Dear Kids,
          Big news!  Paul and Stefanie are engaged!  More later!  Now to the letter I wrote earlier:
          We’re getting psyched up for Christmas here at the cabin! I’m sure all of you (and all of your children) are plenty wound up too. Dad and I are looking forward to the family Christmas party next Saturday afternoon. We’re supposed to meet at the Kearns Oval at 3:30 pm for ice skating. I remember how much fun we all had there last year. After the skating we’ll get together at Nora and James’s house for the rest of the party. If you have any questions about which kids give to which kids, or what the adult exchange is, call Nora. She sent me the lists as a facebook message, but I never got it. I’m sure we’ll all have plenty of food and plenty of fun.
          As for the rest of Christmas, we’ll have our Christmas Eve hike at Memorial Hill in Midway, probably about 7:00 pm. Call me if you have a better suggestion, or if there’s a better time for you. Christmas morning Dad and I will swing around Heber Valley to see what Santa brought the various grandchildren. Then we’ll head down to Nora’s for a Christmas brunch, at 11 am. She says anyone is welcome to come. She’s inviting Bill Mair and his new wife Audrey. I’m anxious to meet Audrey. She must be quite a woman to take on Bill.
          Christmas night Dad and I will be back at the cabin, getting ready for our sledding party the next day. Any of you who want to come to the cabin Christmas night and sleep over are more than welcome! We’ll even warm up the bunkhouse if we need to. Food for the sledding party is sloppy jo’s with chips and veggies. Why don’t you all bring your leftover Christmas treats–things like the plates of goodies your neighbors brought you, or any other leftovers that you want to have eaten. The sledding hill should be in good shape. We haven’t had as much snow as they had in Salt Lake and Provo, but we’re expecting more. Anyway, if people can sled on mud and ice and grass, like they did here at Thanksgiving, we’ll have all kinds of fun on real snow.
          Other news . . . is there anything else going on besides Christmas? I keep negotiating with the people at Fieldstone Homes about whether or not we’re going to have them build a house for us, but we still haven’t come to an agreement. When I said we definitely wanted the furnace in the basement, not on the second floor, that was a big hurdle for them. And all their houses come with black appliances, unless you want to pay more money for stainless steel. I wonder if they’ve ever heard of white? Generations of women have been happy with white appliances. I am, too. We’ll see if we can iron out our differences.
          Oreo and Tomcat are still squabbling, but Oreo has learned the schedule of the catfood feeder, and he’s always there to get the food first. Then, when Tomcat sees that he’s been shut out of the food, he leaves big poopers in the litter box, just for spite. So much fun!
          I hope you’re all doin’ great and lovin’ it! Mom