Best of 2008

We have had an amazing year and I thought I'd recap our best moments of 2008 (in no particular order).


~ Finally, after years of legal drama, we were awarded full custody of Jordan.

~ My sister, Jamie, moved back to Ft. Worth. Unfortunately, it only lasted 10 days, but at least we got to visit with her for a little while.

~ I got a new job with more reasonable work hours. (We will be putting this to the test come tax season!)

~ Keith went to his 20 year high school reunion in Ozark, Alabama.

~ Jordan scored his first touchdown!

~ Watched Julia experience all her firsts - first bath, first food, first tooth, first time to crawl, first step, etc. What unforgettable moments those were.

~ Saw several great concerts - John Mayer, Graham Colton, Van Halen

~ Jordan spent several fun weeks in Nashville with Philly and Jerry over the summer.

~ Cheered for my mom and Jamie as they crossed the finish line of the 3-day 60 mile walk for Breast Cancer. What a tremendous journey it was for them.


There are too many great moments to list them all, but these are the ones that come to mind when I think about the past year. I hope the year to come is filled with as much joy and blessing as 2008 brought us.

Christmas Morning at the Skeen House

Julia was up bright and early on Christmas morning.  

She got tired of waiting on Bubby to get up, so she crawled (with a little help from mom) onto Jordan's top bunk and woke him up!  And boy was he glad she did!

Julia loves the Elmo chair that Santa brought her.  He giggles and vibrates when you sit down so Julia stands up and sits down over and over again. 

It's hard to tell, but Jordan was really excited about the stereo he got from Philly and Papa Jerry.

Julia feeding the baby she got from Grandma. 

When asked if he had a good Christmas, Jordan's face says it all.

I hope everyone had as wonderful a Christmas as we did.  See you all next year!

Four Generations

We had four generations of women together over Christmas.  From left to right - Sharon (my mother), Julia, me and Memaw (my maternal grandmother).  

Mattie's Christmas Party

Friday night we went to Ms. Mattie's Christmas party. Ms. Mattie runs Julia's in-home daycare and we absolutely adore her. It is comforting to know that Julia is with such a sweet and caring lady while we are at work every day.

Julia loves Ms. Mattie.

The kids sing along with Mr. Guy.

Julia and Klein listen to Mr. Guy play the guitar.

Julia making her way over to daddy.

Julia spent most of her time observing everyone else at the party.

And another perfect photo op with Santa.

All I want for Christmas . . .

. . . is for someone to get me off this scary man's lap!!!

The Music Box

This video is rather long, but I thought you would enjoy it.  Phyllis gave Jordan a little Christmas music box one year and Julia discovered it the other day.  She is fascinated that the music turns on when you open the box and off when you close it.  It's fun to watch her explore her surroundings and discover new things.  

Walking to Jordan's Room

Julia is walking all over the house now and getting into everything.  It's time to finish baby-proofing the house!  Here's a little video of Julia walking to her favorite place - Jordan's room.  He always has fun toys laying around that she likes to get her hands on and they always go straight to the same place - her mouth.