Christmas break...

I guess I took an extended Christmas break - but today I'm back to blogging since I didn't get called to sub today. Long time, no update - so buckle up, and here we go:

Christmas: was very different this year. Being a family of four, this was the first year that we were only three around the tree in 20 years. And I'm sure if you've read over at Trixie's Circus - we are a family of traditions. Change can be hard. But it meant that we had new things - like talking to our Elder - to do and enjoy. But we made cookies and ate the treats from all the stop-bys and watched our holiday movies and ate nachos and opened gifts. And then at 6:30 a.m. on December 25 our phone rang...and we spent the day talking to Elder Taylor. He's fantastic and we had such a great time visiting. And we talked longer than we did on Mother's Day...if you're keeping track.

Being on the phone all day meant that cooking Christmas dinner sort of went out the window - other than putting the turkey in the oven. So yes, this year - we just ate turkey. From the carcass. The best part of just eating turkey is that none of us cared. We were all so relieved as we looked around and realized that no one wanted to make the other dishes and that was one of the best moments of Christmas 2007.

There were lots of lovely gifts - sweaters and pajamas and towels and books...and I'm way behind in my thank-you notes. So, if you're reading this and haven't gotten your thank-you note - don't give up hope.

Post-Christmas: the days after Christmas were filled with cleaning and making all the dishes that we'd failed to make on Christmas day - so plenty of food and cleaning up. We also waited to hear if Elder Taylor had been transferred out of Reno - and he has...he's now living in Gardnerville, Nevada.

New Year: it was pretty different this year. I normally ring in the New Year with the Malleys in Layton...but this year, it didn't work out. So, I found myself with some camp friends that I haven't seen in forever - and then visiting a couple of parties. Lots of talking and laughing and eating "pigs in a blanket." I had a nice time on New Year's Eve - but in my true grandma form, was home and in bed by 1 a.m.

So...yeah. Clearly nothing too exciting has happened in the last two weeks - but I'll do my best to post about some of the great stuff I've seen around the Interwebs....

Happy 2008, friends!