August 12, 1990 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:
Monday morning and it is such a beautiful day. The men are repairing that place in the lawn that belongs to the college and we are happy about that - it has been an eyesore for the past four months. Daddy keeps our yard so manicured that it has been hard to look at that. The man who is in charge of the grounds over there has just remarried (his wife passed away in April) and Daddy hasn't wanted to complain to him. They have always kept those grounds so nice but they had to repair some pipes and did a lot of digging.
We have had a fun weekend. Daddy & I went to Farmington on Friday afternoon so we could be at the Weinerts by the time the children came home from school. They were glad to see us and were just absolutely wonderful all the time we were with them. It is so nice to have children remember to say thank you when you do things for them and I don't think we did one thing without receiving a thank you. I just hope they remember to thank other people the same way - children have no idea how much that means and our grandchildren all do that. We could tell some of their friends have had that same training and then others have not and it just makes a difference!!!
We had hoped that Bob & Claire and their family would come have "gumbo" with us on Saturday but they couldn't. We had taken some of the gumbo Wayne had made that we had frozen. When we decided that they weren't going to be able to come, we told the children they could invite friends for dinner. It was SO cute - I don't know if they really liked the gumbo or not but they ate every single bit of it. You know PaPa - he told them it had frogs in it along with everything else but they still ate it!!! They weren't familiar with that green stuff - okra - but they ate that too. They have cute friends.
Jeannie called on Sunday morning and said they had decided to get a later flight out of Little Rock so they could go to church. She called again when they got to Dallas and told us their flight had been delayed and for us to go home at 8 o'clock and leave the children and that's what we did. They were to get home about 9 o'clock so the children weren't alone that long. I visited with Jeannie for a little while on the phone and it sounded like many of her classmates were at the reunion and she said they had a wonderful visit and exchanged addresses so they could keep in touch. She said she had taken a lot of pictures so we're looking forward to seeing them and having her tell us more. She also said that many of her friends were thinner than she was and so she didn't "wow" them - Ha!!! She also went to see Chris & Marc and Dorothy & Dan - I am SO happy she did that!!! She said Rick took her all over to see everything. I guess Hall High has really changed - she went to her former home room. She said they couldn't have the "Cheerokees" anymore because they couldn't get have white and half black - I really didn't understand that - surely there are enough white students. What a time in history for all of you to live in!!!
She said they had gone "house hunting" with Roy & Patrice and we're anxious to hear more about that. She said they were doing just great and some friends at church wanted Roy & Patrices' phone number. I am just going to say this once - you don't have to go to our church but you DO HAVE TO BE NICE TO THOSE WONDERFUL PEOPLE. I know there are just as wonderful people in your church too!!! We are in a real predicament when people ask for your phone number and address - we are SO proud of you both and we want our friends to know you belong to us and our church is a missionary church!!!
John is doing fine - this is his last week of the Summer Semester. He has classes today and tests the end of the week. He will be happy for a couple weeks without school before the Fall Semester begins. We are really proud of him for taking classes all Summer. It is SO nice to be able to leave our home the way we do and have it so well taken care of - he had the porch lights on last night when we came in and it gave me a good feeling that someone lives here - Ha!!! John & Bob & Roy write to each other on the computer - I don't know how that works but it sounds exciting.
What do you all think of the Iraq and Kuwait situation??? We have said a million times how grateful we are that Roy is finished with his Air Force obligation. I guess there is still the possibility that you could be called to serve but that is quite remote, isn't it? I hope so!!! It is unbelievable to me that we could be so dependent on their countries for our oil supply - this should be good for Texas shouldn't it???
Daddy & I went fishing at Utah Lake last Tuesday and it was really fun. I caught a huge catfish with my first cast but getting it into the boat was something else!!! We usually fish from the shore but the water is so low that we had to fish from the boat. Daddy didn't being his net because we don't need it when we fish from the shore. He finally emptied that big bait bucket he has and brought the fish into the boat in that - of course it filled up with water and was heavy and many times I was sure we were going to tip the boat over. We laughed until we were sick. We got nine to bring home but lost at least five. John wanted to go so he & Daddy & Ray went on Thursday and they caught one catfish and one big carp - of course, they threw the carp back in. I told them they should have invited me - Ha!!!
This is the weekend for the Woolley Reunion in Yellowstone - I thought it was last weekend. We hope you have a wonderful time ªPond's Lodge is a beautiful place and you will enjoy the cool weather - it has been HOT in Utah!!! We love you all SO much!!!