Going WAY Back With The Gold Country Girls

I would have posted this before Christmas, but I only just came across it the other day when I was going through some stuff.
Here are the Gold Country Girls  with our parents,many moons ago:

That's Lori on the left, Daddy, me (Heidi), Mother and Tina.
This little black and white photo was taped onto a newsletter that Mother had sent out as a Christmas card, and I just wanted to share little excerpts from it, because I thought my sisters would get a kick out of it - and that maybe you readers might, as well.
"Placerville is a delightful town in which to spend Christmas.
It has been quite cold lately, and the smell of wood smoke is everywhere. Many families use wood stoves as their only source of winter heat. {We have} our little stove on the back porch, and it is quite a novelty besides being very useful.
The oak trees around our place have all lost their leaves now after turning a beautiful gold.
The old timers are saying we will have a heavy rainfall and maybe snow for Christmas this winter. We need the rain badly as some folks' wells have gone down very low.
Our girls are growing really fast and Tina has really gotten quite tall. She has been taking piano for almost two years, now. This summer, She will be old enough to join the local 4-H group here, & plans to take cooking and maybe raise some rabbits. (We still raise our own chickens and rabbits and an occasional pig or calf.)
 Lori is in kindergarten. She likes to draw and play and all the little things that "past fives" enjoy. She is the little housekeeper of the bunch.
They all share the same small room and this has it's problems. If all goes smoothly, we will add on some rooms in the spring, then they can have more room for their things.
Heidi....is quite a character. She likes to sing, and once she gets an audience, it's hard to "turn her off".
{Daddy} is still working at Aerojet. He has been working Saturdays lately, and can't find the time on Sundays to do all he wants to do around here. He will be glad to have some time off if they ever let him!
We were spending too much for gas there for a while so we changed to Volkswagens. We have a  '58 Microbus and a little '55 sedan and have been quite pleased with their economy.
As to what the writer of this letter has been doing, that's along story! I certainly have no time to be bored! I take piano lessons, too as a hobby and I work for the P.T.A. when needed. We just passed an important bond issue for the school...."
A little glimpse into the past of the Gold Country Girls' childhood.
Ah, the memories!