We're a little excited, as you can see...

We were supposed to go to Portland for Christmas, but because of all the snow, I-84 has been closed.  We kept hoping the snow would melt and we could make it.  We didn't.  So that's why we ended up shopping for a Christmas tree on Dec. 23.  But guess what.  Fred Meyers didn't have a single tree left.  We were about to head somewhere else when my husband got distracted by a fake tree display.  What distracted him was the price--regularly $300, on sale for $75, Dan talked them down to $70.  We couldn't pass it up.

I always thought fake trees were for clean freaks who didn't want to deal with pine needles or for safety freaks who were unwilling to bring a fire hazard into their home.  I'm neither of those.  But now that we're in Idaho, a fake tree makes sense.  (And it's easier for my hubby--who is great at business and sales and fun and psychology, but not so good with a saw and a tree stand.)

Coming from Oregon, we thought we could go to a tree farm for our first Christmas here.  The overgrown Arbavidas in my backyard would have made nicer trees.  So the next year we drove up into the mountains for our tree.  While in the mountains, my daughter got the flu and my husband got a speeding ticket.  Since then we've just gone to Fred Meyers.  But no more.

I'm going to miss the smell of pine.  My husband texted his brother (back in Oregon) and told him about our tree.  His brother texted back: Sinner.  Having a fake Christmas tree is kinda like having a manger scene without baby Jesus.  Just wrong.

What do you all think?  Fake or fir?

Jordan has come a long way since his first Christmas program at church.  When he was a preschooler, I led his class out to the stage to sing, but when I turned around he was gone.  At first, I couldn't figure out where he went.  Then I noticed a wave of heads in the congregation looking down towards the floor.  Jordan crawled under the seats all the way from the front of the sanctuary to the back.  Six years later, he's owning the stage.

Tonight Jordan played part of the clean-up crew in a muscial.  They were three boys who rocked out to their air guitar brooms and mop microphones.  Jordan had a feather duster drum solo.  For a grand finale, the boys were to take a knee.  Jordan kneeled then lept up into the air (in a move I'm guessing he learned from guitar hero) and recieved thunderous applause.  Who is this kid?

My daughters also made me proud onstage.  Caitlin was such a little lady when singing "Away in a Manger", not to mention the way she gave her lines perfectly.  And though we woke up to the sound of Lauren vomiting this morning (too much candy at last night's Christmas party) she still donned a halo and took her position in the manger scene.

To cap off the evening, we returned home (it was still standing despite Dan's attempt to burn it down by leaving water boiling on the stove for hot cocoa) to watch the whole thing again on our new HDTV--Dan's Christmas present to himself.  And if that wasn't enough, we also used the Wii to look at all the pictures I'd taken during the musical.  The Wii has a neat little gadget you can use to draw on top of photos.  Dan gave Caitlin a booger hanging out of her nose, Lauren got glasses, and Jordan grew some angry eyebrows.  This might not be a tradition we continue, but it's one I'm sure they will remember for a long time.

For more pictures, click here.  Here's wishing many memorable moments to you all during the holidays.   

Last night we watched Merry Christmas Charlie Brown, and I've never enjoyed it more.  My kids hadn't seen it, and they got such a kick out of Snoopy.  We rewound the part where Snoopy dances on the piano, and we just laughed and laughed.  We've been so busy lately (and I've been sick) that we hadn't done any fun family things.  The cartoon, hot cocoa, and Christmas cookies made the evening perfect.

About two weeks ago the right side of my back really started hurting.  I stopped to get a free chair massage on the way out of Gold's, and the massage therapist really freaked me out by saying that I have scar tissue that's attached itself to bone and is going to pull my whole spine out of alignment.  She, of course, recommended that I get a massage.  My husband teased that a pedicure and facial might also help my problem, but I ignored him and called my masseuse friend Angela so she could come over and "get her hands on me."

Here's the good news: No scar tissue--just a rotated rib.  (What was the other masseuse talking about?)

Here's the interesting news: In high school I broke four ribs while cheerleading.  I wrote about it, and this became the first article I ever sold.  (American Cheerleader published it as the debut story in their IT REALLY HAPPENED column.)  Angela's opinion is that most likely the reason my muscles are flaring up now is because I just got a verbal offer for my first CBA novel.  She said that the feelings associated with my broken rib experience have been recreated, which activates muscle memory.  I'd never heard of such a thing, but I find it fascinating.

Anyway, I'm planning to get used to this pain in my ribs because I want to sell lots more books.  I'm sure I can suffer through a few more massages if I have to.