January 18, 1993 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:

I had a sneak view of the sun a few minutes ago - Ha!!! We have really had a lot of snow and cloudy weather and it is supposed to continue for a few more days. It's hard to believe it is just the middle of January and a lot of Winter yet to go - I can keep very contented just doing things at home but I worry that I will get in the habit of being lazy!!! I worry about those of you who have to go out in the weather and especially when you have to travel. I told you in my last letter that I was worried about the cabin - John Mellor and John Wright took off work for a little while last Tuesday and rented some snowmobiles to go check on it. John said they had to park their car in that area where the garbage bin is and snowmobile their way to the cabin. He said there was A LOT of snow on the flat roof and they got it off and also the deck. I am very grateful that they would do that and appreciate it VERY MUCH. I have a church friend whose family also has a cabin up in that mining town close by Scofield and she said they went up and shoveled almost 5 feet off their roof. It's wonderful that they are getting that much snow up there - maybe the lake will be a lake again instead of a mud puddle.

Today is Aunt Marvel's birthday - she would have been 103!!! It was weather just like this in January the year she died and I will never forget driving out here to take care of things. Dee & Dons' birthday was yesterday and they are 63.

Claire - you will soon have a birthday too!!! I loved your letter and those darling pictures and also the letter from Michael and the picture colored by Katie. Bob - you're quite the engineer to design and build that "igloo" - what a lot of fun you and your boys must have had in doing that. I can't believe it would actually stay up in the middle and they would be able to sleep in it. I'll bet it would be warm inside - didn't the Eskimos used to build fires in igloos like that? I'm glad you got Michael off the roof from shoveling snow - there have been so many news stories of injuries from doing that. I worry about the snow on my roof on the north side but it will stay there until Spring - everyone tells me I don't need to worry.

The Woolleys came over last night and I feel SO bad for Ron. He has had a lot of pain in his lower back for several months. He wasn't able to get relief from many medications so he went to the doctor who prescribed an MRI. It revealed that he has three herniated discs!!! He is REALLY uncomfortable. I have heard of so many people who have had successful surgeries lately with that problem and they recuperate quickly and regret they didn't have it done sooner. I know the last thing in the world that Ron wants is to have to be laid up even for a little while. They have had their home completely cleaned and "de-smoked".

Jeannie - thank you for your sweet letter too!!! I hope we can get together tomorrow but when Ann left last night we both decided that if the weather was bad we should stay at home. My heart just about leaped out of my chest when I heard about that single engine crash in Farmington. By the time I heard it they were able to give the name of the victim - otherwise I would have been on the phone!!!

Patrice - I have loved reading about the train depot in Brigham City from the Tribune. I'll bet you bought that paper to read while you were waiting for your plane (with over an hour to wait you have a lot of time on your hands - Ha!) How thoughtful for you to cut out the article!!! Our family went to the depot practically every weekend to watch the trains come in and as children we would wait in that depot - I'm so glad they are going to maintain it as a historical sight. Television has changed so many peoples' lives in how they create meaningful activities for their children - kinda' too bad!!!

I have REALLY enjoyed the autobiography of Dee Glen Smith. I love biographies anyway and then to read one of a friend has been so much fun. My Mother & Daddy were very close to Dee & Ida - they built a home up fairly close to ours and Ida used to take them cookies. I was surprised to read how close he came to bankruptcy so many times and the big gambles he took - your Father would never have done that. He bought a lot of stores that were not doing well and then would try to rejuvenate them and he was successful in some of them but not all. I came to the conclusion that his biggest success was buying stores in California before the property was so valuable and he was able to capitalize on that when real estate boomed there. The signs of his illness were first noticed by his daughter-in-law as Dee & Ida were preparing to go golfing in Palm Springs. I relived so many painful experiences as I read about his illness and how they coped with it - after his brain tumor was diagnosed he only lived four months. He died about ten years ago.

I had big plans to go to two classes during this Semester. I got already to go through the back yard to attend a Book of Mormon class last Wednesday and then couldn't get my gate open - it was frozen shut. I didn't have enough time to go the long way so I didn't go. I was supposed to go to my Oriental cooking class last Thursday and then they planned a Young Women's Board Meeting that night so I couldn't go. Today is my B of M class and it's Martin Luther King day so they're not having it!!!

I am enjoying the inaugural events, are you??? I am SO happy for Arkansas because they are getting lots of well earned good publicity. Speaking of Arkansas - Chris & Wayne sent me a video they had made of all our pictures taken on our trips to Alaska, Nova Scotia and Florida - Wayne narrates it and it is just priceless - I have watched it many times already!!!

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