Getting Ready for Christmas

So it has been a crazy couple of weeks here at the Beardall's! Between Ryan's school duties, right now grading and end of semester projects and making and grading finals, we haven't hardly seen him this week! Heather is busy getting Primary all ready for the new year. It has been a challenge because we have some teachers leaving and my 1st counselor has been having some health problems. It's been very last minute and chaotic in that sense. We're getting ready to head up to the mountains for the annual Beardall party. Santa is busy wrapping presents and getting stockings ready for the kiddos. Our tree this year is very pretty, very tall, and very wide! We always go to the moutains and cut down our own with Ryan's brother and his family. It's a great tree this year but it is drying up fast! I was really hoping to get the outdoor decorations up this year, but it's looking as though we may have to pass again this year. At least the tree is up and I do have a few window ornament lights! The weather has just been so cold even if I wanted to get the lights up, I haven't been able to in -12 degree air! We may get there yet. We're also trying to finalize plans to make the annual trek to Idaho. I'm gonna try really hard to get a family picture and newsletter out. It may be pushing it to get it out by Christmas, so it may just be a end of year letter! Oh well. Ryan just bought a trailer for his 4 wheeler. It's kind of funky, but we got a good deal on it and hope it will do the job we need it to. He also got a new phone that he's been playing around with all week long. We upgraded to the smart phone and got him a new blackberry. Way too much fun, and Heather is jealous that she can't upgrade hers 'til August! We're also looking at upgrading our truck. Our current truck has been a real lemon for us. We bought it straight out about 2 years ago, and we have done nothing but pour money into it and not been able to fix it to be dependable. And that's saying something considering Ry and his family are mechanics! It has been a great source of frustration for us. We're test driving an 07 Dodge Mega Cab 2500 Ram right now. We're running financing through (at least we're getting a good trade in!) and I'm pretty sure we'll have a new truck the end of this week. That will be both a relief (a reliable vehicle! YAY!) and a compromise (not looking forward to having to make a car payment again!). 'Tis life, I suppose! Well, I can't think of much else post, so I will end. To Christmas 2008!