2008 Top 12

Thanks to my good friend Claire who tagged me in the top 12 of 2008. I have no idea where to start so I am going to start at the bottom and work my way up. 2008 was a long year for me so here goes....

12. Zakary came into the world officially in 2007 but I did get to start 2008 with my last little Gill in hand. He is such a sweet addition to our family. He is always happy and loves to play. He was a great baby and came at a time when our family needed him most.

11. In April I was released as YW President. I didn't think I was ready to be released, I loved that calling so much, but I am truly thankful for the inspiration of our bishop who knew when the time was right far better than I did.

10. (WARNING: COPIED IDEA FROM CLAIRE) We did get to take two trips to Disneyland in 2008. The first came in May and was so last minute that I didn't even know until that morning that we were leaving that afternoon. My mom decided to take the kids and I to the happiest place on earth, since we were having a rough time. Then on a much happier note, we ended up getting to go to Disneyland for FREE in November and went just with our little family. It was a great trip, everyone had fun, and how many people can say they did Disneyland for a family of 6 for under $150 (including gas and food)!! Thanks again Claire, we owe ya!

9. I read, or re-read for that matter, all 4 Twilight books, went to the Book Release of Breaking Dawn with some great friends for a super fun girls night out, then went to another release party, this time the premiere of Twilight with another good friend, got the Twilight soundtrack, saw the movie again. So in summary, this was the year of Twilight for me! (And I can't wait for the next movie in 2009!)

8. We moved to a bigger house! We were so glad to get out of our 3 bedroom townhouse and into a 5 bedroom house in a real neighborhood. It was another blessing in disguise when we found out that we got to stay in the same ward! We love having more room and a yard which our kids are enjoying fully now that the trampoline has been added!

7. We also got a newer car. We got the same Dodge Caravan but it was 2 years newer and a lot less money so that was a good thing.

6. I quit working part-time for Deseret Women's Healthcare, went back part-time and had my hours cut completely before Christmas. Just temporary of course and I'm sure 2009 will see me back working there again!

5. Michael started working on the City Center project. We were so worried about him working there because it is so big, has so many workers, and has had a lot of injuries and deaths. But another blessing came our way when the economy started to turn sour and several other big projects and thousands of carpenters found themselves out of work. Thankfully City Center was too far into construction and did not or will not shut down. So we are guaranteed work until the end of 2009. And the project Michael is working 0n is a lot smaller and a lot safer since he is the safety guy!

4. I got in touch with several long lost friends! Thanks to the wonderful world of blogging I have re-connected with some good friends and their families. Hopefully 2009 will see more old (sorry) friendships renewed!

3. Matthew turned 10, Olivia turned 6, Jeffrey turned 3, Zak turned 1 and both Michael and I turned 34. I hate that everyone is getting older! But I'm so glad my kids are growing, learning, developing personalities and talents, staying healthy!

2. The last two kind of go together but they had to be separated or it would make for a super long one. In 2008 my husband decided to start living his life truthfully and to stop pretending which caused some major changes that I wasn't prepared for. We had a rough few months and he even moved out for a time. But thanks to answered prayers, he moved back in on July 1, 11 years to the day of our engagement. We celebrated our 11th anniversary in September and are continuing to learn new things about each other and through our trials, our marriage and family have been strengthened. I would not choose to re-live this year or experience any of the tears and heartaches again, but I can now look back and see how much I've learned and how much better things are.

1. I fell in love with my husband again. Actually, a more accurate description would be that I found out how to truly and deeply love him in a way that I never had before. My husband is a wonderful husband, partner, friend and father. He is a good provider and he knows and understands me better than I know myself. I am so greatful for the best of times and worst of times that 2008 brought and look forward to leaving those things behind and moving on to a new year full of love, peace and happiness.

Sorry those last two were so sappy but they had to be included. So now the tagging continues with Katie, Alisha, Deana, Natalie, Jordon, Sara, Sarah, Carmen. The reason why I chose so many is because this was a great opportunity for me to contemplate and think on this last year. The good and the bad and it's made me more ready to tackle the new year head on!

Memories

First off, thanks to my wonderful husband for the new camera! (Katie, I got my new camera, hope you got yours). Of course I didn't get it until AFTER the Christmas morning festivities, but that's okay. We had a great Christmas. The kids of course got everything they wanted and then some. We opened presents, had a nice big breakfast and just relaxed all day. We did go see Bedtime Stories, which I highly recommend! It was a great family movie and the kids loved it (the adults did too!) So here are a few pics from the Gill Family Christmas 2008.

We debated about asking Santa for either a Wii or a trampoline. Thankfully Santa decided on a trampoline. The kids love it and they get to be OUTSIDE! Especially considering the fact that my kids are on track break until the end of January, the kids outside idea works well for me. Thanks Santa!

We do live in the desert right?

