Dear Kids,
      Well, it’s finally winter here, as in SNOW! Up till Thanksgiving, things were pretty dry and desolate. But the storms started rolling in on Saturday. Of course the first big one hit just as Dad and I were coming home from the cabin, trying to get over Parley’s summit. If we’d left just half an hour earlier, we could have sailed home. But here we were, inching through the slush, with semis jack knifed off to the side. We didn’t even have our chains in the car! (They were still at home in the shed, where I put them last spring.) It took us two hours to get home!
      Other than that, Thanksgiving was great. Thanks to all of you who came to the cabin and brought food and joined in the fun. I think most of us ate more on Thanksgiving night than we did at the polite sit-down dinners with the inlaws. Dad and I had a great time at Grandma and Grandpas, sitting at the fancy table with the lace tablecloth, eating daintily off china. Who can gorge themselves when everybody is being so genteel? But it was fun. Like always, I wanted to go for a walk after dinner, before we cut the pies, and when we got back, Jeanne and Barbara had already cleaned up the kitchen. So my reputation as a slacker (with my own family, at least) lives on.
      Monica and Neil had a fun Thanksgiving–they went for a hike in the savannah. (For those of you who are not ecologically hip, a savannah is a grassy plain, with oak brush and mesquite. Some of the savannahs are endangered, like the rain forests.) Monica and Neil feasted on bread and cheese, and they camped, but the next morning they were driven off by cows. Monica reports that Ramona is still out of control. She gets wild after her walks outdoors, and she continually “talks” to Moinca. By the way, Monica, the big news here today is that IKEA furniture is building a new store in Draper, at the intersection of Bangerter and I-15. They have 30,000 Utah customers who have driven to Phoenix for their furniture, so they’re coming here. For the rest of you, Monica and Neil are IKEA fans, and most of their furniture is from the Phoenix store.
      The big social event of the season was Annice’s wedding reception last night. Unfortunately Dad and I couldn’t stay very long, because Dad had scheduled home teaching appointments later on, but Nora gave me a full run down this morning. No, Donny Osmond wasn’t at the reception (at least I didn’t see him there) but Nora says he came to the sealing yesterday morning. But lots of old ward members were there, like the Pistoriuses and Fallises. Colleen Yorgason and Maté were there with their four children.
      My back has been hurting like crazy these last few days, who knows why? I did a lot at the cabin over the weekend, but it didn’t start hurting until we got home. I’m OK sitting down or standing up, but not in between, and it’s almost impossible to bend over. So yesterday, while I was trying to do my hair, I kept dropping my comb on the floor. (Jittery fingers, from taking lortab. It’s 5 years out of date, but it works.) Anyway, I didn’t want to bend down to get it, so I just got another one out of the drawer. And another one. Ditto with my hair claws. When I was done, then I got down on the floor and picked everything up. I’ve become very creative at saving my back. Hopefully it will improve before our first snowboarding expedition.
      New babies on the way: Jake and Dierdre, (after four years of trying), Heather’s sister Leah, (obviously no time at all trying), James’s brother Paul and his wife, Cassie, and probably others, that I can’t think of now. And of course, Vanessa, which we already know. It seems like there are always more babies born in the spring. Like kittens.
      This Sunday, Grandpa Allen wants us to fast and pray for Grandma Allen, who still has lots of pain in her knees and back. I put up Grandpa’s message at ackerson.org, under “other family letters.”
      I love you lots! Mom