Chicago Blackhawks

Thank you to Luke & Nicole for taking us to the Blackhawks hockey game last night. The seats were awesome - 5 rows up from the ice! It had been a long time since either of us had been to a pro hockey game. Unfortunately there were no blow out fights and the Blackhawks lost, but it was a fun evening that was topped off with a trip to our old stomping grounds in Chicago!

Christmas pics

We had a great Christmas with Tim & Teresa. Mom, Janel & Andon came to visit us for a couple days. See below for pics!

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Barley & Roscoe

We named the little rascal - Roscoe. As you can tell from the picture, they are getting along very well.

Merry Christmas!

We wish you a Merry Christmas, we wish you a Merry Christmas...here's to a blessed day spent with family & friends. May all of your Christmas and New Year's wishes come true in 2008!

Christmas Shocker!

I've been begging Cameron for another dog for the past couple of years and the answer was always a resounding "NO"! Tonight Cameron shocked me by bringing home a new little puppy to love - another vizsla, just like Barley. Cameron got home and asked me to help him get some stuff out of his car...right before I opened the passenger side door, a little head popped up! We haven't come up with a name yet, but we've taken a bunch of pictures...see below for your first glimpse of the newest addition to the Hatten family! Yes, we know we're 100% CRAZY!!!

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Blog Thief

I completely ganked this from someone else's blog because I thought it was such a different & fun spin on Christmas songs...ENJOY!

Weekend with friends

Cameron and I stayed downtown Chicago on Friday with friends. We had a great steak dinner at Wildfire Restaurant and went back to their place to watch our crazy dogs chase each other for hours. That's Barley and Paris above. Thanks Cara & Drew for the hospitality on Friday! Saturday we went to dinner with Luke & Nicole during Blizzard '07. We had a really bad dinner (food was horrible and we'll never go there again) and arrived home safely in the midst of terrible weather! Hope you all had a wonderful weekend and are looking forward to Christmas right around the corner! Only 6 days away!

DOGS, why do we love them so?

As many of you know, I adore Barley - our ever crazy pooch. I am home today due to the ice storm in IL and have had a very productive day of cleaning out closets. Barley has been very good all day...mostly just hanging on the couch while I've been working. I was upstairs and he was downstairs, I just assumed he was still laying around. Of course he must have been bored from my not paying attention to him so he jumped up on the counter while I was upstairs and got ahold of a new package of hotdog buns. I didn't catch him until he had eaten SEVEN of them...only one mangled hotdog bun remained in the package when I saw what he had been up to. We always know when he's doing something bad because he hides in the dining room behind the table - that is where I found him. Now I'm just waiting for the puke fest to ensue...Barley doesn't eat people food unless there are a couple crumbs on the floor. I'm assuming all of that dough will not sit well in the tummy of a dog not at all used to anything but dog food. Anyway, thought you all might find this story funny. I find it funny too (as long as he doesn't puke on the carpet!).

Update: No puking!! Hooray for Barley's stomach of iron!

It's Christmas time at the Hattens

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...we are FINALLY finished decorating for the season! It only took us a total of 2 weeks (we've had a lot going on).

Photo Booth Pics

Here are some of the photo booth pictures we took at the wedding on Saturday night. Although most pics are not flattering, it was a really fun thing to have at the wedding and there are A LOT of hilarious pictures!

Jackie & Denis are married!

On Saturday, December 1st, Cameron and I attended my old college roomie's wedding in Chicago. We had a blast catching up with some old college friends and Jackie's family! Although the weather outside was frightful, it was a beautiful wedding. The bride looked amazing and the couple looked very happy and crazy in love! They even had a photo booth and a midnight buffet at the reception! Congratulations to the happy couple - have a wonderful honeymoon! More pics below...

Thanksgiving Pictures (FINALLY!)

We had a great time in Leesburg for Thanksgiving...it's always so fun to catch up with everyone. As always the time goes by too quickly. Mom - thanks for putting us up for the 5 days we were there! Here are some family pics from that weekend...

Brian got a haircut:

As you head into the holiday season....

Please keep all of our armed forces in your thoughts and prayers as they endure the holidays away from their families. Please pray for them to make it home soon...and safe. I'm sure many of you have seen this clip before but it definitely puts into perspective everything these guys & girls give up to fight for our freedoms.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Cameron & I wish you all a very happy Thanksgiving today! May you enjoy time with family and friends and may you have an overabundance of things to be thankful for!