As I've been looking at everyone's blogs, you all sound so excited for the snow! Well, I'm not! There is a reason we live in the desert and it's because I HATE snow and wet and cold. All of which we had yesterday! But I put my Grinching aside because the kids were so excited. I have lived in southern Nevada most of my life and I have never seen this much snow! They even cancelled school today! I'm sure CCSD has never had a snow day before. Because of the aforementioned desert-dwellers, my poor children were very ill prepared for the snow. Not a mitten or glove to be found. But that didn't stop them. They put on several pairs of pants, shirts, and socks and headed out to get freezing wet but had a blast. I bet if I tried hard enough, I might remember what is was like to be a kid! So thankfully this time the camera had batteries and I got some great pics of what is probably a once in a lifetime snow in Henderson!

Busy Blustery Day

Last Saturday Olivia got to perform in her first parade. The Henderson Children's Parade down Water St. She had a great time despite the fact that I forgot her tap shoes and it was hurricane force winds outside. Olivia is our true performer and no matter the situation she will put on her performance smile and make the best of it. She has been dancing all year and loves it, plus she is pretty good. Later that afternoon she had a show and of course my camera ran out of batteries just as I was about to take the first picture. It was cute and she had so much fun. I'm sure I'll be posting tons of Livvy dancing pics so stay tuned for that!

December Boys

Both Jeffrey and Zakary have birthdays one week apart in December. Go figure that one. Anyway, it was so crazy this year and for some reason I got no pics of Zak's birthday. What a terrible mom. (Actually the pics are on my husband's iphone and he hasn't figured out how to put them on the computer yet) So my two little boys are 3 and 1 respectively. This year has gone by so fast and I can't believe I no longer have a baby! Zak is walking and just wants to be big. He is so playful and loving and loves to play with his older siblings. Jeffrey is so a typical 3 year old boy. He causes me great stress sometimes, but he is sweet in his own way. Happy belated birthday to my two little men!

Merry Christmas

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Non-Traditional

This year we broke ALL the rules and for the first time in 11 years of marriage, my husband and I did not have Thanksgiving dinner with either of our families. It caused quite an uproar, but we decided it was time for our family to start our own traditions. So this year we also started something new and went OUT for Thanksgiving dinner. It was fantastic. I didn't spent all day in the kitchen. We took it easy, stayed out of the rain, took naps and around 4:00 went Black Angus for our dinner reservations. We got all dressed up (Jeffrey was confused that we weren't going to church because he was in church clothes) and ate out. Olivia and I had the Turkey feast with all the fixins and it was way better than I could have done. Matthew had a cheeseburger, Jeffrey had Mac -n- cheese, and Michael had a big fat steak! Sure is was non-traditional, but it was also very nice and no one had to do the dishes!

Happy Birthday Grandma Cecil

My mom has always lived her life for her kids, and now she lives her life for her grandkids. It was mom's birthday Nov. 25th and she decided to throw herself a birthday party at Pump It Up. Obviously it was more for the kids than her, but she truly gets her joy and happiness when she sees her family happy. All 6 of my siblings, their spouses, even a new future spouse, and 17 grandkids had a blast! We jumped, laughed and ate pizza! Not a typical 50-something grandma's birthday, but so typical for my mom. We love you Grandma Cecil and all that you do for your family! Happy Birthday!

Matty the daredevil

Zak pushing Owen around

Grandma trying out the big slide

Daddy and Zak on the big slide, Zak didn't like it very much. Soon enough...

Quick Trip

Zak trying to walk!

Daddy and Jeffrey

Me, Matty and Livvy before Thundermountain Railroad

Matty trying to be cool in front of the Buzz ride

The castle all lit up for Christmas

Every trip we have to take pics in Mr. Toad's car

Livvy and Belle (Matty wouldn't get in the pic cuz she's a girl)

Again, she's a girl

Thanks to a good friend we took a quick day trip to Disneyland. We got up early and headed out. The weather was great and for a Saturday it wasn't that busy. We hit California Adventure first and rode the Toy Story Mania ride. Jeffrey loved it and it was well worth the wait. We didn't have to wait on any other rides so we got to do quite a bit in the morning. Zak did great, Jeffrey was a little squirly and scared, Matthew was bored with the kiddie rides, and Livvy apparently is our roller coaster queen. She screamed and giggled on every ride. On Thundermountain Railroad (my favorite), she had her arms up and laughed and squealed the whole time. I was cracking up! It's always fun to do things as a family and especially when we get to do them for cheap! Thanks Claire and next time we'll all go together!

FANtastic Movie!

My good friend Claire and I got to go to the Twilight Premiere last night. It was so much fun and so crazy. We had terrible seats, in the third row, so by the end of the movie our necks were pretty much done for. But despite all the craziness, the movie was SOOOOOO worth it! I thought it was great. I am totally going to see it again in a couple weeks when I can get a better view! I was a nerd and wore my Twilight t-shirt, but I certainly wasn't the only one. It was funny to be in a completely full theater with all the young screaming girls! Makes ya feel either really young or really old. But I'm not going to get into all the dirty details for those of you who haven't seen it yet. But even if you haven't read the books, it's worth it! Hope you all enjoy it as much as I did and plan on doing again! Thanks Claire for coming all the way from Bakersfield for our super girls night out (and for the Disney tix - but that's for anther post!)

