2008 comes to an end

Well 2008 has come to an end. It was a year with many ups and downs. The year began great for us with the arrival of Evan Andrew on March 31st, 3hrs. shy of April Fool's Day!
Josh and I celebrated our 3rd Wedding anniversary on May 21st. It just so happened that my favorite band, the Eagles, were performing that same night in Charlottesville. We decided to make a weekend of it and go, my Aunt and Uncle were gracious enough to watch Evan. It was our 1st time away from him, it was hard, but nice to have time alone.
The fall came and we were able to take Evan up to Connecticut to meet his great-grandmother and aunt Rita for the 1st time. Evan cried when my grandmother held him for the 1st time. I felt bad he had never done that before. But he warmed up to her soon enough. For Halloween Evan was a little monkey. He was so cute! Maybe next year he'll be able to go trick-or-treating!
This year was a presidential election year. It was a very intense campaign and inspired more people to vote than ever before. I was very passionate about the election this year because of the state of the economy and the issues at hand. It was great to see people that usually don't share there opinion open up and discuss the issues. Even though the candidate that I was for didn't win, it was still a momentous occasion for the United States.
We were fortunate to visit family again in the beginning of December. The time and ticket prices were right so we thought we'd go to Connecticut again in case we didn't have another chance in a while. My mom and dad came down to meet us this time. We all took Evan to the Mystic Aquarium and into Mystic Village to walk around the shops and see the lights. We all had a great time.
Christmas came and went quick. There always seems to be so much build up and then the day comes and it goes by so fast. But I guess that's the way it is with anything you look forward to. We had my stepson, Ryan, Christmas Eve and Christmas morning. It was really cute to see him help Evan open his gifts. My grandmother came from Florida and my aunt came from CT to celebrate Christmas with us. It was my grandmothers 1st time seeing Evan so it was pretty special. This was the 1st year I wasn't thinking about all the "details" and just enjoyed sitting back and seeing Ryan and Evan so excited!
And finally, New Year's Eve was my cousin Thomas's 16th birthday. His mom, Christy, had a great party for him at the oceanfront. I can't believe he's 16! I was only able to go for a few hours because of the baby, but it was great to see Thomas's friends come and celebrate with him. New Year's Eve has never been a holiday we really do much for. Josh has always worked and I can never stay up long enough to see the ball drop! Somehow it never seems like we're starting a New Year, so I decided to write this letter to sort of finalize the year for myself.
I have high hopes for the year ahead. This country has gone through a lot of ups and downs in 2008 and I'm sure there are a lot of you effected by the state of the economy. Stay positive and be thankful for what you have now. We WILL get through this.

I wish all of you a happy and healthy New Year!

Chira