Dirty Boy

The dirty boy you see here has just returned from his first official overnighter as a boy scout. The troop took a trip to Moaning Caverns in the gold country. What do you do at this mecca of stalagtites and stalagmites? You sign up for a rappel, and then moan about why you ever did.

The highlights of Logan's trip included a 160 foot rappel into a pitch dark cavern. Some of his leaders shared how frightening the activity was, and how brave Logan was in going through with it. Then the boys went through a special cave crawl. By all accounts most of us would have to go on Jenny Craig for 6 months to be able to fit in these tight spaces. (not for the clostrophobic). After these two feats of bravery, the boys ascended to the surface and exchanged a series of high fives.

All in all, Logan had a great time and is grateful for his leaders and the memorable time he had.

Big Day

Big day in the life of the Skinners. On January 13th Logan was ordained to the Aaronic Priesthood and is the Modesto 5th Ward's newest Deacon. Both Kristin and My parents were able to travel and spend a quality weekend with us to partake of the festivities.

We are very proud of Logan and the choices he is making.

UNO

If you visit our house you will be roped into a game of UNO whether you like it or not. Tommy is obsessed with UNO. He will make you play Dora UNO or UNO Attack (aka the never ending game). I play UNO with Tommy at least 10 times a day, since I am the only one home with him.



Tommy preys on his next unsuspecting UNO playing victim and he gets you when you least expect it. I will be sitting at the computer, minding my own business and the next thing I know the cards are being dealt in my lap and Tommy will be saying, "Mommy it's your turn". If you are watching TV he will walk up and just start putting the cards in your hands. He has gotten to the point where he won't even ask if you want to play, he just hands you the cards and the next thing you know you are "happily" playing a game of UNO. It doesn't help that Landon and I have a hard time telling him no.



When my parents and Landon's parents came to visit a couple weeks ago they were swindled in to several rounds of UNO. From the minute they woke up they were bugged to play UNO. It was so nice because I got a break.

Now.....would more of you PLEASE come and visit!!!

You Say It's Your Birthday..........

DANANANANA.......

Yesterday was Landon's 36th Birthday!!!



HAPPY BIRTHDAY LANDON!!!

We celebrated with Landon's favorite treat, brownies, ice cream, hot fudge and whipped cream. YUMMY!!!

All she wants for Christmas is......

Her two front teeth!!! That makes 4 lost teeth......so far.

Are you smarter than a 5th grader?

Well Karli gave it her best shot in the Geography Bee. She got knocked out after missing 2 questions wrong. We are so proud of her and her efforts. She was brave enough to even give it a shot. Just for fun I am listing some of the questions that she was asked in the Bee. See how well you do. I am not smarter than a 5th grader when it comes to geography. I didn't know over half of her questions. Here you go:

1. The Mississippi Delta dominates the southeastern portion of which state?

2. Spruce Knob, the highest point in West Virginia lies in the Allegany Mountains part of what larger mountain range?

3. Profitable farms called Bonanza Farms were established in the late 1800's in the Red River Valley, some of the largest were found in the area around Fargo in which state?

4. A Mediterranean climate occurs in only one state in the United States name this coastal state.

5. The Potomac River empties into which large bay?



Here are the answers: (NO CHEATING!!!)

1. Louisiana
2. Appalachian Mountains
3. North Dakota
4. California
5. Chesapeake Bay

Happy New Year!

New Years was a blast!

We went to our friends Mike and Renae Jones' place in Truckee (near Lake Tahoe). With 4 days to fill with snow sport fun, we were determined not to be denied a memorable experience.

To start with let's talk about the sled run in the Jones' back yard. You walk across 2 zip codes to get to the top. Once there it was time to yell "let her rip tater-chip" and one by one come barraling down with reckless abandon. 2016 Olympics are bound to have a Skinner Bobsled team, watch out Jamaica!

Mom had fun with her new toy recording all the attempts at snow sledding glory. It was so fun, return visits the next day were in line. This time an entire district of Missionaries for the church showed up and displayed the true abilities of their guardian angels, as no hospital trips were necessary that day.

