I JUST GOT A GUITAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!take that all you math geeks,geezers, and most importantly take that justen bieber fans!!!!!

the angle in side of me

oct.4 already. about UN KNOWINGdays till HALLOWS EVE(halloween).im going to be a zombie.give me a z give me a o. give me a m e a bbbbBRAINS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!candy for breackfast,lunch,and dinner!!!!you did not here it from me!!!

Vegas Vacation

So thanks to the wonderful economy this year, a real vacation is out for our family. So we decided to take a Vegas Vacation. We went down to the strip, where I haven't been in years! Showed the kids all the exciting hotels and did all the free stuff the strip has to offer. Well, not all of it, but we went to the Botanical Gardens at the Bellagio, we saw the lions sleeping at the MGM, went to M&M world and paid way too much for colored M&M's and ended up at Coca-Cola. The last time I went to Coca-Cola world, they had a long line of fountains with sodas from around the world. It was great, but since that was probably 11 years ago, they figured that giving away all the soda for free probably wasn't cost effective. So now you have to buy it! It wasn't bad though, $7 for two trays of 16 different sodas. We sat at a table and Michael had the list of where each soda was from and then we passed them around and took sips. The kids had fun, Michael was a great MC and the sodas weren't that bad. With the exception of one from Italy and one that Michael didn't tell me what is was and just let me drink it, because it was a watermelon soda and he thought that would be funny since I don't like watermelon! Despite the heat and the traffic, it was a pretty fun day. And we really felt like we were tourists! And what trip to Vegas would be complete without a stop at Macayo's for dinner. Still a pretty cheap place to eat and we couldn't drive down Tropicana without stopping.

Zak at Coca-Cola World

Soda from around the world

Matthew and Jeffrey found Sonic

Matthew looking cool by the Nascar

Olivia doing her best "Vanna"

Classic Olivia

Jeffrey showing us the frog

Jewelry Lady

So I am now officially a Premier Designs Jeweler! I started my jewelry business a week ago and had a great show! Premier Design is a great company with a great product. Plus I don't have to make or cook anything! The jewelry is great and the people are even greater! I would love to get my business started with a bang! So if anyone is interested in hosting a party, open house, or catalog show, just leave me a comment and I'll find ya! I promise not to be obnoxious about it but I just want to introduce as many people to Premier! Plus, who doesn't love to play with jewelry???

Piano lessons anyone?

Just wanted to get the word out that I'm teaching piano lessons again. Let me know if you are interested or know anyone who might be. Thanks!

The Newest Mrs. Cecil

Saturday, May 16th, my baby brother Tyler got married! I know! He married a cute girl named Kinzee. I forgot my camera at the temple and the luncheon, but did manage a couple cute pics at the reception. The sealing was beautiful and it was so great to be in the temple with my parents and all my siblings. The reception was in Natalie's backyard and it was pretty warm until the sun went down. All the grandkids looked so cute and they all just ran around and played in their cute clothes. Jeffrey stayed close to the chocolate fountain and had about a thousand strawberries. Zak didn't wander far from the food table where there was plenty of crackers and grapes. Olivia was mesmerized by Kinzee in her beautiful dress. It is hard to believe that my baby brother is married. Poor mom and dad are all alone.

All the girls, Brynlee, Olivia, Attison, Sydney and Decatur


Zak entertaining himself with a slinky

Me and my boys!

Zaky enjoying the food table!

Sleepy Little Bunny

We had a great Easter weekend in St. George. We got there on Saturday and spent the day with Cameron on his 7th birthday. We took all the kids to Jumping Jacks and I realized that I am way too old and out of shape to jump with the kids! I am so sore today after trying to carry Zaky all the way up the high slide. (He loved it by the way!) But I thought I was going to die! Anyway, we had a great day and went to church Sunday morning to hear my awesome father-in-law give an amazing talk on the Atonement. My wonderful mother-in-law Diane, who always outdoes herself on holidays had a yummy dinner. Unfortunately, dinner was the same time as Zaky's nap. Poor Zak couldn't decide if he was more hungry or sleepy. So enjoy the video because I finally figured out that I can take video on my camera!

Sorry Katie

This post is for Katie, who is the only one who commented on being sick of my previous post over a month ago! Well, Katie, I guess I'll get everyone else up to speed. I do have a good excuse for not blogging as much. I went back to work at the end of January for the first time inn 3 1/2 years. I feel very fortunate to have been able to get a job with the state of the economy lately. I'm working about 25 hours a week but starting in April I'll be working 32. I am working for an OB/Gyn office again which is my favorite. So needless to say, keeping up with work and the kids has been quite a challenge. But I do like my job. It's a great place to work and it's nice to talk to adults for a change! I do miss being with my kids during the day, but it's been working out well so far.

Michael is still working on the City Center Project. Again, another blessing that he is working on one of the only large projects that haven't been shut down. He's doing well and will hopefully journey out by the end of the year! Yeah! He's also been a great help with me going back to work and has been so supportive.

Matthew is doing well in school, as always, and has started soccer again. I love spring soccer because the weather is so nice! He's playing on a new league with a new coach so it's been interesting. He is playing defense and got chosen to be captain the first game of the season. He is glad to be playing again and I'm glad to be watching him again!

Livvy is still dancing and loving every minute of it. The next couple of months have quite a few performances and recitals so I should have some more pics to post. She has also developed an interest in tumbling so we're going to try to do that over the summer. She is doing well in school and we only have a little drama every day so I think I can handle that.

Jeffrey is very nearly potty trained! It's been a long time comin' but he's doing really well. He likes going to the sitters and thinks he's going to school because he gets to take a backpack. He is excited to be old enough to start playing soccer in the fall! They get so big so fast!

