Wake up!....Wake up family!....Santa arrived last night! Come see the tree!..... ) ( ) Merry Christmas, family! .-.,--^--. ( Come on in. . . \\|`----'| - The coffee pot's on. . . \| |// ...and we even have decaf, | |/ tea, and hot chocolate! \ / ------ No, it's not Sunday!....and I'm not trying to trick you! :) I just thought you'd like to join me in coffee this morning. However, by the time you read this you'll have probably enjoyed Christmas around the tree with your immediate family. Now it's our turn to all be together for our first Christmas. It's not a big one, but for our first, it's a pretty nice one. Robes and slippers on, coffee/tea or hot chocolate in tow, Christmas carols on the stereo, the warmth of a fireplace snapping and crackling nearby.....we all gather around our tree in anticipation of what's yet to come. Will that record you wanted be there?.... There's just something special about a family Christmas.....and you have made mine an extra special one this year. If you're new to the family fold and don't quite know what's going on.....we're having our first Howell/Howle family Christmas. The Howell Research Room has a Christmas tree set up inside. All you need to do to get to it is click on the 'To the Tree!' link on the front page. The URL is <http://www.geocities.com/howell_research>. A note about the Christmas gifts.....some of them are stacked next to, or on top of each other. Be sure to click on EACH INDIVIDUAL GIFT in a stack because each different package will have a gift "inside." There are 35 gifts, total. So enjoy the day everyone!....tomorrow there'll be a huge mess to clean up [the boxes, wrapping, and gifts]. Today we eat and play!!!.... :) Actually though, I'll leave the gifts online till the beginning of the new year. As our real trees come down, so will the HRR tree. Those of you who sent in gifts -- on behalf of the entire family, I thank you for thinking of us. I wish each of you blessed, happy Christmas! ) ( ) _.-~~-. (@\'--'/. Colleen ('``.__.'`) `..____..'