Sunday September 8, 1985

Dearest Johnny; Roy; Bob, Claire, Michael & Laura; Rick, Jean, Ricky, Barbara Jean & Mary Ann; and Roy, Ann, Susanna, Jessie, Russell & Lee Anna:

I have about an hour before our church starts so I'll get started on my letter anyway. We are going to have our first missionary reunion on October 4th and Daddy had asked Elder Madsen to be in charge of it. We have met with him several times and he and Elder Taylor & Sister Thomas came over on Thursday night and we got all the invitations ready for mailing and we mailed them Friday morning. They promised us they would get some other missionaries on the committee and have them come over tonight to finalize the plans so I said I would fix hamburgers for them. I have spent all morning getting things ready but I have no idea how many will come - there could just be the three of them or there could be a dozen - he said he would let me know but he hasn't!!!!

Roy - it was great to talk to you the other day - we get so excited when you call I'm sure you must think we're crazy. It was funny because I had just told Daddy I would make some peach freezer jam so you & Patrice could have it on waffles when you come - I remember you liked that when you came to Little Rock a long time ago - I don't know if it were peaches you liked but you liked fruit and in November it will have to be something frozen. We gave all our fruit jars to Desert Industries because I said I wasn't going to be bothered with that this year but it really is a temptation when you see all this wonderful fruit in such abundance. We heard on our weather news last night that Boston was about 900 and 90% humidity - our weather is just gorgeous!!!

Bob & Claire - your letters were just SUPER and it really thrills us to have you say you would like to settle and practice somewhere close to family - we will be on the constant lookout for the ideal spot!!! I can just hear Jim Griffin saying you are really needed to help build up the church in Arkansas - no one would doubt that - BUT you are also needed close by your family and he has his family in Arkansas. We are disappointed that you won't be coming out for Thanksgiving but we do understand - it just isn't too smart to make a long trip like that a few weeks before your baby is due. (Bob said he will get two weeks after the first of the year and they plan to drive out sometime in March and will be able to spend more time with us). Daddy was reading your letter again this morning and laughed about little Michael saying the wasps were "trying to kill him" when he got stung by them. Michael is a real "chip off the old block" in drinking that hydrogen peroxide - I'm sure Bob has the record for narrow escapes with poisons!!!!

Johnny - WE ARE SO PROUD OF YOU!!!! Johnny has been called as an Assistant to his Branch President in the MTC - there are 6-7 districts in his branch and there is only one assistant to correlate with all the district leaders. Johnny has to conduct all the meetings and does it in Spanish - we can't tell you how thrilled we are about this because we know how they are selected and this means you are really measuring up. The only advice we could give you would be to "not let up" - we saw in our mission that when missionaries were called to leadership positions sometimes it would go to their heads and they would "slacken up" and Daddy would just have to release them. 'Course, we realize that you can't always have leadership positions - in fact, that is so true in all church callings that when you are called you know you will be released in the future. We loved looking at your schedule and WOW you don't have very much free time do you?

Annie - thank you so much for giving me a permanent this week - I LOVE IT!!! (She gave it to me on Tuesday and I haven't shampooed it yet - it isn't frizzy at all!) I told Ann the only way I would take up her entire afternoon was if she would let me have Russell & Lee Anna the next morning for a few hours so they came over to Lehi on Wednesday morning and we really had a good time. They were so good and played with the toys and the time went so fast Russell forgot to use his new skateboard that we thought would be fun on our new driveway. I love getting acquainted with our grandchildren on a one to one basis like that without their parents around - Lee Anna is growing up and is much easier to take care of now. We hope Rons' parents had a fun weekend - it's too bad the Cougars had to lose the football game but it sounded like it was really good game! We also hope Susanna & Jessie enjoyed "Peter Pan" (Ann took them to Payson to see it).

Jeannie - thank you & Rick for sharing your Labor Day holiday with us. We had such a fun day last Monday - Rick & Jean and their children came down in the afternoon and I talked them into going, out to West Canyon. We had planned to go to American Fork canyon to have a picnic but when I thought about it I just knew it would be so crowded and we hadn't been out to our property in West Canyon since we have been home so we all went there. It was just a beautiful day and we found such a nice spot to picnic and to play ball and there was a creek close by that the children loved throwing rocks in. The only problem was the "dirt" and I guess that is something I am just going to have to learn to love with - it was so dusty - I'm sure that when we have some good rain it will solve a little of that. West Canyon is really a beautiful place - I still don't know very much about it - I guess it is owned mostly by private citizens because you have to have a key to open the gate but it is so big that it doesn't seem likely that it could all be privately owned - we have 120 acres there and I just love it!!! Rick left later that night to go to Florida for a week's business vacation - we talked to Jeannie last night and he still isn't home yet (he'll get in tonight). That little Ricky is going to be a star baseball player someday and it was fun to play with him - Barji & I had a hard time keeping up!!!

Daddy has his new sprinkling system in the front yard and tomorrow he is going to go get some "sod" and plant it and also some shrubs to put at the north side of the house. He moved the taps so they're not right in the middle of the yard and fixed them so they would be protected against freezing. It's so funny to watch how Oral & Mamie Hansen watch him do all these things - they are still living the way people did a hundred years ago and they are just amazed at everything. Daddy had a big load of topsoil brought in yesterday (actually Friday evening) and he scattered it all over the yard - he was so stiff and tired last night he could hardly sleep. The home and yard don't look like the same place - he isn't going to do that extensive work out in the back - he said that next Spring he will level it but won't dig it all up. He rented a rototiller and dug everything up in the front yard (Ron loaded him his rototiller but it wasn't quite big enough and Daddy was worried that it might hurt it so he didn't use it - Ron and some of his friends went in together and bought a rototiller to use in digging up their gardens - isn't that a good idea???)

Daddy & I went up to Brigham City on Friday - it was so funny - when we got halfway there we remembered that this was the Peach Day weekend in Brigham!!! I have waited almost forty years to attend a Peach Day celebration in Brigham and then we went at a time when we missed all the activities - they have a big parade two mornings and then at night they have all kinds of rides and special things to do - oh well!!!! Dee has decided to bring Grandma & Grandpa Forrest back to their home and hire a special nurse to come in twice a day - I am so glad. When we were there on Friday Mother just cried and Daddy (Grandpa) kept saying "Hell, this isn't living" - he might have a memory loss but he still knows what's going on. I am going up tomorrow to help clean their home to get it ready for them - Dee has had most of the carpet torn up and is having new down.

It's time for church - I'll finish this later. Maybe I'll think of more news!!!

We had six missionaries come for the meeting tonight - Madsen, Taylor & Amezcua and Sisters Thomas & Frazier. They all have some good ideas and I know the reunion will be a real success - we have mailed out 285 invitations and have hired a caterer to furnish a ham & chicken dinner and the works - we'll have it at the Stake Center here in Lehi. We cooked hamburgers and then it clouded up and looked like it might rain so we thought we would eat inside but in just a few minutes it cleared up so we ate out on the picnic table and it was just beautiful - I made some delicious fresh peach pies too!!!! Sister Thomas teaches at the MTC Johnny and she says she will look for you - Elder Madsen went there today to try to see you but he couldn't find you.

They had Steve Shelton's missionary farewell tonight at church Johnny - it was really cute - his sisters and parents gave him a bad time but he enjoyed it. He leaves to go into the MTC on the 19th, I think. Everyone is always asking about you and says to say Hi!!

We surely do love each one of you and we're so proud of you. PLEASE BE CAREFUL IN EVERYTHING YOU DO and let us know how we can help you!!!!
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