Sunday - April 27, 1980
Little Rock

Dearest Ron, Ann, Susanna & Jessie, Rick, Jean & Ricky and Roy,

We were so thrilled to find letter from Ann and Roy in our mailbox yesterday - in fact, IT MADE OUR DAY!!!! We talked to Rick and Jean one night last week and they are fine and we saw Bob and Claire so all our "kids" are well and accounted for - of course we can still tuck John in bed at night. When you were all little and at home I used to sort of look forward to the time when you would be on your own but I can honestly say now that I worry much more about you now than I did then and long for those days when I could see you each day - the worried are more compounded now because thee are more of you. I worried all night last night about little Jessie's cold - I don't believe babies that little really have colds do they? It will be wonderful for her to get some sunshine when she's a little older - a big advantage to having babies in the Spring. We are so anxious to get our picture developed - I believe we have one or two more to take - and I hope we have some good ones because we are all so homesick for all of you in Utah.

Roy - you sound so busy!!!! We're happy you have reservations for us and we will be there sometime on Saturday, May 31st - John has to go to school on Thursday, May 29th and we will either leave that afternoon or early Friday morning. We plan to stay in Providence Sunday night and Monday night and then we would like to go to Boston unless there is a special reasons for us to stay longer. We are really excited and would love to have you come home with us - if Jeannie hasn't had her baby by then we would like to go to Utah from there and go through the Dakotas and see some of that country, and down through Yellowstone Park and on to Utah - she seems to think she is going to have her baby before that though and so our plans may change. WE are going to travel really light and just take clothes that can be laundered and worn so there will be room for all of us and it would be a wonderful trip. We will be thinking of you as you prepare for your final exams - what an achievement Roy - we're really proud of you!!!!

Ann - thank you so much for getting the recipe for Kathy's cake - I'm going to make that sometime this week. I believe her frosting recipe was made with marzipan - try to find out but if she doesn't volunteer to give it to you it may be a special one she doesn't want to give out. You can buy that marzipan paste in Safeway's and I believe it has a frosting recipe on it - that was the best cake I have ever eaten!!!! You don't have one apology to make concerning your dinner - anyone who can put on a dinner like that in a beautiful home and with such a thoughtful program all planned and worked out when her baby is just one week old is just one week old is a fabulous person in our eyes and we're really proud of both you and Ron!!!! The stickers on your crystal made it even more special!

Jean - your little picket fence sounds so pretty - we already think your home is by far the prettiest one on the block and when you get your yard all fixed the way you want it it will be outstanding. Everyone is constantly asking about you - you are having the prayers of all our friends and I just know everything is going to be just fine and we're so proud or you for "hanging in there" and for Rick's love and understanding during this hard, hard pregnancy!!!!

Steve Ezell left early this morning with Rick and Shelley Cobb to go back to Utah to school - I understand that Rick has a really good job on the campus and he will lose it if he leaves so he has decided to go to school all summer too. Steve is really a fine young man - we are very impressed with him. They came over for dinner on Friday night and then Bob, Claire, Steve and John all went to float the Buffalo river yesterday - the weather wasn't very good but they had a good time anyway. Bob has spent a lot of time with Steve all week - they have water skied on the Cobb's boat, golfed, fished, etc. - I hope Bob's classes haven't suffered. They will know for sure tomorrow about getting their home - they will really be disappointed if it doesn't go through so we're hoping they will get it - it's a beautiful old home and with Claire's ability they will be able to decorate it nicely and with Bob's ability the yard will be nice and it will be good for them to have something to work on outside. Claire will finish her classes at UALR in two weeks - she says they have been the hardest classes she has ever taken - business law and accounting - she's hoping to pass!!!!

Daddy and I taught all last week and by the week-end we had had it!!!! Daddy was at Booker Junior High in Math and I was at Wilson in kindergarten - I really wanted to quit after the first day - I have twenty-four little kids who should be in nursery school instead of kindergarten - they haven't been taught anything and my job is to just keep them from killing each other with the Lincoln logs. Daddy started out so idealistic but by the third day he said he was just trying to keep the discipline in line except for his accelerated classes. He enjoyed visiting with the principal there who knew you Roy - Mr. Barnhouse - and he said he grew to love some of the little black kids who learned something while he was there but it was a real eye opener for him. I have to go back this next week but I believe I will be able to do a better job now - I have really bad to be mean to get the discipline I line and my reputation is ruined in the church because I have Sandy Blankenship's little boy and Carla Pearce's little boy and another church member's son. The regular teacher had a baby come really so she had to quit and they had hired another teacher to take her place and her husband died suddenly of a heart attack so she wanted two weeks off so they asked me to fill in. The kids don't have any crayons, any paste or any paper and all the toys are broken and the puzzles all have pieces missing I took all John's crayons and bought some construction paper and other things to make things. The school is under reconstruction and it is really one big mess - I took some of our children's records and when I went to plug in the record player the plug blew up in my hand and scared me and the kids to death. It rained on Friday and they had big garbage cans all over the place to catch the water in. The kids have to "rest" for an hour during the day and one of the little boys went to sleep and while he was asleep a little black girl took his shoe laces out of his shoes and went to the bathroom and flushed them down the toilet - I finally found some yarn to tie them with but his father was so upset he came to school the next day to find out about it - they're much too fast for me to keep up with them. Daddy and I thought this would be a fun thing to do for us one or two days a week and it would keep us aware of things in the schools but we don't like it a week at a time.

This week-end is or Area Conference in Mississippi - they wrote quite a long time ago and asked Daddy to give one of the prayers and then last week we received a letter from Pres. Kimball telling us there would be seats for us one the stand at all the meetings. We are exited about it - we don't know who else is coming besides Pres. Kimball but to be able to shake his hand and sit on the stand with him is such an honor. This will be the first area conference for this part of the country so it will really be special. We will be leaving early next Saturday morning and won't be home until late Sunday night and we'll be staying in a Holiday Inn in Jackson, Miss. Bob and Claire don't plan to go so if you need us you can call them and they will know where we are.

We had a letter from Bro. Hinton yesterday and he said his meeting with Don and Cheryl went very well and he said they were very cooperative when he explained to them that we would pay the top part of the inheritance tax - we feel okay about that though and now we're just hoping there will be enough of the property that will be sold to pay the remainder of the taxes. The preposition is to sell all of the dry farm and enough of the canyon land for Don and 80 acres of it for us - Daddy doesn't think that will be possible but we will have to wait and see. I will just be happy to have it all over with - we haven't heard from Don or the folks which really surprises us!!!!

Daddy is in Morrilton and Russellville today - John and I were going to go with him but we were both so tired last night we changed our minds. I haven't been to church in our Ward for about six weeks so I am anxious to go - when we don't have meetings during the week it is really hard to keep in touch. Marilyn Harris had a luncheon on Tuesday to celebrate Linda Smither's 40th birthday but I wasn't able to go so I haven't seen my special friends for a long time. John is out cleaning his Moped right now - I must go get him in and have him write in his journal or something!!!!

Wasn't that too bad about the failed rescue attempt of the hostages???? We are surely living in challenging times - I worry about you joining the Air Force right now Roy - but Daddy has assured me that you will not be in any dangerous part of it and I hope he is right. WE LOVE YOU ALL SO VERY MUCH - PLEASE BE CAREFUL!!!!
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