Finally to Zak. He is 15 months going on 5! He loves to play with the big kids and is a climber. His favorite place is to sit on the dinner table or to climb on the computer desk which he is doing at this very minute so it's taking me forever to type this post! But he has such a fun personality and is such a cute boy!

Hopefully soon I will post more pics but I wanted to catch everyone up. I do spent a lot of time on Facebook (sorry I know) so you can catch up with us there too!

Martha Stewart

Many of you who know me know that I was in the bathroom when they handed out craftiness and decorating sense. But we found an awesome sofa and it has thrown me into decorator mode. Michael is wondering what has gotten into me. I even bought new towels and am decorating bathrooms! I've never done that! So I absolutely love my sofa and my poor children are getting sick of "No Jumping!", "Get that Pop-Tart off the sofa!" and on and on. But from someone whose majority of furniture came from others, its exciting to have something new! You'll all have to come over and sit on my new sofa!

Slow Tag

I'm finally getting around to the tag that I got from Alisha. I'm spending more time Facebooking than blogging. Anyway her tag was to #1- go to your pictures, #2 - pick the 4th folder and #3 - pick the 4th picture and tell about it. So here goes...

I was hoping to get a picture that no one had seen yet, but this is what came up. It had been forever since we had a family picture and this is the first professional picture with all of my kids. My friend Sarah Goodsell took this picture in the desert behind her house. We hiked a little ways and found these cool rocks. It was cold and overcast but we had an hour window between the rain and the overcast clouds ended up making great light. Anyway, these are my four children and I loved the way Zak was holding on to his big brother. I think this picture really captures each of my children's different personalities!

So now I get to tag 4 people: Natalie, Michelle, Cami, and Deana

Conflicted

I may be a late bloomer but I am now addicted to Facebook. I've been finding so many people there and have been having a blast re-connecting with my youth. So Facebook has been taking me away from blogging. I apologize to my Facebook/Blogging friends as you may see some of the same pics. Anyhoooo...

My kids were on track break since Christmas and just went back to school this week. It was a long 5 weeks! But we did take the opportunity to go out and visit my 92 year old Grandma Cecil. I am so glad I was able to get some good pictures of her with my kids. They are so fortunate to be able to know their great-grandma. Even though she has a hard time with some things, she remembered all my kids names. Considering she has so many great-grandchildren, that is a feat! She has lived a wonderful life, the majority of it on her own. My great-grandfather Cecil passed away when my dad was a teenager so she raised 3 boys on her own, she lived on her own until recently and I have always admired her independence. She now relies heavily on a caretaker, but can still get around and has a good memory. I am so grateful for her and her life and her example and love that my kids have had the chance to know her.




A little update: I started working part-time this week for an OB/Gyn on the other side of town. It's been good to get out of the house and do something I love for a little bit, but the downside is that I've been exhausted! Hopefully I'll get used to this new schedule and it won't take my time away from the hobbies I have grown to love! Oh, and my kids too :)

Flash Way Back

Thank you to my sister-in-law Jordon who tagged me in her flashback post. I'm a heckuva lot older than Jordon so my flash-back took a little longer since I had to scan in pictures. Digital wasn't invented back in the 80's. Also, I should apologize ahead of time to Katie, Alisha, Kristen, and Natalie who are also included in the flashback. Hope I'm not embarrassing you too much! So let's take a stroll WAY down memory lane....(Sorry about the scans) These pictures are in no particular order.Me and Alisha waiting for the bus to Burkholder Jr. High. If I remember right, it was 8th grade Valentines Day and we were showing our true Valentines day colors by wearing black. We thought we were pretty cool. Love the bangs!
Back in the good old days the YW/YM got to take trips. This was our ward trip to Disneyland. We are all in line for the Matterhorn. I'm not sure exactly when this is, maybe Katie or Alisha will have a better memory.


Graduation from Basic High School in 1992. Good times, good times...


This is a slumber party at Alisha's house I'm guessing 7th or 8th grade. I can only tell from the big bangs and perm.
I had to include this one just cuz it's so funny. This is Michael (my husband) and my sister Natalie at Homecoming 1991. I won't go into details to protect the innocent.


In the winter of 1990 the Clark County School District began girls soccer. My brothers all played so I figured I'd give it a shot. I wasn't very good and I warmed the bench an awful lot. Our coach was the boys football coach and I thought he was too mean to be coaching a bunch of girls. So needless to say that was my first and last season. I'd much rather be on the sidelines cheering than on the soccer field.



I must say that me and my kids had a good time dragging out old pictures. Olivia keeps asking about what I was like when I was younger and so I got to tell her some fun stories. I am so glad that I still keep in touch with some of the people in the pics. It makes me feel not so old! I'm not going to be mean and tag anyone, but, whoever can dig up the best old pics, I dare ya!

New Year, New Pics

While Michael and I went out for New Years, Matthew, his cousin Dallin, Olivia, and Jeffrey had their own party. They watched movies, ate lots of candy, popcorn, and soda, and stayed up past midnight. They also got poppers and those little firecrackers and went outside at midnight to let them off. Michael and I got back around 11 and went to bed, too tired to stay up. But not the kids, they partied till well after midnight. A bunch of party animals!

This is a bunch of empty Coke bottles, candy wrappers etc. etc.

This is just a cute picture I caught of Matthew and Zakary. They were watching a movie and Zak just crashed on Matty's lap. What a good big brother.

Zakary's new favorite place. Everytime the fridge gets open, he runs and tries to sit down inside the fridge before it gets shut. He sits there and smiles and laughs like that is the best seat in the house. Actually, it probably is.

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!