May 27, 1985 Billings, Montana

Dearest Johnny; Roy; Bob, Claire, Michael & Laura; Rick, Jean, Ricky, Barbara Jean & Mary Ann & SARAH LYNN; and Ron, Ann, Susanna, Jessie, Russell & LeeAnna:

WELCOME LITTLE SARAH LYNN!!!! We're so thrilled to have Rick & Jeannies' little baby finally here and this has really been a hectic week for them. We talked to them on Monday night and they said the doctor told them the baby was ready and she would be delivered by caesarean about 1 o'clock Tuesday afternoon. We went to our regular Institute class early Tuesday morning and planned to stay home the rest of the day to await their call - well - about 9:30 that morning the Elders came and said our son-in-law was on the phone and had some good news to tell us. The water had broken sometime Monday night so they had to bring the baby early Tuesday morning - I don't even know when she was born. We asked Rick for Jeannie's room number and he said her blood pressure had gone up so they were asking that no one call her until Wednesday - in fact, he said she would be in a room where there would be no incoming calls. We weren't alarmed at all because Rick sounded so calm and reassuring. We started calling the hospital Wednesday morning and they kept telling us she was in "labor and delivery". We must have made a dozen calls and the poor nurse couldn't tell us anything - it was a terrible feeling and yet noon could have done anything about it. Finally about 9 o'clock Wednesday night Rick called us and Jeannie tried to talk to us too but she really couldn't - she had developed "preclampsia toxemia" (I'm sure I don't have that right but that's the closest I can come to it - we don't have a medical book of any kind here and I really don't know exactly what I'm writing about). Her blood pressure was 195/120 and she was one really sick little gal. We have talked to Rick many times and he has promised to keep us informed but we really have never really talked to Jeannie yet - when I talk to her and can tell how sick she really is it upsets both of us so I will just wait a few days. I came so close to calling Elder Dunn and asking permission to go home for a week or so - this is the most frustrating position to be in and I just hope I'm doing the right thing by staying here. The baby is fine and we talked to Ricky, Barji & Mary Ann from Kalispell yesterday morning and they said their Daddy had gone to get their Mommy so we're hoping Jeannie is home by now and everything is going okay.

Annie - we surely hope you will be fine this week too. It was so good to talk to you on Thursday morning - (she had had the same experience we had had in trying to get some information out of the nurse and the hospital). The plan was for you to go get all Jeannie's children, expect little Sarah, yesterday afternoon and keep them for this week - little Barji was so cute when we talked to her yesterday - she said, "We're going to sleep over at Susanna & Jessie's home" and she sounded so excited. I tried to call you on Friday night to see what you knew but you had a baby sitter. I'll repeat my theme song - "I wish I could be there to help". Your home is a perfect place for a lot of children and we're not worried a bit about them but we hope you survive!!!

Roy - I really appreciate your not getting upset with me! It's funny how you think you can know what you would do in an emergency and then do just the opposite (after we talked to Rick on Wednesday night, I shot upstairs and dialed Roy's number without one other thought than finding out what toxemia was and the minute he answered I realized I had awakened him - it was almost midnight his time). You really helped us - and then we disturbed you again the next day at the hospital because we wanted you to know she had improved. I won't promise I won't do that again but I hope I won't. We hope all is well with you - I'll bet you're getting ready for your vacation.

Bob & Claire - Johnny said he had talked to you Bob and you had told him he wouldn't have to do any ironing or probably cooking while on his mission and of course, that pleased him - he also said you had spoken in Spanish and you were GOOD! I'll bet you're glad I didn't call you in the middle of the night - are you still doing a lot of "moonlighting"? Daddy is beginning to feel a little more comfortable with his hearing aid - it really helps him but he doesn't we it often enough - he says I need one too - Ha! Claire - how does your garden grow??? Daddy's seeds have all come up and he put out the tomatoes & peppers last week - hope it doesn't freeze.

