2008 has had its share of ups and downs for the Skiles family; through it all we all consider ourselves to be abundantly blessed by God! At some point I might feel like a re-cap of the year, but right now all I have on my mind is the menu for the evening. Several years ago Dave started a tradition on New Years Eve of making an elaborate dinner for our family. Most years we have been able to keep the tradition, and some years not so much. This year we're breaking tradition and ordering out Chineese food and Sushi for dinner and root beer and cream soda floats for dessert. I dont have to cook and I LOVE Sushi!
We love you and wish you a very prosperous and happy new year!
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Monday, December 29, 2008
Danielle
Well, Christmas is behind us and Disney is on the horizon! What more could there be, right? Well, let me tell you...
Danielle finally woke up out of her mental coma and decided she should start working through college stuff. She found out that the Pennsylvania Governor's School has application deadlines that have to be met. The deadlines aren't just applications but they want a personal narrative and why she is choosing this specific field of study, at least two pages, no larger than size 12 font, and double spaced. Well there are two fields of study she wants to apply for: 1) Visual Arts (photography emphasis) and 2) Health Care. She can only accept one, (if she qualifies for any). The kicker is, the deadline for the visual art school is January 8, 2009, and the deadline for the health care is February 8, 2009. OH NO RUSH!!! :)
So Danielle called Aunt Peggy to get some help in writing her narratives. Aunt Peggy, has such an amazing a gift for writing! She agreed to help her even though she's in the midst of helping Frankie get back into CMU for his Masters Degree. What a blessing for me to have a resource like her to help muddle my way through all this college stuff.
If she gets accepted Danielle would go to that campus (either University of Pittsburgh or Mercy-Hurst College in Erie) for 35 days this summer and be emerged in this study for the entire time. This could be huge for her getting scholarships and grants for college.
So if your thinking about us, if you could pray for Danielle: that God would give her peace and confidence that only the Holy Spirit can give, and if its Gods will for her to go to either of these schools that He would open the door for her; but most importantly she would be fully aware of Gods grace in her life and would love the Savior even more than she already does, no matter the out come!
Danielle finally woke up out of her mental coma and decided she should start working through college stuff. She found out that the Pennsylvania Governor's School has application deadlines that have to be met. The deadlines aren't just applications but they want a personal narrative and why she is choosing this specific field of study, at least two pages, no larger than size 12 font, and double spaced. Well there are two fields of study she wants to apply for: 1) Visual Arts (photography emphasis) and 2) Health Care. She can only accept one, (if she qualifies for any). The kicker is, the deadline for the visual art school is January 8, 2009, and the deadline for the health care is February 8, 2009. OH NO RUSH!!! :)
So Danielle called Aunt Peggy to get some help in writing her narratives. Aunt Peggy, has such an amazing a gift for writing! She agreed to help her even though she's in the midst of helping Frankie get back into CMU for his Masters Degree. What a blessing for me to have a resource like her to help muddle my way through all this college stuff.
If she gets accepted Danielle would go to that campus (either University of Pittsburgh or Mercy-Hurst College in Erie) for 35 days this summer and be emerged in this study for the entire time. This could be huge for her getting scholarships and grants for college.
So if your thinking about us, if you could pray for Danielle: that God would give her peace and confidence that only the Holy Spirit can give, and if its Gods will for her to go to either of these schools that He would open the door for her; but most importantly she would be fully aware of Gods grace in her life and would love the Savior even more than she already does, no matter the out come!
Thursday, December 25, 2008
What a day!
What a day!
Oh my gosh, kids are so much fun! We had a great Christmas yesterday. The kids all got pretty much what was on their lists, plus Dave and I added one extra thing; a trip to Disney World! The "bigs" knew about the trip, but the "littles" didn't. So after all the gifts were open, (or so they thought) we had a scavenger hunt for clues to what the biggest, last surprise gift would be. We bought the new Disney Scene It game, three little stuffed animals (Mini-Mouse, Mickey Mouse, and Pooh-Bear), Disney sunglasses, and Disney t-shirts; wrapped them all individually (thanks Grammy!) and hid them in different places. Then I read some clues, and we played the "hot/cold" game to find the gifts that would ultimately lead to the final gift - the trip. At the final clue/present I asked them if they could guess what the last present was. Aaron very quickly answered "pancakes?" - Side note - We always have Swedish Pancakes for breakfast on Christmas morning, and he was getting hungry! I read the last clue again and you could see the wheels in Hannah's head turning as she was trying to figure out what it could be. Then she questionably asked "Is it Disney World?" When Dave and I both said "YES", she didn't know if she should laugh or cry. Her laughter quickly turned to tears of joy and excitement. Uncontrollable tears, filled every eye in the room. It was an amazing experience!
Later on, we were on our way to Bev's house, when Dave and I had some time to reflect on the mornings events. We expressed how grateful to God we are to have such great kids, and how humbled we are before God that He has chosen to bless us with the means to take them on such an elaborate vacation.
Neither Dave nor I deserve any of the praise or glory for any of the good things that are in our lives; like our children, how our bills get paid or even the wonderful family He has surrounded us with. All of the glory goes to God; He has given us the knowledge and wisdom in how to best serve Him through honest, hard work and loving one another.
We're are simply obeying the word of God.
Oh my gosh, kids are so much fun! We had a great Christmas yesterday. The kids all got pretty much what was on their lists, plus Dave and I added one extra thing; a trip to Disney World! The "bigs" knew about the trip, but the "littles" didn't. So after all the gifts were open, (or so they thought) we had a scavenger hunt for clues to what the biggest, last surprise gift would be. We bought the new Disney Scene It game, three little stuffed animals (Mini-Mouse, Mickey Mouse, and Pooh-Bear), Disney sunglasses, and Disney t-shirts; wrapped them all individually (thanks Grammy!) and hid them in different places. Then I read some clues, and we played the "hot/cold" game to find the gifts that would ultimately lead to the final gift - the trip. At the final clue/present I asked them if they could guess what the last present was. Aaron very quickly answered "pancakes?" - Side note - We always have Swedish Pancakes for breakfast on Christmas morning, and he was getting hungry! I read the last clue again and you could see the wheels in Hannah's head turning as she was trying to figure out what it could be. Then she questionably asked "Is it Disney World?" When Dave and I both said "YES", she didn't know if she should laugh or cry. Her laughter quickly turned to tears of joy and excitement. Uncontrollable tears, filled every eye in the room. It was an amazing experience!
Later on, we were on our way to Bev's house, when Dave and I had some time to reflect on the mornings events. We expressed how grateful to God we are to have such great kids, and how humbled we are before God that He has chosen to bless us with the means to take them on such an elaborate vacation.
Neither Dave nor I deserve any of the praise or glory for any of the good things that are in our lives; like our children, how our bills get paid or even the wonderful family He has surrounded us with. All of the glory goes to God; He has given us the knowledge and wisdom in how to best serve Him through honest, hard work and loving one another.
We're are simply obeying the word of God.
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
The Day Before The Day Before
You can only imagine the energy that is happening in our house this week. Hannah almost 8, Aaron almost 7, and Benjamin almost 3, are so ready for Christmas, you would think I have been feeding them sugar for weeks. We love Christmas around here! Dave and I get to re-live Christmas all over again through our children. I think we get more excited about giving them gifts that are on their lists than they get receiving them. Is that possible? I think so!
It's time to get some baking done for Santa...
It's time to get some baking done for Santa...
Monday, December 22, 2008
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)