January's around the corner!

It is going to be January before you know it and so it is time for me to get into letter writing mode. The mountains look beautiful all covered with snow and I enjoyed the move over to Christmas Music. With the general economic downturn my job at Snowbird has evolved somewhat. We are working with a much smaller employee base, and since we are not actively recruiting new employees at this time our office has been working at the resort where ever we are needed. It is very different driving to the resort every day, work in the Employee Services office one day, Public Safety one day, and 3 days as a cashier at the General Gritts store. I have enjoyed the change of scene but working as a cashier really wears me out ... 8 hours on my feet means that by the time I make it home I am really ready to call it a day. I really miss my nice office and I will be glad when we return to our normal schedule.. someday.

It has been an interesting year, some good things, some not so pleasant. Probably the most difficult was in August as we gathered the family together for Christina’s wedding in Montana. Her fiancé was killed in an accident only 2 days before the wedding so we gathered to mourn rather than celebrating their lives together. It was a very hard time for us as we watched Christina’s devastation and tried to help and support her. She decided to remain in Montana, reshaping her dreams there surrounded by good friends and fond memories. It has not been easy for her but she is coping, and she will be fine given time. We try to keep close track of her and visit her as often as we can. That is one thing nice about coming from a large family, someone is always planning a trip to Montana!

Jef and I are very excited that we have found a wonderful home to purchase in the Sugar House area of Salt Lake. We have wanted to be able to live in that area. That is where we lived after we were married until we built our home on Brighton Point. It is a classic California Bungalow style home built in 1910 and we loved it because in that 100 or so years it has not been changed dramatically so much of the woodwork and features retain that original charm. It was easy to fall in love with the leaded glass windows and large front porch. Yes, there are a few things we will need to repair and restore (including those windows) but we see that as a new and fun project. We will keep both houses, we can live in one and fix the other for a while. I am so ready to downsize now that I don’t have my house full of children to help me with the cleaning and yard work. It will be a little longer commute for me to get to work but it is really not bad. Jef’s commute to the airport will be shorter though. Jef has taken off work for the last couple of weeks to work on the house and Dylan has been helping him as often as he can around his snowboarding schedule. At the rate our list of repairs and remodels grows it will probably be a while before we could actually move. We wanted Dylan to move in since it is close to the Universit of Utah but that can't happen until we get internet service there because it is such a large part of his schoolwork, and you can't get the internet working until you get the lines run ... etc

We wanted to have Christmas in the new house, well that didn't work, but we did have our family Christmas party there and it worked out great since there isn't any furniture so we had lots of space. Rosalie got everything set up and made dinner for us. She really came through since I had to work at Gritts that day. Everything looked so festive and the food was GREAT. We decorated gingerbread houses and played games. Grandpa and Grandma Pat come up to join us, and we celebrated Grandpa's 89th birthday. Jef says that maybe we should just not furnish the house and use it for the party house... I'm not so sure I go along with that plan. Lydia and Jeffrey and the kids were there along with Dave & Kara and the kids. I told the renters downstair that we were having 16 people over on Christmas Eve, that many people on old squeaky floors can really put in dent in their quiet evening! They seemed OK with it, at least they didn't complain..

Jef is traveling as usual, and spent the last half of November in Ghana, West Africa, he tells me that they named a school after him in Ghana so there is now a Jef Fisher Primary School (if you take the opportunity to go over and check it out I am sure he’ll be very happy to meet you and give you a guided tour!)

Otherwise things are pretty normal. Dylan is attending the University of Utah, working, spending time with his girlfriend, helping Jef when he can, and sleeping very occasionally. Rosalie and James are doing well, they are renting a home in Sugar House, it is nice to be practically neighbors! Lydia is still in school in Arizona and Jeffrey is working at a job he likes very much. Sarah, Collin, and Mason just keep getting older and cuter. Dylan and I spent the Thanksgiving Holiday with them since Jef was in Africa and we wanted to go someplace fun. Sam and Heather are still in Brooklyn, Sam is working on building a bridge and Heather is enjoying using her hard earned degree in Landscape Architecture. Dave & Kara are busy trying to keep up with Anna and enjoying their new baby boy, James, born on December 3rd. Emily and Austin seem to love Vermont more all the time, and Lucy and Gavin are doing well, although I don’t get out there often enough either. With the family so spread out I am so thankful for cel phones and email!

Once again we are so thankful for the love and support of friends and family. We all hope that you had a wonderful Christmas season and a great year ahead!