching stories of survival, sacrifice, love, giving, sharing, caring and of course the viewing of every shape and size of scar you could ever imagine, courtesy of Larry Hagman. So now its Official. As the announcer said,

"LET THE GAMES BEGIN"

See You all at the Venues.

Good Luck and Have Fun!!!

Team Wisconsin, 7-11-2008

HELLO PITTSBURGH!!

Well it's official. The wait is finally over. We are here in Pittsburgh, and it is awesome. After heading to the Convention Center to have the 2008 Team Wisconsin picture taken, registering, and getting all our goodies at the Expo we headed to PNC Park for a Pittsburgh Pirates Game. In true Team Wisconsin style, we started out our stay here with a bang. The tailgate party that was set up for us when we arrived at the park was fantastic! And what a view!! Our own Team Wisconsin cheerleaders gave us a taste of what's to come during the competitions. "You guys have been practicing!!" It's so good to see all our team members beginning to gather together. The game was a great time too. (I think we may have even changed the Pirates mascot to a Cheese head, if only for a brief minute.) And if that weren't enough, a huge fireworks display was set off after the game, and Team Wisconsin had front row seats. We have had so much fun already and the Games haven't even begun yet! Hope you enjoy some of the photos, courtesy of Jennifer and we will be back again right here tomorrow with more. Have fun!!!

Excited

I just check the transplant games website and the count down clock is at 1 day and 12 hours! Sooo exciting, I can't wait. The games rock the house!!! I hope all fans have their voices tuned and ready for all the cheering we are gonna do!

Go Team Wisconsin!