April 5, 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:
Well - it has been a year since Daddy's death and while I don't intend to always bring that up, I do think it's important that we remember that time with great relief and love. I will NEVER forget even the tiniest thing and I'm sure you won't either. Carol, Daddy's sister, sent and Easter Lily and she wanted me to take it to the cemetery but I decided to wait until next Sunday, on Easter. I took some of his daffodils from our garden and Ann &Ron and their family visited his grave and took some yellow chrysanthemums. I dropped by on my way to Layton to water the trees and it gave me such a good feeling to see the flowers as they just glistened in the sun - reminded me of the resurrection. They are clearing the ground just East of Daddy's grave and I'll bet the cemetery has bought that - I know they wanted to.
I'm going to try to write my letter in thirty minutes so it will be a short one. I just came home from my class and I have an appointment with Max Smith who is going to help me with some financial planning - I avoid business matters like I do the plague but I guess it's dumb to not keep on top of things. Our accountant who did my income taxes has sent me to him and I really trust the accountant - I don't know about the financial planner!!! Bill Clinton has put all the tax people in a "tizzy" worrying about what he is going to do. John spent three afternoons with me last week and I appreciate that SO much. I got the oil changed in the car and a new muffler put on and we went to see the attorney who made up our trust. The attorney told me that I need to file an income tax form on Daddy's trust which included all the property - I didn't know that!!! I am beginning to understand a little bit about that - I'm a SLOW learner - if the property is appraised at a higher amount than it could be sold for, then when and if it is sold there can be a loss factor. I'm in the process of finding an appraiser who can do it before then 15th. I'll let you know what happens!!!
We had such a WONDERFUL day yesterday. We all met at Bob & Claires' beautiful home for dinner and then we watched the afternoon session of conference and visited. I hadn't been with them since Christmas so it was really fun for me. The most fun I have is in watching how much all the "skcousins" enjoy each other. I also enjoyed hearing about Bob's trip to Mexico. He had pictures and told us about things - evidently they couldn't do a lot of the surgery they had planned because of so many cases of measles and other diseases in the hospital. They are going to go back in May. He said he could remember enough of his Spanish to get along. It was fun to see the pictures and try to visualize the situation - I have traveled enough in that part of the Country to last me a lifetime and I have just barely been across the border. Thank you Bob & Claire for such a special day!!!
Every one in our family is doing really good and I'm SO happy about that. After I get home from a gathering like that I think back on all the grandchildren that I didn't get to visit with. I think the young boys, Michael, Russell & Ricky, have their own thing going so I just barely said "Hi" to them. Brett and Jimmy are also in a world all their own but it was fun to watch them eat spaghetti together. I did get little Katie to come sit on my lap and then some of the other little girls came to sit by me while we watched conference and THEN I WENT TO SLEEP - Ha!!! It was so good to hear Susanna & Laura play the piano and I would have liked more of that. The weather was good at first but then it turned cold. We missed Roy, Patrice, Emily & Timothy.
Thank you for your phone call Patrice - it was SO good to visit with you. I'm SO thrilled to hear that your sister, Jeannie, is getting married and that you are all planning to go. That will be such a wonderful event for your children - I can just see Emily "taking charge". Are they planning to have it in your Mom's backyard like you two did? That was a beautiful setting and something I will never forget. I surely hope your Spring blossoms don't get frozen - I'll bet it is beautiful there.
David & Polly Taylor came over to visit last night. I had just barely come in from Layton and I hurried to turn "Murder, She Wrote" on. Ann called to see if I got home okay and while I was taking to her they came. I just love having them come they're so much fun to talk to and David always recalls thing that Daddy did on the mission and we end up laughing most of the time.
I must go. I LOVE EACH ONE OF YOU SO VERY MUCH. PLEASE BE VERY CAREFUL IN EVERYTHING YOU DO.
I watched a demonstration on making chocolate truffles on the Good Morning America Show. Jeannie and I tried to make them but they didn't turn out so I wrote and asked for the recipe and here it is:
EBONY & CHOCOLATE TRUFFLES
7 1/2 oz. white chocolate chopped into 1/4 inch pieces
8 oz. semisweet chocolate chopped into 1/4 inch pieces
3/4 cup heavy cream
5 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa
Place the white and dark chocolates in separate stainless steel bowls. Heat the cream in a 1 1/2 quart saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil. Pour 1/4 cup of boiling cream over the white chocolate and the remaining 1/2 cup over the dark chocolate and allow to stand for 4 to 5 minutes. Stir each with a separate whisk until smooth and allow to cool for 1 hour at room temperature. Refrigerate the two ganaches for 15 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes.
Line a banking sheet with parchment paper. Portion 36 heaping teaspoons of the dark chocolate into separate mounds on the parchment paper. Top each teaspoon of dark chocolate with a level teaspoon of white chocolate.
To fashion the truffles, roll each portion of chocolate in your palms in a gentle circular motion, using just enough pressure to form smooth rounds. Roll the rounds of chocolate in cocoa until completely covered. Makes about 3 dozen.
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