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

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