Dear Kids,

Thanks so much to Nora and James for hosting the gift-exchange party yesterday!  It was a smashing success.  I took out my hearing aids before we left home, because I was expecting a lot of noise, but it wasn’t half bad.  The fun outweighed the noise, anyway.

And this evening is book club; we’ll be talking about A Christmas Carol.  We’re meeting at 6 pm instead of five because of scheduling complications, but we’ll have just as much fun as ever.  Our actual book discussion usually only lasts about ten minutes, so don’t be afraid to join us.  Next month is my turn, and I’m choosing Fantastic Mr. Fox by Roald Dahl.  It’s short and lots of fun.

And Christmas is nearly upon us.  One more week!  I’m sure all your kids are counting down.  On Christmas eve we’ll be watching Christmas Eve on Sesame Street here at our house, as well as having hot chocolate and pumpkin cookies.  If you want to go somewhere, please come and join us.  We’ll have Donna’s family for sure.  Christmas Day we’ll be out of church before noon, so after we eat, Dad and I will be driving around Heber valley to visit John’s, Tom’s, and Donna’s families.  I don’t think we’ll get any farther afield than that.  Then, on Christmas Monday is our sledding party at the cabin.  Bring your Christmas leftovers!  Tom is going to make pulled pork, and Donna’s bringing mac n’cheese, so we’ll have plenty of real food to eat, besides the goodies.  There’s plenty of snow at the cabin, but I don’t think anybody has packed down the sledding hill yet.  

How does a cowboy dress up for a funeral?  He puts on a vest and bolo tie over his workday levis and cowboy shirt.  We found that out yesterday when we were helping out with a funeral in our ward.  The lady who died was an older cowgirl, just younger than I am, and she died after surgery for colon cancer.  That was really sobering to me.  I’m lucky to still be alive four and a half years after my colon cancer surgery, and I’m definitely beating the odds.  But it isn’t just luck–I’m convinced your prayers for me have a lot to do with it.  Thanks so much for that!  I’m really fortunate to have such a big, wonderful family.  I definitely hit the jackpot.

Lots of love, Mom