Highlights of 2008 - babysitting my neice and nephew

In January of this year I got a free trip out to Denver, only there was a catch - I had to babysit my niece and nephew for five days. My sister and her husband were off to a red carpet event in LA. Of course I was totally willing, and it turns out it wasn't so bad. Although I was pregnant, and I'm sure they would say pretty ornery, we all had a great time. I took Corbin and Cody with me and of course for them it was like one big sleep over (though they didn't really do much of that.) It was late nights and early mornings, and busy days, but we loved it! What I liked the most was being able to get to know Lexi and Levi a little better and getting to feel their love. They are so sweet and kind! I wish we got to see them more!

going "sledding" in the living room

coloring and making many, many pictures

Corbin and Lexi at the Rodeo (thanks to Grandpa Dave for watching the other two!)

Trying to get a picture of the four of them at the Buttefly Pavilion proved to be quite tricky

good thing Grandma Jill was there to help!

Other highlights of this trip included getting to see Uncle Matt. I don't remember why he was in town, but lucky us! And taking the four kids to see their great, great grandparents. This was the last time we saw Grandpa Likely, who passed away the day Colton was born.

The other highlight was that my sister is going to pay me back this year when I leave my kids to go to . . . Africa? (wink, wink Megan) :)

Highlights of 2008 - Conference with Yunus

One of the highlights of my year was getting to attend the Social Business and Microeconomic Opportunities for Youth Conference in Denver in March. It was great for so many reasons. I got to go on a short trip without my kids, fly and hang with two of my good friends, stay in my Dad's hotel, see my brother Matt from Chicago, be there for my Dad's 50th birthday celebration and of course, the conference was awesome. The keynote speaker was Muhammed Yunus who recently won the Nobel Peace Prize for his work in creating micro loans for the poor. He started in Bangladesh, where he is from, over 25 years ago and it has now become a worldwide movement with thousands of organizations providing microcredit and microbusiness training to the poorest of the poor (mostly people living on less than a dollar or two a day). I am so glad that he won this award, although he has revolutionized international development, he is such a humble and kind person - he deserves every bit of recognition! I enjoyed hearing him speak and the many others at the conference that really inspired me to continue on my path of finding ways to contribute to alleviating poverty around the world. (And yes, I was very pregnant in these pictures, ugh.)

I was privileged to get to have breakfast with Yunus one morning (me and 300 others). :)

Yunus, Me, and my friends, Jen Boehme Kumar and Genevieve Brown

Highlights of 2008 - organized sports

Corbin got to play baseball and soccer for the first time this year. It was an interesting experience. He did "Smart Start Baseball", which is one of those things where they don't really divide up into teams - it's more of a parent/child learning thing. Too bad they had the parents pitch for part of it, poor Corbin never had a chance with me getting like 1 out of every five in any remotely close area for him to even try and hit. He had fun, but I don't think he is going to be a baseball kid. Too boring for him (good for me, because I tend to agree.) The funnest part was seeing the kids running randomly around after they hit the ball, trying to figure out what this whole thing was about.

Soccer was the usual 5 year old bunch ball. For monst kids it was their first year playing, but a few of them were quite natural. Corbin was a little timid and too nice to take the ball away from anyone - even the other team. He was really good at letting everyone have a turn. he told me he did like practices way more than the games though. In his words, "why would anyway want to just fight over one ball the whole time?" In practice they all got their own ball and they played all different kinds of fun games. He had a great coach - Thanks Jennifer! We had fun watching him. Who knows if he will do it again next year, but you have to let them try it all, right?

Highlights of 2008 - the election

Shhh, don't tell anyone, but I am 30 years old and this is the first time I have voted. I have never really been into politics and I think I felt like many people do, that my vote didn't really matter - especially in such a red state. But I was so intrigued this time - and I have learned so much. I have truly been interested and engaged in those news shows that I used to find totally boring and meaningless. Maybe it is because of the turn in the economy and how it is effecting me and my family. Or maybe I am just maturing and moving beyond just getting my news from Jay Leno and Staurday Night Live. This is an interesting time for our country and I am glad to be a part of it. I don't want this to be a political statement or to get into a debate with anyone, but I am excited about our new president and the change that is coming. I know I have friends and family on both sides of the political arena, but just so you know - I voted for Obama and we won! Yeah! It has been very interesting to see what he has done with his cabinet already and I am very intrigued to see what happens next year. I know there are many of you who have been critical - so here's a link to check out where he stands on the issues. http://www.barackobama.com/issues/. Obviously I don't agree with everything, but it is done and he is our president - come what may. . .

So to make a sort of uncoherent posting brief, this has been a highlight for me this year - following the political debates, learning more about our country's government, and electing a new president that I actually believe in and am excited about.

Highlights of 2008 - Maxwell Family Reunion

I am really getting off easy on this one because I already did a post on this event back in July (click here to view), but I have to add it because it really was one of the great highlights of the year. The last reunion we had with this side of my family (my dad's fam) was the year Russ and I got married. It was right after we got back from our honeymoon and included our second reception - needless to say, I wasn't totally involved in the reunion. The reunion before that I was a delinquent teenager and was not totally engaged then either. So this one was significant and memorable in many ways. It was really fun to see so many of the next generation getting to know each other and allowing them to see that they are really a part of something bigger. They all have alot of people that love and care about them. I love my family!

PS If you do check out the last posting, just realize that this was when I first started using blogger and it was a learning experience. . .

Highlights of 2008 - Grass!

Strange, I know. In comparison to having a baby, getting grass may seem like a small detail. But after two winters and one summer of dirt and mud, I was so grateful! We put it in less than two weeks afte I had Colton, so I wasn't much help, but a big THANK YOU to my sister, my in-laws and all our neighbors who came over unsolicited on a Saturday morning and got it done in just over an hour. It made me love my neighborhood even more! We have sure been enjoying our grass since that wonderful day . . .

Playing on the slip n slide with their friend Jimmy

Playing in the sprinklers

playing firefighter
playing with old Halloween costumes

playing on their Little Tikes slide

Colton's first time in the grass!