January 14, 1991 Orem, Utah

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

We are having some work done down in our dining room - I decided to come upstairs to "calm my jittery nerves"!!! When we moved all our furniture out of there so Daddy & John could cut the hole in the ceiling to put more insulation along the north wall of our home we decided to leave it out until we could get some moulding put across the ceiling. Our home teacher wanted to do it but he has eight children and won't let us pay him (we were able to pay him at Christmas time with a present but he makes it SO difficult). WELL - Daddy just got a carpenter out of the phone book and I'll be glad when today is over!!! I REALLY don't think he knows what he's doing and Daddy keeps saying "Now, I want a good job and Have you ever done this before?"

He got the moulding for us and brought it over last week so Daddy could stain it to match the wainscoting that is in there. We thought he would come on Saturday to put it up but he called and said he didn't want to work on Saturday. He came early this morning and he has yet to match a corner - Daddy keeps coming over to me and saying "he cut it at a wrong angle again"!!! The last thing I heard him say was, "Now don't worry, it will look nice when I'm finished". We are supposed to go to genealogy but I don't believe we'll make it - I believe he is going to be here all day!!! Daddy says that is the hardest thing in the world of carpentry to do - it's a crown moulding.

We have heard from each one of you this week and we're happy you're doing good. Jean is going to have some surgery this weekend - something she has put off as long as she could and we hope to help with the children. We would love to have them all come here but they're in school - we would also love to go to their home but Jeannie says Rick is going to plan it. WE are planning to have Sarah all next week at least!!!

Roy & Patrice - it was SO good to talk to you last night and learn that little Timothy is back to normal and doing fine. When we found out that Emily was on the phone last night I ran with the portable phone to let her talk to Susanna, Jessie & LeeAnna but you hung up too soon. It's hard to believe she is going to birthday parties (Roy had taken her to a birthday party for the daughter of one of his high school friends, David Schindler). We will be SO thrilled to have you come for a visit (they're coming from Feb. 22nd to March 1st). I hope our little hill will be covered with snow so Emily will be able to sled down it - it's just the right size for her.

Bob & Claire - we're excited that you're going on a cruise (they'll be gone Feb. 8th thru the 17th). It was good to talk to both of you too and I'm sorry I couldn't find your birth certificate Bob - is it a big deal to get another one? We will be prepared to come be with your children if your baby sitter needs us - we would be happy to stay with them all the time but you seem determined that we couldn't handle it!!! That reminds me of something Brett said that I must tell you so it can be recorded in my journal. A week or so ago when Bob & Brett came down for the afternoon we were all in the den and Brett pointed to Daddy & Me and then asked his Dad "How much older are they than the end of the numbers?" We have laughed and laughed and told many people but we really don't feel that old - Ha!!!

Ann did a WONDERFUL job in my Relief Society last week - I was SO proud of her!!! She talked about setting goals and how we should be charitable to others in our lives - her outline was FIRST: her experience with the church members in Little Rock; SECOND: a Laotian student of hers in high school by the name of Nga who succeeded in spite of very hard circumstances; THIRD: Jimmy, and how he is finally happy in his pre-school because he is in one with handicapped children and he feels needed to help them; and FOURTH: Pres. David O. McKay and his talk about how we would be judged when our lives are over. IT WAS JUST EXCELLENT. The Woolleys came and had dinner with us last night and we loved it!!! It was our Stake Conference day so we were home by 4 o'clock and their church is over about then so it worked out fine. A perfect Sunday for me is preparing dinner and having family here to eat it. Daddy did most of the preparation - I spent all morning makes lemon pies and they were so tart they weren't very good - I'm not a good pie maker!!!

John is doing good - he announced last night that he wouldn't be able to graduate until August!!! I think having the Woolleys here gave him the courage he needed to tell us - Ha!!! It seems like he has been going to school for forever and he is seriously considering graduate school. We are encouraging that though because in his field he needs it to really "go places"!!!

I forgot to mention in last week's letter that Dianne & Garry Power came to see us during the holidays. Dianne and their twin daughters are living in Las Vegas in an apartment and Dianne is feeling 100 percent better. Garry is living in Trumbull but goes to Las Vegas every other weekend - he travels a lot for UPS. Dianne has had every one of her fillings replaced - even a root canal. She is allergic to the "amalgams" (is that right) and now has plastic and glass fillings - she looks WONDERFUL!!!

Frankie Coulter from Farmington, called us last night. Ed & Marge Lucas are going to be staying with them Wednesday & Thursday of this week and they want us to come spend Thursday evening with them. It would be fun to see them all again. They said they would come down here but with our house in such a mess I believe we had better go there.

We are SO worried about the crisis in the Persian Gulf as we know you are too. We can't believe how grateful we are that Roy is out of the Air Force - missed possible active duty by one month!!

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