Oliver's prayer.

Oliver likes to say nightly prayers by himself lately. Usually they last about 2 minutes of him rambling on and on (and on) and Tom and I don't know what he's saying. Tonight's prayer was short and sweet and crystal clear: "Dear Heavenly Father, I'm thankful for mommy, daddy, Paisley, grandma, papa, my bike, and bike rides. In the name of Jesus Christ Amen." 

9-2-15 Paisley is 6 months old

9-2-15 💗 6 months old 💗 18 lbs (85%), 26 inches tall (53%), head 17 inches (76%) 💗 Paisley has become so alert. She wants to grab everything! She thinks her brother is hilarious, but he doesn't have the same sentiments towards her! She loves to jump in her saucer. She has eaten rice, oatmeal, sweet potatoes and carrots. Paisley continues to be the happiest, most cheerful baby on this planet. Unless you are loud and/or a stranger. Then she will cry. Haha! 

3.5 years later....

   Well it's only been 3.5 years since my last blog post! Thanks to my friend, Nikki, I've been inspired to start up this blog again. I feel like it's a modern version of family history - and because of technology, an easy way to add text, photos, and videos! 

   So what has happened in 3.5 years?!? 

* 4 houses (Oregon Street, Pecos apartment, Swan Drive, Lola Lane {which better be permanent!})

* 2 hearts walking outside my body! 

* Tom's "new" job at Grand Canyon University

* I taught 5th grade for 7 years at Tarwater and now stay at home with my sweethearts 

* Serious lack of sleep!!!

* Heart so full of love it could burst! 

   On April 3, 2015, James Oliver Skeen entered the world.  

He changed out life forever! He is now 2.5 years old and has the spunk and attitude you'd expect any 2 year old to have! He has taken the role of big brother very well with minimal jealousy (except when it comes to a Minnie Mouse doll that grandma just gave to sister!). Oliver is a very cautious little boy, which means he likes to try new things but it takes him awhile to warm up to it. He LOVES basketball and doing art work. He sings extremely well. So many great attributes, which is why I'm blogging again so I can capture more precious moments and tender mercies from the Lord! 

   Paisley Rose Skeen was born March 2, 2015. 

She is now almost 6 months old. Paisley is the best baby in the whole world. She is happy and loves to smile. She fusses when she wants to go to sleep. I wish I could be a tenth as happy as she is! And I really pray that her easy going, smiling personality is a character trait that stays with her for life! 

   I have been keeping a journal on the Internet and wrote (in graphic detail!) both birth stories. I might publish them here just to always remember them and save them in another location in case something happens to our computer and back ups! 

I love my little family. The days are long but the years are short! Heavenly Father has blessed me and continues to do so. I need to realize his hand in all ways because he truly is mindful of me. 

Christmas in Utah

Tom and I spent Christmas up in Utah.  Poor Tom was sick the whole time.  But I forced him to take me to the SLC Temple Light Fiesta of Fun. 

 This picture looks like my mom when she was young.

 This was all the snow I got up in Utah.  No "White Christmas" for me!

Christmas celebration at the Cummard Residence when we got back from Utah.

New Favorite Quote/Thought

I really like this quote from the September 2011 Ensign magazine ... I feel like it was written especially for me.  The context of the article is talking about marriage relation-ships, but I think it's applicable to friend-ships, family-ships, work-ships, etc.

"All of us carry excess baggage around from time to time, but the wisest ones among us don't carry it for very long.  They get rid of it.  Often, the things we carry are petty, even stupid.  If you resent someone for something s/he has done - or failed to do - forget it.  We call that forgiveness.  It is a powerful, spiritual medicine. ... The best response to being hurt is to get over it.  Marriage (or any relationship I care about) is too important for us to clutter our minds and hearts with resentment that is created by dwelling on the faults and weaknesses of our spouse (or friends/family/coworkers/etc).  We need to forgive and move on."

- Boyd K. Packer & Richard Miller

Husbands... Can't live with 'em ... Can't live without 'em!

We are going to be moving in a few months.  To try to get ahead of the game, Tom and I decided that we should do a little "spring cleaning" and get rid of junk we don't need.  Then we don't have to move that junk to the new place!

Let me set the scene:  Tom is downstairs in the "under-the-stairs" closet.  He is cleaning out his tubs of old electronics to donate. I am upstairs in my bedroom closet.  I am cleaning out clothing to donate.

For about 45 minutes, we are cleaning away.  I, very begrudgingly, decided to donate clothes, shoes, purses, belts, etc. that I have had all the way back to high school!  (I had to admit to myself that I'm not size 7 anymore... My days of 130 pounds are LONG gone....)  It was hard for me to say goodbye to many old favorites.  I do clean out my closet fairly regularly, but this was a SERIOUS clean out.  Two giant garbage bags of stuff.

Enter Tom upstairs.

Tom is carrying a small, hand-held device.  "I want to get rid of my bulky scripture case and take my scriptures to church on THIS."  He shows me his Palm Pilot, circa 1995, is my guess.  "Tom... the point of tonight's cleaning is to get RID of these things... not resurrect them!  Put that old Palm Pilot in the "donate" pile."  "No Way!" he cries.  "This thing is awesome.  And now I can be cool like you and have my scriptures on an electronic device."  "Tom, there is nothing cool about a Palm Pilot anymore!"  "It's just like your fancy phone, Morgan, except with my device, I have to use a stilus."

I already know that in about 2 weeks time, that Palm Pilot is going to be back on his shelf, never to be used at church.  I will just wait out these next 2 weeks, and then sneak the Palm Pilot into the donation bag.

Oh, by the way... Here is a picture of Tom "downloading" the scriptures onto his Palm Pilot:

"I just have to plug it in to the back of my computer .... It doesn't have internet download like your phone does."

No kidding, Tom .... It's a Palm Pilot at least 10 years old!!

Silly Kitty!!

We have two cats.

Harvey is black and white, about a year old, and nicknamed "The Linebacker".  He gets into trouble constantly.  He loves attention, especially between the hours of midnight and 6am.  For that reason, he sleeps in his own bedroom with the door closed.   He also barks at birds.

Rita is a dilute-tortie.  She is sweet and kind and likes to be left alone.  We rescued her from Friends For Life, a no kill shelter in Gilbert, AZ.  She is the perfect kitty, except that she meows bloody-murder at 4am for no apparent reason.  We're working on that ....

Surprisingly, Rita loves company, whereas Harvey freaks and hides.  The other night, Collin and Nikki came over to play.  They watched our cats for a week while we were in Utah, so the kitties are very familiar with them.  But Harvey, as always, runs upstairs and hides the minute they come over.  A few hours later, with C&N still here, I go upstairs to use the potty.  While sittin' on the toilet (a bit graphic, I know!), I try to peek under the bed to see if Harvey is there.  That's his usual hiding spot.  SUDDENLY, i see out of the corner of my eye, the cabinet under the sink slowly begins to open.  I see 4 white whiskers peek out of the cabinet.  No nose, no head, no ears.  The whiskers slowly retreat back into the cabinet and the cabinet door closes without a sound.  That little rascal hid under the sink!!!  He gets himself into so much trouble.

Here is a picture, taken just the day before the bathroom cabinet incident, where Harvey decided to take a rest in the kitchen cabinet.  What a stink pot!

We certainly love our kitties!