June 8, 1986 Orem, Utah

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

It's Sunday evening and we just came home from Brigham City. Ron took all the children to Jerome to visit his family so Annie has been alone this weekend and she went to Stake Conference with us this morning - while we were sitting there I wrote her a note and asked if she would go to see Grandmother & Grandpa Forrest this afternoon!!! She agreed so we hurried home after conference and had a bite to eat and left - they were really happy to see her and she said it had been a long time since she had seen them. I went up on Friday and gave Mother a permanent but I couldn't get the very ends in back to curl so Ann took her scissors and cut it - she also took her curling iron and before we left Mother was all "dolled up" and looked so pretty and I know she felt better. They are doing good but I really feel bad when I think about them confined to that room twenty-fours a day - they still have a sense of humor and appreciate it so much when we visit them (sometimes anyway!).

Johnny - we didn't get a letter from you this week! I'll bet you have been transferred and probably used your P-Day to move - we surely hope everything is okay. We also hope you had a really Happy Birthday - I'll feed bad if you didn't get our packages. I went to the Library here in Orem last week and got a book on Chile - it has rally been fun to read about the places you have mentioned BUT I couldn't find anything about Chimbarongo - it showed a picture of a main street in Santiago called "Calle Bandera" and the streets look really narrow - there were also pictures of lost of grapes and it said they made a lot of wine!!! I learned a lot that I didn't know about Chile - one thing, that they couldn't use the Shoreline for transportation because of the rugged mountains close to it. I like to learn things through your letters better and the pictures you have sent make it so interesting.

Claire - we loved your letter and we're surprised that Brett could get the chicken pox while he is so young - it will be great if he really has had them and won't get a worse case when he's older. Do you remember how Michael got them from Russell in the Mission Home - that was a strong case of chicken pox!!! You surely do keep busy with your MIA activities and we think it's wonderful the way they can call on you to help when others back out of their responsibilities. You're a great example for them but I hope you won't overdo it sounds like Michael is much like his Father - Bob was always taking things apart and seeing what he could make out of what but he was god deal older than Michael (he connected part of Claire's old sewing machine to his bike - when he plugs in and pushed on the pedal it makes a big noise). The thing that Bob & Roy did that still amazes me was an electric contraption that turned on a million things with one switch - they had wires all over their room!

Roy & Patrice - it was great to talk to you the other night. I called Bryce & Zion Parks and asked them to send us some information about lodging and sights to see - we have already material from Bryce so I'm sure we will from Zion too. You won't have time to do that on this trip but it will be good for you to read and plan when you come next time. We will probably go there with Chris & Wayne when they come because I think going to Vancouver for the World's Fair is out of the question. We'll be to meet you on Saturday - Flight 581, American, 8:46. We hope you won't be too tired because we plan to leave Sunday morning about 7!

I stopped off in Farmington last Friday and picked up Barji & Mary Ann and brought them here to spend the night - we really enjoyed having them but I think they were a little disappointed that the cousins were in Idaho. We got a "Rainbow Brite" video and they loved that - we went to the park but it was so hot that we didn't stay very long. It was so hot yesterday outside and then today it is quite cool - in the 70's. This house needs more people in it than Daddy & I so we really love it when the kids and grandkids are here.

Daddy worked the first part of the week digging and clearing out the place for our second level patio - when he got it all planned out he decided he might as well start the brick work before he worked on the bottom of our yard. He figured out how many bricks he would need and then we went to that brick place over in Lehi and chose which ones we wanted. They delivered them on Wednesday afternoon and you wouldn't believe the pile of bricks we had in our driveway - our neighbors thought we were going to build another room on. He thought the truck that delivered them would be able to lift them electrically to the back of the house but they couldn't. I wish you could have seen what Daddy did - he piled a few at a time on his flat trailer and then hooked up his four-wheeler and pulled the trailer down the hill to the back yard. I was in Brigham City when he did most of it but I know he must have made a million trips and some of them with the neighborhood children riding with him. Now he has to have some sand delivered and I guess he will move it to the backyard the same way - he is going to put the floor of the patio in sand and then used mortar between the bricks for the wall. I hope this will keep him busy for the rest of the Summer rather than just for the next week or so - he seems to think he has to finish everything he does RIGHT NOW!!! He still has quite a few things to move from the Lehi garage - that's the only thing I know of that he has dragged his feet on. He and Roy went up into the Uinta Mountains last week and rode their four wheelers and did a little fishing.

Our phone just rang and it was Michael and Laura on the other end - they are so cute and little Michael got so exited as he told us about going to the museum and seeing the dinosaurs - he is so mature! Claire said that Bob would have his first day off since he was here at Easter time next weekend - that would really be hard. Claire said her folks were enjoying Sweden - that would be hard when you don't speak Norwegian!

Someone got the copy of the Lake Powell Inventory last week that was supposed to be sent to Jeannie & Rick. I fold the copies of my letter in the car on my way to the Post Office and I'm sure you have wondered at times about the things you get - probably two copies of one page, etc. After our last trip to Lake Powell we wrote down some things we took or wish we had taken so we would have a list to go by - we used to do this in the trailer, do you remember, and it really helped.

That's all the news I can think of. I may add to this in the morning if I can think of anything else to write about.

We love each one of you so very much. PLEASE BE CAREFUL IN EVERYTHING YOU DO. Le us know how we can help you!
Return to Home Page