August 16, 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 can feel Fall in the air and we haven't even had Summer yet. I believe I have turned my evaporate cooler on about five times all Summer!!! I don't believe my tomatoes are ever going to be ripe but I'm not only one - I talked to a lady at church yesterday who is a REAL gardener and she has a huge tomato garden and she said she would be lucky if she got half a bushel from it. It's really been a funny year. The peaches are coming on and they are delicious so I guess we can't have everything. I made apricot marmalade last week using Grandma Agnes' recipe and it is SO good - not set stiff but especially good for a sauce for Chinese food.

I had a fun surprise last week. Roy & Patrice had asked me several months ago to consider coming to Little Rock during the second week of October when Roy has to go East to an anesthesiology meeting - Roy said he didn't want to leave Patrice along during that time because it is so soon to the time their baby is due. I really knew that was just an excuse to invite me to come but I appreciated it. Roy called me on Monday to see how I felt about coming and when I said I would like to he said, "Is that a yes?" Tuesday morning I was out in the backyard and the Federal Express man came to my fence and called to me to tell me he had a package for me - I said, "I'll bet it's for a John Mellor" and he said, "No, it's for a Barbara Mellor". It was an airlines ticket to Little Rock - SO I'm going to Little Rock on Oct. 9th and will come home on the 16th. I'm really excited about it and it's fun to have it to look forward to. I really miss Roy & Patrice BUT I REALLY miss that little Emily & Timothy and it will be fun to be with them. Roy will probably be gone all week and I hope I will be able to help Patrice in some way. October is a beautiful month in Arkansas and I will love seeing some of my friends too. Emily has a new little neighborhood friend and she is SO excited about that - her name is Allie and she will go to kindergarten with Emily in a few weeks. I don't know of any other child who is better prepared to go to school than Emily is - she will love it.

Roy & Patrice had a wonderful trip to Gulf Shores. They had driven and Roy said they got along fine - I thought they had flown. Roy said they had a nice place to stay with a swimming pool but they loved going to the beach even though it was hot. They would like to go again - my experiences there have not been that pleasant but you know me and the heat and humidity. Chris and Wayne have lived there a long time without much central air conditioning - Chris says she doesn't feel very good there but Wayne loves the fishing and shrimping so I'm sure they will continue to stay there. They lived in Orange Beach which is right next to Gulf Shores.

I went to Scofield on Friday evening - I got there about 8 o'clock. The cabin just looked beautiful - Bob and Claire had been there the week before and I feel bad that they had cleaned SO much. Bob had put some more pipes around the bath and shower area to enclose it and it is just darling. I had made a curtain for privacy - really to kinda' use as a pattern for what we needed there. Now I will make more curtains to completely enclose it. I had to laugh at some "cultural" travel magazines they had put on the coffee table - I had bought a whole lot of old magazines when the library here had a sale (I believe I paid a dollar for about fifty of them) and Claire was telling me that she had read about Dolly Parton every time she had gone to the cabin for the past several years. I could see your hand in everything up there Claire - the flowers around the window upstairs and the rugs in the kitchen - I loved the changes!!!

The Woolleys came over last night for Family Home Evening and I loved it - I hadn't heard from them for about two weeks. Right after our trip to Lake Powell they had gone to California for the Viewpoint Trade Show and then to Idaho for the Woolley Family Reunion. Jessie and LeeAnna gave the most beautiful lesson last night - it was on the importance music plays in our lives. They had made a tape of different kinds of music and then asked our reactions about them - it was WONDERFUL. They brought out how important it is for us to have a variety of music in our lives but to be very selective in what we listen to because it lingers in our minds and has an influence on how we live. I am impressed with their knowledge of composers and cultural music.

Susanna left early this morning to go to Ricks College in Rexburg, Idaho for the "Especially For Youth" week. She went with her little "group" and they will have a wonderful time. LeeAnna went to Farmington to be with Mary Ann and Sarah - they are participating in a "Suzuki" (sp.?) violin conference being held in Salt Lake for this week. Ann said last night that she and Jean had gone crazy with preparations for this - I guess they have to be really prepared to play. I thinks it's GREAT!!!

I haven't heard from the Weinerts this week but I know they are doing fine. I have been concerned about the rash Barji had at Lake Powell - she was quite miserable the last couple days.

John has "breezed" in and out several times. When I came home from the cabin he has left a note and also some tacos in the refrigerator from Taco Bell - they were DELICIOUS!!! He has started the MBA program so I know he is super busy. Ha came home last weekend and groomed Hans & Frauie - he does such a good job and I just can't do it.

The Women's Committee at Scofield had asked for help in preparing a Mexican dinner for Saturday evening - that's why I went up on Friday. It turned out that the Mexican who prepared the dinner had worked all week doing it so they didn't need any help - the dinner was FABULOUS and they are so nice to me. They have these dinners to earn money to support the bowery and I REALLY need to support them but it's the hardest thing I do. Bob had told me he would try to come up on Saturday and I kept hoping he would show up but he said he couldn't get away. All of the people who go to the dinners have husbands or boy friends or girl friends and Byrd and I are always "paired up" and I HATE it. When it was obvious that Bob wouldn't make it, Byrd came over and asked me to take a plate for him (we have to take our own plates) - the only thing I had except for paper plates was a platter so I took that for him - he went back to his cabin and got bath of us nice plates. I hurried and ate and then left - I said I wanted to get back to Orem before dark. It's a very funny situation - I need the help of the men up there and I want to do my share but I don't want their attention. I won't go to any more of their dinners unless some of my family can go with me.

I am finally going to "EDUCATION WEEK" on the BYU campus. It starts tomorrow and will go for four days. I have wanted to go to it for a long time and this year I find that I am finally able to do it. I plan to drive my car to the mall and then take the city bus to the campus - they are expecting 30,000 people and it is really hard to find a parking place. Ellen Mae called me this morning and she is going to come down Wednesday morning and will stay with me that night and go to classes on Wednesday and Thursday and then go home. It will be so much fun to be with her and also to go to the classes - we hope to be able to go to the concert put on by the Michael Ballam family on Wednesday night. He is an accomplished singer and everyone in Utah has heard him but me - Ha!!!

Chris Jordin called me right when I came in from the cabin on Saturday night. She & Marc will be in Utah and Idaho from September 19th through the 29th - they say they will come stay with me sometime during that time. I think it is SO interesting - they are coming to attend the homecoming for one of Marc's nephews who has just completed a mission to Japan. Marc has written to this young man every week for two years and has helped support him on his mission. Marc is a Presbyterian and a Mormon.

I didn't think I had enough news to write even one page and here I am on my third page!!! I asked Roy how he felt about going to Aspen Grove for a Jesse Lynn Mellor Family Reunion next Summer. I told him that his brothers and sisters felt it might be a little too "churchy" for him and his response was "Don't they think I need inspirational messages too?" I sent him a little brochure about it and then I called Aspen Grove and asked them to send me three more so I could send them to you. All the times for 25 people in July & August are already taken - the only times available are June 11-17 and June 18-24. It's VERY expensive and I was surprised because the cabins are quite rustic but they provide 17 meals per person and personal care for the children. Just consider it -
I guess we need to make a decision fairly soon though.
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