Sunday - May 21, 1978
Little Rock

Dearest Ann & Ron, Jean & Rick, Bob and Roy,

We're kinda' back on schedule - it's noon and we just came from Sunday School - Daddy is over in Jacksonville for his stake Meetings and Johnny's out riding his bicycle or mini-bike or something. A lot of his friends are getting these "Mopeds" (sp.?) and he's trying to keep up with them. They are wonderful for paper routes but they looks quite flimsy to me - at least compared to the Honda 70 - John's about two years ahead of himself in his desires!!!!

We loved your letters Bob and Roy. Bob, you'll just have to use your own judgment about what the neighbors ask concerning Aunt Marvel's property - they have tried so hard to be so honest and fair in everything they have done - for example, Dolores wrote to ask if she could have two pipes she found out in the field next to Aunt Marvel's house and Daddy said at the most they would have cost 50c a piece. I hope they don't get to be a nuisances to you - they mean well but they don't seem to have any appreciation of time - you'll have to make sure you get the things done you need to - we're thrilled you are fixing a shower - I wish you would have time to paint the living room too. Let the Powells do anything that would improve the appearance of their home and that includes clearing away some of their junk!!!! Your trip to San Francisco sounded fun - did you just fly down and back in one day? When will you know if you have been accepted? We're confident that everything will work out just exactly the way it's supposed to for you. I'm going to send you a few more names for Wedding Invitations - do you think Claire is planning to send a picture in her wedding dress for the newspaper - it has to be here two weeks before the wedding - if she isn't I'll just write up an article and take it to be put in the paper without a picture. Daddy filled out the form you sent for the Podiatry School - we were quite surprised that the tuition wasn't more than that - it was plenty but it sounds reasonable - it would be much cheaper to go to Medical School here and we hope that would be possible sometime. Have the Cleggs fix anything that needs to be done to the well or anything else and just have Bro. Schow at the bank pay for it. I believe Aunt Marvel is going to live forever and we must keep her home in good shape - at the rate she's going she may get well enough to go home and live alone - I doubt it very seriously but she really is doing well and is happy - the new people at the Rest home have helped her so much.

Roy - we could understand how you felt about not getting either of the jobs you had applied for here - I was mad too and said I would go to the VA Hospital and give them a piece of my mind but then I decided that would do more harm than good. I'm sure you could get on as an orderly at the Rest home where Aunt Marvel is but I know you would be happier doing something else - something will open up for you once you get home, I'm sure. That is a very good lesson in life that everyone must learn - "It's not being down that hurts you, it's just how long you stay down" - my little bit of philosophy for awhile - you'll leave this coming Friday and we hope you'll let us know about when to except you. I made an appointment for you with Dr. Luten for Thursday, June 1st at 2:00 in the afternoon - if you know for sure that you won't be able to keep it I hope you'll let us know - I took John out last Thursday and thought it would be a good idea for you to get your work done before you start working. Johnny's going to have to have braces on his bottom teeth if we want them perfectly straight - we haven't decided yet. We haven't seen or heard from Jill for awhile - I know she's busy with the wedding plans - we had a place setting of Lisa's stainless silverware sent to her one day and received a lovely thank you note the very next day - I couldn't believe it - she chose the same pattern that Ann did - it's beautiful. June 3rd is going to be a super busy day - it's the Relief Society Fair at Jacksonville and you wouldn't believe all the things I'm involved in for it. It is supposed to be over at 2:30 so I'll have plenty of time to get home for 5 o'clock wedding.

Ann and Jean - we didn't get letters from you this week but we know how hard it is to find time to write - we loved your exciting phone call Annie - it is the biggest thrill in the world to have the doctor tell you he can hear the baby's heart beat - we hope so much that everything will go fine from now on - Jeannie, we're anxious to know what your new Doctor has to tell you. So many people ask about you both all the time - I teach the Mother Education class in our Ward and Sandy Blankenship was in it last week and spent most of the class time talking about you.

We can hardly wait to see your new home under construction Jean and Rick - we hope you'll be able to spend time watching them as they build it - we wished after our home here had been built that we would have spent more time. There are so many things that can be corrected while it's still in the building stage. Have you done any sewing Jeanie - everytime I go to the fabric store it's hard to resist buying some material to sew for both you and Ann - I really love the new styles and fabrics. I finally made a dress using the silk Daddy had brought me from Taiwan (sp.?) and it turned out pretty - I look fat in it but then it's hard to hide that

Bishop Woolley referred some people in his ward in Jerome to Daddy because they were going to move here - Daddy corresponded with them and sent them some contractor's names, etc. (he is a carpenter). Well, the wife has been here for about three weeks and I had met her at Relief Society and just lover her - her husband came in Friday night and the first thing he did was to come visit with Daddy - said he wanted to choose his location to live where the church could use him the most - Daddy abut fell over backwards!!!! They have only been members of the church about a year and a half - they were converted in Jerome - and they have such strong testimonies of the gospel - they really love your family Ron. They'll probably end up in the Benton area - they're really young and have three children - they were in Sunday School this morning with her sister and brother-in-law - they said their biggest purpose in coming back here was to convert meet so many wonderful and devoted people. Your little dog is just darling - we only have one more left - we finally got rid of "Little Squeaky" - she was too small to make it up the steps on the back punch and would squeal until someone came to pick her up. You're right Roy - this really is a Racket!!!!

Bob - we would like to invite some relatives to your wedding dinner but we won't be hurt if you don't want us to. We'd want us to. We'd like to invite Daddy's sisters and their husbands and my brothers and their wives plus Grandmother and Grandpa Forrest. We have though about it and feel it would also be better to have the dinner some place in Salt Lake - otherwise, it would involve a lot of traveling for my family - would that be okay with you? If this is all okay, would someone please look into a really nice place to have it?

Daddy and I and Johnny and one of his little friends went to Lake Conway yesterday morning. We were in Daddy's fishing boat and caught about twenty fish - Daddy and Johnny had gone out Wednesday afternoon and caught about fifty - we had fun but it got 90( and 99 percent humidity and that's too hot for anything - even fishing. I'll be happy when Daddy has more time for that because he really loves it - to me, it's a waste of time.

Johnny brought his SRA test scores home last week and we wee surprised and happy - I have been so sure that he wasn't learning one thing and he never, never has homework. He had a 92 composite score and that's a high Above Average score. When Daddy went to school to get him out to go fishing his Social Studies teacher told him he was really outstanding in his ability - I still don't believe that but I'm glad he's above average. Someday I hope he gets a teacher who will give him an incentive to really excel. His team won their game Thursday and John really played good - almost hit one over the fence again and I hope before the season's over he makes it - they played the same team on Monday and were ahead by one point going into the last inning and there were two outs and they made one error that allowed a run to come in and tie up the game and then our team just fall apart and the other team won by 10 points - we couldn't believe it and neither could they.

The Relief Society is making a quilt for the Richards - Barbara Sondrup has appliqued a design of the Mission Home and tomorrow we're going to start quilting it onto the big quilt one for an album and Daddy took the camera to his meetings today to get some of the Stake Leaders. They are really anxious to leave - the movers are coming in on the 26th - the new family is gong to fly here around that time - we're anxious to meet them - it will be so different having a young family in the Mission Home.

Becky Ewing was over Thursday to have Daddy set her apart as a missionary - I was at John's game so I missed her but I hope she'll write to us - she sent us a really sweet note before she left - she surely does love all you kids - especially you, Bob and Roy.

Roy - please be careful - I'll be on pins and needles until you get home. We love all of you.


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