Dear Kids,
      I just swept up Christmas–so sad! Our beautiful tree had dried out, so I had to undecorate it and pull it out the front door. Of course it left a track of pine needles and little pieces of branches, so I just swept them up. While I was at it, I put away a the cat nativity and some of my other decorations. Last year I left everything up until March (except the tree) but this year it seems like we’ve had enough Christams. But it was wonderful while it lasted.
      Our Christmas music open house on the 22nd was a grand success. Probably the highlight of the performances was Spencer Fulton playing “We Three Kings” on a trumpet, with Jeffrey accompanying him on a drum. Everything else was great, too–singers, guitars, and lots of piano playing. We probably had 35 or 40 people in the house at once, but it held up OK.
      Paul came home Christmas Eve and helped us celebrate (although we didn’t hike Ensign Peak), but he had to be back at work Christmas morning, so Dad and I volunteered to drive him to Deer Valley. (It didn’t seem like the magical Sable could make it through a blizzard, with its summer tires.) We left at 5:30 am, and it was a very exciting trip. After that Dad and I drove to Heber, still in a blizzard, and at times we could barely tell where the road was. We were glad to get there! We spent most of the day with John’s family, and enjoyed their Christmas toys. (Dad and John took a drive to see John’s best new toy, but they wouldn’t tell me what it was. You can guess.) Later in the afternoon, when the storm let up a little, Dad and I drove up to the cabin. We had Christmas dinner that night with Donna and Bevan and Paul, when they got off work, and then the first sledding party was on Friday. Nora’s family came, and also John’s. The hill was great, with all that snow! Even Elouise Curtis’s grandkids were out there! Saturday was our second sledding party, with Dad’s cousins, Nora’s family still, and Allen and Missy and their kids. I fixed the same soup both days, and we had lots of other good food. And good fun. Dad’s cousins didn’t go sledding, but the rest of us had already been down the hill lots of times.
      Last night was Grandma and Grandpa’s 65th wedding anniversary, so my brothers and sisters met them at Thanksgiving Point, where we had dinner at the Harvest Room. You know how hilarious my brothers and sisters are! Rich and Jeanne were there, but not the other out-of-staters. Charlie and Andy and Richard are planning a bike ride from St. George to Logan in the summer of 2010. Richard says he needs that much time to get in shape. (He’s lost at least 50 pounds, and he rides his bike all the time, and he needs to get in better shape?) I told them to count me in, but I’ll be almost 63 by then. Maybe it’s wishful thinking.
      I hope you all have a happy new year! Love, Mom