Dear Kids,
      There doesn’t seem to be much going on here, except for winter sports. I don’t mean the Olympics on TV, either, (which haven’t quite started yet,) I only mean Ackerson-type sports, like skiing and snowboarding. Tom is going gung ho, in spite of his injured rib. Last Saturday he and Jacob met Donna and Bevan at Deer Valley, and I guess the youngsters took the oldsters on quite a ride. Tom said they went down some really steep places, which just about finished off the two of them. Later, on their own, Tom said, they took it easy. Like last year, they both vowed to get into better shape for next time. So, Donna and Bevan, you won the gold on that round.
      And we have another convert to snowboarding: Kim. Yesterday she and Tom and I went to Brighton, and we started her out on the bunny hill with heelside, toeside, all the beginning steps. She did really well. Later on we transferred over to Majestic, and I thought she would be scared to go down that first steep shoulder, but she did just fine. The second time, she and Tom beat me down, all the way to the bottom. I couldn’t keep up. It was a totally gorgeous day, and the snow was perfect. It couldn’t have been better. Kim says she’s stiff and sore today, but she’s eager to go again. Yay! Snowboarding rules. (No offense, Donna & Bevan).
      While we were driving down the canyon from Brighton, we came around a corner where a SUV had just rolled off. People were jumping out of their cars and starting down into the ravine. I read on the KSL website this morning that it was a lady, and she was OK. But they had to go down with ropes to get her out. They said she was extremely lucky.
      Allen had some on-the-job excitement a few days back–he was involved in a high speed chase and got on the news. It started while his cop car was parked at Arby’s, and somebody backed into it. Another officer was doing the accident report, when Allen noticed a suspicious-looking car going through the drive-through at Carls Jr. (It was an 81 Chevette.) He ran the license, and saw that the guy had several warrants. Another officer started after him (Allen’s car was still being written up, after all) but Allen got into the chase later, with his sirens blaring and lights flashing. They ended up in Kayesville, where the guy jumped out of the car and was on the run for about 8 hours. That’s where Allen was on the news, while they were looking for him. If I’d known, I certainly would have turned on the TV, for once. But then, I always miss the good stuff.
      John gave Heather a 3-day vacation last weekend, tending the kids and entertaining them while she took off. He thought she went to Roosevelt, but he said he wasn’t sure where she was. She had told him she didn’t want to even hear the word “Mom” (or is it “mah . . . umm”) for a while. John and the kids were here for a couple of hours on Saturday, making the rounds of interesting places to go. Jacob asked to see the garbage video, and also where they blow up the rocks.
      Well, I hope you are all having lots of fun and excitement. Paul, keep ‘em stirred up in Chilliwick! I love you all!
      Mom