March 9, 1992 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 an absolutely gorgeous day again here in Orem. It is colder than it has been but the sun is so bright and warm and Daddy is anxious to get out and "dig in the dirt" and do some planting. Our tulips and pansies are getting pretty so we will be able to see them from our den soon. We have had a lot of company this morning - I have a hard time getting my work done because even though they come to see Daddy I feel like I need to be with them so it won't be tiring on him. It REALLY is good for him to have company!!! One of the ladies who came, Leisel McBride, brought him some navel oranges from Arizona and they look SO good!!!
Jeannie, Mary Ann & Sarah - we appreciate SO much your coming down last Wednesday!!! I think back on that day and I feel bad that as soon as you came in I put you to work and then left you. My neighbor, Vonnie Smith, had invited me to go to the Orem Women's Club meeting with her so Ann had said she would come and be with Daddy while I was gone. Well - Jeannie didn't know our plans and the doorbell rang and when I saw her there with her arms full of bread from the Great Harvest bakery I just unloaded on her and she took over. She fixed my hair, took care of Daddy and I got ready and went to the meeting. I was gone much longer than I had planned so she really had to hurry to get home in time to take Sarah to her ballet lesson. THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!
Annie - thank you for coming over that day too - Daddy really felt well cared for and pampered a little!!! The Woolleys have been to Jerome this past weekend - the church ward that Ron's parents belong to were honoring Ron's mother at a dinner on Friday night and they wanted to be there for that. They were supposed to come home last night but we haven't talked to them - we're SO proud of Beverly for her honor - she is a VERY SPECIAL WOMAN!!!
Roy - thank you for your phone calls. It is so fun to talk to you and hear about the Spring in Little Rock - we loved that time of year there and if Daddy felt better we would be there to see your beautiful azaleas, dogwood and flowering trees. We heard on the news this morning that you were having tornado warnings - that is the only thing we don't miss about Little Rock!!!
Bob - thank you for your phone calls too. I still don't know where you were calling from and we're anxious to know where you have been - (Daddy couldn't remember and I didn't talk to him). Daddy said you were having a wonderful time and your children were being well cared for and were happy. Daddy did say you had done some scuba diving - that's great!!!
John is doing fine. He is always glad when our weather turns warmer so he can do some bike riding. We don't see very much of him but it's WONDERFUL to have him here!!!
Daddy and I did a fun thing yesterday. We left here about noon and drove to Scofield. The weather was kinda' cloudy when we left and we ran into a snow storm but the roads were clear. We got to the gate by the cabin but didn't dare go any further - in fact, I got stuck turning around but it wasn't hard to get out. When we got to the town of Scofield, we decided to go over the mountain to Fairview. We knew they would keep the roads open to the mines and if they were bad beyond that we would turn around and come home the regular way. The roads were all cleared and it was a beautiful drive - we saw lots of snowmobilers but no animals - we thought we would see some deer and elk. When we got to Fairview we decided to drive to Manti to see Carol and Elly. They were really surprised to see us and we had a wonderful visit. Carol has been in bed for a couple days with a bad back but she was feeling better. They got out some old genealogy pictures and reminisced about their childhood in Manti and it was fun.
When we left, we told John where we were going and we told him we would call if we couldn't be home by dark. Well - we tried to call him from the Braithwaites but he wasn't home so we told Carol to call him and she promised us she would. She forgot, I guess, and when we got home at 8 o'clock, John was very upset and was on his way to try to find us. I was glad he was upset because we could very easily have been stuck some where and needed help. We won't do anything like that again until it gets Spring for sure!!! We came into a blizzard after we left Manti and it was kinda' scary!!!
Dorothy Woods called us on Saturday and we had such a good visit. You all remember John Robert Bass. He and his wife remodeled their family home next to the Woods and have been living there with their four children for a long time - Daddy & I visited with them when we were there a year ago. Well - they are separating and John Robert is marrying someone else. I guess the neighbors are VERY UPSET with John Robert. The Woods' children are all doing fine - Carol is graduating from law school this Spring. Dan has been in Haiti for about a week representing their church - their church is building a hospital there.
Daddy is about the same - I think he looks great as long as he is lying down but when he stands up and I see how thin he is I feel bad. I know he is eating as much as he possibly can though. He isn't as sick at his stomach as he has been and that's good. We're planning to go to our Family Home Evening party tonight.
Our Wal-Mart store is open and it is really a nice store. I wish they would open a nice grocery store close by it and then we would never have to go anyplace else to shop. We could really walk to it if we wanted to. WE LOVE YOU ALL VERY MUCH.
P.S. I forgot to tell you about the program at the Orem Women's Club meeting and it was such a neat program. I must tell you about it. There is this family in our area and their last name is Jacobs. Their grandfather lived in our ward when w first moved here and their grandmother was very ill so we didn't' get to meet her before she died. The grandmother had a twin sister who had lost her husband so when she died, Bro. Jacobs married the twin sister. The has nothing to do with the program but it is kinda' interesting because we knew them.
This Jacobs family that put on the program is the son and daughter-in-law of this older couple and they are just darling. There are eleven children - nine girls and two boys. They are all musically talented - they play violins, cellos, guitars and also sing. Their oldest daughter had a baby a week ago and yet she came to participate with them - you could tell she wasn't very strong. Their next oldest daughter was expecting any minute and they laughed when they introduced her because they said her husband had come with her in case she went into labor. Their two youngest children are girls and they are 5 and 7 and they each played a piano solo. The mother of the group was the National Young Mother of the year several years ago and her mother was National Mother of the year.
The family is really remarkable and I REALLY enjoyed their program. I don't know how long they will be able to get the cooperation from their children but they have it now - they said they have a rule that is, "If you want to eat, you have to practice" and their day starts at 5 o'clock.
I also forgot to tell you that Daddy & I drove by our "farm" over in Lehi one day last week and Don is having a well dug on his property that he has fenced in for a vegetable garden. He had a lot of machinery over there doing it. He seemed kinda' depressed about his garden last Summer because he said the raccoons got all his corn - I guess he will try to solve that problem this Summer.
That's all!!!