Skidmore Family Happenings

Zion Nat'l Park

2010-11-18T16:56:00.000-07:00

Over UEA weekend the kids and I took a trip to Southern Utah for a few days. My brother Chris and I took the kids to Zions National Park did three hikes with the children. The first pic is Lower Emerald

Pool. The little ones did so good.

Coming down from Emerald Pools we stopped for a quick photo op.

Momma is a little tired of the whining that accompanied the last hike and Zach was not so fun to pack.

Presley turns 4

2010-11-15T10:21:00.000-07:00

Presley had her friends over for a birthday party. They all dressed in their princess dresses. They were absolutely adorable. They played games, had pink "pupcakes" opened presents. Lot's of giggling from these little princesses. I can't believe that she is 4 years old. It has flown by and she has been an absolute delight to have in our family, love you my princess Presley.

Family Pictures

2010-11-14T20:49:00.000-07:00

We managed to get a few Family Pictures this year. The kids are growing up fast.

Dallin - 11 years old

Jackson - 7 years old

Presley - 3 1/2 years old

Zachary - 10 months

Football Season

2010-11-10T18:07:00.001-07:00

Dallin played his first year with West Haven Football and he really enjoyed it. It was a big commitment and he put his heart into it. We were very proud of him. He played TE and made a touchdown in his very first game!!

Zachary is One Year Old

2010-11-10T17:31:00.000-07:00

Zach celebrated hist first birthday on Sept. 26th Even though he has been a fussy baby we still love our little guy!!

Spring Break 2010 in St. George

2010-04-08T14:15:00.000-06:00

Dallin, Jackson, Presley and I went hiking up on the red rocks above St. George. The boys went through the narrows several times. We love the red rocks they are so fun to play on!

It was such a beautiful day in Dixie!!

2009-06-25T16:08:00.000-06:00

Annual spring branding in Malad. The kids love to go although there isn't

much for them to do anymore. They just want to be with cousins and play

on the hay bales and chase the cows.

Baby Kittens

2009-06-07T22:29:00.000-06:00

Our Cat, Tiger, had four kittens. Long story but here is the short version.

We had her fixed over a year ago, and not to long after she went missing.

Several months later she showed up, and then this spring she had babies,

so you come to whatever conclusion you want but we still ended up with

kittens. Luckily we got rid of three of them and the kids wanted to keep

Racer, who looks just like her mom. Kittens are fun but grow up to be big

cats. Presley and Jackson can't leave her along for long, very surprised

she has survived all the love they give her.

2009-05-14T16:47:00.000-06:00

CHEERS! We are in Mexico! Kim, Terrie Ann and Lori

Releasing our baby turtle that received the name of "CRUSH", He was so dang cute!
Headed to dinner.
Getting ready for the zip lines, that were a blast. Loved every minute of it!!
Here is the house we stayed at, it was absolutely wonderful, didn't want to leave!

Easter 2009

2009-05-14T16:36:00.000-06:00

Here is Grandpa and his grandkids on Easter. We went to Heather's house for dinner, it was so nice to not have to cook. The kids had a fun time with their cousins.

Miss Presley took Taylor's monsterous chocolate bunny and helped herself to all that chocolate.
All ready for church.
Easter morning: the kids are sporting some nice hair and some yummy chocolate bunnies.

Pinewood Derby

2009-05-14T16:25:00.000-06:00

This was Dallin's 2nd Pinewood Derby and we again waited until the last minute to get the car done. This year he painted it black and silver and it looked good. He ended up taking 2nd place and was really happy about that.

The Kids

2009-04-01T09:04:00.000-06:00

Our recent trip to St. George, the boys wanted to go through the narrows and hike on the red rocks. Presley played in the sand and enjoyed posing for pictures. Proof in the picture below.

This is Presley at one of Dallin's basketball games.
Presley ready for church in one of her "beautiful dresses" which she asks to wear daily. I have to remind her that beautiful dresses are for church.

2009-04-01T07:49:00.000-06:00

Dallin just finished his basketball season. He had a good team and he really enjoyed playing. Now on to soccer every Saturday.

Ms. Presley got into my purse and found my colorstay lipstick that stayed on her face for 4 days. I tried everything to get it off but it just had to wear off. Now only if it stayed that well on your lips! Everyone thought she had hurt her eye she got a lot of stares.
The kids enjoying one of the many snow falls we had this winter. Every time I think I can put the snow clothes away it snows again. It is April 1st and we still have snow on the ground.

2009-02-02T13:21:00.001-07:00

We try and perform the nativity on Christmas Eve and it always turns out so cute. The kids love the stuff they get to wear (thanks Oma for making them!)

