April 5, 1987 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 & Jimmy:

It's Sunday evening and this has been such a happy day!!! This is General Conference weekend so we didn't have to leave the house to attend our church meetings and the Weinerts came down and we all had dinner at the Woolleys. We all said we wish every Sunday could be like this - BUT - of course, we all know it would get old and we wouldn't appreciate it. After dinner we went to the Woolley's lot in Provo - it is a wonderful place for the children to play and explore - much like the Weinert's home. The Woolleys expect to "break ground" any day now and they are going to have a "ceremony" and take pictures so they will always remember it - we're so excited for them and it is a beautiful place for their dream home with a gorgeous view of the entire valley. We all blame the Weinerts for making us want homes with views because of their gorgeous view!!! Daddy and I really love our home and could just sit in our den and "look out"!!!

Johnny - we haven't heard from you for so long!!! We had our missionary reunion on Friday night and the first thing each one of them said was, "How is Johnny?" we had to tell them we didn't know - Ha! We really will be happy to get a letter from you. We have read so much about the Pope's visit to Santiago and all the demonstrations there protesting things - have you had to enforce curfews with the missionaries? It has been fun to watch the news program about him and try to see some of the places where you are. We hope you will write and tell us about the feelings some of the church members have concerning his visit. As I watched our conference sessions I thought about our church leaders and how they compare to other church leaders - I have always admired Pope Paul and he reminds me of our Presidents - so loving, kind and concerned for the welfare of the people. Did you get to watch any of the sessions of the conference? Do you remember how the office staff used to come into our apartment for conference. We had a missionary come to our reunion who had just left the Montana mission that very day - it was fun to have him give us first hand information. He told us they are completely remodeling the mission home - they have taken out that hallway leading to the kitchen and also to Sister Lowe's bedroom. The only entrance to that bedroom now is from the outside and it is reserved for the General Authorities. They moved the laundry to the downstairs and have torn out all the cabinets, etc. in the kitchen and will make it much larger with dishwasher, new cabinets, stoves, refrigerators, etc. They have torn out all the carpet throughout the home and will put all new furniture, draperies, etc. in it. We had to laugh because the Mission President had complained that his office wasn't private enough to hold interviews so they have put in double walls, doors, acoustic tile and even have piped in music (tabernacle choir). How about that!!! The missionaries who had served on the office staff there under Pres. Kunzler said that his home was completely "off limits" and they could never go in it. I wouldn't change the way we had it though - it was wonderful for all of us even though it was very, very hard not having any privacy EVER!!! I know it was hard for you.

Bob & Claire - than you so much for calling - you just missed the "whole clan"- we had come over here for dessert and they had all just left!!! That little Laura sounds so grown up and just adorable. Claire - thank you for all the darling pictures - we love your hair (she has had it cut really short). The children and Bob look so good too - we laughed and laughed about the one of Brett with his "bitten off" pacifier. (He bit it off and they won't replace it and you can see by the expression on his face that he is very distressed). I'm so proud of Bob for taking the time to take Michael fishing - I know how much that means to both of them and I'll bet they really have fun - PaPa hopes he will be invited to go with them sometime!!!

Roy & Patrice - we're sorry we missed your call. It is hard for us to get each other - the two hours difference in the time makes it like world apart!!! Did you know that Rick graduated from High School in San Antonio? You have bad cold and snowy weather haven't you? Utah has "lucked out" this year as far as unusual weather goes - I hope we don't get a late Spring freeze now and ruin the fruit crop - I guess a lot of the flowers in the South have been frozen. We were talking about Lake Powell when we were together this afternoon and hoping you will be able to make it with us sometime this Summer - we're going to try to change our June dates to either a week earlier or a week later - Ron and Rick both have conflicts on the week we have it now - we'll let you know.

Daddy has built a little brick wall on the part of the patio that was already in - he is ready now to pour the cement to make it larger and then he will finish the wall all around it. It really looks nice and finishes it off so it looks like it belongs to the rest of the house. The missionaries loved our home and some of them went out on the patio to visit - it was really too cool to have the whole thing out there. We didn't have nearly as many as when we send personal invitations to everyone - we have expected the attendance to drop and it will continue to go down each year. We ended up serving banana splits and cookies but they really didn't eat very much. They don't come to eat - they just want someplace where they can gather and renew acquaintances. We're always surprised at some who come and this time it was Elder Grover from Mississippi - he was one of our very first missionaries and we haven't seen him for at least 4 years.

We are really enjoying our two afternoon sessions in the temple - what a relief to not have to get up at 3:30 anymore!!!

That's all the news. We love each one of you so very much and we're so proud of you - let us know how we can help you. PLEASE Be Very Careful in Everything You Do!!!

P.S. It's Monday morning and I wanted to add a little note to this letter to tell you about the April Fool's jokes Ann & Jean had.

In Jean & Ricks' area they have an emergency group to organize immediate help in case of flooding, etc. (Actually they have those groups throughout all areas of the church but they have had many opportunities to use them in the Farmington area.) They called Jeannie on April Fool's Day and told her there had been a mudslide in the canyon and she had one hour to get enough water to last their family for a few days. She said she worked feverishly and bathed all the children and shampooed their hair and then cleaned the tub good and filled it with water and filled everything she could find with water. She said she was worn out when they called her later in the day to say "April Fools". We all agreed this could be disastrous in case of a real emergency but they said all the families in their immediate area responded and did the same thing Jeannie did.

Ann fixed her children some oatmeal for breakfast (that's one of their favorite foods) and put salt on it instead of sugar. When she laughed with her but to Russell it was a real betrayal of his trust in her - Ann said he cried off and on all day long even though she immediately fixed them more cereal with sugar on it. He hold us about it the next day and Ann said that was the first time he could even talk about it. It's so funny to really get to know Russell - he seems so rough and tumble when in reality he is such a tender little guy - I don't believe I could put salt on his cereal!!!

Something else Jeannie told us about yesterday that was so cute. Ricky and Barbara Jean were in the bathtub and she heard them crying - when she went in to see what was wrong, they both were just uncontrollable with tears running down their cheeks. Ricky had pulled out one of his front teeth and since it had blood on it, Barji had held it under the tap to rinse it off and she dropped it and it had gone down the drain - Jean said, she kept crying, "I didn't mean to drop it"!!! - The tooth fairly took their word for it anyway - Ha!

The Weinerts had a neat experience a couple weeks ago. President Benson's Secretary lives in their ward and because of that Pres. Benson and his wife attended their Sacrament Meeting. Rick & Jean said it was really special - no one knew he was coming - the Bensons stayed on the stand until each one of the children were able to come and shake their hands - that is something they will never forget!!!

That's all - WE LOVE YOU!!!
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