Looks like the Christmas Cards aren't going to make it out this year, so please feel free to share our letter/news with any family members who don't have e-mail or internet. Hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas Day & a Happy New Year! Catherine
Merry Christmas everybody! What a year we have had, with so much to be thankful for this holiday season. This has been another very busy year for the Skinner Clan abroad. Right after we sent out last year’s letter, we packed up the car and drove through France, with a couple of overnight stays, on our way to Spain. We spent about a week on the Mediterranean, and since it was low tourist season it felt like the whole beach was ours. We made our way back to Germany and endured one of the longest, coldest, snowiest winters I’ve ever had to suffer through. I even had a couple of days off from work because the road conditions were so bad! In April we went to Keukenhof in Holland to enjoy the daffodils, tulips, and other flowers. In May, Catherine’s mother and sister joined us for an extremely memorable and fun-filled, as well as relaxing, vacation in Italy. We stayed for a week in a Tuscan villa. Catherine and Christina took a cooking class, which we all got to enjoy the fruits of their labors. We took in some amazing cities, art, wine, cheese, bread, pasta, gelato. The second week we stayed at a villa in Cinque Terra, Monterosso al Mare, on the Mediterranean. We trained around the Cinque Terra, walked, boated, and SWAM! The water was a shade chilly, but oh so awesome. I had to go to San Antonio for a little over 2 months for some training this summer. In true Army fashion, I received my approval with less than one week remaining, meaning flights for Catherine and the kids was prohibitively expensive and I went by myself. Thank goodness for Skype. Since I’ve been back, we hit the Oktoberfest in Munich (crazy), the Oktoberfest in Stuttgart (more family friendly), Garmisch (in the Alps), and many local trips. We are planning on a trip to England and Wales (we’ll be back by the time you read this). On top of all that, Ian has finished Kindergarten and started 1st Grade. He is doing very well. Leah is in pre-K and also doing very well. I won’t steal Catherine’s thunder, but she is well too. Don’t forget to keep up with our whereabouts on: skinnersightings.blogspot.com, keep in touch with me at: t.marc.skinner@gmail.com or on Facebook - also through my gmail. Merry Christmas everyone, and have a truly blessed and happy New Years! Love, Marc
What a year we’ve had. It’s been nice to have Marc home with us for most of it. In addition to all of the lovely trips we’ve taken this year, we also had a small move in the spring from where we lived on base, to a rental off base. We are about a 12 minute drive to base on a sunny day, but now that winter is upon is looks like we may have more like a 25 minute drive. So far the hardest part has been getting in & out of our little village. However, we are able to spread out more than we ever did on base & we actually have 3 bathrooms vs. the one we had on base, so that is great as well. I’ve been staying very busy with volunteering at one of the thrift shops in the area & I also am the hospitality chair for our local PWOC (Protestant Women of the Chapel). Ian’s first grade teacher cooks with them on Fridays, so I’ve made it a point to try to volunteer in his classroom for that as well. He is doing very well academically & has been working on reading and his math. He also played soccer again this fall & did much better with it than last year. He also is in the Science Club at school and loves it. Leah started pre K this fall and is doing very well. Her teacher is really happy with the way she is progressing with her writing and academics and is encouraging to get Leah piano lessons because she loves music so much. Well, right now she’s more interested in dancing, so she did tap with ballet this past spring and will be doing classical ballet this coming year. She will be the youngest one in the class and had to audition to be allowed to participate. They usually only allow girls 6 & up in the class. One of the big things I did this past fall was I went to Paris to take a Traditional Bread Baking class at the Cordon Bleu cooking school. It was a fun & exhausting at the same time. We made about 4-6 different types of bread each day. Of course, everything turned out perfect there with the professional proof box & seam injected oven. I’m having some issues replicating some of the results at home, but I’m working on it. We move this coming Spring (hopefully after the school year is done for the kids) to the Savannah, Ga. area and I’m thinking the humidity there may just be the thing some of my breads need to help their rising. Of course, it’s going to be much harder to find fresh yeast, so I’ll still have some work to do. I hope all of you have had a wonderful year as well & hope 2011 is filled with good cheer as well! Love, Catherine
Merry Christmas! I have my first loose tooth as mommy types this for me. It is very exciting! I had a very good year. I got to see the trains in Homberg at the Minituar Wonderland for my birthday. It was so much fun. I got to ride on the Ice Train to get there. It was exciting to see all the different trains. I got to stay at a hotel that had a Toy Story 3 video game for me to play. It was fun to play the Toy Story 3 game. I loved my birthday. Love, Ian.
Merry Christmas! I love my family. Love, Leah