Well, this hiatus of 2 months just may be a way to sort of "regroup", look at the show, go over what has been going on that has not gone over well....really looked at the show from the viewers' perspective. And yes, with all the holidays to contend with, they probably know only too well how distracted cast themselves can get.
Trouble is, they have already filmed til June, so unless they can tinker a bit with what is already on film (ala how they did just a bit after Griffith was gone) then we won't be seeing whatever they come up with until next summer.
I would tend to agree that there are too many May/December hookups going on, but when you reduce the cast down so much, while trying to juggle families, keep them intact, bring back family members......that is what happens. There is no room for the new blood, as fans protest when their fav, family characters are written out.