Maui #1: The Day Of Travel!!!

After spending a comfortable evening at the airport Residence Inn we were up and ready for our adventure at 6 AM the next day. I was somewhat surprised that the morning was as organized as it turned out to be since we had so many people to account for at that time of day. We were all ready to go and took a shuttle to the airport a few blocks away.

We even made it to the gate with time to spare! We had 20 bags to check due to our scuba equipment, so in my opinion we did a great job. I think Madi was a little tired, but overall everyone was very excited to get going.

Fortunately we were able to get enough first class seats on the plane to accommodate our large group, so our long flight (6.5 hours) was very comfortable. Aiden was the only one who was not satisfied with the seating arrangement, so that made it a little difficult for Melissa but she persevered and we were off to Maui!

We landed in Honolulu at around Noon and after the challenges that Melissa endured during the flight I think she should be commended for her upbeat attitude following that flight. Mahalo Wissa Q!!!

We're Back From Maui!!!

I was so excited to see Christopher, Julie and Maximus again. They arrived in Phoenix on June 5th, the day before our departure to Maui. After gathering their belongings from the airport we stopped by Grandpa and Grandma's house to introduce them to little Max for the first time. They were departing for their own trip several days after we left, so our first destination was their new house.

We took the traditional 4 generation photo that I have with Aiden and myself as babies. I think that his one came out great and really resembles the photo of me as a baby with my dad, grandfather and great-grandmother.


We also took a nice family photo of Julie, Christopher and Maximus and one with them and Grandma and Grandpa. It was a very nice get together and I think that Grandma and Grandpa really enjoyed it. Following the photo op, we went to Dillon's (a great barbeque restaurant near my Dad's house) for lunch.

That was the extent of our time in Phoenix prior to our trip. The next day we were off to Maui. We stayed at the Residence Inn next to the airport in order to save time the next morning, so after leaving my dad's house we went home and gathered our luggage and headed to the airport hotel.

Melissa And Lori's Sex And The City Adventure!!!

Melissa is a HUGE Sex and the City fan, so since she found out that there was going to be a movie she was very excited. I decided to make it a special night for her and for us to have some girl time. We decided to go to the Ritz-Carlton in the Biltmore area of Phoenix for the evening. We loved the movie, it was very funny. After the film we went to a restaurant that Todd and I love called The Capital Grill. I called the waiter we always request and told him I would be there with Melissa following the film, so he made it a special experience for her.

Melissa had never stayed at the Ritz, so after we checked in we got some Champagne brought up and had a quick toast to our special evening. She was loving it and looked very stylish in her new outfit.

This was another shot from the room prior to the movie. She was so excited to see it and we weren't disappointed.

This was in the hallway of the hotel shortly after our arrival.

This is a really bad photo, but I left the camera in the room and took it with my phone, so it's pretty blurry. It was in the theatre following the film.

This morning we were both so rested and relaxed, we decided that it would be nice to do this together more often. Melissa went to get coffee in the lounge for us this morning.
When we were getting our champagne, Melissa really wanted to order some chocolate covered strawberry's. It was going to take longer than we could wait before the movie, so we decided to order them after dinner instead. As you can see she was having a great time. She put her Ritz bathrobe on and got tucked into bed and had 2 delicious strawberry's before going to sleep.
Another shot of her with her strawberry's.

This was in the restaurant. She had to have the signature Cosmopolitan in honor of the movie, although she wasn't to impressed with it, at least I got a photo of her with it. She loved her dinner and next time you go to The Capital Grill try the Filet Oscar, it's to die for!

After dinner, at around 9:30, Melissa was soooo tired. I couldn't believe that she was ready to go to bed, but when you have a baby and don't get a chance to relax very much I guess it's understandable. We had an awesome time and can't wait to do it again. Now it's time to prepare for our big trip to Maui. Everyone is so excited to go on a vacation together and to such a beautiful place. Only 3 more days until Chris, Julie and Maximus arrive and 4 days until our departure, we'll keep you posted! We had a great time on our night out and I think we've all decided that you can't beat living in the city!!!

