Dear Kids,
      We’re having such beautiful weather, I decided to put up our Christmas lights. Xena helped me. She head-butted me while I was sitting on the roof, close to the edge. No matter, I got the lights up. Usually I wait until it’s so cold my fingers can hardly work the plastic clips. This year I’m totally organized. My catalogs are piled up. I’m makin’ a list, and checkin’ it twice. I’m totally psyched about Christmas.
      Speaking of which, Missy sent me the following gift exchange list, to pass on to all you guys. Here it is: ADULTS: John and Heather give to Allen and Missy; Nora and James give to Monica and Neil; Vanessa and Trent give to Donna and Bevan; Tom and Kim give to Sharon and Seth; Allen and Missy give to Paul; Monica and Neil give to John and Heather; Donna and Bevan give to Nora and James; Sharon and Seth give to Vanessa and Trent; Paul gives to Tom and Kim
      KIDS: Julie gives to Meg; Jacob → Stewart; Aaron → Ben; Aubrey → Paige; Addie → Aubrey; Ben → Sterling; Paige → Charlie; Stewart → Bentley; Sterling → Ellie; Sarah → Ali; Meg → Jacob; Bentley → Julie; Emma → Matthew; Ali → Carson; Carson → Emma; Ellie → Addie; Charlie → Sarah; Matthew → Aaron
      Thanks to those of you who have put Halloween pictures of your kids on the blogs. It makes it so easy for me to get the photos for my scrapbooks! I can’t believe how cute all the costumes were! I think everybody had fun, too, especially Tom’s kids. They went to Heber to trick or treat with John’s kids. Then, after they had made their haul, they sat down to trade. Naturally Jacob had to trade away all his chocolate, and Bentley got it. (I’m sure Bentley was glad to trade off his Laffy Taffy and dum dums.) So Bentley ended up with nearly 100% candy bars. I’ll have to go to the cabin and sift through his stuff. See if he still has any Kit Kats or Almond Joys.
      Monica says that it’s starting to cool off in Tucson. She did a “Tin Man” triathalon, (as opposed to the “Iron Man” variety) where you swim less, bike less, and run less. She said it was lots of fun, in spite of the hard core types who were taking it very seriously. She also reports that Ramona is still out of control. Why am I not surprised?
      I had a phone call from Jeanne a couple of days ago, and she’s coming to Utah after Thanksgiving to do various errands. We’re going to pick her up at the airport. Can you believe it’s been more than a year since they moved to Canada? Melissa is moving back to her old neighborhood in South Jordan, so she can live with the next-door neighbors and graduate from Bingham High. Jeanne also reports that Mike and Moka are expecting a baby in March. I still can’t see Richard and Jeanne as grandparents. They’re just kids themselves!
      Grandma seems to be recovering OK from her knee surgery, at least so far. She’s in a rehab place called Berkshire, at 370 West 500 North in Orem. I’m sure she’d appreciate any visits.
      Lots of love to all you wonderful kids and kids-in-law and grandkids! Mom