March 9, 1986 Lehi, Utah

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

It's Sunday afternoon and Daddy & I just came home from church. It's really quite a pretty day and we had expected some bad weather - we have had two weeks of beautiful sunshine and warm days & nights but we are due for rain and cold days I guess. I hope it all gets over with before Bob and Claire and their family come. A lot of the fruit trees have started to bud and surely we won't have some frost that will kill all of that!!!!

Johnny, we were so thrilled with your letter and especially to learn that you have bought a leather jacket - that's super!!!! It's funny but when you do things like that it gives me encouragement that there really is "life after a mission" and I LOVE IT!!!! We can't believe all your baptisms - nine in one month would be unbelievable in our mission and it is even more wonderful that they been families - therein lies the strength of the church 0unquote!!! All your knocking on doors paid off didn't it??? We knew it would!!! At church this morning we had a missionary homecoming for a Greg Price who has just served 18 months in the Alabama mission and we thought about you all during the meeting. His father has Parkinson's disease and confined to a wheelchair but he was there this morning - it was a really nice meeting. By the way - Steve Shelton's sister, Jan, has just received her mission call to the Thailand Mission - do you remember how large she is? The Thai people are all so small that she will really appear huge to them but she is so excited about going and that's great. We're surely proud of you and the great work you're doing!!!

Roy & Patrice - it was so good to talk to you last week - you sound like you're both doing great!!! It seems like we have had a lot of company lately and we have been so happy to have those pictures to show to them - for a long time we didn't have any current pictures of you! We'll take lots of pictures while we're at Lake Powell to send to you - we hope so much that you will be able to go with us when we go in June. It's really exciting for us to hear about jobs your friends are taking Roy when they finish their residencies!!!! You all would be so proud of Daddy - we took the boat out to Utah Lake last Friday morning and it didn't sink - Ha! There were just the two of us and you know how much help I am in launching and docking it! When we started to launch it there were two men fishing on the bank and one of them said, "You had better be careful because storms can come up really quick on this lake" - Daddy said, "Well, the boat has been taking on water and I just fixed it and we just want to find out if it will sink or float" - the man said, "Well, then you have gone far enough"! We had more confidence than that and took it almost over to Saratoga from the American Fork side of the lake and it ran beautifully without taking on any water. We'll take it to Lake Powell and use for a touring boat because Rick & Jean will have one to use for skiing and I don't think ours will be able to do that anymore. The nicest feature about ours is that it is deep enough so children can't fall out of it easily!

We haven't seen the Weinerts this week but Ann & Russell & LeeAnna came over on Friday morning - we had told them we were going to take the boat out and they had gone to the Provo harbor, not knowing we were at American Fork. When they couldn't find us they came over to the house and we had just come home. We love having them come over and I wished after they left that I had insisted on having Russell stay for the rest of the day - he hasn't wanted to do that for awhile but I think he is getting used to us now. We talked to them last night and they are making some bedroom adjustments in their home - LeeAnna is morning in with Russell and they had just bought some twin beds for his room. It was raining when we talked to them and Jessie & Russell were out jumping on the trampoline in the rain - those two have so much energy that I'm sure the rain didn't slow them down one bit. The wife of a member of our Stake Presidency used to work with Annie in the Relief Society at BYU and I met her the other day and she said, "Oh, your Ann was always so bubbly & enthusiastic" and I said, "I wish you could go into their home and see how that has rubbed off on their children" - it really has!!!! We are really excited to be with all the Utah grandchildren this next week and then have our Tennessee grandchildren the next week - it will be interesting to see what traits have carried over into the families - they're probably all different. I can see personally traits carried over from our children to their children and I can also see it go back further - I think Barji is very much like Jeannie was as a child. It's really fun to be a grandparent!!!

I am betting that Claire & the children have gone to Houston to be with her folks - we haven't heard from them for awhile. We surely hope your plans to come here are still okay!!!

