Happy Birthday Darren

The sun rises over the Wasatch Mountains as it has for centuries. But this day is different for it reveals the throng of hyper, playful children descending upon the Skidmore home like Urukai from the Lord of the Rings Novels. They descend upon us in record number quickly outnumbering the adults. Why have the these blessings of energy come to our home? What is the reason for this insanity? Why today is Darren's birthday party. May the birthday party god have mercy on our souls.

Ok, enough drama. Saturday was Darren's stated birthday party. We invited Darren's friends and classmates from his preschool and his church class. Carmen was afraid that nobody would come and 'break his little heart' but thankfully twenty-one of them came (did I just say that?). And yes, a party with twenty-one guests makes Darren officially more popular at 4 years of age than Carmen or I ever have been... or will be for that matter. A fact that couldn't make us happier. :)

Darren is still into Lighting McQueen (the movie Cars) so fans of red and blue would have enjoyed our back yard. In addition to our trampoline and swing set we had a bean bag game, pin the tail on the donkey, egg races, and the ring toss games for everyone's enjoyment. It is also worth mentioning that Darren's train set was a big hit with the kids also. It took considerable effort to pry some of them away from it (yes Martin, I am looking at you young man).

Darren had a great time with all of his friends. They particularly enjoyed the pinata and the Lightning McQueen themed cupcakes.

So at the end of the day Darren and his friends had a fantastic time, and as a added bonus all twenty-one children went home alive and well. The Skidmore house was victorious against the onslaught.

Do you have any funny birthday stories to share? Feel free to type them in the comments for all to enjoy. Thanks!

Vote for David!!!!!

In the Skidmore House after 7 years of firmly avoiding anything involving American Idol it finally found a way into our live. And what, you might ask, was responsible for our sudden involvement in the Idol Mania? A young boy from Utah of all places named David Archuleta. Yes this young man with the voice of an angel who can cause the knees of teenage girls to quake and more mature female fans to dream of adoption.
All kidding aside, he is a great, humble young man with amazing singing talent. And hey, any one who can make Paula Abdul say the following is worth paying attention to.

"I want to squish you, squeeze your head off and dangle you from my rear view mirror."
-A Half Way Coherent Paula Abdul

So to sum up, watch American Idol on Tuesday's nights and VOTE for David Archuleta. Carmen thanks you from the bottom of her heart and with all her soul.

Check out this YouTube for a taste of David's talent.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=1jgmCegf7WY

Happy Easter!

Darren smiling with the Easter Bunny
For my thoughts on the true meaning of easter please click here.

Wonderful Wubbzy Fun

One of Darren's (and frankly ours also) favorite cartoons right now is WOW! WOW! Wubbzy. As Darren has learned to handle the mouse and the computer better he has discovered the joy of video games (aaahh a child after my own heart). Especally Nick Jr. and Noggin video games. The WOW! WOW! Wubbzy games make him laugh hysterically. Carmen has captured Darren enjoying one of the Wubbzy games for all to enjoy.

Enjoy!!!

Dia De Reyes

After New Year's Day the Mexican holiday season is not quite over. On January 6 most of the Hispanic world celebrates El Dia De Los Reyes Magos or the The Day of the Three Wise Men. This holiday remembers the day when the Three Wise Men followed the star to Bethlehem and gave treasured gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh for Baby Jesus. In the past this was the traditional gift giving holiday but as the years have gone by and the influence from the United States has gotten stronger Christmas has become more and more the popular holiday for gift giving.
On January 5 we went to the Mexican bakery (located in Ogden of course) and purchased the traditional Dia De Reyes dessert, Rosca de Reyes, it is an oval sweetbread, decorated with candied fruit. When we arrived home Darren was very impressed stating, "UUUUh, That is a BIG donut!" Carmen and I couldn't stop laughing.
Inside each Rosca is a figurine of Baby Jesus and a lot of symbolism. Further explained below:

"Hidden inside [each] delicious Rosca, a plastic figurine of the Baby Jesus. The Baby is hidden because it symbolizes the need to find a secure place where Jesus could be born, a place where King Herod would not find Him.
Each person cuts a slice of the Rosca . The knife symbolizes the danger in which the Baby Jesus was in.

One by one the guests carefully inspect their slice, hopping they didn't get the figurine.

Whoever gets the baby figurine shall be the host, and invite everyone present to a new celebration on February 2."
Reference here

That night we enjoyed our really "big donut" or Rosca de Reyes with a traditional hot flavored milk called Atole. There are many different flavors of Atole but we enjoyed Strawberry.
Then Darren placed his shoes by the Christmas tree (also a tradition) for the Reyes to leave his present in. Then he ran off to bed. The next day he discovered The Reyes had left him a book and a wrist watch.
The fact that we were celebrating part of Carmen's culture clearly made all of us very happy and we had wonderful time.

If You Need a Reason To Be Thankful.

