2008 was the year. . . .

Warning: This post is mostly for my own amusement & memory-- In other words you probably won't find it remotely interesting-- feel free to skip it. :) Since I've only just started blogging & have been quite sparse this is my attempt to document 2008. This was a big year, full of good & bad, some big & some small, but I want to remember all of it. You know how Grandma & Grandpa say things like "That was in 1952." I always wonder how they do that. Maybe this will help me.

Anyway. . . 2008 was the year that:

*We discovered "Lost" in January at my in-laws and watched all 3 seasons of it on DVD to catch up.

*Josh turned 9 in January.

*Isaac turned 2 in February.

*Eliza turned 6 in March.

*Ian turned 12 in April!

*Sue & Scott came to visit us in Feb. What joy!

*I had my 3rd miscarriage in March at 16 weeks & delivered the baby at 19 weeks. That was the 6th baby boy that we conceived! Discovered I had a homozygous mutation of the MTHFR gene. (long story)

*Ian became a Deacon in April.

*Curtis became a High Priest in May & was put in the bishopric.

*His parents came down so his dad could set him apart.

*Ian & Josh played basketball & then flag football & then did swim team & then Ian did Pop Warner & Josh did soccer. (Whew! That's one solid year of sports!)

*Eliza did dance & gymnastics.

*Ali & Dagen spent the spring in Australia filming a movie.

*Ali did a triathalon.

*Annie & Doug spent the summer in AZ before heading off to TX for Doug to go to medical school at Baylor. Annie & other angels saved Callin from drowning.

*Zach graduated from nursing school. They moved into mom & dad's house & rented their own home to pay off student loans.

*In May we went with the Gwilliams to their beach house in Rosarito, Mexico. A blast!

*In June Ian & Aimee went on our stake Pioneer trek up near Greer. Had a wonderful time! Got super dirty.

*In July we spent 3 weeks in Seattle. Heaven. I read Gone with the Wind.

*Heidi came for a visit. So great to see them.

*Josh graduated from medical school & they moved to Georgia.

*Brent started his own country band, "Slade," and we girls joined Emily as groupies.

*Steve & Laura sent Keith on his mission to Minnesota.

*Nathan started a new job, but he & Sarah are still in WY.

*Scott had a heart scare & lost tons of weigh. Sue had a throat scare & surgery & got a bad virus & lost tons of weight. Sue also lost something else very important, but found it. :)

*Mom & Dad entered their 3rd and final year as mission presidents in Mozambique. We started to count down the months. Just 6 more now!

*In July, Curt (& several other attorneys) switched back to their old firm-- Gallagher & Kennedy & Curt became a partner.

*The real estate market went haywire and the stock market followed resulting in a recession.

*Ian started Jr. High & developed a "cool" attitude which I have been trying to cure.

*In September, Michael Hess, who was one of Curt's priests when we lived in Illinois, passed away following a car accident. His dad, Scott is one of Curt's best friends & Curtis flew to Utah to speak at the funeral. They are an amazing and strong family.

*Also in September we celebrated our 14th anniversary, coincidentally on the same weekend G&K was having a retreat in Laguna Beach. We enjoyed ourselves at the Montage, a 5 star resort & even got to see our friends the Cranneys.

*We went with our dear friends the Mortensens to their cabin in Show Low. I clogged their toilet & we had to buy a plunger. Nice. Incidentally, if we are talking waking hours, Eliza probably spent more time at their house this year than she did at ours. No joke.

*In September Heidi's brother Christian & his wife Stephanie were in a plane crash. They survived but were badly burned. I became engrossed in their story & started to read Stephanie's blog & also her sister's-- cjanerun.blogspot.com. Gladly they are both recovering well, but we continue to pray for them everyday.

*Autumn & Jamie & I started a dinner group. I cook for us all on Mondays, Autumn cooks on Tuesdays & Jamie cooks on Wednesdays. They are both great cooks & I love the variety & days off in the kitchen.

*Grandma came down to stay with us for awhile. Then she went to San Jose for Thanksgiving & didn't come back. :) (JK She's coming back when we get home)

*In November I went to DC to visit Kimberly. It was the week before the election.

*Barack Obama was elected to be the next president of the United States! I didn't vote for him, but it was kind of cool to witness such a historic moment.

*Wendy Whitacre took our family pictures.

*I tried to be faithful to Calli's aerobics class. I did my best.

*Grandpa Rob came for Thanksgiving & we had it at Emily's.

*After 3 years, I got released from being the stake cub scout guru when our stake primary presidency was dissolved at stake conference. I loved it & will miss working with those great people. Despite my request to be the nursery music coordinator, I just got called to teach RS. Scary.

*Just 5 days before Christmas the Greenes (a family in our ward who live just north of us) had their house burn down. The next day in the space of 4 hours our ward cleaned, furnished & decorated a rental home for them to move into. People brought furniture, bedding, household goods & food to stock the pantry & fridge. It was a tragedy for sure, but also a beautiful chance for our ward to pull together.

*On Christmas day the boys played video games & the girls worked on a 1500 piece puzzle. For about 5 hours. New tradition?

*We also surprised our kids with a trip to Seattle. We left on the 26th & we are us at Ward & Carol's enjoying the 3 feet of snow that they just got! Curt took the boys & their cousins skiing yesterday. It's so fun to be here in this winter wonderland!