2009-02-02T13:11:00.000-07:00

This is Christmas Eve at our house. Santa and Mrs. Claus came and brought the kids a gift.

2009-01-30T17:41:00.000-07:00

This is our little bathing beauty, she is waiting for everyone to get ready to get in the hot tub. She calls this her swim "soup".

2009-01-29T22:26:00.001-07:00

Princess Presley doing what a princess does best!

My very handsome Dallin!

Jackson with those sweet blue eyes!

I believe Miss Presley's face says it all in this photo.

Here are a few of my favorite pictures that we were able to get of the kids.

January 2009

2009-01-29T22:09:00.000-07:00

Skidmore Family Picture

Although most of you have seen this from e-mail, facebook or Christmas cards here is the latest photo of the family. If you are looking for a good photographer I can give you her name she did a great job with the kids. We were really impressed! Dallin is 9, Jackson is 5, and Presley is 22 months in this photo.

Branding in Idaho

2008-05-13T11:32:00.000-06:00

One of the favorite thing the boys look forward to is going to Idaho to brand cows with their Grandpa, Uncles, Aunts and cousins. The whole family went to Idaho to brand cows, I think everyone had a good time (maybe not the cows).

Most of the time the boys play around in the old house and go with Grandpa to make sure the fences are good and ready for the baby cows.

Here is a picture of Dallin and Jack with a handful of testicles from the baby cows. Only in Idaho, only on the farm!!!

Crazy Life

2008-05-12T19:00:00.000-06:00

Life is crazy. It seems that nothing ever changes except the pace of life. All we ever do is try to keep up and hope for the best. The shop/office is finally finished (except for the shop floor)and I have moved the office out of the house. I seem to spend every waking moment on the phone, in the office and if not there working on trucks and trying to keep everyone happy(customers, vendors, employees), not the easiest job. Kim and I grin and bear it and hope that it lets up a little or we finally hire someone to help run the business. I guess I can't complain too much, business is good and for the most part we enjoy being self employed.

All of the kids are doing great and getting bigger by the day. Presley started using the potty, not bad for a little 18 month old girl. Though not potty trained she sure thinks it is a neat accomplishment everytime before she gets in the tub. She is going to be a hand full and give her brothers a run for their money, she is quite the busy body. One day she decided to get into the desk drawer and found a marker, here is the end result.

She is getting bigger though and loves the outdoors.

Presley Loves Animals

2008-03-15T21:15:00.000-06:00

Presley loves to be around any type of animal. She gets excited when Bear is allowed in the house. She runs over to him and is always petting him. The cat is a little scared of her but then again the cat is scared of everyone. When Jack brings out the Hamsey (hamster) she starts freaking out and wants to hold him. It always looks like she is going to squeeze is eyeballs right out of his head. I'm sure someday when we aren't looking she just might.

Update, Finally!!!

2008-03-15T20:30:00.000-06:00

The office and shop are finally coming along. The weather has been crazy here, so with all of the snow and freezing temperatures it has been nearlt impossible to move forward on the construction. The brick mason finished laying all of the brick today and all that needs to be done is the the brick needs to be washed and cleaned. Then the stucco and gutter guys and the exterior will be done.

The interior is coming along also. The sheetrock is done and the ceiling has been painted. We just need to paint the walls and it will be ready to move in. The inside of the shop is almost done too. I have insulated part of the shop and put up sheetrock. The hard part is just finding time to do all of the work.

Christmas 2007

2008-01-20T18:00:00.000-07:00

The only nice photo that I was able to get of the kids by the Christmas tree.

Then the famous photo of children crying because we make them sit on Santa's lap.

We did the nativity and Presley was Mary, Dallin was Joseph and Jackson was a shepherd.

Piano Recital

2008-01-20T17:24:00.000-07:00

Dallin had his piano recital in December. He had to play two pieces and did well on both of them. Here is a photo of him playing and one of him with two cute girls that also play the piano, their names are Mia (blonde) and Katie. Below is a video of Dallin playing the Christmas song.

Playing with the new computer

2008-01-20T16:03:00.000-07:00

We are playing with the new iMac and have been having a good time playing with the computer but we are still learning (quick note scroll to the bottom to turn off the music and then hit play on the video). Life is good here in Utah. We haven't had much happen since Christmas. We stayed home for Christmas and Christmas EVE. Kims Dad, his wife and John, Kims brother came down from Idaho and stayed at our house Christmas eve. We had dinner at our house on Christmas eve too. Kims family came down and Santa and Mrs. Claus came to visit before the night was over.

