Well, I knew it'd been a long time since I'd posted, but wow - since May?! I guess you could say things have been busy at the Skelton house. There is just so much fun to be had, getting on the computer doesn't make the cut sometimes. But, it's time to update our friends and family on our not-so-Simply Skelton lives!
Grant & I -
God's Glory!
We both got to go with our FSM students to Estes Park, CO in June for Ravencrest. This trip was dear to my heart as I went when I was an FSM student almost 10 years ago! This is where, as a new believer at 15, first really grasped God's glory through his creation! It was amazing to get to see our students experience the same thing.
Snow sliding on a mountain in Rocky Mtn Nat'l Park
A baby deer right by our rock climbing site!
Me...rock climbing (I don't like heights, but had to try!)
Our activity team on the boulders in Estes Park
Hubby and I at the base of Mount Lady Washington & Long's Peak
This was before we climbed the last couple miles to summit Mt. Lady Washington!
About 20 of us from the trip accepted the challenge of trying to summit Mt. Lady Washington
Elevation 13,281ft (you can see Long's Peak at 14,255 behind us)
Here was our victory pose!
We all made it with no altitude sickness or injuries!
My rockin' Springdale girls striking a pose on the boulders at Estes Park rec. park
5 Years!
We celebrated our 5 year anniversary May 20th of this year. WOW! 5 years already...I must say it's been a great 5 years. We waited until August to take an anniversary trip and went with our good friends Laura Jade and Joe to Saint Lucia, West Indies. It was beautiful!! See below for some fun pictures courtesy of LJ as we "lost" our camera (unfortunately we think it was stolen on the shuttle bus).
Grant is going back to school to finish his B.A. this fall. I'm so proud of him! He's going to do the JBU online business program. Hopefully this will help him to make a career change into something he really enjoys :) The thought of him loving a job and being home with us on nights and weekends brings me so much joy.
LJ & I rubbing Buddha's belly at Kimono's Japanese Resturant at La Toc
A beautiful Hibiscus
The chocolate bar in the resort lobby one night! Mmmm. You should have seen the women standing
around ready to pounce when the chefs moved out of the way. ha!
One of St. Lucia's major exports is cocoa, I want to say they said 80%
of their cocoa goes to Hershey!
I got pulled up on stage to dance at one of the shows!
A pretty cactus flower on the cliff of one of the mountains we hiked
The four of us before dinner one night :)
Joe, LJ, myself & Grant at Rodney Fort
St. Lucia has changed hands 15 times between the British and the French,
the final time was for their independence.
One of the National Park Mtns we hiked near the resort
A view of the Carribean from our hike
LJ & I lounging on the beach!
Grant & I having a relaxing lunch at the Barefoot grill
Grant & I in our ziplining gear!
We got to zipline through the rain forest, it was incredible!
I wish I had my camera as I got video footage going through the forest on the highest and
longest zipline, the video turned out so cool!
Wwweeeeeeee!
LJ & I before dinner at the La Toc resturant, this was by far my favorite meal!
That night we had scallops, ahi tuna, sea bass, & salmon...with the works. It was food art I assure you!
Watching the locals catch bait in huge nets from the shore
We went on a half-day tour of the island. The first attraction was this arch which
is where an opening scene in Pirates of the Carribean was filmed!
The Piton Mountains are the most famous landscape on the island. They are breathtaking in person!
One of the waterfalls we hiked to after doing the natural mud baths near the volcanos.
Natural hot spring baths under the waterfall! So fun!
A view of our resort/beach from our rooms
Grant and I on the last day. This was when we realized we weren't
going to find our camera so we had LJ & Joe take a picture of us to prove
we were there haha.
On the way home at ATL airport, we met Anthony Anderson. He's an actor
in numerous comedies. Super nice guy to take a picture with us cheesey fans ha.
Grahm -
This boy....wheew! He is...he is....I just can't even put words to it. He has the most amazing and defined personality, showing off that toothy smile and those sweet deep dimples. We're just so blessed! He's talking quite a bit now saying things like: Dada, Momma, puppy, Bella, Jax, yellow, cracker, nana (banana), Grandma, MeeMaw, Lula, Ara (aunt Sara), di-pah (diaper), more, please, thank choo (thank you), cow & moo etc...Bright Haven did an amazing job of teaching him sign language before he could speak for 'more', 'eat', 'please' & 'thank you' so it's been fun adding words to his communication and hearing that sweet voice!
Below are a few (understatement) of my favorite pictures of G since May since I've been slacking so you can catch up and see his developing and fun character.
Grahm at Chuck-E-Cheese on his actual 1st bday
He was king of this castle
Grahm and I on Mother's Day!
Grahm in his very own camping chair at Devil's Den park
G's 1st birthday party cakes!
Rachel Jardot with Rachel's Cakes and Bakes did a great job!
As you can see it was Razorback themed.
I love this picture of Grant and Grahm :)
Checking out his cool new toys!
Me, I was thinking "where are we going to put all of this?!" haha
Grahm playing in the back yard in June
He was dancing on the lounge chair at the pool haha
Grant and G watching the fish at the Tulsa Aquarium!
Our little family!
G was very tired at the end of that day. He loved going with us, his Gdad, MeeMaw
and neice and nephews!
Grahm showing off his cool shades (notice Blankey in tow ha)
Fun in the sun!
Grant built Grahm a tunnel/fort out of cushions on the couch. They played so hard!
Grahm loves his daddy!
Work Hard to Play Hard-
Back in late May, after 6 1/2 years I made the tough decision to switch companies. I accepted a Sr. Analyst position at Timex (yep, 'Takes a Lickin', Keeps on Tickin' - that Timex). I've missed my old co-workers but have kept in touch with our monthly golf outtings and occasional lunches. We have a great group at Timex, it's myself and 4 others so quite a different dynamic from JBHunt! We are the Wal-Mart team, our corporate office is in Middlebury, CT so our office is fairly small. About two weeks after I started I got to take my first short business trip with the team to NYC and CT. It was my first trip to NYC and I loved taking in the city! Luckily we had a little extra time to play around our meeting schedules! I get to go back in December - looking forward to seeing the city at Christmas time!
The Empire State Building from our hotel
My co-worker JC playing chess with Asa Hoffman, Master of Games chess player and
cornerstone of the NYC chess scene. So fun!
The fountain at Bryant park with city buildings behind
Bryant Park and the New York Library
It doesn't take much to make me feel short, but wow!
Time Square!
The red steps at Time Square, this place is packed constantly.
I took this picture around 10pm on a Wednesday night. No down time in Time Square!
Hogtown Creations-
I have a do a shameless plug for my site Hogtown Creations on facebook. Check it out for fun customized paintings and decor! Most people request Razorback or nursery paintings but if you have an idea, let me know and we'll see what we can work up! Here's a few fun samples, but go to Hogtown Creations page on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Hogtown-Creations/124839387588051
16x20 acrylic on canvas Hog silhouette painting to match Miss Abigails room
8x10 nursery door hanger to welcome baby Brooklyn
22x28 "Hog Face' painting for Connie's office
Congrat's to The Mabry's! What better way to start their new home than with a custom family name Razorback painting!
Well, I feel like I've done a decent job of updating our friends and family so I'll say farewell for now!
One final and very imporanting thing...today is the first Razorback game of the season so...
WWWWwoooooooooooo Pig SSSOoooooiiiiieeee! Go Hogs!
Love,
G&B + lil g
