Living in a Winter Wonderland...

Well.... so much for the Farmer's Almanac claiming a cold 'DRY' winter this year. We got about 8 inches of snow last weekend and today we've had snow falling all day. It's supposed to snow all the way through tomorrow. We may get to miss school tomorrow, which the boys aren't too upset about. Despite the inconvenience, it is beautiful. The inconvenience is that we have to drive up a small grade to get home and it often drifts over with 5 foot drifts, so when we do go into town we need to make sure we're prepared to stay in town. Or else we have to be prepared to be stuck at home - which is what I prefer! We have lots of pellets to keep the stoves going, so we'll definitely stay warm at home.

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The holiday season is here, again. We are having fun at school (work) with all kinds of activites. In the preschool we've been making lots of fun crafts. In the Kindergarten Winston had his class party today. We made gingerbread houses out of graham crackers and they turned out so cute! Preston and Keaton survived their holiday concerts - Preston in Choir and Keaton in Band. Tom's been enjoying lots of goodies that people bring in to his work, too. I've been getting a little bit of baking done. I haven't gotten as much done this year as I have in the past, but that's okay. We don't really need all the calories!

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For the Christmas holiday we are planning on trekking down to the Boise area. We'll be at my Mom and Dad's for Christmas in Mt. Home. We're planning on spending about 4 days there, so it will be great to just relax there and visit with family. Then we will probably be staying with Tom's grandmother in Emmett for a couple more days where we can visit with his family. We haven't decided whether to stick it out there until New Years or to come home. The weather will have a lot of say in that.

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We've had quite a busy year. Tom has had a pretty good year at the college, despite worries about cut backs. So far it looks like he's going to weather the economy okay. My job has been very pleasant this year. I just love working with the little boy I one-on-one aide for in the preschool. Preston has enjoyed his time being co-editor of the yearbook for the high school. He's also just about to finish driver's ed. He just has to pass the driving test with his teacher. It will probably have to wait until the snow melts! He has really been looking forward to spring when his Choir class will go to Disneyland to perform. Keaton has started wrestling, winning 2 out of 6 matches but his coaches say he's doing great and believe he will get some more wins in. Winning isn't the point, though. Keaton enjoys the sport and doesn't mind if he doesn't win - he likes the challenge. He's also getting up early every morning for Jazz band. He really enjoys his music. Winston has been doing awesome in Kindergarten. Everything is finally clicking for him. His speech is getting so much better and socially he's just blooming. It's wonderful to see how well he's doing. His main goal in life, though, is still to be 'big like Preston'. He tells me often that his legs are getting longer. He'll get there one day - and probably out-grow both of his brothers.

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Well, we wish you the best of everything in the coming year. Take Care, all...

Love: Tom, Tracy & Boys