We have arrived safely back in Sibiu!!

airport in Munich

Sibiu from the air

We have unpacked our suitcases and put them away, and hope we don't see them again for a little while. We had a very nice trip. We had a little delay in Munich because of snow, and got separated shortly when we ended up on different shuttles to the plane. Other than that we had no problems. We were amazed to get here with all 11 pieces of luggage. This is the first time we have flown into Sibiu on a jet though. The turboprops we used to fly in on do not have that much room for luggage. The new airport in Sibiu is really expanding and is very modern. They even have restraunts, duty free shopping and a Redal(pastry shop) now. If you ever flew into Sibiu to the old building you would be totally amazed with how modern the new airport is. We definitely prefer it to the Bucharest airport.


We really enjoyed seeing everyone. It was a great trip, when we weren't sick. We look forward to seeing you all again when either you come to visit us here, or we return for Jacob's graduation in the spring of 2010. I was writing thank you notes in the car everywhere we went, with the idea of sending them before we left. Unfortunately, we ended up back here with the box, so you all have a hand writen thank you card in Romania. Maybe Ryan can bring them back and mail them when he returns from his trip here next month. Until then "Thank You from the bottom of our hearts!!"


I have updated the wishlist to reflect the things we either forgot or didn't have room for. I originally created it to help me remember what I needed to get while we were in the U.S.. I am amazed that with 11 suitcases and the 8 boxes that were shipped, we could have possibly missed anything. I have had a number of people ask where the wishlist is. You have to click on "view my complete profile" in the "About Me" section on the sideof the page. That will take you to the page where you will find the link to the wishlist.

I have pictures from our furlough posted on my facebook page, if any of you are on facebook and would like to see them. I will be posting more in the next few days.


Once again, I can't thank you all enough for all that you do to support us.
We could not do our work without you.

Furlough

Since December 17th we have been on the road. This has not been very conducive to spending much time on the internet so I have not kept much up to date. We have finished the posted furlough schedule, but we are not done yet. Lee will be back on the road this weekend, while the girls and I work on Bible class materials, getting some things ready to be shipped, along with several other projects that need to be completed. We have about 5 more congregations to visit.
Which will bring the total to about 17 Reports and 2 conferences in 5 States in 2 months. We are somewhat tired, but we have enjoyed getting to see all the friends and family we have been able to see. We have about a gazillion thank you notes we need to write to all those who have fed us, put us up in your homes, and supported us in a myriad of different ways. We love and appreciate you all, and in case I miss someone, please spread the word that we are indeed very thankful for all you've done.
Lots of Love,
The Skeltons

Ladies Christmas Party

Oops, This is out of order. Monday, December 1st was Romania Day. Since

everyone was off school and work we took the opportunity to have a ladies

Christmas party. This was kind of a last minute plan and was not very well

organized, but never-the-less we had a great time. We revisited our

childhoods a little and cut out snowflakes. We also did other crafts, played

games, ate (of course), sang, and had a white elephant gift exchange. It was

a good time to spend time with our sisters, and get to know one another a

little better.

Lock- in @ Pitesti

Friday, December 5th, six of us took the bus to Pitesti for a lock-in. We were joined also by a group from Bucharest. We had a great time with devotionals, food, and games. We also took a walk at 3 AM in Pitesti's beautiful square. I wish I had some more pictures but the four batteries we bought lasted only long enough to get about 6 pictures. I will have to get some pictures from some others and hope for a better camera for Christmas. Anyway, all who attended were so encouraged that it was decided to have a lock-in here in the spring. The congregation is eager

to start planning for it.

It's begining to look a lot like Christmas!

Everywhere we look it is begining to look like Christmas. There is a huge Christmas tree in the main square with an ice skating rink and shopping. Over the weekend we attended a Christmas concert in the square and were introduced to Romanian Christmas carols.

Thanksgiving

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! We were supposed to give a presentation to some military English students about the holiday, but we later found out that we would need military clearance. So we spent a quiet Thanksgiving with the girls doing a play for us and enough food to feed an army. I guess I am too used to fixing Thanksgiving for a large crowd. Even though I scaled back the recipes and didn't fix as many types of dishes we still had tons of food. We had saved pecans that we brought with us to make a delicious pecan pie. It did not last long.

First Snow

November 22 we had our first snow. Hannah and Elizabeth had a great time playing and building a snowman, while the rest of us stayed where it was warmer.