Hannah's 2008 Birthday Olympics

Fall break is off to an AWESOME start! The first activity on our schedule was Hannah's Birthday Olympics! The excitement was building as we were driving to USA Youth Fitness Center -- the locale of choice for Hannah's Birthday Olympics. She chose this gym as it was befitting of our "Olympic" theme. We arrived early to set up for the festivities and to greet our guests. Aimee and Lisa were the first of the party girls to arrive and were such a big help in keeping our excited birthday girl company while we were waiting. The gym was painfully off limits until everyone else arrived. As you will see, it was certainly worth the wait!

Gary, the 40-something-kid-at-heart that he is, was the first to jump into the foam pit. He really knows how to get the fun started. The girls were all warming up with their coach, Carrie, but they laughed when they saw him jump in. He was followed a couple of other adults -- Shanna Weissman and Hannah's Aunt Carmen! Well, Aunt Carmen didn't exactly jump in on her own... Of course, jumping in was the easy part...climbing out was another story.

Now the girls were really anxious to get jumping. Here's one of Hannah's closest friends, McKaylan, jumping off to a good start.

Here's one of Hannah's bestest friends, Aimee, showing some mad skills on the uneven bars. Go Aimee!!!

Here's Hannah swinging into the pit... As you can see, all of Hannah's sweet friends were having tons of fun jumping, bouncing and swinging...

Before heading upstairs for cake and presents, Hannah had a little medal ceremony for her friends where she presented each of them with their own gold medal. No Olympic party would be complete without a medal ceremony. The girls lined up and waited for their medal of friendship. Before going upstairs though, Grandma Jeanne surprised Hannah with a victory medal for the birthday girl.

Now, it's finally CAKE TIME! Thanks to Aunt Carmen for the dee-licous cake! She has brought every birthday cake for Hannah since her first birthday. What a 'sweet' and thoughful tradition!

Hannah then had fun opening all of the unique and thoughtful gifts

presented to her by her awesome friends.

We are so grateful and so blessed to have so many kind, caring and sweet friendships in our lives. Each heart that we have grown to know and

love is the true gift that we cherish. Thank you all for sharing this special occasion with our family. We love you all bunches!!

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.

Girl Scout Brownie Troop 389 ends their year in style!

Girl Scout Brownie Troop 389 ends their year in style!  Miss Katie had so much fun packed into the girls'  last meeting last week.  It certainly was fun and totally memorable!!  The girls enjoyed a pizza party followed by ice cream sundaes!  Miss Katie had brought in two stylists from the Glitter Box to give the girls "rock star," "princess" or "fairy" hair styles.  The girls really enjoyed being pampered and looking so glamorous.  Before our meeting, Miss Katie had arranged for each of the girls to get a manicure too.  They looked fabulous!  We all watched the DVD of memories that Miss Katie made.  The girls were laughing and hugging each other while the moms were getting all choked up from the sweet and tender moments captured and shared.  It was Hannah's turn to pick a few flowers to bring home from the garden that they planted as a troop.  Miss Katie also added the photos, kind thoughts and finishing touches on the little scrapbooks that the girls put together at one of their first meetings this year.  It was such an enjoyable afternoon for all the girls and their moms.

See y'all in September my Brownie sisters!!

Thank you Katie for everything you have so lovingly done for our Troop!  I don't know how you do it all!  You are an amazing leader and role model.  We are so blessed to have you as our guide on this wonderful journey with our girls.  Your kindness and thoughtfulness shine through with everything that you do.  May God bless you always!  

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!

Love, 

Yvette

Miss Katie,

Thank you for everything.  Your eyes sparkle like the stars.  I love you bunches.

XOXO,

Hannah

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!

Spring Field Trip with Hannah's Class

The school year is not over yet, and we had just enough time to squeeze in another class field trip. I love field trips! This time we were off to the Arizona Science Center in downtown Phoenix to catch the final days of the "Dinosaurs -- Giants in the Desert" exhibit. This was perfect because Hannah's class is learning all about dinosaurs in this last quarter of the school year. Hannah absolutely loves going to the Arizona Science Center and this trip was more fun because she was able to experience everything with her friends and classmates. I was super excited to be able to ride on the bus with the kiddos and Ms. Beal. Well...I must say that my excitement dropped a little once on board the bus with 42 chatty, exuberant kiddos! Need I say more? Above you can see that Hannah and her dear, sweet friend, Sabrina, enjoyed their bus ride together. The dinosaur exhibit certainly did not disappoint us. It was pretty amazing and oh so cool. We also enjoyed many other hands-on exhibits at the Arizona Science Center. All in all, it was a wonderful adventure! Thank you Hannah for inviting me to join you and your friends. I had a great time!