March 6, 1988 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:

When we awakened this morning we were so surprised to see the ground covered with snow - we thought our Winter was over. Johnny listened to the weather news and gasped when they said the ski resorts had a lot of new snow - he will probably try to go skiing again before we REALLY have Spring. He really loved the fun he had with you Roy on the ski slopes!!!!!

Patrice - thank you so much for sending my keys back - you didn't need to send them Air Express - that is so much trouble for you and also a lot of expense. I was out working in the front yard when the UPS truck drove up and I knew immediately what they were delivering. (When Roy got back to San Antonio he called and said he had arrived home with something that didn't belong to him - he had put my set of keys in his pocket and forgot he had them - I was SO thrilled to know that someone else makes mistakes like that because that has been my way of life for the last year.) Thank you for your letter too - we DEFINITELY want to be on the "call immediately, no matter what time of the day or night" list. You know we have our phone by our bed turned off but we'll turn it on starting the last week in March - if your baby comes before that and if it comes during the night you will get a very sleepy Johnny but he agrees that we want to know immediately and he will come and awaken us. We can just imagine how excited you are getting and we think it's so wonderful that you have felt so good is Patrice -you have kept yourself in excellent condition and that is mighty important!!!! I'll bet your yard is beautiful - we would like to come swing in your hammock again - we're wondering if you are going to brace up that beautiful live oak tree in your back yard. I think you're smart to not plant vegetables - we have planted SO many the past few years that they have almost been a nuisance - this year we are going to limit our garden to just a few tomatoes, cucumbers, squash and maybe some turnips. One of the quorums in our ward is doing roto-tilling and power raking for a money making project and we have told them to come do our yard.

Claire - thank you for your letter and those WONDERFUL pictures!!! You really are a good photographer - when you were taking them of us during our visit I said to myself, "they will never turn out" - Ha!!!! They are a little too good and really show how old I am but we love them. We think the one of Laura asleep on her plate is a real classic and PaPa was absolutely thrilled to pieces to see Michael with his toy rifle - he looks so proud. That little Brett is something else - we can't imagine a child his age being able to put puzzles together the way he can - does that mean he is going to be an engineer???? Bob looks so happy and contented with his little family around him - it will be so WONDERFUL when he can spend a lot of time with them and you.

We're thrilled that your parents are with you - we know they are a source of strength during this time when you're not feeling really good and you have so many things to accomplish. I honestly can't think of a more stressful time than you are going through - welcoming a new baby into an already super active family, selling your lovely home and moving clear across country - we're willing to help in any way we can!!!! Take care of yourself Claire - we worry so about your varicose veins.

Johnny is doing REALLY good. He has been on the "block system" for that difficult math class he's taking (I can't remember the name of it) and he just took his final exams - he got an "A" in the class. He loves his physics class and so far he has an "A" in that - that's supposed to be one of the hardest classes he will have to take in his major. He has just started another match class in the block system. We can see SO much maturity with Johnny this semester - we think he has found that he can get the grades he wants if he just applies himself. One of his friends is trying to get him to go to Boston and work this Summer-evidently there is an LDS man there who is looking for construction workers. I REALLY don't think he will go if he can find a job around here - the cost of living there would he so high - he needs to do what he wants to do though!!!!

The Woolleys and Weinerts are doing fine. Daddy and I went to Brigham City last Thursday and stopped in to see the Weinerts on our way home - we felt bad - they had just put all their children in bed and we waked them up and by the time we left they were all doing cartwheels in the living room!!!! I talked to Ann for a few minutes last night and she had gone up to see Jean on Saturday hoping to see the home they are looking at to buy. Jean knew she was coming but she had gone to a "Scout-A-Rama" and had her purse stolen - the police found her purse but everything in it was gone. Ann said she had to have someone else bring her house because she had lost her keys and they couldn't see the house. Jean - we feel so bad about that -we can't imagine that happening at a Scout function. Rons' folks had come from Idaho for a baptism of their grand daughter in the Layton area and they saw the Woolleys' new home for the first time - Ann said they really liked it.

Daddy went to his two doctors last Thursday. The cancer specialist says he is doing great and the urologist suggested that he have his hernia repaired by a general surgeon (he doesn't do that sort of thing) - he had another PSA blood test taken and we're anxious to get those results. Daddy made an appointment with the neurosurgeon this morning - he has funny sensations in his legs - they are better when he wears his soft collar and he thinks Dr. Gaufin might have an insight into the problem. He can't get into see him until April 18th though. For the most part Daddy really feels good - his cough is practically gone - I can tell that the only time he coughs is when he is actively doing something - he sleeps really good and doesn't hurt!!!

I was going to try to get this all on two pages but I still have some more news ---- Ha!!!!

Last night we invited our niece, Rosie Willardsen, and two of our neighbor girls over for pizza and to learn how to make candy mints. We invited John Willardsen too but he didn't come. Johnny was the main reason they wanted to come and he was so cute to them. The Steele girls' father is the one who helped Johnny with his ankle problem while he was on his mission - they are two darling girls, Heather and Melinda. We ordered three large pizzas and I made a huge green salad - needless to say we have food left for this whole week but Johnny can eat pizza three times a week even if it's old!!!! Rosie was SO excited - she and her brother John left this morning to go to Houston where they were to meet the rest of their family and then they were all going to Cancun, Mexico for a week. She is an excellent student and said she had done all her work so she could miss school for the week - she is just barely 20 years old and will graduate in December and then apply for law school. She and her brother Jimmy who just came home from his mission, will go to England on the study abroad program the first semester in the Fall. Our Johnny really wants to do that some time - I hope he'll be able to but not until he gets more credit hours in his major. Heather & Melinda did that last year - they went to Spain - and they said the credits they earned (21) didn't help them at all with their majors.

We are in a quandary!!!! I'm sure you don't watch the stock market as closely as we do. Daddy gets a certain amount of stock each year in February as part of his pension plan. Olin was at 56 just before the crash and that was the highest it has been since we have owned stock. After the crash it went to 35 and it has slowly been inching up a little each day - last week it went up 6 pints to a high of 55. Daddy investigated the reason and found out there is a rumor that a foreign bidder might want to take it over but this morning it has already gone down to 51. I am always happy when the decision has been made to sell and then I just stop watching it - Ha!!!!

Daddy & I decided to work on our Genealogy last week and got out the "Personal Ancestor File" program that Johnny gave us for Christmas. It was pure Greek to us even after we have taken that class at the "Y" that was supposed to explain it to us. I decided to call some of our friends with whom we worked at the temple to see if they could help us because we knew they did a lot of Genealogy work. I called them about 4 o'clock in the afternoon and they were over here at 6:30 that night ready to help us. I couldn't believe it - we worked at the computer until 9 o'clock and I didn't think we had been here thirty minutes. 9 o'clock and I didn't think we had been here thirty minutes. They really helped us and if we can keep understanding it we plan to get our four generation group sheets all completed and have copies made for each one of you. That is DEFINITELY all the news. We love each one of you so very much. PLEASE BE VERY CAREFUL IN EVERYTHING YOU DO. Let us know how we can help you!
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