Mars VS. Venus

As most of you can tell, I'm a "Twerd" (translation: Twilight Nerd). I love the books and am counting down the minutes till the premiere of the movie on Nov. 20th! Unfortunately, my husband does not share my excitement. So for all of your husbands who might feel the same as mine, I thought these two images were awesome! The countdown can't go fast enough!

Thank You Sarah Goodsell

Just a quick HUMONGOUS thanks to Sarah Goodsell for taking our family pictures. They turned out so good and she did such a good job! We got to combine a hike and family pictures in one outing! If you want to see how truly talented she is, click on the Sarah Goodsell photography link in my list, or go to her blog at goodsellphoto.blogspot.com. (Matthew thinks this sounds like a commercial for Sarah's photography, and it probably is!)

Told Ya I was Behind!!

Things have been so busy that I had to do three posts in one day to get caught up! So this is the last one with some random pics for your enjoyment!

These are the only pics I got of Michael's birthday. I made him a cake on his birthday and then the boys and I went and met him for lunch. Zak and Jeffrey loved seeing daddy's work and sharing lunch with him! We love Daddy! (And I love my hot construction worker!)

The next pics are of Olivia's dance performance at the mall. They got to wear their costumes and dance to some fun Halloween songs. She had so much fun. Livvy takes performing very seriously. Her good friends Brooklyn and Sarah are in her dance class and they had fun dancing together! I look forward to many more dance performances!

Cute girls!!

Chillin at Grandma Gills house.

The Big 1-0

I can't believe Matthew is 10! It seems like yesterday he was this cute, fat, little chunky baby, and now he's so grown up! We were in St. George on his birthday and we went mini-golfing. Then Grandpa Gill fixed Matty's favorite dinner, tacos (the best tacos ever!) and Sunday, his actual birthday, Grandma Gill made her famous Call pancakes, another of Matty's favorite. His birthday is actually continuing today since we were out of town. So Happy Birthday Matty!

Halloween-St. George Style

With the wonderful Nevada Day 3-day weekend, we decided to head up to Michael's parents in St. George. The kids got to go trick-or-treating with their cousin Cameron and Uncle Brian. Of course it was great weather. The kids even swam! Swimming and trick-or-treating in the same weekend, what's up with that?! The kids got tons of candy and we tried to leave it at Grandma Gill's house, but couldn't get out the door without it! Diane put together a great Halloween dinner before we left. She had eyeballs (meatballs), witches hats (calzones shaped like witches hats), spider dip (7-layer dip with spider-web sour cream), and fingers (breadsticks). The kids went trick or treating and Jeffrey said "Happy Halloween" to everyone instead of trick or treat. Olivia had to be the first one to get candy at every door and poor Matthew had to help keep his eye on Jeffrey. He's quick! We had a great time. Thanks Grandma and Grandpa Gill!

For All You Vampire Fans

The Southpoint Casino is having a Twilight Movie Premiere party on Tuesday November 18th. For $25 you get in to the pre-party at 6:00 and then see the movie at 7:00. I'm totally there!!! If anyone else wants to come along you can buy your tickets at the southpoint website starting next Friday, Oct. 31. I'm sure it will be crazy, but it sounds like super fun! Let me know if you want to go and we can get as many people together and make it a serious girls night out!

Fun Trip

Yesterday I thought it would be a good idea to take Matty, Livvy, and Jeffrey to the dentist! So here I go to the dentist for 3 appointments and pushing Zak in the stroller. Insane right? Right! It's so worth making several trips to the dentist instead of having to deal with everyone at the same time. Livvy and Matty had been before, so they are pros, but this was Jeffrey's first check up and it went exactly like you think it would. a 2 1/2 year old who won't open his mouth, who screams and cries everytime the hygienist even came close to him, whose diaper leaked and had to walk around in wet pants and who has a mouth full of cavities and has to go to the pediatric dentist! What fun! Notice the picture of Jeffrey with not 1 but 2 suckers in his mouth, thus all the cavities!

Where to begin?!?!

It's hasn't even been a week since my last post, but we've been busy so here are some pics of what the Gill Family has been up to.

I was finally able to get some better pictures of Matthew our soccer star. Last game he played defense so he didn't have to do as much running! It was a great game, they lost by one point but scored 3 goals in a matter of 5 minutes during the second half. The weather was great and I can't tell you how much I love watching him play!

On Sunday we had our monthly Cecil family dinner. This time it was at Todd and Heidi's. Heidi always goes above and beyond, even being 8 months pregnant. We had chili, cornbread and made homemade rootbeer. She even made sugar cookies and had all 16 of the kids decorate them. So the pics are of the decorating fun! Jeffrey is wearing the red mask for some reason.

Saturday Date Night

Just so everyone doesn't think that my husband and I always go out on these wonderful, hip, exciting dates, this post will prove you all wrong. Tonight our date was exciting trip to Target with a stop at the Starbucks for hot chocolate. Anytime we can get away, even just for an hour, is worth it. Thankfully Matthew is old enough and responsible enough to babysit for a little bit. So we were able to take off for an hour for some time away. It's important to try to find time to be together, even if it's at Target. We got a chance to talk and hang out and I must admit, Target WITHOUT kids is even better!