October 28, 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:

WOW!!! It has turned Winter. We have had such a beautiful Indian Summer that it was quite a shock to awaken with snow on the ground and a cold wind blowing. We pulled up all our beautiful flowers on the hill last week so Daddy could plant his pansies but we didn't want to pull the ones up in front because we thought they would last a while longer. Daddy got up early this morning to pull them up because they had frozen last night - he wanted to get them all in the garbage before the garbage man came. It was funny because our neighbors had put bags of leaves in our can so we had to put our dead flowers in other neighbors' cans. We usually take everything like that over to our farm in Lehi but it helps when they can be put in the garbage can. I really look forward to Winter each year but Daddy & John don't.

I really don't have any news for this letter. We're doing just fine - I think Daddy feels good most of the time. We have both enjoyed watching the world series baseball games - on Saturday we had the radio going in one room to keep track of the BYU - New Mexico game and the television in another watching the series. Our Home Teachers wanted to come last night and Daddy told them they would have to watch the game if they came so they didn't come - we're not ever supposed to watch television on Sunday.

John is proud of his car - it's a Jeep Cherokee Loredo and in excellent condition. It will be good for the snow & ice - his Jetta was hard to handle during the Utah Winters. He loved his trip to Las Vegas and we think it was a wonderful experience for him. Gayla's sister Jana is going to school at BYU (getting her master's degree in English) and she called one night when John wasn't home. I had a good visit with her - she said Gayla would be coming home on December 3rd. We were surprised - we thought it was later than that!!!

It was good to talk to you, Roy & Patrice. We hope you had a good dinner to celebrate your birthday. I just love to talk to that Emily - (she told us she wasn't going to make a face on her pumpkin because she liked it just the way it was). I'll bet Roy & Patrice don't change her mind either. We hope Timothy doesn't have a sick Winter - once John started having ear infections in Little Rock they just didn't stop. He had his ears lanced twenty-two times before Dr. Pappas finally put him on Dimetapp and that helped him SO much. We were worried that the scar tissue would cause hearing problems later in life but he hears just fine. When we rake our leaves we think of all the leaves you have too and how big they are - we were with you a year ago and loved to do the little bit of raking that we did. It's a beautiful time in Arkansas.

We have talked to Ann this week and they're doing fine. Susanna's friends picked her up at 6:30 the morning of her birthday to take her to breakfast - it was a surprise and Ann did the most clever thing to get her up and ready. Susanna has a math teacher who will let her students retake a test if they didn't do as well on the first one as they thought they could. Susanna did just that on the day of her birthday and to get her up by 6:30 Ann told her the teacher had called and said she had lost her test and she could take it over again if she could get to school by 7 o'clock. We think it's wonderful that Susanna wants to do as well in school as she possibly can.

We haven't talked to the Bob Mellors or Weinerts this week but we know they're doing fine too. There is a lot of flu going around in our area so I'll bet Bob is busy treating sick people. We had our flu shots about a month ago - they really help us!!!

I want to my friendship club luncheon last week and that is always fun for me. We have had some problems in knowing how to have the luncheon - some of the women hate to cook and wanted to have us always go to a restaurant and then back to the hostess' home for sewing, visiting, book reviews, etc. They discussed how it should be easy for the hostess and we should just have a light luncheon of a salad or a sandwich - you know me - I said we needed to have a good lunch, regardless if it is in the home or at a restaurant. We decided to leave it up to the hostess so it will be interesting to see how many times the ladies cook!!!

We're looking forward to the trickers and treaters this week. We always have so many come and it's so much fun to see the little neighborhood children all dressed up - we love it!!!

It won't be long until Christmas and I'm putting in our order for gifts early. There is not one thing we need or want - I am completely embarrassed when I go to my closets and find clothes in three of them - so many in fact that I forget what I have. I have more jewelry than Imelda Marcos (I don't have as many shoes as she has though). I keep trying to get Daddy to buy new clothes but he feels the same way that I do. The friends we associate with have the same kinds of things we have. THERE IS ONLY ONE THING WE REALLY WANT AND THAT IS TO BE REMEMBERED WITH A CARD OR LETTER. We remember Christmases as being quite stressful with our families so please, please do not add worrying about us to your stress. This goes for my birthday too!!!

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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