Greetings from the Rambling Librarian

Dear family, friends, and total strangers,

While I was writing our Christmas letter*, I found I had books on the mind, so please pardon me if they are mentioned once or twice...

We have spent this year in my parent's home while they are serving an LDS mission. With just the two of us, it sure is All Quiet on the Western Front. However, we have been fortunate to receive visitors from North and South and everywhere in between to fill the house with noise and fun.

Just about every minute from March to October seemed filled with yard work. We spent many hours tilling The Good Earth behind the house. Our [not so] Secret Garden was not populated with flowers, but we certainly had a fabulous harvest! I think we had our own Animal, Vegetable, Miracle [minus the animal, fortunately]. Some items did better than others, but we still found ourselves Eating the Alphabet from apricots to zucchini. In addition to our garden, the fruit trees also kept us busy. While ours were not as enormous as James and the Giant Peach, we did get plenty of juicy, sweet peaches to fill our bellies and our jars. The raspberry patch would have triggered the envy of even the Strawberry Girl. The final harvest of the season brought forth enough Grapes of Wrath for many jars of jelly.

Despite this constant work, we managed to heed The Call of the Wild and camp out in beautiful Zion National Park. While we cannot say we Walked to Zion, we were fortunate enough to walk through Zion. The majesty and beauty of nature certainly helped us escape the rush of everyday life. We never found ourselves quite Between a Rock and a Hard Place, but were always surrounded by glorious canyon views.

Our other Incredible Journey took us to the happiest place on earth. We definitely found our inner youth in true Peter Pan fashion at Disneyland. While racing from one end of the park to the other, we managed to forget all our work back home. I'm pretty sure Vince's first visit to this magical land was very much like Alice's Adventures in Wonderland - without the white rabbit.

Vince has spent the year being Schooled at a place that sometimes seems like an Austere Academy. He is always looking forward to The Last Lecture of the semester, but is absolutely certain he will enjoy his upper division courses - except for the extra work. His "free time" is spent learning lots of computer languages. I'm pretty sure he must be Thinking in Java by now.

I am still the librarian at a tiny college. The library feels like my own personal Hiding Place, since it is sequestered from most of the action. I really enjoy working with students and helping them find what they need [in terms of information, anyway]. I've taken on several new tasks that were Not Quite What I was Planning when I became a librarian, but that means I get to try new things. Sometimes I even have to track down a Book Thief [or thieves], but usually things are very quiet. And in case you didn't know, I spend my free time with a book in hand. I'm also hoping I start Reading Like a Writer so I can produce a few volumes of my own someday.

Our new calling at church is in the nursery. We are certainly learning a lot each week and will probably know What to Expect the Toddler Years when the time comes for one of our own [yeah, right]. We are also just starting to understand why mothers always look so tired - it sometimes seems those little ones have an endless supply of energy!

We hope during this time of year, and also every day, we all remember Jesus the Christ, who is our One Bright Shining Hope. We thank our Heavenly Father for the gift of His Son and for family and friends.

Vince & Melissa

*I'd call it annual, but then I'd feel obligated to do this every year.