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I'm a Godfather!!! Look!

OK, so I said that the next time I wrote I would be out of the country - well, I decided to write before I landed in Europe. I¹m actually writing on the plane on a flight from Chicago to Boston on my way to somewhere in Europe. Can you guess?? TRY!

The end of the show in Wyoming was great! I had a really nice time with my
EMHE family and the people of Cheyenne were welcoming, polite and nice. One
of the most beautiful memories I will have of my experience there will be
the sunsets I would see most of the nights. Take a look at this one!


This is the second to the last night we were there. Breathtaking! My friends at www.429life.com have given me these great shirts to wear on the show. They are comfortable, stylish and made of great quality. Here I am wearing one of my favorites. It¹s a short sleeve T with buttons going down the front. I love the fabric!!

If you're a guy or you have a guy to buy for, you can't go wrong with these products.
So as soon as I finished shooting last Saturday, I immediately went to the Denver airport and caught a plane to Chicago. I checked into the The Drake Hotel downtown. Here is a pix of the view from my hotel room on the 7th floor.

Nice right?? It is a beautiful older glamorous hotel that keeps its allure alive. It is located right on Lake Michigan. After having had some of the craziest weather in history the week before, I was lucky to experience Chicago with absolutely beautiful weather!
I stopped in Chicago because my great friend and fellow designer from Extreme Makeover:Home Edition, Ed Sanders and his lovely wife, Gioia, asked me to be a Godfather to one of their triplets, Lucia. Here is a picture of the triplets together, Scarlet, Azure and Lucia in order from left to right.

It was a very special day. It started at the home of Gioia's Parents, who live in a Villa outside of Chicago designed by their two oldest sons and Gioia's older brothers, Peter and Anthony. I was very impressed by the Villa¹s design and the neighborhood it was built in. Here I am in one of the carports looking cool with Max Sanders, Ed & Gioia Sander's son.


Apparently, not too long ago, the area was filled with cornfields. In fact, on the way to the Villa I saw some cornfields and was impressed by the fact that cornfields still existed so close to the city of Chicago. I guess I'm
still surprised when I travel around the country and find that the cities aren't as dense as L.A. and N.Y. Here is a picture of the Villa. Beautiful. Right??


So we all were there; Both Ed and Gioia's family, close friends, and the three sets of Godparents gathered to dress the adorable triplets. We then caravanned to the family's local church. I met so many great people, including Ed's family, father and mother, Sister Claude, and brother Tom as well as many other family and friends. Here I am at the church with Lucia and Katia, Lucia's Godmother who is Gioia's cousin who traveled from Sicily for the
event.

Here again with proud father and great friend, Ed Sanders.

So after the baptism and wonderful private lunch at Maggiano¹s, a small group retreated back to La Villa for drinks, conversation, baby feeding and fun! Wow! I have to give Gioia a lot of credit. After having triplets, she's bounced into shape so fast! Check her out in this photo with her husband Ed, our friend, Michael Anthony and I. She looks great right???


The best part of the day was the fact that we were celebrating life through the baptism of these three children. The one thing we all had in common on this day was the fact that we had all been blessed to come from families that had raised us showing us love from the time we were born. We were Sicilian, Italian, Mexican, English, Indian, and many of us American. The common bond of family and love was the source that allowed us all to slow down, stop, and celebrate the day. In our conversations we did bring up culture, politics, religion, foreign policy, customs, accents, humor, and so much more. But in the end it was the conversations about the simplest things in life that were the most interesting.

The "older" children had their own agenda. Max, Ed's son and his cousins and friends chose to retreat to their own paradise within the Villa. It was the in-home theatre Grand Dad Tony had made sure was part of this house for this purpose - to allow his wonderful family to share in the fruits of his life and labor. Here is a picture of the kids in the home theatre.

Hey Tony!!! Now that I¹m a Godfather, shouldn¹t we watch the movie together in your theatre next time I¹m in Chicago??
Ed and Gioia, I want to thank you for welcoming me into your wonderful family. I continue to be an extremely blessed man and I promise to do my best to be an enlightening figure to my new Goddaughter, Lucia!
Arivaderci!!
Eduardo