November, 17, 1985 Lehi, Utah

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

It's kinda' gloomy here this morning but our home is so cozy & warm it's fun to be inside. It has been snowing all morning and most of last week so there will be good skiing for Roy & Patrice when they get here. I believe most of the ski resorts opened last week and there was a real tragedy at Alta - six cross country skiers were in the "back country" and their skiing triggered an avalanche that "buried two of the skiers - one was trapped for about twenty minutes but the other one was pulled out quickly but they both died. I was interested in reading the article about it that they were both equipped with those electronic devices so they could be found quickly and it's sad that in spite of this they both lost their lives. I believe I have told you before that one of my cousins was killed in an avalanche at Alta when I was in high school and I have never forgotten it - they have better ways of predicting situations like that now but it is still a worry!!!!!

Johnny - we were so thrilled to receive your letter even though it didn't get here until Tuesday. We can hardly wait to hear about your new companion - you never did tell us where your first companion was from but we loved the pictures and he looked so nice (almost as nice as you - Ha!) - was he from South America? Those pictures really made us feel good about you - you looked happy! We're so glad you were able to go to Santiago and see a little of the town and it sounds huge like you say. Your descriptions of the Catholic Cathedrals reminds us of the way Bob used to describe them in Colombia.. You are right about the poor quality of things available there - even though things are cheap. I'm glad you realize some of them aren't worth what you pay for them - "ALL THAT GLITTERS IS NOT COLD"!!!! When you go into Santiago, how do you travel - by bus? The "Fisa" sounded exciting (Johnny says it was like a world's fair with representatives from other countries coming to demonstrate different products). I probably don't need to explain your letters Johnny because I'll copy them and send them around if I can. Dan Juchau came to see us on Friday evening - we were so thrilled to meet him and he is really a nice guy (he's the friend of Johnny's who was involved in the gun accident). He said he had heard from you and really appreciated your letters. We had such a good visit but Daddy and I were in a hurry to get someplace so we'll have to have him come over for dinner some night when we can visit longer. He's still in the Branch Presidency of the BYU ward and enjoys that - he has a neat car - a diesel Rabbit.

Bob - we have thought about you a lot during the past couple days as we have listened to the news concerning that volcano in Colombia that caused those terrible mud slides. Were you ever in that particular town that was almost completely destroyed? Dan Juchau also served in Colombia but he said not in that area. That has really been sad! Claire - it was so good to talk to you - I felt bad that we called so late but you sounded mighty chipper so I guess we didn't awaken you. We know you're getting excited for the new little one and we hope you keep feeling good - it's hard to believe you're having 800 weather!!!!

Roy & Patrice - we are so excited about your visit! You will really enjoy the peace and quiet of Lehi - I still have the feeling that I'm on vacation like it used to be when we would come here as a family because the atmosphere is so different from any place we have ever lived. You will be able to get to "some action" really quick though if you want to - Provo & Salt Lake are both exciting places to be! Please don't burden yourselves with a lot of luggage - it will be easy for you to do laundry and if we don't have what you need we will get it!

We have seen the Woolleys and Weinerts this week and they're doing fine. Ron's parents came from Idaho - they came mainly for the BYU football game but while they were coming they arranged to go to the Ramses II Exhibit and they really enjoyed that. Jean & Rick and their children went to "Charlotte's Web" at the Lagoon Opera House but we haven't heard how they liked it. Little Russell had the flu bug for a couple days but is better now. The children all love to play out in the snow and it's so good for them but I guess it gives them some problems too - the snow this week has been so heavy and wet!!!

Daddy went duck hunting on Friday - he and his friend Ray Edwards, the policeman, went down around Manti and Ephraim and Daddy couldn't believe how it has all changed since he lived there - their old family farm where he used to hunt is no more!!! He worked on our boat most of last week and he thinks he has fixed the leak - there was a place on the hull of the boat that was broken so he put fiber glass around it, etc. He's going to take it out on Utah Lake to check it out. They had a meeting of all the share owners of the houseboat on Friday night. It was really neat to meet the other owners and they are all very nice and responsible people. They had the calendar all worked out before we got there so we didn't have a choice about our times we could use the boat - I guess they have to do it that way. These dates are for a week at a time and we only get it for 3 & 1/2 days so we work that out with the other shareholder and he is one of the builders so we doubt he will be using it very much - please put these dates on your calendars: March 23-30, June 22-29, Sept. 21-28 and Dec. 21-28. They tell us this is a perfect family vacation and the boat holds 25 people so we would love to have you all come.


One of our missionaries is a manager for the BYU football team and he gets some tickets to give to his friends each year. He gave us two tickets for the game yesterday and of course at the time he gave them to us we didn't think too much about it but as things developed I guess it was the most important game played this weekend and the outcome of it determined bids for bowl games, etc. The Air Force was unbeaten and BYU had lost two games and in the first few minutes of the game Daddy & I thought it was going to be a long game with Air Force walking all over BYU - BYU just couldn't get things together - it seemed like every pass that Robbie Bosco threw was intercepted and gave Air force a touchdown. Our seats were on the 25 yard line and we could just see everything and the weather was just perfect (we had dressed very warmly and we were glad). Finally BYU got things going and the score ended at 28-21 for BYU. It was the first football game we had gone to for about 22 years and we just loved it. Our missionary called us yesterday morning and told us to be there by 11:30 and he was there to greet us - it was really a nice thing for him to do. It was fun to be in the college atmosphere again and were impressed with most of the student body - there was too much "booing" at the umpires' decisions to please us but I guess that is understandable in a crowd of 65,000! We parked quite away from the stadium and when we started walking we ran into Mary & Dick Richards (he was Mission Pres. in Arkansas) and it was fun to visit with them. Their son Mark (your friend Roy) is living in Seattle, Washington - working for a drug company!

I drove up to Brigham City to visit with Grandmother & Grandpa on Wednesday afternoon - Daddy & I go to the temple every Wednesday morning. When I left Lehi it was a little bit cloudy but it wasn't snowing but y the time I got to Farmington where the Weinerts live it was really bad - I almost turned around and came back home. I went on but I didn't stay with them for very long because I knew it was supposed to get in the 200 s and the roads would be worse. They are doing fine - they both feel good and it's so neat they have each other - most of the people in the rest home are without their spouses. Daddy thinks he is in a resort hotel and has to show me the dining room and tell me about the food every time I go there. I took them some pastry from the Lehi Bakery and Mother hid it without sharing it with Grandpa - in thinking about it, I believe she likes to have things to give him as kinda' surprises. They dote on each other like newlyweds and everyone in the rest home notices it - it's so cute!!!!

I spent almost the entire day Friday upstairs - Daddy moved my sewing machine up there and to make room for it I had to go through some of our storage boxes and try to throw some things away. I got reading some of the letters from you kids that we have saved for a long, long time and I really didn't get very much done but it was really fun. I couldn't throw those away but I did throw away a lot of Christmas cards and other things that have lost their meaning for us. I don't know if you will ever want those letters but I know your children will have fun reading them. One of the cutest letters we had saved was from a "suitor" of Ann's - he was really asking permission to date her and then he went on for four pages to explain how she expected too much from him but he would try to live up to her expectation if she would just give him a chance. Another little note from Jeannie pleading with me to not be mad because she had broken the iron - I about cried!!!!

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!!!!
Return to Home Page