July 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:
We celebrated the Fourth of July all weekend so it doesn't seem right for others to be celebrating it today - the people in my neighborhood are having cookouts and shooting off fireworks today.
We have really had a fun, fun time. Bob and his children, Rick and some of his children and Ron & Russell & Jimmy spent Friday night and Saturday morning up at the cabin. It is hilarious to hear about them trying to sleep - they all came home worn out but they said they had a good time. Scofield goes all out for the Fourth with fireworks and a parade and everything and I guess there were a lot of people there - they set off the fireworks on that island.
We all met at the Woolleys at 6 o'clock on Saturday evening for a wonderful dinner. I tried to "pin Ann down" about the menu and she wouldn't "pin down" and as a result we had lots and lots of food - Claire and I were both worried about dessert I guess because she brought brownies and I brought some cherry bars from the Lehi bakery and then Ann had made an ice box dessert. Ron cooked hamburgers just the way I like them and they had bacon, and sautéed mushrooms to go on top - really good!!! - and delicious salads.
The Woolleys have a foreign exchange student from Spain - I thought she was going to be from Japan!!! Her name is Aldara and she is just darling - she speaks Spanish (of course), French and English so there isn't a speech problem and she just fits right in. They picked her up at the airport about midnight Friday night and didn't get home and in bed until about 2 in the morning so by the time the fireworks were over on Saturday night she was very tired.
We drove some cars to the temple parking lot on Saturday night and then walked the rest of the way to the stadium. I thought the program this year was the best I have seen there - it seemed to move faster or something and the fireworks were just spectacular. We got back to the Woolleys about midnight and had more "dessert" and waited for the traffic to clear out. THEN, Bob & Claire, Michael, Laura & Katie brought me home and spent the night here. IT WAS WONDERFUL!!! We were all so exhausted that we slept late on Sunday morning and I just barely made it to church at 11 o'clock. The Bob Mellors went up to the cabin to spend Sunday night. Brett is spending this week with Jimmy so they can go to soccer camp at BYU. Mary Ann & Sarah are also spending this week with the Woolleys while Jeannie is at her ward's girl's camp in Beaver.
Yesterday afternoon (Sunday) I had a pleasant surprise. One of the couples in our ward has a daughter who is married to a Racker. This daughter and her husband were visiting them and they wanted to meet me so they came over and we had such a wonderful genealogy visit. As it turns out - we are second cousins (or maybe third). He has a genealogy book that he is going to bring to me so I can have copies made of the pages regarding my family. I haven't really looked but I don't' have any information about the Racker family so it was fun to talk to him. He was VERY interested in the furniture I have - one of the chest downstairs has "W.E. Racker who is my Uncle Ira's father. he wants to bring his father, Carl, to meet me because he is about my age and remembers the Racker family in Lehi.
The Woolleys came over last night for "Murder, She Wrote" and family home evening. While they were here, Ricky's friend, Chad, came with his family. Chad's parents are good friends of Rick & Jean and Chad & Ricky are spending this week with me while they attend tennis camp at BYU. Rick spent the night here last night so he could take the boys to the campus and get them registered and get all the information about where I was to pick them up. Everything has worked out great and I found the place to meet them in just a matter of minutes - I thought it would be harder with all the things that are going on at the Y. They are just wonderful boys and have said, "Thank You" about a million times. I love having them here.
We have missed Roy & Patrice and Emily & Timothy. I tried to call you yesterday afternoon and you weren't home - I told you not to return my call because I had a million things going on after I had called you. I'm hoping you were on a little camping trip in your van. You are having really hot weather and we are having very cool weather!!! I believe those at the cabin just about froze to death and we have had a lot of wind too. Is the Mississippi river affecting the Arkansas river in Little Rock? I really feel bad for those people in the flooded areas.
One of Emily's friends here is having a special experience. A couple in our ward has adopted two little girls - 5 & 7 years old. The legal part of it is all over now and they legally belong to the Garrison family. They were given a blessing in church yesterday and they changed their names - Aubry's name was changed to Kersten and her sister, Amber, had her name changed to Megan. This has all been very interesting to me and I can't help but admire the Garrison family but I also can't help but feel bad for the girls' birth parents. I understand they have been in foster homes with their three brothers for several years. Marc Garrison spent his mission in Sweden and has some very close friends there so he sent them tickets to come be with them for a temple session tomorrow - I met them yesterday at church and they are all very Swedish!!! I personally think the names being changed would be very hard for the girls, don't you???