Merry Christmas!

We hope that everyone had a Merry Christmas! Lily was the first one to wake up yesterday morning. She was very excited for her first Christmas. She got some kitty treats and a fun new fuzzy pink toy which she absolutely loves. Her favorite part of Christmas, however, was batting mini Snickers, balls of wrapping paper, and ribbons around on the floor. It was the happiest day of her life. Big Spike also got some treats as well as a squeaky hedgehog. Little Spike is in Iowa with Greg's parents for the next few days, so he'll have to wait to play with the Christmas toys. We received some nice presents from Mom and Dad and from Greg's parents--thank you for everything! Greg gave me a heated blanket (which I am using right now), "The Office" and "Bones" DVDs, the new "Narnia" movie, and some beautiful earrings; and I gave him some Xbox games and a new shirt and tie.

Here is the Christmas aftermath. We enjoyed a leisurely day of playing Xbox and relaxing, then we went and had dinner with the Henning family (Greg's boss). The Hennings are so nice, and we had a wonderful time with them.

I heard that Richard was finally able to sleep in on Christmas morning this year! He didn't have his sisters around claiming that present opening should begin at 5:00 a.m. :-) It sounds very, very snowy in Utah, and I hope that everyone is staying warm. (I am confident that Sarah, Joel, and Eliza are warm in South Carolina.) The weather here is really weird. It is still just cold and icy outside today, but tomorrow it's going to get up to 60 degrees and we're supposed to have bad thunderstorms! But I'll take thunderstorms any day over freezing rain. This was my first Christmas away from home, and I miss all of my friends and family, but Greg and I have had a nice holiday here.

All of my hopes for getting the curatorial position at the Church History Museum in Salt Lake were dashed by the Church's new hiring freeze. They are not going to be hiring anyone for a few months at least--including at the Church schools. I am sad, but at least the Church isn't going to lay people off. Unfortunately these are tough economic times--and I have a feeling that things will only get worse over the next four years. Speaking of which, did you all hear the ridiculous news that Barack Obama is going to be sworn in as President using the same Bible that Abraham Lincoln used? Blaaaaaaaaah! All I can say is that he'd better be wearing some white cotton archive gloves so that his greasy hands don't ruin the Bible.