Christmas Letters....

Have I mentioned that I absolutely LOVE getting Christmas letters? Short -- long -- medium -- full of mentions of people I don't know -- children's accomplishments -- trips to Europe -- promotions....I think they are wonderful. My favorite letters are accompanied by pictures.

I also enjoy the letters to Amy or Abby or Amanda or Alfonse complaining about said letters. Garrison Keilor had an editorial in the Tribune not too long ago wondering what it would be like if we *really* told it like it is.

But wait a minute! Christmas is a time of Good Tidings of Great Joy which shall be to All People. Now while my news certainly isn't nearly the caliber of the Gospel of Luke -- surely we should be able to share some of our own good tidings; particularly when we can share how God has blessed us, answered prayer, or been close in a time of need.

We started our annual letter in 1981. Why we didn't do it earlier, I will never know. Sending out Christmas letters with handwritten paragraphs of our news was a long and arduous process. Torrey and Chris are a lot smarter than we are -- they sent out their first letter this year. And it was super!

I have a large three ring binder. In it I have 8 x 10 pictures of (a) the family, (b) Jill -- all the way through high school, (c) Torrey -- same, (d) Timothy -- ditto, (d) other assorted family members and (e) one of each of all the Christmas cards and letters we have sent out since we were married. It's truly a treasure trove of family memorabilia all in one spot. I need to start an (f) Grandbabies and (g) Christmas letters of other family members.

How large do they make those binders anyway?