Merry Christmas!

It was a Wii Christmas around the family: not just Mom and Dad, but Greg and a cousin all got systems! We spent the afternoon setting it up and helping Mom and Dad learn how to use the controllers. They enjoyed bowling, and Mom was the champ! We're giving them a day to practice, then we'll get them started on the WiiFit (the main purpose of our gift!).

Jon-Erik is home and has gone through most of the activities on my WiiFit, setting high scores that will take me awhile to reach. We've also played a lot of Animal Crossing, although it's more fun when we can be playing together online - at home we can only be in our town, one at a time.

The big news: he will actually graduate! He passed his final class at Portland State, and we were concerned UW (Wyoming) wouldn't give him the credits he needed, since there is a difference between trimesters and semesters. But it's all good now, and he should receive his diploma in February. I know he's relieved; 8 years and 4 schools is a long time. He found out he can take the GRE anytime at a convenient location near Beaverton, so he will do that when he returns home. We're not placing bets on how long a graduate degree will take, or what his major will actually be. But at least he will be starting something new!

James-Philip expects to be out of work when the current project ends, but I'm hoping we'll be able to use him as a volunteer at the library. We're getting ready to upgrade to RFID - placing radio-frequency tags on all items (over 100,000!). That could be a fun activity for him and a big help to us.

Tom is freezing in Gainesville - they had a big snowstorm just before Christmas. Montana isn't looking so bad now!