Antelope Island and the Zoo

2007-11-26T22:24:00.001-07:00

A few weeks ago our family made a trip to Antelope Island State Park to go Geocaching. Geocaching is when you use your GPS to find hidden "Treasures". Inside these caches are little toys or coins that you can take and then you replace it with something new. The boys love going on the Treasure Hunts. We did find one that was on the other side of a hill on the island and Kim thought it would be fun to go and find it. I think we wlaked about 4 miles carrying Presley and Jack had almost given up when we finally found it at the top of a hill. These are a few of the pictures from the island.

We also went to Hogle Zoo in Salt Lake City. Here are some photos of that trip.

Garage Progress

2007-11-26T22:12:00.000-07:00

We have made more progress on the shop. A few weeks ago we poured the garage floor. Two of my neighbors helped and it turned out pretty good.

Our neighbor Pat was quite the supervisor!

I put the windows in after the cement was dry and we have started the wiring. Hopefully by Christmas we should be starting the brick and stucco for the outside.

More Mexico

2007-11-26T22:02:00.001-07:00

Also while we were in Mexico we walked down the beach from the house and were able to release new baby turtles into the ocean. Here is a picture of Kim holding one of the baby turtles.

While sitting around the pool one afternoon, Ben decided that he was Houdini and asked me to tie him up. Of course I wasn't going to pass this up. After he was tied up I pushed him in backwards into the pool. It was pretty funny. Sally jumped right in after he was in the pool to make sure there weren't any problems.

Been Awhile

2007-11-26T21:34:00.000-07:00

It has been awhile since we have posted so here it goes. The Skidmore Family has been busy. Kim and I were able to go to Mexico in October with my family. We went down to my Parents time share in Nuevo Vallarta, MX.

We arrived on Friday night and were there for a week. Luckily Kim and I have some great employees that helped us out while we were gone. While we were in Mexico we were able to go to a Hacienda up in the mountains about 1 1/2 hours from the house. It is in an old mining town of San Sebastian. We walked through the town and town square and then went to the Hacienda San Sebastian for lunch.

My Mom and Dad were feeling generous while we were in Mexico and scheduled a swim with the dolphins. This was a very hands on activity and I think all of us had a great time. We were able to hold onto the dolphins and have them pull us around.

Here are a few more random pics of us on the trip.

Garage Update

2007-09-29T20:20:00.000-06:00

The garage is getting closer. The roof and wall sheeting is complete and the roof has been shingled. We had 4 loads of road base hauled in and we put most of it inside the garage to bring the floor up in preparation for the cement floor.

I was feeling lazy and didn't feel like moving wheel barrow after wheel barrow of road base into the office part, so I had a guy with a conveyor on the back of his truck and he shot the road base into the office. It was pretty cool to see. The truck could shoot the gravel or road base up to 40 feet.

Addition to the Fleet

2007-09-29T20:07:00.001-06:00

We are adding to the fleet and just bought a 2008 Peterbilt 386. It is different than our other trucks but we thought we would try something new. These new trucks have a stnad up sleeper that is 12" longer, a little bit bigger bed and a refrigerator in the sleeper. The trucks have a little smaller engine than all of the other trucks, but with the new aerodynamic design, smaller engines and the engine governors set back we should be able to get better fuel mileage.

Elk Hunting

2007-09-22T14:49:00.001-06:00

Last Winter I put in for an Elk hunt here in Utah. It was for a limited entry area called the Paunsaugunt. The area is from Panguitch, Utah along highway 89 south to the Arizona border, east to the town of tropic and then south of Tropic along the Paria river down to the Arizona border again. This area includes Bryce Canyon National Park(you can't hunt in the park.) The way Utah does their hunt system is that each year you can put in for one of these "special" hunts. If you do not draw out for the hunt then you get a point, with a maximum of 16 points. The more points you have the better of a chance you have to draw out for the hunt.

Somehow, with zero points and a little bit of luck I drew out for the hunt. So last weekend my neighbor, Chad and I went down to Tropic reservoir after Dallins Birthday party. We stayed Thursday night through Saturday night trying to find elk. The only elk that we say was on Friday night, the day before the hunt started. Being pretty discouraged, Sunday we packed up right before it started to rain and headed for home.

This past Thusday night I headed down again to try and bag the big monster. I arrived at Ruby's Inn, right outside of Bryce Canyon and stayed the night in the back of the pickup. It was a little chilly that night, only 36 degrees but I toughed it out. At 5:30 am I suited up and hopped on the 4 wheeler and headed out behind Ruby's Inn. The weekend before, Chad and I had met the owner of the hotel and he said we could hunt on his property. I parked my 4 wheeler on the south side of the knoll and hiked over to the private ground. I could hear the elk mewing and bugling but couldn't see them because it was too dark. At about 6:15am I finally saw a line of black moving across the field to head back into the mountains for the day and started to make my way to the west to try and get a good shot. As I followed the fence line I ran into another group of hunters waiting for the same herd of elk. They also had permission from the land owner to hunt on his property. So now there is a dilema. Who is going to get the elk??????

