June 5, 1982 Little Rock, Ark.

Dearest Ron, Ann, Susanna, Jessie & Russell, Jean, Ricky & Barji and Roy,

I'm going to start my letter tonight because tomorrow is going to be a busy day. We are waiting for Johnny to come home from a "float trip" to see if he is going to celebrate his birthday tonight. They left early this morning to go to the Big Piney river to float it and John said they would be home by 6 - he has invited some friends to come for pizza and birthday cake. It's now 7:30 and no sign of them - I keep waiting for the door bell to ring and see some of his friends here for the party. I am not very successful in giving parties for the boys in our family - Ann & Jean and I loved to plan them and have them but it is a totally different thing with the boys. A friend of mine made his birthday cake - it's a carrot cake and decorated in a musical theme with black and white notes on it - I've made some cheese dip and ordered the pizzas so we may have a midnight party. They only took one car on the trip and may have trouble getting back from the bottom of the river to where they left their car.

Today was my last day at school - the teachers had to go today to wind up the records and prepare the room for the summer. I have been teaching in a trailer so we had to take all the tapes and records over to the main building to be put in the library because they would warp in the trailer with the heat. The teachers all had a surprise farewell party for me last Thursday - I really was surprised - it was so nice - they gave me a corsage and a card signed by all of them and then we had cheese & crackers and cake. I will really miss teaching - it has been a wonderful experience in my life and I kinda' regret that I didn't get started at it earlier here in Little Rock.

Tomorrow after dinner we're going to Hot Springs where Johnny has an appointment with our Stake Patriarch for his patriarchal blessing - he will also be ordained a Priest tomorrow. He is happy to be finished with school - he said his algebra test was really hard and he was worried about it but he says he has a B in the class so he couldn't have done too bad. The only class he really has problems with is English.

Grandpa Forrest was 86 years old last Tuesday - we called to wish him a Happy Birthday and they are doing fine - he said he was as old as the State of Utah. I hope I'm as young at 86 as he is. Grandmother has arthritis in her neck now so she isn't doing very well.

Carol Ann Willardsen calls quite often for different things - this week she called for that baked eggs recipe that was used at your wedding shower Ann (that is really a favorite of mine). Did you all know that little Jimmy Braithwaite isn't expected to live? He became ill again in February and the doctors all said it was the flu but he didn't get better so they took some tests and he has bone cancer - he is the one who was so miraculously cured last Summer for that cancerous tumor on his brain - he was able to go back to school and is hair had grown back and everything until this recent illness. Carol Ann says they give him about two more weeks - he is still at home but is in a lot of pain and it's really hard on all of them - can you imagine what Kallene and Jim have gone through? Jimmy Willardsen is in Manti practicing for the Manti pageant - he is going to be Joseph Smith in it.

We haven't heard from any of you this week. Daddy and I sat by a little baby girl at a meeting on Thursday and when I asked how old she was and she told me three weeks I tried to imagine what little Russell looks like - we're so anxious to see him as well as Ricky, Barji, Susanna and Jessie. Are you going to have him blessed tomorrow? Have they replaced you in the Primary yet Annie? Jeannie - we surely hope you're doing good. Roy - this is a special weekend for you and Patrice and we hope you really enjoy it. We ran into Georgia Hopson one day last week and she was getting ready to go to Providence for Mike's graduation she was so excited. She says he really likes the East and will probably make that his home!

This next week will be our last one in Little Rock and we really have a lot to do - we are going to start to pack in earnest on Monday. Daddy got a clock box for our Grandfather's Clock so that's packed already and also our big mirror from our dining room. I don't see how we'll ever be able to get everything into one truck but daddy says we will. My Garden Club is going to have a tea for me on Monday afternoon - we have surely been royally entertained and I think everyone we know will be happy to see us leave. We're going to the Woods tomorrow night to see some films of when Johnny and Carol were growing up!!!!

SUNDAY MORNING - - Wow - Johnny's birthday party was a fiasco to say the least. His friends started coming at 8 and shortly after we had a phone call from him and he was still in Russellville - they had had an accident on the river and wrapped one of their canoes around a tree and had spent four hours trying to get it out - they never did!!! He and his float friends go here about ten - in the meantime his other friends had been here and eaten two pizzas, cheese dip and cokes and had left - we got some more pizzas and went to bed - they stayed up and watched a movie on television and had birthday cake. I told Daddy this is the last birthday party I will plan - I'm a slow learner but kids nowadays don't like them. Bob and Claire are coming over after church and we're going to have steaks and more birthday cake so at least we have tried to help him celebrate his sixteenth birthday!!! What he would really like is a new Celica - Ha.

We are having the most gorgeous weather - really cool and the yards are so pretty because we have had a lot of rain.

I must tell you this so you won't all feel badly about not being able to go water skiing on the lakes here. One day a couple weeks ago a young girl was skiing on take Hamilton in Hot Springs and skied into a bed of water moccasins and was killed - I had heard that happened several years ago but not from a reliable source but this was from the teacher's lounge and you know how reliable that is. The principal from Forest Park lost her son to a game of Russian Roulette last week - he was 28 years old - so sad!!! I a.m. going to miss all he scuttlebutt from the teacher's lounge.

Bob has spent a lot of time on his yard and his garage and he has fixed himself the nicest work bench. They bought little Michael a plastic swimming pool and he loves it. He isn't walking yet but it won't be long. They painted their back room a light blue and have moved him into that - the room that he was using is now Bob's study. They really love their home and we wouldn't be surprised to see them stay here for interning.

That's all the news I can think of. We will have the typewriter packed by next Sunday I think and if so this will be the last newsletter for awhile.

We surely do love each one of you - we think of you all the time and the wonderful memories of living in this beautiful home while you were growing up. Everyone here remembers all of you and it makes us so proud to have them relate things about you - this has been a very special place in our lives and we are grateful for Little Rock.

Patrice - we have really loved your sweet letters - they have meant a great deal to us as we have gone through a period of adjustment in our lives - we will be thinking of you as you go through an adjustment in yours. You will be a great asset wherever you work and we will be interested in hearing all about it. Your graduation is tomorrow and we hope it is everything you want it to be.

Please be careful in everything you do and let us know if we can help you in any way.
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