May 8, 1989 Orem, Utah
Dearest John; 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:
This will be a short letter. Daddy awakened me early this morning and said, "Let's go to the nursery and get our plants" - going to the nursery with him is like going to a candy store with a child. He just loves pretty flowers and he also loves to dig in the dirt and plant them. He is out in the garden now and I promised I would "hurry" with my letter and help him. We spent $100.00 on petunias, impatiens, and inca marigolds so you know we have a lot to plant. Our hill is already just gorgeous - most of our iris are in full bloom and they are all different colors ªI just wish they would last longer!!!! Daddy gets more enjoyment out of "making things pretty" than most people do, I know!!!!
Well - the men's trip to Lake Powell was a HUGE SUCCESS. Daddy says they just had a wonderful, wonderful time. THEY DIDN'T RUN OUT OF FOOD. In fact, I guess they had way too much because they brought a lot back. I learned a lot - Ron fixes good breakfasts, Rick fixes good pizza, Bob fixes good spaghetti, John fries good fish and Daddy fixes good chicken so on our trip in July the women will just be able to relax - Ha!!!! We have the pictures back and we have proof that John & Ron skied and Russell went down the slide - Michael & Ricky did also but we don't have pictures of them. They caught "huge" lizards and the pictures of them are super - Russell took them to show & tell at school and they have them in a big aquarium in their garage - they look like alligators to me. John really got a good suntan too - I sent sun block with them but he wouldn't use it!!!!
Roy & Patrice - we hope you have a wonderful trip to Little Rock this week. We'll surely be thinking about you - we hope you will have time to visit some of our former neighbors and get "the scoop". We'll try to call you tonight - I just remembered that Chris & Wayne may still be there caring for Linda & Kens' new little baby boy - if they are still there I know they would be happy to help you with baby sitting little Emily. (Roy called and wanted some suggestions for baby sitters.) We're SO anxious to hear how your van works - we envy you!!!!
Daddy & I went to the cabin Friday morning and stayed until Saturday night. Daddy put a new door in going from the skunk room into the rest of the cabin - Ron & Ann gave him this door and it was all framed and just fit perfectly - they also gave him two shorter ones that he will use for the bathroom. They are beautiful brand new doors - they didn't need them for their home and the builders had charged them for them and just left them. I have talked Daddy out of putting in the electric stove he got from the Willardsens - I think that is a perfect case of "fixing something that isn't broken" - the gas one that is there is just fine and really acts for a furnace for the kitchen - when you turn two burners on, it heats up the kitchen in just a few minutes. I told him that if he had the money to burn that it would cost to bring in the 220 line I would rather have it brought into our downstairs here and put the stove in here - I would LOVE to have two ovens. I won't do that though unless we can buy the stove from the Willardsens - it is a very nice stove. The cabinets and sinks will be great and he is excited about putting those in the kitchen, bathroom and skunk room!!!! He finished paneling the cabin - he did the entrance Saturday. It looks SO nice and is a very comfortable and fun place to be. I really have to hand it to Daddy - as John says, "Boy, he sure did make lemonade out of a real lemon"!!!! The man who owns all that property and leases it out to people who have cabins and trailers there came by Saturday morning and he just couldn't believe the improvements Daddy had made - he was VERY complimentary.
I want to have the family all get together and celebrate John's birthday AT THE CABIN. I want all of us to go up on a Friday evening and stay overnight - do you think we could "Put That Together"???? We would have to use sleeping bags and put up with the "outhouse" but it would mean a lot to Daddy & Me. June 10th is out for the Woolleys - that is the Woolley Family Reunion in Idaho and the date has been set for over a year. I know each one of you will have to do some planning but if we start early enough I know we could do it. I know John wouldn't care if he had to celebrate his birthday any weekend in June - in fact, we could include the birthdays of Michael & Barbara Jean too. We don't have any idea what weekend Bob has free so we will have to work around that too. We talked to Ann & Ron yesterday and they would be willing to reschedule dentist's appointments, etc. so now we will wait to hear from the family up North. John would like to have his nose fixed on the 26th of May - we're leaving that up to him to schedule with Bob. Our insurance company won't pay for a relative to do it so we will have to see when Dr. Cox can do it. If that isn't too painful of a recuperation could we shoot for June 3rd???? We'll wait to hear from you.
I'm sure there is more news but I need to go help Daddy. 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.