Dear Kids,
      I’m wrapping Christmas presents on the dining room table! Can you believe it? After all those years of huddling in my bedroom with all the wrapping paper and presents, and setting them out in the basement hall for you guys to carry upstairs, finally I can wrap presents out in the open! There’s nobody here to see them! I’m using a different roll of wrapping paper for each family, so I can keep them sorted out. It’s lots of fun. I’m having fun fiddling with each toy before I wrap it up.
      So what’s the plan for Christmas? On Saturday, Christmas Eve, we’ll be having soup bowls here at out house, probably about 6 pm, maybe later, and then everybody who wants to can hike Ensign Peak with us. The rest can stay home and take care of the kids. Christmas morning there’s a breakfast at Nora’s at 9:30. Call her if you want to bring something. Christmas night, the fun at the cabin will start at 6 pm, or so. Nora’s cooking a ham, and I’m bringing funeral potatoes, so it will be like a Christmas dinner. Again, Nora, the queen bee, is in charge. Monday morning it’s a free-for-all for breakfast, so bring all your leftover Christmas food. About noon we’ll have sloppy jo’s and chips and that sort of thing. Hopefully there will still be enough snow to go sledding. It’s melting here, but usually it’s a lot colder at the cabin.
      Tuesday night is the party with Dad’s cousins, at Marla’s house, at 7 pm or so. They hope as many of us as possible can come. I’m sure they’ll tell us all their recent adventures. If you can’t remember how to get there, call me.
      I got the Blizzac tires for the Windstar! Dad had to special-order them from Big O Tires, and he had to buy an extra set of rims, because you take them off in the spring. But I cheered when they were finally on. Friday night, Dad and I went back to the cabin to check on the pipes, and although the road was a sheet of ice, we zipped right up. So if anybody has trouble getting up on Christmas, we’ll come down to get you. Of course it’s not very exciting to go up that hill without slipping and fishtailing, but I can get used to it. About the pipes–they all thawed out, and nothing was broken. Yay! I made Dad crawl underneath to check on things, and he found heat tape that wasn’t plugged in, so he hooked it back up. I think we’ll be fine now.
      Rachel had her baby. Here’s the e-mail from Ben: Zachary Charles DeBuck, born December 17, 2006. 7 lbs. 2 oz., 20 inches long. Reddish hair, fair complexion, looks like all the rest. Rachel had an easy time of it, with a labor lasting just a few hours. All is well. Looking forward to Grandpa Allen assigning a number.
     This morning I talked to Grandpa Allen, and he said little Zach DeBuck is number 151.
      Sharon and I went snowboarding Friday, on Chickadee (Snowbird,) and we were looking forward to a great day of it. But at the bottom of our first run, Sharon slipped, fell back on her wrist, heard a snapping sound, and she just sat there in the snow. It hurt too much for her to get up. I had ibuprofin in the car, so she took 5 of them, but we weren’t able to make any more runs. Her wrist started swelling, so it was probably a sprain. Later on we went for a hike, because she was so excited to be in the mountains. Those of us who see mountains all the time, and snow, and blue sky, and pine trees–we get used to it. But Sharon thought it was wonderful. Last I heard, her wrist is doing better, but she won’t have another chance to snowboard this year.
      Tom is getting quite the reputation as a photographer. If you want to see his wedding picture of Brittany, Kim’s sister, look at ackerson.org/brit.jpg. It looks professional to me! He’s always buying equipment and lenses on e-bay.
      Things you find out visiting teaching: JaceBills is out of jail (drugs.) The neighborhood up by Harmons has rats. KatieRickett has broken away from Dan at last, after 10 years, and is living at home again. Nathan is home, too, and works at the Triad Center as a security guard.
      I can’t believe it’s almost Christmas! I only wish all our family could be here. But Monica, Paul-- we’ll be talking to you!
      Lots of love, Mom