May 10, 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:
We are finally having a beautiful day here in Orem. Last week I decided my calendar was all wrong and we were going into Winter again. I have wanted to plant some wild flowers on the hill in back of our house and I found some plants (I had only been able to find seeds before) so I planned to plant them on Saturday morning. I went out in my planting clothes and got them all planted even while it was raining but when I went to fertilize them it started to hail and I couldn't tell the fertilizer pellets from the hail so I probably killed the plants with too much fertilizer. I believe we will probably have warm weather from now on - the old timers say it is pretty reliable after the 10th of May.
Thank you all SO much for a very happy Mother's Day. I hope each one of you sweet mothers in our family had a happy day too. I had planned to go to the cabin right after church yesterday to check to see if the water had been turned on and see about the dock, etc., etc. Saturday night I heard John come in and when I went to talk to him and he found out I was going to the cabin alone he said he would go with me. We had such a wonderful time and the cabin looked really good to me. John has been up there during the Winter but I hadn't been there since last September. John has bought a barbecue grill for the patio and it will make it so much easer to cook outside now. He took measurements of the door to get the red couch through and he isn't sure if it will go through - it isn't a regular size door - I hope they don't get it up there and then have to bring it back home again. Our dock is in the water and our very nice neighbor, Byrd Gordon, has put the Styrofoam under it - I really don't know if he fixed it good enough to last through the Summer or if we need to get some of that binding to fix it. I tried to call Byrd last night when I got home but he wasn't there - I have an idea he has moved to Scofield West for the Summer.
It is SO funny - I write all these plans in my letter and then I find out that you don't read my letters - Ha!!! I will try again. John will have the trailer over here Friday night - Bob, Rick and Ron and their families will be here by noon on Saturday. I plan to go up to the cabin on Friday to clean it a little before you all get there - there are a lot of flies, cobwebs, etc. I hope everyone will come and that it will be a FUN time. When I saw the barbecue grill I decided we could do a better job of cooking so I will get chicken to barbecue - I will also get hot dogs so the children can build a fire in the fireplace in front to cook them on. I also brought the sheets from the beds and have washed them so they will be fresh for those of you who want to spend the night - John said he would like to if Bob does!!!
I had an unhappy experience with the farm on Saturday. About 1 o'clock in the afternoon I had a phone call from my brother, don. He was VERY ANGRY!!! Do you remember the creek that runs through our property on the north? When there is a lot of snow and rain that creek has water in it. The man who is leasing the farm, Stan Lewis, has dug a trench alongside that creek so when there is enough water in it he can use the trench to water the farm. There is also a place that can be fixed to turn water into the farm from the creek - kinda' like an irrigation thing. Well - evidently Stand had fixed it so the water would go into the farm and in the middle of the night on Saturday we had a heavy rainstorm and the water rushed down and took some topsoil off the garden spot that Don was preparing. He DEMANDED that I get the man taking care of the farm to repair the damage. I was SO frustrated and I knew that Ron would know exactly what to do.
Ron came over and took me to the farm. I really was surprised to find that the damage was very small but Ron said that we were responsible because the water had come from our property. He drove me all over to show me exactly what had happened. I was REALLY happy because Ron said he would take care of things for me. He called Don and told him what we would do and then he called Stan and arranged for Stan to replace the top soil from our farm to Don's garden spot. The best thing is that Ron asked Stan to dig a trench next to Don's property so it won't happen again. I feel bad that Don is so volatile but he has always been that way and I'm not going to change him. I AM SO APPRECIATIVE OF RON'S HELP!!! I am really pleased that Stan is trying to rebuild the farm and I don't want Don to interfere with that. Don does a beautiful job with his garden - he told me that he has given each one of his children space for the things they want planted and then he will take care of it for them.
John is going to Salt Lake with me this afternoon to meet with Wayne Snow - he's the Prudential Bache broker. I REALLY appreciate John's help with that - he understands things that I don't. John is super busy. They have a very expensive car from the "Indy 500 Race Company" in their garage at work - they surely do some interesting things. He's going on a "business fishing trip" to Montana tomorrow - Ha!!!
Roy & Patrice - I am REALLY anxious for you to come. John brought his "futon" bed home because there isn't room for it in his apartment - he said I could put the smallest one (he has two) in the computer room for Timothy to sleep on so he should be happier here. Everyone tells me that we should celebrate Memorial Day on Monday the 31st because that's the national day. I will plan to go to Brigham City on Sunday the 30th to decorate my family's graves there - I'm not sure I'll get to Manti this year. I hope we will have a fun day at the farm on Monday the 31st - those of you who can, come, and those of you who can't, I'll understand. Dumb sentence.
I love each one of you so very much. PLEASE BE VERY CAREFUL.
P.S. I forgot to mention that Bob was able to help my neighbor and the appreciated it SO much. I took my lawnmower over to the place where we bought it to have a mulcher blade put on it and of course the loaded it into the car for me. When I brought it home I passed that neighbor's house and he beat me to my garage to help me unload it. I am very grateful to you Bob for being so kind to them - I haven't talked to Cora but her husband said you made her very miserable - Ha!!! I'm sure you will become better acquainted with the sometime and I'm also sure you'll like them. I hope your Mother's Day talk went well yesterday - I would have come to hear you give it if I had known!!!
Since I started another page I'll tell you a bit of news I heard from Little Rock. Jim Griffin is a Regional Representative now ªI believe his area is in Florida but I'm not sure.