Do you all remember my friend, Ellen Mae??? Her father passed away last week and another friend, Marian Jeppsen, and I went to Brigham City for the funeral - I met Marian in Salt Lake. It was really quite an experience to go to his funeral - it was held in the old 1st Ward in Brigham City where I grew up and even though they have remodeled that building they haven't changed the chapel part and it was exactly like it was 60 years ago and it really brought back a million memories. There were also a lot of people there that I knew from way back and it was a fun reunion. Some other high school friends had come and Marian and I laughed as we left the cemetery because we were the last to leave. Ellen Mae's father had been in a resthome for five years so it wasn't a sad death. I used to baby sit Ellen Mae's brother with her because he was about 5 years younger and that is surely a sad thing. - he was a very successful dentist in Alaska until an automobile accident left him a paraplegic. I hadn't seen him for about 40 years and he was there in his wheelchair - his wife divorced him and his oldest son lives with him - he is such a nice, nice man and I guess he received a huge settlement because he is evidently quite well to do. Marian and Malcolm have a condominium in St. George and they invited us to spend the weekend with them there this weekend but we decided not to - they have a lovely home in Salt Lake, a vacation home is Midway and a Winter home in St. George - he's a doctor!!!!

Daddy has his garden all ready to plant and we bought a lot of seeds yesterday k- he is going to plant the peas soon but will have to wait on some of the others until he's sure it won't freeze. It was so funny - one day our neighbor, Oral Mansen, came over and offered Daddy a "Marrow" - they went to Oral's pasture and loaded it up and brought it home. Daddy "rigged" it up on the both of his four wheeler and has had more fun with it getting the garden ready. Oral had planned the ground earlier - he is the sweetest man!!! Some times I feel like we have gone back 60 years in our lifestyle and that's okay for a LITTLE WHILE!!!! Rose Hinton came up to me in church this morning and asked me how I felt about living in Lehi and leaving all our friends from so many years - I told her I was happy but I would like to organize a "City Beautiful" campaign in Lehi and clean up the town - she said, "I'm sure they would let you.

We talked to Chris & Wayne smith yesterday and they're doing fine. They plan to come out and we'll go on another trip this Summer - maybe to the World's Fair in Canada - we said we would be free to go to middle two weeks in July. They were getting ready to have their two grand daughters (Linda & Kens) for a week because of a Spring Break in Little Rock. Speaking of Little Rock - did I eve tell you that Gayle Wing had a miscarriage - quite awhile ago and I have just forgotten to tell you. I owe everyone is Little Rock and Billings a letter so I don't have any new news to tell you.

Helena & Tug were just over here - I had left our camera at their home when I was there for the luncheon for Barbara so they returned it. They're such cute friends - I really enjoy Helena and Daddy & Yug will enjoy fishing together when it gets warm enough. Frances James is going to Connecticut to stay with the Sondrup's children while Kevin & Barbara are in Florida on a business trip.

We are anxious for our trip to Lake Powell this next week - we have decided to leave early Sunday morning so we can get down there and get down there and get settled before dark. It will be fun to see what the houseboat looks like - we really bought a pig in a poke.

I really don't have any more news. I have to go to a Relief Society meeting at church in a few minutes - I am supposed to decorate two tables for the birthday social on the Tuesday we will be at Lake Powell and I didn't even remember it so I'll have to get someone to do it for me- I have all the decorations ready so it won't be hard. It's kinda' hard to keep everything straight for some reason - could be I'm getting old!!!! We have all the invitations mailed for the missionary reunion - it will be interesting to see how many are going to come. Johnny - did you get a wedding announcement from Barry Hansen? That surely brought back a lot of memories of mission home life - do you remember how she (Joni) had written him a "Dear John" letter and he was so made he hit his hand on the desk and broke a bone in it - w would never have known about it except he told you. I guess she waited for him after all - they make a darling couple!!! Two of our former lady missionaries came over the other night - Sister Pierson & Hatch - Sister Pierson lives in Sandy and knows the Cooks. It's always fun to have them come!

We surely do love each one of you. PLEASE BE CAREFUL IN EVERYTHING YOU DO AND LET US KNOW HOW WE CAN HELP YOU!!!!!

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