September 19, 1988 Orem, Utah

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

It's a gorgeous Fall day in Orem and I have hopes that our Summer is over. This is my favorite time of year and I LOVE Winter too!!!!

The big news for this letter is that Hurricane Gilbert came and didn't do the damage that it was expected to do in Texas - we feel so bad for the people in Mexico though - 200,000 homeless!!! We worried so about Roy & Patrice - we knew they wouldn't be in a life threatening situation but I always remember when a big hurricane came while we were living in Raleigh, North Carolina and our little Quonset hut was just about swept away with the flooding and Raleigh was a long ways inland. When we talked to Patrice on Friday morning she said they had brought all their lawn furniture and things like that in the house but they weren't too worried about it - she was concerned that the weather might prevent Roy from getting home from work. We left to the cabin right after we talked to her and we have Johnny's little black and white television down there but all we could get all day Saturday were the football games so we didn't know until we got home about 10 that night that San Antonio had had 20 or more tornadoes. Before we could call Roy on Sunday morning, Chris Jordin called from Little Rock and the first thing she said was, "How are Roy & Patrice?". We left kinda' silly to think we hadn't talked to them so we started to call and we called most of the day yesterday and finally got them last night - I have a system when we call them - we let the phone ring four times and then hang up before we get their answering service because when we get that they always feel like they have to return our call. We laughed when we talked to them - I guess they had had so many calls they made sounds through their phone like a tornado!!!!! Roy said the government had had much of their million dollar aircraft brought to the Kelley Air Force Base in San Antonio from where the hurricane was supposed to hit and then that Air Force Base was hit by a tornado - he said it did a lot of damage but not to the aircraft - wouldn't that have been ironic if they had lost all the aircraft to tornadoes???? Anyway, it has been fun to be in contact with Roy & Patrice - they're doing fine - Emily has had a cold though.

The next big news is that Bob & Claire had the mat to their trampoline stolen from their backyard Wednesday night. The thieves left all the springs and the frame but took the mat- they have home insurance coverage but it is $250 deductible and the mat won't cost much more than that - things like that make me so MAD!!!! I told Ellen Mae about it and she said two years ago some of their friends who live lost most of their furniture - someone came with a truck while they were at church and just cleaned them out - SO be sure look up good when you leave!!!! We went to see Bob & Claire to look up good when you leave!!!! We went to see Bob & Claire on Thursday night and as we drove up to their home (in the back), Daddy said, look at that beautiful yard. We both couldn't imagine that it could be theirs BUT it was. It is just an absolutely gorgeous sight - it was dark and the lights were all on. Bob & Claire have done a WONDERFUL job with their landscaping - Bob has electric lights around all their trees in back and it looks like a fairyland and Claire has engineered a lot of huge rocks and steps in strategic places - WE LOVE IT!!! They're doing fine - they were going on a "Hospital Retreat" in Park City Friday & Saturday nights and we knew they would have a wonderful time - they had their favorite baby sitter from Memphis who has just moved to Kaysville lined up to care for the children. Katie has two teeth - can't believe her & Emily!!!

We also saw the Weinerts on Thursday night and their motel is much much nicer than I had expected. They are doing fine and the children are all happy and adjusting great. We hope you had a Happy Birthday yesterday Rick!!! The hardest part for me in their situation would be Cocoa - BUT the children need him!!!!

We have talked to Annie and we passed Ron on Thursday on his way to the airport - he evidently had business out of town. They are doing fine. Ann has done a cute thing with the dress she was blessed in - she has had it framed and in the frame she has had some of her baby pictures in the dress & bonnet. We haven't seen it but it sounds darling.

Johnny came home yesterday to do his laundry - he does it while we are at church - his church is in the morning and ours is in the afternoon. He has really lost weight - I worry that he isn't eating right - just junk food BUT WHAT CAN I DO???? He has three tests this week - math, physics and chemistry - ugh!!!! He's doing fine.

Daddy is doing good - his eye is blurry again this morning - he has not put the drops in for about three days (that's what the doctor told him to do) - he has an appointment with him in the morning so we will see what they can do. He works too hard when we're at the cabin but he loves it - we have taken those outside steps down now and he & Ray went down and cut the hole in the ceiling so we get to the upstairs room from inside. He has gone into Salt Lake now to get more paneling - we ran out - it will be really nice - he has done a wonderful job!!!!

ABOUT OUR THANKSGIVING FAMILY PORTRAIT - Claire will wear black and Bob & their children will wear something with PINK accents - Patrice said to reserve PERIWINKLE BLUE for their family - John will wear something BROWN - Daddy & I will wear something NAVY BLUE - so Ann & Jean you need to choose something and correlate it so it won't be the same color as has been chosen.

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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