August 8, 1994 Orem, Utah

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

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO LAURA TOMORROW!!! 11 Years old and such a pretty little girl - I hope you have some kind of a celebration and I know you will!!! It's always so much fun for me to see my granddaughters try different kinds of hair styles - I love the one you are wearing now Laura.

WOW - I have had a fun and busy few days this week. Ann & I went to Salt Lake on Friday morning to attend a wedding breakfast honoring my nephew Clint and his bride to be, Shannon Holyoak. It was held at one of the restaurants at Little America and it was very nice. It was especially fun for me because I knew so many of the people there - my brother Dee and his wife Judy were there and then Cheryl had two sisters who still live in Brigham City and they were there besides all of Don & Cheryls' children. The food was excellent!!!

Then Ann & I came home and just barely turned around when it was time to go back for the wedding. They didn't have a temple marriage so they were married in the backyard of Shannon's Aunt who lives in Sandy. They had put seats pup with an aisle separating them and then they had white trellises decorated with flowers where the marriage took place. It was very beautiful -they had a male vocalist who was very good to provide the background music. When the bride and groom came through the aisle it reminded me of Roy & Patrices's wedding. Shannon's grandfather who is an L.D.S Bishop performed the ceremony.

Then the bride and groom and their attendants and their parents formed a receiving line. There were quite a few there for the ceremony so we had to stand in line for it seemed like a long time and the temperature was at least 105. The reception didn't start until 7 o'clock so Ann & I left. We still can't quite figure out why the attendants wore black velvet on such hot day - it was a black and white wedding but VELVET!!!

THANK YOU SO MUCH BOB & CLAIRE AND RICK & JEAN for going to the reception. THANK YOU ANN FOR GOING WITH ME TO EVERYTHING. Don called me yesterday morning and told me that having my family make that effort was a real highlight for them. AND I know it was an effort - Bob & Claire didn't receive their invitation so they didn't have a map to direct them - they kept calling me on their car phone for directions. Ann and I had trouble finding it and we had a map - I'm not a very good navigator. The home was way East up by the mountains -I didn't even know there were homes there but is a gorgeous place and they have a view of the whole valley. Judy told me they had laughed at how a Forrest had married a Holyoak - Ha!!!

Saturday was such a special and happy day. JIMMY WAS BAPTIZED!!! We all met at the Stake Center at 11 o'clock. I was very impressed with the preparation their Stake had done. There were other baptisms being held that day but they alternated and were in different rooms so each family had their own personal baptism. I was also impressed with the Woolleys' Bishop and his wife and their friends who supported them. Jimmy had wanted his cousins to be part of his baptism as well as his brother and sisters. Susanna played the prelude music, Russell welcomed everyone and LeeAnna & Jessie played some violin Primary songs. Brett gave the opening prayer and Sarah gave the closing prayer. IT WAS JUST WONDERFUL.

The talks on baptism and the holy ghost were given by John and Julianna and I have NEVER heard such good talks. Julianna had large bag of Oreo cookies and she made an analogy of how they got all mashed up when we sinned and our lives would crumbly and then she had fresh bag of Oreos to give Jimmy explaining that with baptism his sins were all washed away and he could live his life with very few crumbs from now on if he really tried. John went to the scriptures for his talk and spoke about Nicodemus. You could have heard a pin drop in the room and I was SO proud of them. Ron baptized Jimmy and then he invited his father Russell, Bob, John & the Bishop to join him in the confirmation. Rick had to work that day and we all missed him very much.

THEN we all went to the Woolleys' home for a WONDERFUL dinner. I honesty don't know how Ann could have prepared like she did when she was gone all day on Friday. We had hamburgers, corn on the cob, cooked vegetables (squash, egg plant, tomatoes - I can't remember the name of it), a congealed fruit salad and I had made potato salad with yogurt instead of mayonnaise that we didn't need, and for dessert we had a delicious blueberry and raspberry slush and brownies. Ron's parents, Russell & Beverly and his sister Mimi had come from Idaho for the baptism and then his sister Sue, had come from Layton. We had a lot of fun visiting and eating and the cousins just love to be together. It was a very hot day but I don't believe anyone noticed.

Friday night after the Forrest wedding and after Ann had gone home I went to a wedding reception here in the neighborhood. Then on Saturday night I went to a friends' 50th wedding anniversary reception so I am reception out!!!

Roy & Patrice - thank you SO much for your phone call. I haven't had a good visit with you for a long time and I enjoyed it so much and also to talk to Emily & Timothy. When Don called me yesterday morning he said he wouldn't let Cheryl talk to me because we talked too long - that's a problem I have.

I'm going to Sundance tonight with the Woolleys to see the show "Oklahoma". They came over last night for Family Home Evening but I had neighbor friends here who had brought me some vegetables so it was kinda' different!!!

I shouldn't start another page but I must mention that the Weinerts left this morning for their trip to Europe. They were REALLY excited when we were all together on Saturday - I hope they have a wonderful time. Ricky told me their first stop would be in Frankfurt, Germany - Rick has spent some time there so he will be able to show them around unless it has changed a lot since he was there. They will be gone for two weeks - I can't imagine a more wonderful vacation for a family and I'm thrilled for them.

I love each one of you so very much. PLEASE BE VERY CAREFUL IN EVERYTHING YOU DO. Let me know how I can help you.


Return to Home Page