June 28, 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 just want to touch base with each one of you and thank you for touching base with me!!!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO BARJI THIS WEEK - 13 YEARS OLD!!! CAN WE TAKE ANOTHER TEENAGER IN OUR FAMILY!!! YOU ARE A MIGHTY SWEET TEENAGER AND ALL I ASK IS THAT YOU STAY THAT WAY.
Patrice, thank you for your sweet letter. I'm so glad that Emily & Timothy have an organized play group two days a week - they just thrive on friends and you need that time also. I'm also happy to hear about Emily's dance recital but I just wish I could have seen her dance. I know your weather is hot right now but the air conditioning in Little Rock is SO good - when it gets hot here we just kinda' put up with it. I was in a meeting at church last night and I thought I was going to die - it is too cold in our main meeting but the individual class rooms are hot!!!
Claire, thank you for your sweet letter too and also all the phone calls you have made to me. I had six phone messages on my machine when I came in from the cabin and Ellen Mae and Mel followed me in the house (they had been to Cedar City) so we listened to them together. Brett's voice was so cute and I wish I could come to his piano recital but please come prepared with his music this weekend at Ann's so I can hear his pieces. I loved talking to you too Michael.
I had such a fun time with the Woolleys and the Weinerts yesterday. Barji and Jessie are at BYU Girl's Academy and Barji's parents wanted to do something special for Barji's birthday which is on Wednesday so we all met at the "Olive Garden Restaurant" in the afternoon. I had already eaten when they called me so I said I would just go for dessert. WELL - before it was over I had eaten, lasagna, minestrone soup, bread sticks, salad, cannelloni dessert, chocolate mousse, birthday cake and also the thing I ordered - cheese cake with chocolate topping.
John is in Japan. He and John Wright left yesterday morning and will be home on Thursday. He came home for just a few minutes to check on his mail and I can tell he is "over programmed" - I can't imagine how he will keep up when he starts his MBA program in August but I'm sure he will figure it out.
Bob & Rick are going to the cabin on Friday morning. I don't know who else is going but I'm SO glad they are going. I went up on Friday evening and came home Saturday afternoon. I wanted to check to see if the swallows were building their nests again - I REALLY don't want them to get a head start on that. I was thrilled to see that they haven't!!! It is just very beautiful up there and I love it - I didn't' think I would ever say that but I really do. Byrd has fixed the dock - he got our neighbor, Rudy, to build the holders for those poles and then he put them on. The beach was just filled with families and the young people swimming and the older people were fishing - I'm sure it is really too cold to swim but they were swimming. The lake is filled with fishing boats. The choke cherry bushes are just loaded with blossoms so we will have a big crop of choke cherries and they make delicious jelly. The only bad thing is the odor of skunks and it goes away after you're there for a little while - either the skunks leave or you gets used to it. I didn't know it but Bob baited the trap so it may have something dead in it - I opened the door under the house expecting to see a lot of skunks running around and I saw the trip but didn't' get close enough to see if anything is in it. I put some oil stain on the deck - I had planned to get some deck stain at K-Mart on the way to the cabin but they didn't have any in the redwood color. I had taken some oil stain that I had used on my redwood tables here at home and I used that - I ran out before I completely covered it but it looks better. I'm going to get some more of that stain and do it again and then put a sealer on it. I believe the oil stain is what is needed because it really soaked it up.
I am going to a Family Home Evening picnic tonight and I was assigned to bring a casserole. For the first time in my life I am definitely NOT fussing - I am taking a macaroni, beef & tomato casserole from Stouffers. I got it to use when Roy & Patrice were here and then didn't use it. I'll be embarrassed if it isn't very good!!!
I am looking forward to Saturday night. We're all invited to the Woolleys for dinner at 6 o'clock and then we'll walk to the BYU stadium for their annual Stadium of Fire program - I have just loved that for the past almost five years and it seems to get better each year. The Woolleys' exchange student will get here on Friday so she will go with us - what an experience for a foreign student!!! I believe she is from Japan!!!
I love each one of you very much - PLEASE BE VERY CAREFUL IN EVERYTHING YOU DO and let me know how I can help you!!!