So long to summer....

wait isn't it August in Arizona, so long to summer... I don't think so!! Especially today I think it was one of the most humid and smoldering heat I have felt all summer. However, when you don't blog since the spring and September is almost here I found it fitting to wrap up the last four months in one simple blog starting with the past and moving forward so here goes..

My girls wrapped up their school years each with a celebration. Jilly had her usual end of the year program where she sang with her class and recited a psalm that I think was about four paragraphs long. I couldn't believe all of these three and four years old were able to say it all with such determination and energy, it was incredible! Then my little kindergartner ended her first year of school, and oh what a year it was! I was a bit teary considering I had so much going on in my life at the time, but mostly because I would miss this great group of kids and awesome teacher. These memories are priceless, I will cherish them forever.

Then we start our fun summer adventures, first with a trip to Canyon lake where we we all enjoyed the beautiful sites and of course a little relaxation on the water (literally... check out Mike's feet in this photo... who took this picture!)

In June, after the madness from the annual dance concert we traveled to San Diego for the McDonald Family vacation. We enjoyed time with Papa Mike, and all the aunts, uncle and cousins. My girls even got a second trip to San Diego with Papa Mike while I got a chance to spend a girls weekend with my BFF's in Las Vegas. This was a much needed vacation where I had the chance to catch up with Ashlee and even see Geneal .. coincidental that she would be there at the same time considering she lives in China. There is something so special about having lifelong friends... it doesn't matter how long it has been since you have seen or talked to them because you pick up right where you left off.

Girls on Mission beach.. weather was a bit chilly the first few days we were there! Tatum went on the roller coaster for the first time. She was thrilled!

Many weekends have been spent with my nieces as we have been able to see them more often lately, which has been so nice. Our lives in the past were not always conducive to getting together, but things have changed and I love getting to know them better. They are so very precious to me, now more than ever!
Since Tatum is in year round school she actually went back to school at the end of July. If you can believe it we are already getting ready for parent teacher conferences. We received her first progress report card today and she is doing very well. Along with getting up much earlier than last year she is also in an advanced dance group and seems to be adjusting to all this increased activity very well. I am always so proud of how she rises to every occasion with such ease. (Although I can't say we haven't had a few frustrating moments at 6:30 am. when things aren't going as i had planned!)

Tatum on the first day of school!

Our final vacation, (outside of a boys Vegas vacation) we went on a family trip with the Weber family to Sedona. I have to admit there were many things that were going on this past weekend that I found hard to miss, but once we arrived in Sedona I realized that I was crazy for even considering not going. It is so beautiful, we enjoyed 2 hikes, shopped, swam and ate great food! What more could you ask for to end our summer of 2010.....

Oh, that's right.... Cardinal Football camp! After enduring a torrential thunderstorm to get up to Flag, we ended up seeing the practice, getting many of the players signatures and enjoying time with friends and Papa Hahn! It was a quick trip but worth it!

Who's ready for some Cardinal football... gosh this blog is so sad most of my post's are either about my girls or the Cardinals.

Spring Time... I just love it!

Lately, I have felt a bit bored with my workouts so I have enjoyed going outside for runs at Tempe Town lake and then going on some great bike rides with Tatum. She is getting so confident on her bike we hope she can manage the boardwalk in San Diego come June. The outdoor weather has made my workouts a little more fun but this is what I have been having the most fun doing lately. Sumits Yoga, a combination of Bikram and flow yoga that is just awesome! I am in my third week of doing it and If I could I would go every day. You feel so good when you leave and it is helping so much with my flexibility. I never thought I would get into Yoga but here I am... it really does make a difference.

Our annual cousins Easter photo What a fun couple of weeks we have had with the wrap up of Spring Break and then of course my favorite holiday ... EASTER!!! I thoroughly feel renewed during this time of year mainly because of the weather, but also because of what Easter means to me. We had a great day on Easter except for my crazy neighbor who came over and complained about my barking dog at 7:45 a.m, who does this on Easter Sunday?!? As you can see it has been over a week and I am still irritated, oh well I didn't let it ruin the rest of my day. We went to church and then had both sides of the family over... which made for a large group and some very interesting conversations to say the least.

Can you say... so sad!

That is this blog, I can't even manage to get blogs posted after each event let alone each month. So I have posted events in order of what happened most recently so it looks like I was keeping up... yeah right! Anyways, life has been busy as usual but I am now taking time to enjoy this beautiful weather and slow down. I am often reminded of how precious life is and I wish I could keep this in perspective more often. Even though we are busy, we are always having fun and that is most important!

