Bear Pause

It all started with a Sock Monkey

Waiting for Dawson

 We spent a week in Colorado helping Dan and Beth get Baby Dawson's nursery ready. 

Beth had Ryan and Jennell's help to design a custom nursery featuring Sock Monkeys.

It all starts with the monkey. (No not Dave.)  He is busy digitizing the designs to be embroidered.

Beth chose red, brown and a touch of blue.  It is so, so, so, very cute.

Matching valance. Aren't the button so cute?

The crib.  Wouldn't this be a fun one to be in?

Bed skirt details.

Crib Caddy

The cute hand made buttons.

Putting the decorative touches up.

Ready to Rock

Now we just need a baby.

Puppies had a good time.

We celebrated the completed project with a yummy dinner at Elways.  The daddy-to-be loves his steak.

A wonderful week with our fabulous kids!

 Dawson we can hardly wait to meet you!  Grammy and Papa

We spent Christmas in Oregon with our families.  

 

 

Twas the night before Christmas.......the creatures were excited to set out the cookies.

The stockings were hung (stuffed) by the chimney with care..

But what to my wondering eyes should appear......a tiny reindeer.  ahhhhh

Yes, there really is a Santa.

So many fun gifts for the boys.

The vacum was a hit, and functional too.

A fun towel from Aunt Marsha and Uncle Dan.

Fiona liked what Santa brought her.

Star Wars!!!

Grandma gets goodies from Santa in her stocking.

Grandpa Jerry got a new knife.

We had to take a medical check-up break.

 

Oh a 49 rs flag. Just what I always wanted. Let's hope it can be displayed with pride. : )

We had a great evening at Tim and Jackies with my side of the family and rang in the New Year with them.  We played some challenging games. It was so fun.  But..not one picture to show. oops!

We had a great snow day at Crater Lake.  That was about the only place to go for snow this year.  We had a yummy lunch with hot cocoa "syrup" and played in the cold.  

 Dopey is knee deep.

 How to make a snow angel.

Building the "snow person"

Kissing the snow person. Burrrr.

There must be a witty comment here somewhere.....oh I know, it's "gall dang Ryan"

 

We had a fun trip.  We love our family and cherish the memories we made.

Betty's Birthday Tea at the Phonecian

We celebrated Betty's 70th birthday with High Tea at the Phonecian in Scottsdale. 

 

 

A toast to the Birthday Girl!

Our beautiful private table.

Oh such amazing little sandwiches. 

Dessert was delicious!

We loved the china and the extensive tea selection was delicious.

Happy Birthday Betty!  

 

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

We held our annual Christmas Party tonight.  I was so busy socializing I failed to get pictures of our 40 guests. We had a great time.  Wonderful neighbors and friends.

Getting the table ready.

We were excited to have Aaron Prillaman as our featured musician this year. He was amazing.  Our guests thoroughly enjoyed his classical numbers as well as Christmas carols.  He was delightful and an honor to have on our home.

And oh that yummy fountain.

The cake pops Jennell made for the party were a HIT!!

I love to decorate for Christmas

And the tree.

Thankful for Family and Hudson turns 2!

Making decorations for Thanks Giving.  It is always a gift to have the house full of activity and noise.  We enjoyed 4 days of laughter, eating, games, shopping, golf, Hudson's birthday and swimming.

Ryan and Dave prep the turkey for the BBQ.  It was awesome!

We decided to celebrate TG/Christmas this year together since this is the only time we would all be able to gather.

Ahhhh present opening.  Star Wars was a big hit.

Baby Dawson had his pile of gifts too.

Hudson gets some help with the big one.

Baby Dawson cleans up!

I finally have a reprieve from all the harassment.  Dave was the lucky recipient of Ryan's creativity this year.  I laughed until I cried.

Dickey Dave's Ring Toss

We celebrated Hudson's 2nd Birthday.  It was an Elmo Day.

Nana and Papa from Georgia gave Huds the Elmo Chair. Grandma and Grandpa Jerry gave him a talking  Elmo.  Rowen gave him another talking Elmo.  Loads of Elmos.

Party Hats!

Doughnuts! Yummy  You always need sprinkles.

And then there were the costumes.

Looking Mean

Making the traditional ornaments.

"I paint"   Yes, you did!

And then there was the pillow sandwich and pillow cake with fondont.

Good ol Uncle Dude

A wonderful time together.

I made the boys a Grinch Quilt for Christmas

So much fun.

 

 

The Littlest Duffer's First Lesson

Rowen had his first lesson with Papa today.

Learning how to hold the club.

Trying it on my own.

Teeing up

Just look where he is looking!!!!!!!!!!!!!  This little guy has promise. Papa is so proud.

Time for a little putting practice.

Practice, practice, practice.

It was a good day.

In a Galaxy Far Far Away

Star Wars was the theme for Halloween in San Diego.

Pumpkin carving is serious business in the Skinner home.

It would not be Halloween without cookie baking.

Aprons, check, cookie cutters, check.

First we roll

Then we cut

We lick the beaters

Then we frost

Oh, hey, why bother putting the sprinkles on the cookies? Let's just eat them.  Anyone notice where the cookie is that should be getting sprinkled???

What you do with the left over frosting. 

They were yummy.

Last minute costume details.

Prep for the photo shoot.

Padme loves Darth (Ryan's photo)

"Smile, you must"  Yoda  (Ryan's photo)

Our little Ewok  (Ryan's photo)

Darth and Yoda are ready to Trick or Treat.

