2008 Year in Review

    2008 was a year bookended by snowfall for us. It all started with a heavy snow, and it ended with one as well. In between we made a lot of memories, most good and some sad.

    January wasn’t great for us, as our furnace gave out on us… this in itself wasn’t terrible, but man are they expensive to replace! Drew also turned 3 on the 23rd, which was big for him. Also in January, Tyler started his first season of basketball. His team ended up going undefeated and winning the league championship in March. We were very thrilled for him and his teammates.

    Of course I turned 34 in February, much to my chagrin (although it is better than the alternative). Over the winter months Tara got a little snow-fever and went crazy making changes to the house. It started out when our dishwasher died, leading to new kitchen appliances. It spread to fresh paint in the kids’ bathroom, as well as our bathroom and bedroom. Thankfully it warmed up outside, or the whole house would have ended up redone (and I would have had a sore back).

    Tyler and Samantha started their baseball season in early May, and Tara celebrated her 32nd birthday later in the month. It wasn’t long after Tara’s birthday that the kids finished the school year, with Tyler moving on to 4th grade and Sam into 2nd. They ended their school years with trip to The Henry Ford for Tyler and to the Detroit Zoo for Sam. The kids had fun at both places. Sam celebrated her 7th birthday at the beginning of June by inviting over some friends to take to the movies. As the month of June wound down, so did the kids baseball season (they were on the same team this year, likely for the final time). Tyler was honored by being voted onto the All-Star team for the first time, and once again we were thrilled for him. Tara also was sent to a conference at Crystal Mountain resort at the end of June, and I took the opportunity to spend one night with her as a sort of mini-vacation – the kind we haven’t had in quite some time without kids with us. Hopefully she can go again next year and I will be able to stay for more than one night.

    Once the summer season starts, so did our opportunities to go camping. We were limited to only three trips this year due to our lack of a truck to tow the trailer with, but we thoroughly enjoyed our two trips to Port Sanilac in July and August, as well as our trip to St. Ignace for the annual Labor Day Bridge Walk, our 5th time in the last 6 years.

    Back in August, Tyler turned 9. It is hard to believe that it has been that long since the first time we held him in our arms. Where does the time go? Tyler also started his second season of tackle football and, thanks to a change in jobs and shifts at work, my first season as an assistant coach. Although our team didn’t win a game, everybody involved had a good time learning the game. The new job is working out well for us – I get to see the kids in the evenings for the first time in over five years, although I must say that it seems like I have less free time now than ever!

    September brought the beginning of school for Tyler and Sam once more, as well as the start of soccer season for Sam. Her team did fairly well, going 5-3, and Sam managed to score a couple goals herself this year. Unfortunately we also got some really terrible news too. Our former neighbor, as well as one of the kids’ best friends, passed away in a terrible accident at a friend’s house. This made for some of the worst days of our lives, but we will never forget you Bryce. There are times we still wait for your phone calls to see if the kids can play.

    As fall rolled in, Drew reached a major milestone when he finally (Finally!) became fully potty trained. We treated him with a trip to Chuck-E-Cheese for the entire family. Finally, December came and with it Jayden’s 2nd birthday. And what would a “year-in-review” be without a mention of Christmas? So far the Wii from Santa Claus seems to be the clear cut winner for the entire family. Tyler is hooked on his new Pokémon game for his Nintendo DS (actually he is addicted to the new cheat system he got for his Pokémon game), Sam plays with every one of her gifts (her new doll has already pee’d on the table!), Drew is crazy about his new GeoTrax (both his new tracks and pieces as well as his new airplane stuff), and Jayden goes nuts for her new babies and their strollers (we recently counted – she has 16 babies and stuffed animals that she has hoarded in her bed at night). All in all, it was a pretty good Christmas.

    In fact, looking back on all we have seen and done over the course of 2008, it was a pretty good year. Here’s hoping that 2009 is as good or better for us as well as you and yours.