Fall Break, Destination: Disneyland!

Fall break went by in a flash, but not before we could make our annual getaway to Disneyland!  The weather was cool in Cali, but it didn't cool off our family fun.  We had a fabulous time as usual!  Thank you Minnie and Mickey for your warm hospitality!  We'll see you real soon.

Thinking of Debbi today...

Today would have been my sweet sister-in-law's 51st birthday.  We take great comfort in knowing that she is celebrating her birthday surrounded by angels in heaven and with her Father who is holding her now.  Happy Birthday Debbi!  We love you and are thinking of you.

Turning 8 sure was GREAT!

Yesterday, was a very special day.  Hannah's  8th birthday!!  I still cannot believe that our angel, darling, and beautiful girls is 8!  

Our birthday girl sure had fun...from early in the morning until the setting sun.  So much to do, so little time, our day was filled with laughter, and LOTS 'O FUN in the sunshine. 

We enjoyed breakfast at The Breakfast Club, did some shopping at Fashion Square with a stop for a smoothie at our NEW favorite place -- PB Loco!  Where EVERYONE goes LOCO for PEANUT BUTTER, THE BIG KAHUNA AT THE PLACE!!!! Back to you, momma!!!!  Thank you Hannah for that advertisement.  Now, back to our program already in progress...

We capped off our awesome day with a Girl Scout Miniature Golf Tournament at Golfland that part of our Brownie troop had chosen to participate in to help out another troop.  Our team consisted of Hannah, one of her bestest friends and Brownie sisiter, McKaylan, Hannah's Daddy, Gary, and they were joined by Sarah, a Girl Scout Cadet and they were off to a great start.  There were even a few delightful holes in one!  Everyone had a great time and because it was Hannah's birthday, she had quite the entourage of grandparents in tow too. Grandma Jeanne, Mama' and Papa' were even able to join in on the fun.  What an awesome ending to a beautiful and memorable day!  

In Loving Memory of Debra Lynn Tepper

Our beloved sister-in-law Debbi passed into God's loving arms last night. She was a beautiful angel among us, an incredibly loving wife, mother, daughter, sister, aunt and friend to so many. Her gentle spirit, kindness and amazing grace will live on in her children and her adoring husband forever, of that we are certain. We were all so very blessed and honored to have her in our lives. Her smile was so warm and her laughter was always contagious. The memories that we each have of Debbi will carry us on until we meet again...in Heaven. We love you Debbi so very much and will miss your touch and your smile, but we can still feel your love in each of our hearts. Thank you God for lending us your angel, if only for a short time.

Eternal God, in whom mercy is endless,
and the treasury of compassion inexhaustible,
look kindly upon us, and increase Your mercy in us,
that in difficult moments, we might not despair, nor become despondent,
but with great confidence, submit ourselves to Your holy will,
which is Love and Mercy itself.

Urgent Prayer Request...

Our family has been dealing with some very sad news these last several days. My sister-in-law, Debbi Tepper, has been hospitalized and is suffering complete paralysis. Debbi has been on a breathing machine since she was admitted into Condell Hospital in Libertyville, Illinois. The doctors were stumped and did not know what they were dealing with, notwithstanding the battery of tests and medications that they have had Debbi on since Thursday. They thought they were dealing with Guillain-Barre Syndrome (an autoimmune disease that attacks the central nervous system), but Monday's MRI shockingly revealed brain lesions and the prognosis was not good at all. The doctors are not extending any hope, but we need to lift our hearts in prayer for God's love and mercy as Debbi slipped away into a coma and has not regained consciousness. The doctors' tests have revealed that there is no brain activity and are planning on removing her from life support tomorrow, but are just waiting for her Mom to arrive. As you can expect, her husband George (Gary's twin) and their children Jamie and Brandon are completely distraught. We are all in shock and disbelief that this is happening at all. We keep praying for hope and for God to pull her through this horrible ordeal. Please pray with us for Debbi, George and their children. We love you Debbi so very much. God is in control and we trust in Him.

Romans 15:13

(The picture at the top right was taken at a recent Christmas family gathering. From left to right are Jamie, Brandon, Debbi and George.)

Eternal God, in whom mercy is endless,

and the treasury of compassion inexhaustible,

look kindly upon us, and increase Your mercy in us,

that in difficult moments, we might not despair, nor become despondent,

but with great confidence, submit ourselves to Your holy will,

which is Love and Mercy itself.

God bless our troops -- past, present and future!

On this Memorial Day 2008, we observed a moment of silence to commemorate the brave men and women of this great country of ours.  In our family, we honor those who have served in the United States Army and Marine Corps.  My father and Gary's late father served in the Army.

Gary's Dad, Donald Joseph Tepper

My Dad, Angel Luis Claudio

My uncles, Frank and Paul, also served in the Army.  My cousin, Orlando, has served two tours in Iraq and Afghanistan as a Marine.  We honor them and thank them for their courage, not only today, but every day.  May God bless them and all the men and women in our armed forces wherever they may be!  

Family Fun Day!

Today was absolutely magical as far as family fun goes!  We woke up without a plan, but over breakfast we discussed various things we could do and before we knew it we were out the door and on our way...

We decided that we would each pick a family fun activity.  First up -- Hannah!  She chose bowling, so off we went to the Brunswick Zone in Gilbert.  