"You have failed me for the last time" 

Go Trick or Treating, we must.

We went to a Harvest Festival after going door to door.

Yoda fishes for candy.

Ewok is winding down.

That's it. He is out.

Not a bad haul.

There is always time for a story with PaPa.

Crossing light sabers.

We had a very fun Halloween with our favorite Star Wars characters.

May the Force be with you!

Padme and R2D2  (Ryan's photo)

 

Swimming with "the boys"

How cute he is, even under water!

We spent the week in Palm Desert.  Ryan, Jennell and Rowen and Huds joined us for the weekend.

Huds even smiles under water.

Underwater video of the boys swimming. Pretty cool!

 

 

  

 

 

Playing in the water park.

Papa and Rowen get the bucket dumps.

Rowen loves to jump.

Love the goggles and cap.

 

Hello, Mr. Turtle

Always need a snack when we swim hard.

Ahh, yes the ipad.  Looks like Papa lost his to Huds.

Ryan and Huds

 Bye Bye for now!

Grove of the Titans

We shared the last part of our trip with friends and family at Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park.

 
Jed Smith holds 30 years of memories for us. It was sweet to see our grandchildren and grand nieces and nephews enjoy the same places we have camped with their parents for so many years.

 
Rock throwing at the Smith.

 
Crossing the bridge.

 
Rafting the Smith

 
Rowen's first raft trip.

 
Papa and Huds

GROVE OF THE TITANS

 
 
Jennell, Ryan and Tyann heard about the Grove of the Titans in Jed Smith Redwoods.  They are reportedly the largest redwoods on earth.  They have not been made know to the public.  J, Ryan and Ty did the research to find their location.  After 5 miles of hiking and searching the tree detectives found them!  They are mighty and majestic.  The first trip in Dave, Ryan, Jennell, Grandpa Jerry, and Allen and Mary made the maiden trek of discovery. The next day the rest of us were taken to the hidden location.  We are now in the group of few people on earth who have discovered them!

 
Jerry at the Grove

 
One of the mighty giants

 
Love the socks and the pink backpack, Travis.

 
 
Bobby Maxwell, from Texas, is amazed by the sight: " Gosh these are some dern big trees!"

 
That is a big tree!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 
Alice looks so tiny.

 
Mary and Allen

 
Mean while back at the coach...... Avery and Rowen enjoy a movie.  That's roughing it.

 
Panning for gold.  There's gold in those hills...right?

 
Tyler and Ryan in the thick of it.

 
Travis is the only miner to hit the mother load!

 
Enjoying the water and sand.

 
We always spend a day at the Crescent City Beach.  What glorious weather we had.

 
The ingenious wood gatherers.

 
Graham crackers make life more fun.

 
Mom, Jerry, Allen and Mary joined us for the day.

 
Baby Treycen needs a toasted marsh mellow.

 
All this fun makes me tired.

 
The joy of watching a little boy in the water. 

 
 

 
 
 
Kites and water.

 
Avery's gymnastics

 
Fiona gets in the ocean for the first time. She wanted to drink it.

Baby Shower in the Redwoods for Treycen

 
Alice had us all guess the baby tummy size.

 
Grandpa Terry, Treycen and Uncle Mean.  The question was whose tummy to measure first?

 
My kind of gift.

 
Indecision leads to confusion.

 
Quentin and Tina join us for a few days.

 
Huds-Buds hiking

 
Trevin has the most amazing blue eyes.

 

Jed Smith Rock Skipping Contest sponsored by the JSRSPRSC

 
Getting the rules down while searching for the winning rock

 
Tyann gives it her best.

 
Rowen throws.

 
Ryan's style.

 
Dave shows us how it is done.

 
Terrill

 
Jennell style..cute braids

 

Trevin goes Binky free for the day!

 
And the winner is.................Travis

 
Cool Trophy presented by the JSRSPRSC

We also had a S'more Smack Down ...so yummy all the creative ingredients: bacon, pinwheels, sea salt, raspberry, Godiva Chocolate. And the winner was:

 
Alyce!  (Godiva) Our judges from were from Canada and were lots of laughs.

We had a great summer.  We did get the chance to ride in the sand in Winchester Bay.

 
 
 

 Home again for Labor Day. The kids came to visit.

Rowen painted bird houses.

Shaving with Papa.

I know. Where is the rest of the family?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Glacier National Park-Hiking, Rafting, Drift Boat Fishing

This was our first visit to Glacier.  We stopped in the old mining town of  Phillipsburg along the way. 

 
Mining for amethyst.

 
Our pay load.

 
Dave mines for a different payoff at the Candy Palace.  Awesome shop!

 

 
Our site in Hungry Horse outside of Glacier National Park.

 
It is difficult to capture in pictures or share in words the wonders of this beautiful park. Water, Ice and Mountains.

 
 
 
 
This would look grand in my backyard.

 
St. Mary's Lake

 
 

 
 
Dave's awesome Mountain Goat photos.

 
 
 
Our drift boat fly fishing day was a blast!

 
Ready for a day on the Flathead River.

 
My big catch of the day.

 
Cut Throat-we caught a bunch of these guys.

 
We had fun cathing all the fish.  Dave had a HUGE Bull Trout chasing one of these little guys.  It was the big excitement of the day to see it roll to the surface in pursuit of the cut throat.

 
Our guide made us lunch beside the river...complete with table cloth. Impressive!

 
A fun day on the water.

 
We rode the alpine slide at Whitefish.

 
Hot day, very cold water.  Loads of fun.  Great way to spend our last day here.