March Birthdays!

Well some of my most favorite people have birthdays in March but of course Mike's is most important to me! We celebrated the day after the fun filled wedding so you can imagine what shape we were in. We actually ended up having a very pleasant day together. We went to see Alice In Wonderland and had dinner with his family at Oregano's. Mike made a joke because he said the girls get a "birthday week" and I get a birthday "weekend"... he did get the short end of the stick this year due to the wedding craziness but we tried to make it as special as possible. What I love about Mike is that about all he needs is "quality time with his family" to make him happy and he truly means this. I married a simple man, with simple requests..... I love you babe!

Family Wedding

My cousin Kathleen got married a few weeks ago and it was absolutely beautiful! Tatum was asked to be the flower girl and she was thrilled. The wedding was held at the Brophy Chapel which made for a very intimate but traditional Catholic wedding. My cousin looked beautiful and so did every last detail of this wedding. The reception was at the Ritz Carlton where it was fine dining at it's best and of course the fact that my children, neices and nephews had their very own table with two servers assigned to meet their every need was extremely wonderful for us. The whole family had a blast and the open bar made for an even more outrageous experience! This will be a family story that will be told for years to come.

Family Trip to Flagstaff in January
Since Tatum has been on this traveling dance team we have been quite busy. As a dance team the group went to Flagstaff to perform during an NAU basketball game. Mike and I looked at this as a nice little weekend away to see the snow, by the end of the day we were exhausted! It was fun in the snow but much of what we did involved shuttling Tatum around to various practices and activities. Overall we were glad to get away and spend time as a family!

New Years 2010 Motto: If your healthy, your wealthy!

Wow, not one post in December... how sad is that! Well, it was a fun month with of course many fun activities! We had our usual five Christmas parties to attend and each one of them was special for one reason or another. One memory that stuck out for me was when Tatum told me her favorite part of all of the parties was spending time with her cousins. She and Jill got MANY presents of which I felt a bit of anxiety over what to do with them all but presents wasn't what stood out for her. It certainly made me re-think how present giving should be done next year! All in all it was a lovely holiday season of which I just finished putting away all the decorations...ugh it has to be the worst part of the season ending! (it was a 3 day event!)

Now for the New Year, every year I think about what my new years resolution is going to be? I never do the typical resolutions because I really try to maintain some level of balance when it comes to diet and exercise all year round (which means I never completely cut out sweets or junk food but I try to maintain a balance to it all! Eat in moderation and work it off!) As for this motto: If your healthy your wealthy... it applies to all aspects of my life. When I make good healthy choices regarding money (do I really need it or WANT IT) I usually feel good when I make that distinction rather than having guilt about spending too much and the list goes on and on. Whether it is a need to spend time with my friends or be home with my family... keeping in mind what will make me emotionally/physically the most healthy and of course happy! I work with a number of people who have experienced the true meaning of if your healthy your wealthy, so it is incredibly meaningful for me this year. Being healthy is ultimately the most important of all ... I may need to refer back to this post to keep it all in perspective. Happy New Years to you all as I wish you luck with your resolutions!

Enjoy the pics from the past month!

Tatum and Jillian going to a Christmas tea with Grandma Diane.

Tatum performed for the Cardinals Charities at the Friendly House. According to Tatum she took a picture with a very BIG Cardinal FAN... she still didn't understand it was Lyle Sendlein starting center for the Cardinals!

Tatum, Kira, Jill and Terrin at story time with the Grinch! Fun!

Hahn Family Lumanaria hike in Ahwatukee.... absolutely wonderful!

Jillian did a great job at the school Christmas show this year!

Last but not least GO CARDINALS!!! Another play off season and a great start to 2010!

'THANKS'giving Weekend

The title of my post is 'THANKS'giving weekend because I have so much to be thankful for this past weekend~ here are just a few...

1. My sister in law who was so kind enough to take my girls Wednesday night so I could set up the house for the party of 25 coming over for Thanksgiving. Not only did I get completely set up and clean the house but I was able to hike Camelback Mountain the next morning with my best friend Ashlee. Thank you Kelly, you gave me an incredible gift!

2. The beautiful weather on Thanksgiving, the kids were able to play outside all day long and not go crazy indoors. Also made for a wonderful hike where I was able to share great conversation and burn some calories.

3.Quality family time with my immediate and extended family. This time always brings back memories for me as a child when I would spend hours with my cousins, aunts and uncles.