We decided that since they were on the west side and I was on the east side of the property that we would stay there and whoever gets the elk is the lucky one. I made my way back to the east and up a dry canal to get as close as I could. I crawled up out of the canal and saw the elk right in front of me. I laid down on the ground and fired one shot. The elk took off immediately and ran about 50 yards and then fell, DEAD! One shot 324 yards out!!!

When I walked up to the elk I didnt realize how big the elk was going to be, I was amazed. Suddenly I realized I had a dead elk on my hands and I needed to clean and had no idea how. First call was to my neighbor Chad and he walked me through it. I did an OK job for my first time. I tied the head of the elk to my 4 wheeler and drove up onto the trailer and I was done. Luckily there was a natural spring close by with a hose piped into it and I washed up and was headed home.

When I left on Thursday Jack said, "Good Luck catching an elk Dad." When I called Kim and told her she said Jack was excited. When I got home we hung the elk, skinned it and got it ready to take to the butcher. It was alot more work than I thought it would be but I can't remember having this much fun in a long time. I think I may have found a brand new hobby.

Dallin is 8 years old

2007-09-19T19:37:00.000-06:00

Dallin turned 8 on the 13 of the month. As a family we went to dinner and then to "Fat Cats" to play some games. Dallin and Jack had a great time. Kim and I just watched and I went on the bumper cars with the boys.

The next day Dallin had a Birthday party. He had an army theme party and had some friends over. The kids had a treasure hunt and Kim made a camouflage cake. Dallin was very spoiled from all of his relatives and I know he doesnt deserve it, but thanks to you all anyways.

I Smell Bacon

2007-09-12T09:29:00.000-06:00

Schoochie and Poochie have left us and are on their way to be made into bacon. Dallin and Jackson named the pigs when we got them in June. Dallin was sad that he had to goto school and couldn't watch the slaughter, but like any Skidmore we took pictures. Enjoy!!!

New Soccer Season

2007-09-10T21:05:00.000-06:00

Kim and I went to the Def Leppard, Styx and Foreigner concert down in Salt Lake on Friday night. There were alot of older people there and it made us feel really old. We went with our neighbors and we had a great time.

Dallin and Jackson started soccer this past Saturday. Dallin is doing really well and getting alot better. This is Jacks first time playing soccer and it is pretty funny to watch a bunch of four year olds fight over a soccer ball. Dallins team won their game and in the picture on the right Jack scored right after we took the picture. I was standing in back of the goal when I took the pic.

The New Garage

2007-09-07T11:17:00.000-06:00

The new garage out back is coming along. Yesterday the crane showed up and the trusses were craned into place.

Today they are suppossed to finish the trusses on the office and finish sheeting it. Then all that is left for the framers is to sheet the roof and they are done. We haven't decided which route we are going to go on the outside but we are leaning more towards bricking the front and office side and then stucco the rest of it. It looks big but I think it will work out great.

Trick My Truck or Pimp My Ride

2007-09-05T13:22:00.000-06:00

Here is my newest project to try and finish before winter in all of my free time(ha ha). I bought the truck from Kims dad in Idaho, it had been sitting in his yard for about a year and a half and needs some tlc. The truck is a 1978 Kenworth, W900A and I can't wait to fix it up. I am going to take the sleeper part of the truck off and make it into a local truck. Hopefully that will happen next week and then into sandblasting and body work. After all of the body work and paint is done then it will be time to chrome out the truck. It should be pretty fun, we will keep you posted.

Park City and Mirror Lake

2007-09-03T20:21:00.000-06:00

On Friday the 30th we went to Park City for the night with the kids, just a short get away. We went into Midway for Swiss Days on Friday night. I got the chance to talk to Al Rounds. He told me about how Papa would hang out at his house in Walnut Creek (Papa is older than he is), with his older brothers or sisters, not sure which one.

On Saturday morning we went into Kamas and then headed up the Mirror Lake Highway to Mirror Lake. It was very pretty and alot cooler than down in the valley, Mirror Lake is at about 10,800 ft.

Bear Lake

2007-09-03T17:49:00.000-06:00

Well here is the first post for our Blog. Summer is winding down and Dallin is back in school in the 2nd grade, Jackson starts on the 4th of September and will be in preschool for one more year. To end the summer on a high note we went to Bear Lake in Northern Utah and Southern Idaho for the weekend with some friends. We went to their cabin on the east shore and had a great time. We brought our boat and they had their jet-skis. The weather cooperated with us and the water was warm. The kids had a great time playing in the knee deep water. Presley just sat in the water that was about 2 inches deep and played in the sand and splashed in the water.