Vancouver, BC, Christmas, 2006.

Hello to all our good friends and relatives. This is our annual Christmas letter to let folks know how things are going here and what we have been doing over the past year and, especially, over the holidays. We are sad at present, because all three dogs were run over by the garbage truck. We heard this ungodly barking and yelping on Christmas morning and looked out the window and saw the big truck pulling away and the dogs just lying motionless in the driveway. All three were dead within minutes.

Unfortunately Aunt Martha got drunk on Christmas day and knocked over the Christmas tree, starting a small fire. But Uncle Fred ran to the kitchen and got a pan of water and put it out. But in his haste he slipped on the wet rug and had to be taken to the hospital by ambulance. His recovery has been slow. The living room was wet and stinky from the smoke for the rest of the day, but, hey, this is the season to be merry, so we all kept an upbeat attitude. If anybody gets a chance, send Fred a get well card.

Christmas dinner didn't go well. The turkey was overcooked and had a black appearance. George said the bubbles of foam in his glass of sparkling wine looked like the jar in the doctor's office after you piss and it's full of urine.

Cousin Frances in Kamloops is still suffering from severe depression. She has gone from bad to worse and didn't make it down for Christmas this year. She is working part time at Burger King to help pay for therapy sessions and all those drugs not covered by insurance. We do hope she can join us next year.

During the summer we loaded everybody, including all the dogs and cats, into the SUV and headed to Montana to visit Sam and Penelope for three days. Then on to the Johnsons in Nebraska for Betty's graduation. Betty was radiant, and we enjoyed the six day visit. Then, a quick trip to Texas to say hello to Fran and Derek for a few days and a side trip to see Christine the Geek in Arizona. (We know, that is an awful name, but kids started calling her that around her sixteenth birthday, and somehow the name has stuck.) Her new condo is great, except for a few leaks, but it doesn't rain a lot there, and she is enjoying the dry heat immensely. Then, we drove the long trip back to Vancouver and after a few days' rest it was off to LA via Westjet for the big comic book convention that Don attends every year, and then back to Vancouver, and then off to New York for a week and then down to Florida and then to Boston, and then up to Montreal, followed by a side trip to Halifax, and then home for a much needed rest. All in all the summer trips were fine except for the car breaking down three times and getting ripped off at those filling stations in the USA. And then there was that scare in LA when the rented car skidded out of control and crashed into a hydrant causing a lot of muddy water to gush out into the street.

Jimmy Boy is doing poor in school. He got three F's and one D the last semester and has been disciplined several times for fighting with other kids. The last time he pulled a knife, and the police were called to the school. We think Jimmy Boy may be using drugs.

Sis doesn't sell herself to the guys in the bar down the street any more, but it is hard to make her keep her appointments with that social worker.

So, folks, those are a few of the highlights we have to report about what is going on here. We wish all our friends and relatives a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, and hope that the coming year will be even better than the last one.

(By the way, Frank disappeared during the summer. If anybody hears from him, please let us know. He may be in jail in California, but we are not sure.)

Best wishes to all, from The Zimmerman Family in Greater Vancouver