A Yates Family Christmas
Playing in the snow
Our happy snowman	Melissa, Jon, and Jason
Melissa and PopPop
A group of Yates cousins
Our next generation

Hi everyone! I hope that all of you had a wonderful holiday and you are all looking forward to a great New Year! I know I am. We have been having a wonderful time in the Yates family over the past week.
 
I am happy to report that I did get all of my shopping done in plenty of time for both of our Christmases and Santa didn't have any trouble with his gift calendar. I'm sure it is because I was so good this year. J

I'm sure that everyone heard of the infamous "Blizzard of 2009" that hit the east coast last week. Well, we were right in the middle of the "eye" of the blizzard. (What would these weather people do without hyping up a snowstorm?)

When everything had settled we probably had about 30 inches of the white stuff and since we kept up with the shoveling and plowing during the course of the storm it really wasn't that bad. OK, I will admit that Toni and Jon kept up with the shoveling and I got to keep up with the plowing while riding in the snow plow with my buddy Carlton Phillips. We were very busy plowing parking lots, streets and driveways and that is really hard work, you know!

Anyway, by Sunday the snow had stopped and we had everything cleared for everyone to come over for our first family Christmas. Melissa and her boyfriend, Chris, came up from North Carolina and Jamie, Cynthy, and Ryan joined Jon, Alli, Toni, and I for a great day of sledding, dinner, presents, and just some great family time.

Everyone had their ski outfits on and played in the snow, sledded in the back yard and then built a happy snowman that looked right in our back window. Ryan wasn't so thrilled with the snow, but I'm sure the fact that it was almost over his head didn't have anything to do with that! LOL

After playing in the snow all day we had an early dinner and then opened presents. It was such a great day that I really didn't want it to end.

The following week Jamie and Cynthy headed to New Hampshire and Alli went home to South Carolina to be with her family for Christmas. We wrapped things up at the shop and then finished up with last-minute preparations for our Yates family Christmas Eve which was hosted by my brother John and his wife Diane.

It was another memorable Christmas Eve with all of our young "great nieces and nephews" in attendance. It is so cool to watch a new generation of children grow up in our family. While watching them open presents I can't help but think of my own kids when they were that young. Wow, where has the time gone?

Anyway, it was a quiet Christmas day at our house with Toni's dad, Don, and then it was back to work. Jon and I have been working at our warehouse location for the past few days trying to clean things up as the current tenant moves out. There is lots to do before the end of the week in order to get the building in shape to lease to another tenant – hopefully really soon!

I am going to close this short blog, try to share some fun pictures with you, and then I am going to head home early to take Toni out for our anniversary. Today is our 35th wedding anniversary and we had hoped to spend it skiing in Park City, but with our real estate project still ongoing we decided to forgo our trip this year. I can't really match a quiet dinner at our favorite restaurant on Main Street in Park City, but I have a couple of places in mind that will work just fine.

So with that being said, I'm on my way! Because I probably won't talk to you again until next year I am going to wish everyone a very happy and blessed 2010. May your year be blessed with love, health and happiness. I'll talk to you again soon.