April 25, 1994
Dearest John; Roy, Patrice, Emily & Timothy & Jesse; Bob, Claire, Michael, Laura, Brett & Katie; Rick, Jean, Ricky, Barbara Jean, Mary Ann, Susanna, Jessie, Russell, LeeAnna & Jimmy:

I have been outside taking pictures of my beautiful backyard and especially the trees - that is all going to change this week. I have hired a Laotian man to cut all the bad ones down and that is almost all of them. They came from Stewarts this last week to spray and they were very honest with me and said there was no way they could control the bugs - they nailed "good" cards on all the trees I could save and "bad" cards on all the ones that should be cut down. I called two trees service companies and they said they would come out and never did so my neighbor gave me the name of this man - I can just hope he doesn't have the trees fall on the house or the patio and do a lot of damage. He said they would do it this week but he couldn't give me a definite day. Stewarts- the chemical company that does the spraying - says that other houses that have put up with these Box Elder trees for many years are gradually having them taken out. I would like to wait until after the wedding but the longer I wait the more leaves they will have on them and it will ruin the flowers on the hill.

John is REALLY over programmed - if he can get through the next two or three weeks he will be able to handle most anything. I can just hear you all saying "But Mother, we all went through the same thing". I'm sure you did but I wasn't as close to it as I am his plans. He called me on Friday and said they were having a "housing crisis" - he had to get out of his apartment by Saturday. He had a friend help him and they moved all his things over here - some are in the garage and some are in his bedroom. He was over here late that night and I said, "Are you going to spend the night here" and he looked at me kinda funny and said, "That would be a good idea". He had to leave early on Sunday morning to go to Europe so I said I would drive him to the airport. I listened for him all night and left the lights on but he didn't ever come over - I guess he made it to the airport alright. Julianna had been over earlier in the day and she was going to Salt Lake to spend the day with some of her friends. I'm surprised that John could move all his things over here and yet have other things packed for his trip to Europe - he's really quite well organized. When he left here he was going to go clean his apartment so the other people could move in - that is NOT John's thing - Ha!!! I know he had a big presentation for his class at school on Friday. Their announcements are beautiful!

They have rented a small apartment to live in until their condominium is finished. They will be able to get into their apartment a week from this Wednesday and they have borrowed some furniture from friends to put in that. Julianna's mother is coming in on that day so she will be able to help with that. John will stay with me that week I hope. It will be fun to have him here.

The Woolleys came over last night and I appreciated Ron getting my sprinkler system set up. They didn't go to Las Vegas as I mentioned in my letter last week - they decided to stay home and make sure their deck was finished right. I hope Ann won't be mad at me for telling you this but I'll risk it. They got all the bricks laid for the deck and she decided she didn't like the ones she had chosen so they are going to take them all out and replace them. It is REALLY hard to choose the right things for such major projects and it's good they had the courage (or something) to have it changed. The children are all excited about their "hot tub" - I didn't realize it would be heated but they say it is wonderful!!!

Russell gave the family home evening lesson last night and he did such a good job. His planning the lesson and presenting it completed requirements for an achievement he has been working on.

John said he had talked to Bob and they had a wonderful time in New York and had been able to visit and hear more about their trip.

I haven't heard from the Weinerts this week. This is such a busy time for all of you and I know you're looking forward to a little break from school activities.

I will be SO happy to have Roy & Patrice here and their little children. I will just want to plan to play with the baby. Joy Geisler called me on Saturday and I told her about the newspaper magazine put out by the Early Childhood Education Department in Arkansas - she is going to try to find a copy to show my friends there.

Jessie's play at her Junior High was just darling and she had the leading part. It is hard for me to believe she could memorize all the lines she had to but she did a GREAT job!!!

I went to a book review last Tuesday of "Follow The River" by Thom. Have any of you read it? The lady who gave the review let me borrow her book so I will try to read it - I loved the review.

I also went to a High Priest Social on Friday night. They had ten homes with ten different people invited and I was in a group with three other widows. It was potluck and the hostess for the one I went to had made bread sticks and served "Ragu" with them - it tasted so good to me that I went to a pizza place on Saturday and bought some and have been eating them all weekend.

It is my turn to have our Family Home Evening group here tonight and I'm going to make rice pudding. Susanna made a rice pudding and brought it over here last night for dessert and it was heavenly. I hope mine will turn out that good.

My dress for the reception is here and I hope it's the right color. I ordered a larger size than I wear and it is HUGE!!!
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