Our Salina, Kansas Trip!!!

We had a wonderful time on our trip to Kansas a few weeks ago. I have been very busy and haven't had much time to post these photo's, so here goes. This is a picture of Todd's Grandmother, otherwise known as Nonie. She is holding his cousin's new baby, Gracie. She is so adorable, this was our first opportunity to see her and we all thought she was so cute. Madi especially hit it off with her, she even made her laugh out loud!
This is Madi with one of her cousins, Mariah, who is Todd's cousin and his wife's oldest daughter. She is 11 and Seth and Madi loved spending time with her. They were in the sauna at the hotel here, they had a very nice time together.
This is Seth in the hot tub with several of his younger cousins. He really enjoyed meeting them all again and didn't want to leave when it was time to come home.
We went to a very nice Zoo near Salina during our trip with Todd's Mom, Sister, her Fiance, Todd's Brother and Mariah. As you can see Madi was having a great time with Greg during that outing.
This was also at the Zoo, it's Todd's brother and sister, Greg and Mara, his Mom along with Todd.

This is a photo of (from left) Todd, Mara, Rani, Paul and Jeremy. We spent a lot of time at Todd's cousin Jeremy's very beautiful new home in the country near Salina. Jeremy built the home himself with some help from a crew and we were all impressed with the work he did. Seth and Madi really loved it there and I think Seth wanted to move in with him!!! Jeremy let him drive his Mule through a creek and around the property which really impressed Seth. He really loved being at Jeremy's house and couldn't stop talking about it throughout the trip.
Isn't this a nice shot of Todd with his Grandma Nonie? I love this picture.
This was also on Jeremy's back deck. Here, Todd is chatting with Chris (Mara's Fiance) and Jeremy (wearing the black shirt). I think that he loved being back with his family members who he hadn't seen for quite a long time.
This is Nonie with Jeremy on his back porch.
These are 3 of Todd's cousin's children. The taller boy is Koltyn who is standing with his sister Kyler, they are Todd's cousin Rani's two oldest children. The younger boy is Easton, Jeremy and Jamie's youngest child. Madi really hit it off with little Easton, she cried when she had to leave. She also had a great time playing with Kyler and Koltyn, in addition to all of her other cousins that she hadn't seen for several years.

We had a wonderful trip and really enjoyed seeing everyone again. I'm sure we will travel to Kansas more often now and are excited for our next opportunity to visit. Thank you all for your hospitality, we had a great time!

Our Return To The Land Of OZ!!!

This is a photo of Madi with her grandmother Janet (Todd's Mom), and her Aunt Mara (Todd's Sister) in Scottsdale at one of her favorite places Libby Lu. This was during their trip to Phoenix a few years ago. We are going to be traveling to their home for a short trip this weekend to visit both Janet and Mara in addition to other members of Todd's family including his Great Grandmother, Aunt and several Cousin's who reside in that area of the country.During their trip to Arizona we took them to the Grand Canyon where this photo was taken. They were on a trail that led to a very steep drop off in the canyon, I was not to pleased with that choice but it turned out to be fine.
Janet and Mara also did a short hike with us closer to home in the White Tank Park near our house. This is at the end of the Waterfall Trail which typically is bone dry, however luckily during that hike there was actually water present when we reached our destination. As you can tell by Madi's expression it was very cold water.
What a great photo of Todd with his Mom, Seth and Madi. They had a nice time on that hike.
This was at the Grand Canyon in the area I discussed previously. You can see why I was not pleased with the circumstances. The Grand Canyon can be a very dangerous place if you are not very careful about where you choose to go, but it turned out to be fine.
And finally, this is again at the White Tank Park in front of a rock formation that contains some ancient petroglyphs. These are common in the park, they are ancient carvings in the rocks around this area that were created many many years ago, usually by Native Americans of the area. They are thought to have had various cultural, religious or astronomical significance to those who utilized them. So, those are the most recent photograph's that we have of our last meeting with Janet and Mara. We will post some more recent photos of our short trip this weekend when we return on Tuesday or if I have time I will try to update you during our trip, stay tuned!

