Dear Kids,

Jacob is in Gadsden, Alabama.  He arrived safe and sound.

We’re going ahead with book club this evening, 5:00 at our house.  I’ve baked some really gooey brownies for dessert.  I can’t think what connection they have with Fantastic Mr. Fox, except that they’re brown, and foxes are, too.  Since I chose the book, it’s my turn to ask the questions, and I have some little goodie packets for kids who know the answers.  Don’t worry–we’ll rig it so everybody can give a right answer, even Tyler.

Super Sunday will be two weeks from today, January 22, at Nora’s house.  She’s up for it, in spite of hosting that big Christmas party.  When we went to her house on Tuesday (so she could cut Dad’s hair) I saw it penciled on her calendar.  On with the fun!

Any other news around here has to do with the big storm we had, starting New Year’s Eve.  By morning we had more than a foot of new snow, and it kept snowing until Tuesday.  There never were big flakes of snow, but it was just really constant.  We ended up with more than two feet, and you can bet Dad was busy with the snow blower.  What is it with guys and snowblowers?  Donna said if Bevan had a guardian angel animal, it would be a snow blower.  Anyway, Dad spent a couple of days keeping up with the snow.  When he was working on the back deck, where the cats hang out trying to get in, Scout helped him by digging the snow with his front paws.  Smart kitty, that one!  

Yesterday morning Dad met Donna’s family at the cabin to clear the snow off the front deck.  Since the cabin always gets more snow than we do, it was about three feet deep.  Dad used his ramps to get the snow blower up the stairs, and they ended up shooting the snow about 25 feet in the air.  They worked for a couple of hours and got most of it.   Well, the little kids didn’t help much, but Dallin ran the snowblower down the driveway for a little while.  

Since it’s been so cold, I haven’t had any outside projects, or inside, either, except for reading books and writing book reviews for Goodreads.  I’ve been working at this for nearly ten years now, and my goal is to write 1,000 reviews.  Right now I’m at 948, so you can see I’m only 52 shy of my goal.  I don’t know what I should do to celebrate when I get there, but I need to start planning.

I’m so proud of all you kids and what you do!  I’ve gotta be the happiest grandma around.

Love, Mom