Dad and Mike left the ladies and kids to head off to the RV park northwest of Reno near Pyramid lake. I was so jealous of Kristin's wreck on day 1 with the new bikes, I had to do my own version. Performing some slow rock-crawl maneuvers, I underestimated the slope on the backside of one boulder in particular. I soon found myself ejected from the bike and quickly dodging it as it fell towards me. Yeah, I screamed like a 10 year old girl at the dentist, but got back on to ride for another 4 hours. Gosh I love Advil.

Christmas

Christmas 2007 was a festive time for the Skinner family. As tradition goes, the kids all receive a new set of pj's on Christmas eve, and off to bed they go (with visions of sugar plums dancing in their heads). As all kids everywhere their internal clocks are set to wake up early so they can rip through the goodies that Santa has brought.

All were surprised to see that Santa had listened to their requests, and felt vindicated that this proves that they were indeed on the Nice list.

They were all puzzled, however, when they saw a cluster of helmets under the tree. Why on earth would Santa bring us motorcycle helmets? The journey to the garage revealed the reason as the family was blessed with a pair of quads on Christmas morning. Kristin and I had long talked about what could bring the family together on weekends. Many friends and co-workers sold us on the hours of fun their own families have on their "toys", so we were sold. Broken necks here we come!

The next morning it was 40 degrees with 40 mph gusts. Not miserable enough to deter us from our newfound hobby. Brave the cold we did, and were rewarded with a fun time at the RV park in LaGrange. Kristin wrecked hers that afternoon. I say just breaking it in, she says lucky not to break a leg.

Merry Belated Christmas!

It's an accomplishment!!!

Tommy was so proud of himself today. He can go from one end of the monkey bars to the other by himself. Luckily, when I picked him up from preschool I had the camera with me. So I shot some footage of Tommy showing off his skills. His face is so funny when he does the monkey bars because he is so focused on finishing. In this clip he falls off right toward the end because he has sand all over his hands and they kept slipping. Now hopefully he won't fall off and break his arm like his older sister, Karli, did.

Geography Bee

Karli was 1 of 17 students to participate in the schools Geography Bee. The first round of the bee was today. The students were each asked 7 different questions, if they got the question right they got a point, if they got it wrong they received nothing. The first few questions were multiple choice and fairly easy for all the kids. The more questions asked the harder the questions became. After 7 questions were answered the judge tallied the points and the top 10 students will move on to the next round. Karli was one of the 10 to make it to the next round. Tomorrow she will go head-to-head with the remaining contestants. The winner tomorrow will go to the State Geography Bee.

The final goal is to make it to Washington D.C. for the National Geography Bee. Wish Karli luck as she prepares to kick some Geopraphy butt.

The Birthday Bash

For Logan's birthday dinner he chose to eat at Fuddruckers. He brought along a friend from school whose name is also Logan. After scarfing down his 1/3 pound original, fudd fries, Mt. Dew and free cookie, we headed home for chocolate cake and cookie dough ice cream. Being the awesome mom that I am, I forgot to get birthday candles so we sang with out them. Logan got a Halo controller for his XBox 360, a gift card to game works, and some serious cash from his grandparents.

HAPPY 12th BIRTHDAY LOGAN!!!!

He really does have blue eyes.....

For the last year and a half, and amidst much scorn from family and friends Logan has sported a rather shaggy "hippie" do. Many have offered to cut it, but Logan continued to be his own man and therefore long it continued to be. It is the look these days, and he doesn't stand out among the myriad of friends both at school and church. Shaggy Hippie Do's are in!

As Logan rapidly approached his 12th birthday, he realized that he is making that huge step into obtaining the Aaronic Priesthood. We've had many talks with him leaving it ultimately up to him to decide what to do. The one requirement that we had of him was that when administering his duties in the priesthood, he had to be mindful of his appearance. Ultimately Logan decided that it was time to trade in his locks for a more timely look. He was inspired by the character Riley Poole (played by Justin Bartha) in the latest film "National Treasure, Book of Secrets".

So in haste, off went Logan and mom to the family's hairstylist, Amber at Design Cuts in Riverbank. After carefully considering her project, Amber went to town on Logan, artfully designing his new appearance.

And Voila!