Of course, there were lots of families and birthday parties going on when we arrived, but that's okay. We occupied ourselves watching Hannah play lots of games and we even had a mini air hockey match. Mommy wins!! Yeah for me... (I still want a rematch, Shanna!!)  When it was time to bowl, we had lane #43 on the sofa side (very comfy while you're waiting your turn).  We had lots of fun cheering each other on.  There were strikes and spares and almost a turkey too! We loved bowling, but it ended too soon.  That's okay, we had worked up an appetite so we decided to pop over to our local favorite pizza parlor -- Gilbert Pizza!  Yumm... All the while planning our next move...

Next up -- Gary!  He chose goofy golf so off we went to Golfland in Mesa.  We thought about Fiddlesticks and also Cracker Jax in Scottsdale, but Hannah and Gary have made their rounds on the miniature golf circuit and rate the courses at Golfland much higher because of their level of difficulty and challenge.  

The weather was perfect!  The chosen course was The Lost Dutchman.  It sure was challenging, but that did not stop Hannah from putt-putting herself to victory!  Way to go Hannah!!  You rocked!

Well, if you know me, you will not be surprised to hear what my chosen activity for our day of fun was... drum roll please..... that's right...you guessed it... a MOVIE!  One of my favorite past-times.  We stood there in front of the marquee, scanning the movies, and the three of us decided that the only choice for us was the next installment from The Chronicles of Narnia -- Prince Caspian.    We chose well.  The movie was great!  The theater was packed too; usually a good sign, I think.

We topped off our day with cookies and brownies from Paradise Bakery!  It was a wonderful day filled with lots of sunshine, love and heartwarming moments to recharge our spirits.  We enjoyed ourselves immensely and all went to sleep with smiles on our faces and love in our hearts!  Thanks be to God!

Happy Mother's Day!

Gary and I were so incredibly blessed to have both of our Moms with us on Mother's Day! It was a beautiful day that we began with worship at St. Tim's. Angels rejoiced in Heaven as the Children's Choir was also leading us in songs of praise on this very lovely day. We were also blessed to have lots of family and friends joining us for Mass today -- Mom, Dad, Mom T. (aka Grandma Jeanne), Aunt Sharon, Uncle Bill, my Aunt Carmen, Uncle Joel, cousin Lauren, my Godparents, Richard and Carmen, my cousin Richie, his sweet children, Megan, Jonathan and Justin (we missed Debbie as she was in Chicago spending the weekend with her mom), and our dearest friends, The LaRocca's--Karyn, Pat and Vinny, of course! We raised our hearts and arms in worship of our Lord Jesus Christ and definitely felt the presence of the Holy Spirit and the love of our family surrounding us. We were also celebrating the feast of Pentecost, which also marks the birthday of the Catholic Church. Happy Birthday! (P.S. That is also why we're all wearing red too.)

After Mass, we all went out for a lovely and delicious Mother's Day brunch at the San Marcos Resort in downtown Chandler. Like I said the food was delicious. The brunch was held in the grand pavilion, which was beautifully decorated. There was even a gorgeous ice sculpture in the middle of the room. If you looked closely though, you would have seen the ice dripping and melting faster than...you guessed it -- a snowman in Phoenix. Apparently, the air conditioning went out in the grand pavilion the night before and they were not able to get it up and running until an hour before welcoming their guests for brunch. It was warm, to say the least! We did not find out about the A/C mishap until we arrived, of course. What choice did we have? I mean, there were 13 of us, after all. Where else could we go without having to endure an incredibly long wait?? We decided to make the best of it. We were grateful to have the time together as a family and to enjoy each other's company. I certainly couldn't complain. We were all grateful for the yummy food and the warm company of family.

Before I go to bed tonight, I want to thank you, God, for the woman that I am blessed and honored to call my Mom. And thank you God for further blessing me with my precious and beloved daughter Hannah, and for always showing me what matters most.

Grandma Jeanne, Aunt Sharon & Uncle Bill's Visit

They're baaack!! Those wacky retirees that we love so dearly, Aunt Sharon and Uncle Bill, were back in AZ, but not for long before the heat sent them back to Illinois. Grandma Jeanne came for another visit too! Although Grandma Jeanne was only here for a short trip this time, we loved spending time with all of them. Hannah loves having her extended family in town! Due to conflicting schedules, we were not able to spend as much time with Uncle Bill and Aunt Sharon as we would have liked, but we savored every moment that we were able to spend with them. They sure are getting the hang of retirement and, as you can tell, they already have a jumpstart on their tans. Everyone will be so jealous when they get back to those pasty folks in Illinois. We are so glad they chose Arizona as their retirement home. We love you bunches Mom, Aunt Sharon and Uncle Bill! And we'll see you soon...

Livin' the rock star life!

Hannah had the opportunity to go cruisin' around town with Uncle Bill in his Corvette convertible. She was so excited and said that it was so much fun that she felt like a rock star! Watch out world, here she comes!

Happy 21st Anniversary!

April 25, 2008 marked our 21st wedding anniversary. How can this be? It does not seem like 21 years. As I said to my Dad, "I have now been married half of my life!" Dad laughed. I laughed. Hannah laughed too. I'm okay with that. I guess I have to be, don't I? But actually, I hate to sound so cliche', but marriage definitely gets better, stronger and sweeter with time. We are blessed, that is for certain.

To celebrate, we went out to dinner and Hannah even let us choose the restaurant. We went to The Keg, a favorite of ours. I have been asked how come we chose not get a sitter for Hannah. We can't celebrate this milestone or any other without our sweet girl. After all, we were not just celebrating a marriage, but a family. She even snapped this picture of Gary and I at the end of our dinner. We had a great evening in great company with a fine meal, all the while giving thanks to God for all that we have, all that we are and all that we will be.