Well I could try ,I guess, to summarize 2008. I don't even know if words can really "sum" up the fun, hardships, experiences, and growth that has happened this year. But I can give a brief time line, not that a few words can give form to the year we've had!!!
At the end of January we found out we were pregnant with our third child! My business, High Altitude Fitness, expanded and moved from it's orginal location in Huntsville to Eden. A little hard work never hurt anyone! In April we found out we were having a girl, Tora, Elliot, and Brighton were the names in question. Tom and I took our first "alone" vacation since the birth of Brody almost six years ago. Except all of Burton Lumber came too! Oh well, Cancun was still awesome, even with a bunch of lumber salesman! In May we sold and moved from our house in Ogden to our dream spot the valley of Eden! It really is called Eden. We lived in a wonderful condo on wolf creek golf course for the duration of the summer and pretty much just swam all day. Brooklyn did a princess camp, ever since then it's been princess everything! Brody did a star wars camp, we thought it might detour him from his dinosaur obesession, but he still faithfully clings to his hopes of being a dinosaur expert! We did lots of camping and I had a wisdom tooth pulled, not the best idea during pregnancy, but I got through the ordeal ok (and 5lbs. lighter). In August we went to Lake Tahoe, all my favorite things to do, but a 10lb belly kept me under control. We closed out the summer with a few great camping trips. My sister and I pretty much just lived at the lake, in fact we spent a solid week camped on the Pineview lake just a few miles from our house. What can I say? I love it here. Brody started Kindergarten in September and Brooklyn started Pre-school. Yay for mommy time! At the end of September/beginning of October we moved to a rad home we are renting. Previous floor plans we designed for our custom home in the neighborhood of Eagle Ridge got denied because one of the garages was facing the wrong direction! We'll be buying a lot in a different neighborhood! Tom injured his back so badly he had to lay there on sedatives and pain killers for about two weeks while I did the majority of the moving. Moving at 39 weeks was fun, I beat my previous record of moving at 37 weeks (with Brooklyn.) See if I can top that next time! Tom and I have some sort of fixation with moving, this we are in our third location for the year. October 17th, Elliot Betsy Burton was born, definately the highlight of our year! 7 lbs. 14 oz. 21 inches of angel. For Halloween I was "not pregnant" yay! November was spent in sleepless nights, a great excuse to stay in my pajamas, and have yummy food brought to me all the time. I thought you were supposed to loose weight after the baby came out?!!! Thanks to all the gals in the valley who chipped in! December we took our 7 week old baby on a spontaneous trip back to cancun. She slept the whole time, it was really fun! December is also the mark of Elliot sleeping through the night, 11pm to 11am! Dude, what is really in this milk?! Christmas came and went this year in a hurry. I am obsessed with Christmas decorations and music and it was just not enough for my yearly fix. Santa brought "walking with the dinosaurs" tickets to Brody and everything "princess" for Brooklyn. The snow came really late this year though, so not as much snowboarding as we would like. The snow is falling now though! Yipeeee! Wolf Mountain ski resort is 3 miles from our house. Brody does ski school every Wednesday. You have to be 7 to ride a board in the program so he skis during the week and rides a board on the weekends. I think the kids should be on skis for the first few years, but Tom wants to keep them pure. Brody got a dino. snowboard from Santa last year, he should really get broken in this year! Brooklyn is a little ripper, but I insist she starts on skis. Elliot just likes being outside on the sunny ski days, otherwise we chill in the lodge and I get to take turns. Just a couple more years and we'll all be out there together. To top the year off our mini-van exploded. For reals! It just lit up in flames while it was parked in front of my parent's house. I will definately post those pics, although it won't be clear what you are looking at. Hooray for insurance payouts! Now I am actually driving something that can tame the snow! All in all it was a great year! We lived in three houses, added one new family member, had a whole bunch of firsts (kindergarden, pre-school, Brooklyn on skis, mini-van blowing up, etc.) High Altitude is doing well, I still consider it a hobby and I love all of our members. The fringe benifits are great for the kids because they get to take art, dance, pre-school, and tumbling for free, well not for free really, I like to tell myself that but really we just paid the investment up front! We are thankful for the million tender mercies that got us through this year safe and sound and together!