Nothing is more honorable than a grateful heart.
Seneca - Roman Philosopher
Often as we go through life we get over whelmed or run down. Sometimes our vision gets so clouded by obstacles and clouds of life that we lose sight of our ultimate destination and even the beauty of the ground we are treading on.
If that is the situation with you today and you are feeling a little down or maybe even a little sorry for your self I wanted to share a shocking story with you. Poor Haitians resort to eating dirt. If you want to read the full account you can click here but to sum up Haiti's poorest can't afford even a daily plate of rice and so some are taking desperate measures and eating mud cookies. The cookies are made of dirt, salt and vegetable shortening. Unfortunately for many they are becoming a regular meal.
My purpose in this post is not to make any of us feel guilty for the many blessings that we enjoy but only that if at some point we feel like complaining about something we are about to eat or about some circumstance in our lives that we feel are unfair. I hope that we can think about what some people in this world have to do to survive.
Maybe that thought will help us all be a little more grateful for the life and the challenges we are given to overcome.

So This Was Christmas!

Christmas has come and gone and we are experiencing what seems like one of the snowiest winters ever (starting a week before Christmas), and Darren really being aware and excited about Christmas and Santa Clause. So as we walk through the snow (a lot of snow) and frost covered days of January there is a chance of us feeling a little blue (have I mentioned that it has snowed a lot?). At these times I like to think of a James Barrie quote that is a favorite of President Thomas S. Monson, "God gave us memories that we might have June roses in the December of our lives." So this entry is dedicated to the memories we made this Christmas that will be the June roses for the Decembers of our lives for years to come.

For pictures of the below Christmas events please see the pictures to the right labeled Christmas 07.

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The Lights at Willard Bay
Every year the the camping area at Willard Bay is transformed. We tried to go last year but our attempt was on Christmas eve and when we saw the line of 40 waiting cars stretching towards the freeway we decided against it. Looking to avoid a repeat of that joy we decided to go early in the Christmas season. Thankfully the crowd was very small and we were able to get right in. We had much fun that we went around three times. We especially enjoyed the Disney characters, the dinosaurs and the telling of The Night Before Christmas. We hope to have some hot chocolate and go on a sled ride next year.

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Temple Square
No Christmas is complete without a Trip to temple square. With all the hustle and excitement of the the holidays any place that can slow things down and remind you what is really important is a special place. Temple Square is one of those places. The cold air nipping at your ears is not enough distract away from the peace you feel as you walk around the House of the Lord looking at the beautiful lights, and meditating upon the simple beauty of the Christus.

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Sledding
The waves of snow allowed us to go sledding various times. Including two or three times at the Burnett's house. Darren was much braver that I expected. Even demanding to go off the jumps. The biggest adventure was when we went to Syracuse High School. This new high school about 15 minutes away has a Football field behind it and the hill going up to the bleachers was perfect. Darren again demanded to go off the jumps. Carmen even got into the game. It was all fun and games until we hit some deep snow and Darren got a nasty white wash. He had enough after that but he showed how sweet he is when after Carmen or I would slide down the hill he would come and brush the snow off of us and ask us, "hey Dada [or Mama] are you OK?"
We still got some good sledding in and had a great time.

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Christmas Gift Delivery
Christmas time is most enjoyable when we share time and presents with friends and family. Over several nights we piled ourselves into the great white Explorer adventured out to play Santa Clause.It truly is better to give than to receive (I can't believe I am saying that).

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Building the Snowman
Yet another benefit of the sudden arrival of heavy snow was building our first snow man with Darren and our cute neighbor girl,Maguire Burnett. Carmen, Darren and Maguire provided the muscle to shape the incredibly awesome snowman and Kelly Burnett provided an fantastic snow man kit to finish it off.Maguire and Darren finished their fun in the snow by sliding down a hill that Carmen BUILT. Yes you read right, Carmen built a small hill for the kids to slide down. Is she not amazing? They also got their boots off to jump on the trampoline. What a great day for Carmen and the kids.

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Christmas Eve Dinner
We are constantly trying to include more traditions from Carmen's culture. One tradition that we have had since the inception of our family is the importance of the Christmas Eve dinner orNoche Buena. The night starts with a dinner we prepare together. This year we had a delicious Pollo en Salsa Verde (chicken with Green Sauce), with carrots, rolls and dessert. After that we all chose something that we are willing to give to Jesus for his birthday. We choose things like a bad habits to give up, or Darren says he would share his toys with Jesus. Finally we set out Milk and cookies for Santa and some carrots and magic feed for the Reindeer. After that we had to get to bed so Santa would come.

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Christmas MorningWe must have been good boys and girl this year because we were very blessed on Christmas day. Darren was so excited with all his presents but especially with his kitchen, his chefs tools, and his pirate ship. Carmen was way to good to me and I was spoiled as always. Carmen also had a wonderful adventure. I setup up a scavenger hunt so she had to follow 9 clues until she finally found her present hidden in the shed in the back yard. It was so funny to watch her jump through the foot deep snow in her pajamas to the shed, open it up and see the present in a blue bag. If you are interested she got an IPOD Nano with various accessories. She would say that I spoiled her but as we all know she deserves it.

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Christmas Lunch
My Mom and Dad decided to spend Christmas with my sister Teresa's house so this year instead of going to my parent's house Maren and David invited us over for a simple lunch. We were happy that my Mom and Dad were able to make Teresa's Christmas more special by being there and we felt blessed that even with my Parent's away we were able to enjoy the blessing of family. Thanks to Maren and David and their wonderful children for having us over. Darren always has a blast at their house and the food was great.


Thank you to everyone for your love and Friendship and thanks for sharing and enhancing our lives. We love you all. HAPPY NEW YEAR!!