Johnny - this will be your last week at school and we hope it will be fun one! You have surely gone through a lot of moves in the last few years and you will continue to do this for the next few years too - I'm sure it must be hard to not have more stability in your home life than you have had. Now you're going to have to pack up your things and take them to Lehi except for the things you'll need in Billings for a month. We hope you received your birth certificate so you could apply for your passport to Chile - do you remember those all missionaries who came to our mission for a month or so because they couldn't get visas to go to Mexico? I guess you will be in the language training school for two months so you won't actually go to Chile until the first of October - if you apply for your passport now surely you won't have problems in getting it in time. We are SO excited for you and everyone else it too!!! We're so thrilled your leg is better (he said when we talked to him last week that it was 100 percent better) - do you have a bad scar??

I "tackled" the upstairs last week and spent just about every day washing windows and thoroughly cleaning the bedrooms on the apartment side of the house. When they re-floored the balcony they got a lot of tar on the windows so it involved scraping all that off and also oiling the window frames, etc. etc.! We had the sofa in our apartment dry-cleaned (it cost 85$ - I couldn't believe it!) and also the draperies and our bedspread. We rented a "rug doctor" and Daddy shampooed all the carpets in the apartment, the bedrooms and the living & dining room - he was worn out but they really look nice. Did I tell you we had someone come to appraise cleaning them and it would have been $ 550. They would have probably done them a little better but they're ten times cleaner than since we have been here and with four children they won't stay clean for very long. We also washed all the living rooms windows and I'll have to tell you something funny - do you remember the wall by the piano that the House Elders put mirror tiles on when we first came? Well - one of them had a crack in it so I asked two of our House to replace it. It took them all day and it doing it they cracked four other tiles so they had to replace all four of them and when they got them all done we discovered they had used a darker shade of tile and it really looks funny - I don't know what to do about it because we don't want to hart their feelings - Oh Me!!!!

The House Elders moved out on Friday and it is really different in the Home. It seems such a luxury to have this big house ourselves but I know it would have been much, much easier. This week I am going to "tackle" their dorm, dungeon and the kitchens - I would like to have most of the nitty gritty done before Johnny comes home so we can just relax and have a fun family life for a few weeks with him. Daddy has planted the flowerbeds and he has also replaced a lot of shrubs, etc. - it will seem such an easy thing for us to have a normal home and yard to care for.

Saturday morning we left about 5:30 to drive to Kalispell, Montana. That is a nine-hour drive and we had to be there at 2 o'clock for a zone conference - we just barely made it. Our zone conference lasted until 5:30 and then we hurried go get something to eat then went to their evening meeting of their stake conference. Bro. J. Richard Clark was their visiting authority and he asked me to speak at that evening meeting - I was so tired I don't even know what I said. One of our lady missionaries up there has a beautiful singing voice and he heard her practicing a song and asked her to sing at both sessions of conference and she did a beautiful job. Daddy & I have tried to not give a lot of attention to our missionaries who have special talents like that because sometimes it creates jealousy among companionships but Elder Clark really made a big fuss over her and wanted her name & address and got pictures of her with him - we hope it doesn't go to her head. She is a beautiful girl and we had her in Billings during Christmas so she could sing for our open house but she gets caught up in that and doesn't do her missionary work so Daddy moved her to Wolfpoint (Indian Reservation) for a little humbling and he had just moved her into the Kalispell area. Elder Clark has just been released from the Presiding Bishopric and has been called as Mission President of the Cape Town, South Africa Mission and he is really excited. Daddy spoke at the Sunday morning session of their conference and as usual, did an excellent job. This will be our last Stake Conference and it gives us a funny feeling but a good one! Chris Jordin's sister lives in Kalispell and she & her husband have always been so sweet to us - they gave us some cake and strawberry jam to bring home yesterday. We got back here last night about 10:30 - we wanted to go through Glacier Park but it isn't opened yet.

Just think, May is almost over and then we will be in our last month!!!! We surely do love each one of you - we're SO proud of our family - PLEASE BE CAREFUL IN EVERYTHING YOU DO - Let us know how we can help you!
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