I've finally found a moment to complete my photo journaling.  It's been a great year and I had a hard time nixing photos, so pop some popcorn and settle in for the Hill year in review!  (Glad I didn't wait until the end of the year.)

2008 began with everyone's favorite season of parenting... potty training!  Bryan finally put his foot down about it being time and since he had a few extra days off around New Year's decided to work with Jaden on the manly art of peeing in a toilet.  He did an excellent job and stuck with it until Jaden got it!  Of  course there were lots of accidents to be had over the next few months, but Daddy hit the nail on the head... it was time.  What did I do during that time?  Lots and lots of laundry and, of course, take pictures...

In March we stumbled on a Kite Festival nearby that turned out to be a perfect day!  There were so many kites - from the Dollar Store version to gigungo ones that took two people to fly.  We'll definitely go back year after year - Jaden absolutely loved it!  They also had the best food ever - huge rice crispy treats and mountainous chocolate chip cookies and perhaps some of the best Calzones we've ever tasted.  The food was every bit as good as the kites were!

Early in the year we got a new bed for Jaden - a castle!  It's the coolest bed ever.  For Gotcha Day he had a slumber party with Jared and Jenna - if you look close you can find all 3 of them in the castle...

During Spring Break Bryan took a day off work and we had a family day at the Butterfly Pavilion.  Jaden bravely held Rosie the tarantula (Do you notice who didn't hold Rosie?!), touched a horseshoe crab, made crayon bug prints, jumped like a bug and climbed a giant spiderweb as well as looked at all the species of Butterflies.  So much fun!

Swimming has been a big part of the summer.  Jaden is part fish, I'm just sure of it!  He has conquered his fear of just about anything in the water and would rather be under than above.  He's doing cannon balls off the edge (which is hysterical because the "ball" part isn't fully formed until underwater!), underwater summersaults, etc.  We signed him up for his first official swim class - skill-wise he was ready for the class they assigned him to, but the other kids were 5 and well able to focus, and then there was 3 year old Jaden going under and doing "tricks" while the instructor was talking.  Needless to say he didn't acquire too many new skills, but he got a great taste of what it's like to be in a class setting.  It was a wonderful experience!  There were 2 guys teaching 5 kids, they really did a fantastic job of working with Jaden individually and he did walk away with a couple new skills.  On the last day they had the kids jump into the 9 ft. pool with life jackets on - such a treat for Jaden!

We had a surprise trip to the emergency room in May when Jaden's finger was accidently slammed in a classroom door at church.  As one of the little onlookers so eloquently put it, "Jaden's finger exploded!"  My knees went weak when I saw blood, blood and more blood - and even weaker when I saw that the entire tip of his finger would literally lift up.  Thankfully a friend did some fancy bandaging and Mommy was on duty for moral support.  The xray showed no broken bones and Jaden got to sport 6 stitches for a week.  All I have to say is I was thrilled to have my MP3 player, cell phone and camera all in my purse that day - I don't know how in the world would I have kept his mind off the pain while we waited to see a doc!  ("Here buddy, look at all the pictures of what we did this week!"  "Hey, do you want to call Dad?"  "Do you want to hear your pirate song?")  He really did an amazing job - even the doc and nurse commented on how brave he was as he watched them stitch his finger and I looked everywhere else!  We walked out with one cool bandage and an x-ray along with major bragging rights!

His first words after seeing the stitches for the first time... "Oh Mom, this is so cool!" 

Mekenzey and Jaden - we'll be spending a week together in Disneyworld in the fall.

 Mom, Naomi and I walked the Bolder Boulder this year with some friends!  One of my goals for the year was to love running.  I started out of the gate pretty slow, but Na and I have been walk/running several days a week and... well... I don't detest it as much.  I might even say I actually look forward to it, but not out loud.

 Ahhh... that's the good stuff!  The 3 second good stuff, but good nonetheless!  I'll take the Mama lovin' any way I can get it!

 Jaden loves taking pictures just like his Mama - we had some fun goofin' off with the camera one day...

We have a zoo membership and have had some really fun days with friends and family this summer!  Doesn't it look like he's petting the polar bear? 

Jaden loves the larikeet exhibit.  I think it's a riot that he talks to the birds like they're dogs.  I think this one may be tired of hearing, "Here boy, come on boy, here some food!  Come on boy, eat your food.  Here boy.  Boy!!!"

This, as I was told, is "Camping Man".  I was feverishly packing for our camping trip at the last minute - everything I put in a tub Jaden took out.  At one point I turned around to find "Camping Man" belaying down the stairs with a rope!  He'll be so proud of this picture in years to come!

We went to Estes Park with friends - what a perfect trip!  This is Jaden and his buddy Noah hanging out at the camp site before dinner. 

We took a beautiful hike in Rocky Mountain National Park - does it get any better than this?   After I think about a 2 hour hike up we ran into this lake that the kids played in for nearly an hour.  It's made up of glacier run-off so the water is literally as cold as ice!

The hike down was easier for some of us and harder for others!  Bryan and Eric carried these little ones sound asleep for the last hour of the trip - they were exhausted!

  Another hike up Lumpy Ridge over looking Lake Lucy.

One of the most exciting events of the year was Dad finally coming home after a year and 3 days of being in hospitals and rehab!  What a treat to finally have him home!  He would love that I'm actually posting a picture of him sleeping in his very own bed for the first time - ha! 

Here's the new elevator and Dad's first ride down to the main floor.

Jaden and I stayed with Mom and Dad for a few days after he came home to help them settle into the new routine.  Jaden would cuddle up with BeBop and watch a little show and have some milky in the mornings.

Having fun with our cousins, Tommy and Luke.  They were cowboys who were hunting dragons.  Go figure!

Here's our first Disney meeting with the Hill - Hunsicker clan.  We can't wait to go back!  Jaden is 42 inches tall and can ride so much more this time, so a lot of it will be all new for him.  We discovered that if we pick his hair out to it's full extent (see below) he's 44 inches and can ride even more - ha ha!

It's been a great year so far, God has blessed us beyond measure and we are truly grateful.  Can't wait to see what the rest of 2008 has in store for the Hills!

As you can see, I'm out of blogging practice!  I spent so much time reminiscing and picking pictures that I didn't have time to upload my photo journal of the last year.  Oops!  Let's try that one again... here are pictures from 2007:

What can replace the pleasure of enjoying a snowcone on a hot day in July?!  This happens to be Jaden's first snowcone ever.  He's slurping it down at the Dragonboat Festival that happened to be taking place at the lake across the street from Dad's ICU unit.  Nice break from the waiting room!

Later in July we were able to go on a hay ride with friends at a little farm in Arvada.  Such a fun day!  Jaden got to feed the horses that came right up to the trailer we were riding on!  He also drove the tractor (below), fed sheep and goats and rode a pony.  We loved every minute of it!

Dress-up - Jaden was so into pirates, and come to think of it he still is!  Don't ya love that serious piratey face?

In September we were able to go to a farm and harvest our own vegetables.  It was a great experience!  A big group of us went - we jumped on a giant trailer that stopped in several fields.  In each one we could harvest an entire bag of veggies to take home - potatoes, onions, carrots, beets, and in this picture Jaden and Abby are picking pumpkins.  Great day!

We spent a day with Thomas the Train and Sir Toppum Hatt in late September - very hot, but lots of fun!

My little Hershey's Kiss!  In October we went to a Hallelujah Party complete with games and candy coming out the ears.  Afterwards we stopped by Bryan's parents for our one-house trick-or-treating. 

In looking back I can't believe how much our little pumpkin has grown.  You don't really notice it until you look back.  Tomorrow...photo journal of 2008!