I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas and Gnocchi

I must say I love this time of year. I know it sounds so cliche, but I do. Christmas is such a festive time of year. The only time when you can do such silly things as buy a giant fake tree and string it with lights, garland and decorations and keep it in your house, make incredibly big socks that would be really uncomfortable to wear just so you can stick an orange, some nuts, and a little gift inside, wear ugly Christmas sweaters and Christmas socks and stand on random peoples doorsteps and serenade them with holiday songs. But it is also a time to spend with family and friends celebrating the birth of Christ our Savior- which I am really looking forward to. We are flying out in a couple of days and are excited to spread some Christmas love and cheer to all we come in contact with (you've all been warned). But since we can't visit everyone, consider this your Christmas news letter.

Bill has just finished his first semester here at the UofC and as far as I can tell has really enjoyed it. He has loved the scholarly atmosphere and all of his professors. He finished his 2 finals last Monday and since then has had some well deserved r and r. Let me tell you, he worked his butt off. In addition to school, Bill was called as a primary worker- Valiant 11 or whatever it is called now, and he loves it. He comes home singing all the primary songs that he learned for the day. In addition to school and church, Bill is a brave brave man. He braves the elements for none other than his wife- ie wind, rain, cold, snow, wind, snow, cold, wind, and snow. Today in fact, he dug the car out of a 16" snow drift for 10 minutes while I waited in the nice warm lobby (due to my high heals of course). He is such a champ, and he is mine!

As for me, well there is really nothing to say. I'm working for the university in the department of Medical Center Development where people donate obscene amounts of money to the hospitals, medical school, and biological sciences department. I'm the secretary/receptionist which keeps me fairly busy and it has been a great job thus fair. Just cross your fingers I will get hired on as a permanent employee. On the church side of my life, I'm on the enrichment committee, which has been a great calling. And finally, to keep myself busy I work out with Barack Obama, explore various shopping centers around the city and I occasionally drop in at the International House of Pancakes- not to be confuse with IHOP, to eat none other than pancakes.

So Merry Christmas all, we love you and will see you..........sometime.
And here is a picture of our Christmas tree and stockings and what I made for dinner today- gnocchi with a tomato mushroom sauce and chicken! It was pretty darn good!