4. Good movies, we went to see The Blind Side- what a feel good movie!

5. Dinner with Hatos' family, great food and fun concert performances by the girls!

6. Decorating for Christmas.... this night is always a tradition in our family, we have hot chocolate and listen to Christmas music while we hang ornaments. I will cherish these moments with my family forever!

7. Six straight days off from work, it was so nice but ready to be back to work tomorrow!

Yes, Jilly is smiling! Yeah!

My lovely nieces and nephews ate dinner outside, gosh are they growing fast!

Tatum and Madison

By the way a not so thankful moment this past weekend was when Vince Young completed that touchdown pass. Poor Cardinals... you almost did it!

Performances, Parties.... Halloween!

Tatum is on a dance performing team which I might state is very time consuming and of course expensive!! If you know Tatum she loves to dance and even more so perform. On her actual birthday she performed at the Gilbert Halloween Carnival and let me tell you she was a little more nervous than I expected. As a parent you don't ever want your child to feel any discomfort, but she did fantastic! She looks about 13 with her make-up on and hair straightened, this doesn't help when she is about 3 inches taller than the rest of the girls in her class. Her next performance is at the Gilbert Days parade where she will ride on the Dynamite Express float... yahoo! I have had my share of crowd filled events to last me the rest of the year...but I hear that this is just the beginning. Ugh!

Then we had a big Halloween Party for Tatum's birthday which was so much fun! Everyone came in costume which always makes for a great time especially when you buy your husband's costume 50% off at Joanne's. You can imagine what costumes were left over.... I had three to choose from and needless to say I didn't realize how funny it was going to be. I bought him a Wizard outfit which didn't look so bad on the hanger but when he put it on... OMG it made all the work I did for this party worth it!! I think others would agree, I would love to attach a picture but of course he wouldn't let me take one. We had some other great costumes like Charlie Brown, Mario and Luigi, and of course the birthday girl was Glenda the Good Witch. Jilly and I were the bad witches. Overall, Tatum had a great birthday!

Birthday Girl... I love you so much! You continue to amaze me with your ability to show love and care for others wherever you go. You brighten my days and fill our home with joy!

McDonald Happenings!

This time of year is always busy because of all the special events we have this time of year. To start off first Mike and I celebrated our 8th Anniversary in San Francisco. It was our first time visiting, so we truly enjoyed the quality time we spent just exploring all over. We went for Mike's cousins wedding but spent sometime sightseeing for a day or two. I swore that on Friday we walked over 20 miles because we were trying to get to everything in one day. Mike thought I was exaggerating, but we did start our morning off visiting Alcatraz which was so interesting to learn about. Then we ate lunch in Fisherman's Wharf and headed to the Giardelli Chocolate factory, took a cable car to Union Square, hit China Town and then our final excursion was to Lombard street which I didn't know if I could make. I told Mike "there better be some reward at the top of this street for me to make it up because my legs are killing me". Well, to my surprise it was worth it! The street was so neat, the flowers were beautiful and the view was amazing! We then spent Saturday in Tiburon at a park where the wedding was held, it was nice to spend time with Bob's side of the family and enjoy the incredible weather and views of the bay. However, the best part of the trip was spending time with Mike where we truly enjoyed our time together, laughed alot and enjoyed our journey all weekend long... and let me tell you it was a journey- we shared a room with Mike's sisters...! Then we returned and started our October Birthday Craze where we celebrate a million different birthdays. First one was my sister in law Angelina, she didn't get to celebrate her 30th birthday with a bang last year because she was pregnant so we made up for that this year. I should say we made up for it for years to come because I don't think she will ever forget this birthday for the rest of her life!! Needless, to say she had alot of fun dancing and little too much fun drinking if you know what I mean. I will leave it at that! Finally, the girls are on Fall break so we have had some fun lately! Tatum is loving the care free days where she sleeps in, goes to McDonald's with Aunt Kelly and watches lots of Halloween movies. I took the girls to a Cardinals game and then we had a girls night with the her cousins. Last, but not least was my big B-Day where I celebrated at work on Thursday with lunch and Happy Hour with some real good friends. Then on Friday went to dinner and a movie with family. We went to see Couples Retreat which was hilarious. All in all it was a lovely couple of days and I don't feel a day over 21! (yeah right!!) No really, life is great and I have so much to be grateful for.

This was on Angelina's birthday we went to the Sandbar in Chandler and it was so much fun! Nice to see my friend Rachel too!