McCAIN 2008 Reception!!!

Todd and I, as contributors to John McCain's presidential campaign, will be attending the McCain Victory 2008 Reception in Phoenix on May 27Th. We are very excited to have the opportunity to hear President Bush speak in person as well as meeting Senator McCain. We are aware that some of you have differing political views than ours (especially Todd's loving sister!), and we respect your individual political choices. However, if you would like to learn more about Senator McCain or get involved with his presidential effort in a variety of capacities you can go to either my personal McCain Space Homepage at: http://lorihummeljames.johnmccain.com/ where you can make a personal contribution to his campaign or you can view the McCain 2008 Homepage at: http://www.johnmccain.com/ to learn more about the candidate and his views on a variety of national security, social or fiscal topics that may be of personal interest to you. Even if your political choice typically leans in the other direction or you don't have a preference one way or the other, I think it is important to have a basic understanding of both candidates prior to making a final decision. We'll be sure to post some photos and highlights of our experience at the reception following the event.

Seth and Aiden's First Pool Day 2008!!!

A couple of weeks ago while we were watching Aiden we decided to let him go swimming for the first time this year. The water has finally warmed up enough to be comfortable, so Seth volunteered to swim with him while I took a few pictures.
He was a little bit apprehensive at first, so Seth had to coax him into the water.
When he finally decided to get in he had a great time. I think he is going to be a great swimmer, I guess he probably gets that from me!
He got into his ladybug floatation toy and Seth led him around the pool. He was leaning forward like this the whole time he was in it. They had a great time and he now wants to swim every day so we have all been trying to get him accustomed to being in the water so that he will be comfortable during our upcoming trip to Hawaii. Seth did a great job helping him and we will keep you posted on his progress in the pool.

Aiden Goes To See Elmo!!!

We took Aiden to the Sesame Street Live Concert last weekend and he LOVED it.
This photo was taken by the stage where, as you can see, he was mesmerized by the lights and other props he was seeing. I recently bought a couple of Elmo video's for him, one about learning to Potty and the other about the alphabet that he really likes. I think Elmo is his new favorite character, so when we saw on the news that Sesame Street was in town we knew he had to be there.
This is during one of the numbers they all performed. Aiden would clap and dance and get so excited, it was great to watch his reactions to the whole thing.
He also discovered that he loves popcorn during the show. I crushed some up and let him share with me and he just didn't want to stop eating it.
We all had a very nice time, although Seth elected to stay home. I don't think he is very interested in Sesame Street these days even though he loves his nephew very much. He didn't think he could be supportive of this particular activity, maybe next time!

Madilyn's Field Day!!!

Madi had Field day at school last week. She selected the 50 Yard dash and hockey to participate in during the event. Todd and I went to observe and we were both impressed with her performance. She came in second in the 50 Yard dash, which was her favorite this year. Great job Madi!

My New Car!!!

Todd got me a new car on Friday! It is a new 2008 Mercedes Benz SLK350 Cabriolet and I LOVE it. Todd was at the dealership on Thursday picking up 2 new vehicles that he purchased for a customer when he called to tell me about a car that he thought we should buy. We both like Mercedes and have discussed getting one several times, but had not really gone to look at them. I had become very attached to my little VW Bug, mostly because in the climate here it is nice to have a convertible, so I told him that it would need to be a convertible not really thinking that he would go for it. Needless to say I was very happy when he made a great deal on this car and told me to meet him there to pick it up! I was so excited and love how it drives. So there you go, that's the story of how I got my new car. Thanks Todd!!!