"I love Thanksgiving turkey. It's the only time in Los Angeles that you see natural breasts." ~Arnold Schwarzenegger

"Thanksgiving, man. Not a good day to be my pants." ~Kevin James

"We give thanks for unknown blessings already on their way." ~Author Unknown

"Thanksgiving is America's national chow-down feast, the one occasion each year when gluttony becomes a patriotic duty." ~Michael Dresser

"On Thanksgiving Day, all over America, families sit down to dinner at the same moment - halftime." ~Author Unknown

"An optimist is a person who starts a new diet on Thanksgiving Day." ~Irv Kupcinet

"Gratitude consists of being more aware of what you have, than what you don’t." –Unknown

"Not what we say about our blessings, but how we use them, is the true measure of our thanksgiving." --W.T. Purkiser

"As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them." - John Fitzgerald Kennedy

"O Lord that lends me life, Lend me a heart replete with thankfulness!" - William Shakespeare

"Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise; be thankful unto him, and bless his name. For the Lord is good..."
Psalm 100:4

Palm Springs, CA

On Friday, November 16th Cameron & I flew to CA for a nice, relaxing weekend away from home. Our friends Rob & Shannan picked us up at LAX and we drove to Palm Springs for a couple days of fun in the sun. Palm Springs is a beautiful little desert town, weather was perfect, 85 & sunny - just what the doctor ordered! It was nice to get back into summer weather, even if just for a weekend. Thanks Rob & Shannan for a fun time! See below for pics!

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Listen to This!

I just received this via email and thought I would share:
"A remarkable phone call from a 12-yr old boy to Houston
radio station KSBJ FM 89.3. So profound, the station has it
posted on their website." Click here to listen to it. It's short.

Latest Results

Andon's MRI results came in today showing 20% growth since his last MRI. They did not have treatment today and will no longer be going to Riley for the same treatment they have been getting. I didn't get all the details from Janel, but they are planning to go onto another new treatment that I believe was just recently approved. They maybe getting that treatment in South Bend or Chicago, but again I haven't gotten all the details. Please keep little Andon in your prayers for him to be completely healed. The emotional roller coaster they have been riding since last October is taking it's toll. Thank you for all of the support over the past year - it means the world to Janel & Brian and the rest of our family!

Weekend Extravaganza!

Cameron's team from St. Louis & Kansas City (the Sho-Me's) came in for a fun filled weekend in the Windy City! I had the pleasure of joining them out on Friday evening for a night of Latin / Salsa flavor & dueling pianos. They all continued the fun through Saturday night with a trip to the Second City Comedy club. I know Cameron will miss working with each of them on a regular basis, but he's created lifelong friendships throughout the past 10 months. Good luck to Kari on taking over this team and on the new addition to her family in June!

On Saturday, the Kaiser women came in for our annual shopping trip. The group was a bit smaller than past years, but it's always fun to catch up for an evening. Thank you Ladies for making the trip up to Gurnee, I had a great time as always!

Pics from the Sho-Me's:

Oh What a Night!

Saturday was a great time with great friends. In honor of the Bride to Be, I thought I would post a few pictures of the evening.
Ladies - thanks for including me, I wouldn't have missed it!

Happy Halloween!

It's been a pretty quiet week...eerily quiet and it's starting to freak me out! Must be the Halloween season. Anyway, I don't really have too much to report but I wanted to pop on to say "Have a safe & happy Halloween!" This weekend is full of plans again - work party on Friday evening, bachelorette party for my old college roomie on Saturday evening (not sure what Cameron is going to do without me!) and a party lite candle party on Sunday. It's like this every weekend until Thanksgiving! I'm not really sure how it happens, all of a sudden our calendar is full! I know it's a common problem with everyone, so I really am not complaining - we cause our own madness.

Have a great day!

Halloween Fun!

This weekend we went to 2 Halloween parties! I know that Cameron & I are probably too old to be dressing up for Halloween, but I gotta admit - we LOVE it!! I think we will still dress up for Halloween when we're retired. This year we chose to go as "Rock of Love"...a bachelor type tv show with Bret Michaels (lead singer of 80's hair band "Poison") as the one trying to find love. I was Jess, the chosen girl & winner of the show (she has partially pink hair).

Bret Michaels normally wears a cowboy hat over the bandana:

Costume Extravaganza

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One Year Ago Today

One year ago today had to have been the worst day ever for our family...Andon was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor. At that time we really weren't sure how much longer our little man would be around! Scary to think back to that time! What a difference a year makes! Andon continues to amaze us all with his tolerance of everything to do with this cancer - treatments, physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, pokes & prods, check ups, MRIs...all of it! He just takes everything as it comes and laughs once it's over. The best news yet was earlier in the month when we found out that his tumor is responding so well to his current treatment that it's shrinking! Thank you for your continued prayers for Andon - we have complete faith that this little Superman is going to be around for a long time to come!

Notre Dame

We went to the Notre Dame game on Saturday with the O'Haras. We're fortunate enough to have a standing invitation from our friends in South Bend to go to a ND game annually...we get to see our friends and cheer on the fighting Irish all in one fun weekend! Too bad this year ND is terrible! Oh well - still a fun weekend in the Bend. Thank you Sean, Sarah & Caitlin for opening your home to us once again!

Fall 2007

Fall is my favorite season, always has been. It's so fun to drive back home to IN and see the farmers out combining with all of the colorful trees in the background! LOVE IT! Our trees have finally started turning this year (so late!) and I just had to take pictures of our backyard...