Merry Christmas to all...

We had Christmas dinner early. My brother- in- law has to fly back east early tomorrow afternoon. I have just returned from the annual Santa's Christmas Eve Road Service Trip. The tradition began when I was stationed at Camp Pendleton back in 1984. Late Christmas Eve I stopped to help a lady with a flat tire on the state highway running through Spring Valley, California. In the twenty years since I've pulled cars out of ditches, changed tires, replaced belts and/or hoses, and once I even carried a family of four all the way to grandma's house. My oldest daughter and my two nieces came along for the ride this time. No breakdowns; the weather is fine, if cold, here tonight. We hit the truckstops from Point of the Mountain at the Salt Lake/Utah County line down south to Nephi, Utah, handing out candy canes to kids and the counter people. Saw a lady who remembered us from last year.

When I first put on the hat in 1984, I never saw myself growing the belly and a fair part of the white beard to go with it. Time fills, I guess.

The dining room WILL support eleven people and remain on the ground floor. Turkey, all the trimmings, sweet potato bake, bohnen, mashed taters, homemade apple sauce and cranberry sauce, biscuits and cookies and FOUR kinds of pie. And the cookies.

We are all as healthy as we can hope to be. We all have roofs over our heads. We are together and happy to be that way even after four days of elbow rubbing and sharing one and a half bathrooms. We've got a full- issue political rainbow , too, and I am here to tell you that there's a pot of gold at both ends.

We are a family come together from the ends of our great nation during this most special season and grateful that our blessings outnumber our trials. I hope and pray, dear reader, that your world is like ours is today. At least just this one day.

I have to go and wrap my last present, and then to bed. If you are reading this in the few hours left before Christmas dawn, you should hit the rack, too.

Merry Christmas, and may your New Year bring happiness in modest amounts and all the success you can bear.

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. St. Luke 2:14.

I don't often quote scripture. Sometimes, however, the words just can't be said any better.