We arrived at our Christmas vacation destination in western Oregon just in time for the biggest snowstorm the region has seen in recent memory. Over a foot of snow fell the weekend before Christmas, causing church to be canceled. My father-in-law received permission to administer the Sacrament here at his home, so we had a nice little church meeting with 18 members of my wife's family. That's bigger than some branches I remember from the mission.

Since we're up on a hill out in the country, the only way to get out for a while was with 4-wheel-drive and chains. There's been a lot of "Rock Band 2" and pinochle playing going on to pass the time. I also found "The Life of Heber C. Kimball" on my in-laws' shelf of old Church books and was happy to get the chance to start reading it. This biography was written by Orson F. Whitney and contains a lot of church history, especially relating to the spread of the Gospel in Great Britain.

Today my wife and I are off to the Oregon coast to celebrate 5 years of happy marriage! Thanks to parents, in-laws, and grandparents who have been such a great example in this regard.

We wish anyone reading this post a Happy New Year!
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