October 10, 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 MARY ANN TODAY!!! Mary Ann will be 12 years old today and this has been a year of accomplishments - I'm proud of you Mary Ann. She is secretary of her school and was just chosen as a RED soldier in the Nutcracker Ballet. She was a green soldier last year and the red soldiers' parts are a little more difficult. With all your activities, I don't know if you will be able to squeeze in a birthday party but if you do, I hope it is fun!!!

WHAT A WONDERFUL TIME I HAD AT OUR FAMILY REUNION IN SUN VALLEY and I know all of you did too. I had no idea it was such a special place and I hope we will be able to make it an annual affair. We had our Relief Society Presidency meeting here this morning and I told them all about it and showed where we stayed on the little map I brought home - Anne Smith said, "Wow, you have been mingling with the rich and famous" and I said, "Just only hope you won't have to mortgage your souls to pay for your trip - Ha!!!

Anne is the one who was in Sun Valley the same time we were - she was helping her granddaughter with her new baby. I had tried to call her but their name wasn't in the phone book and Anne said they didn't move there in time. Her granddaughter lives in Elkhorn and pays $700 a month for a condo. I forgot to ask her what her grandson does for a living. Rick drove me through Elkhorn and all the new development on our way home and it is beautiful - probably be a smart investment to buy something there before it gets anymore popular.

I still can't believe that we actually saw Brian Boitano, Viktor Petrenko, Scott Hamilton, Oksana Baiul, Gritschuk & Platov and others skate on the very same ice skating rink that my grandchildren skated on the day before. That and everything else were experiences I will never forgot.

I didn't get to spend as much time with Katie and Laura as I would have liked but we were together at the skating rink. It is so neat to see Katie & Emily together. Bob, Roy, John, Ron and Rick spent a lot of time golfing and fishing together - wouldn't PaPa have loved that??? Laura lost the key to her bike lock and she felt SO bad - Claire got that situation handled so quickly - she got the maintenance man to cut the chain.

I LOVED the condo that John, Julianna & I shared - it was so very comfortable and compact. It would REALLY be different to live in one all the time - what in the world would I do with my time??? I thought it was absolutely fabulous to have the grandchildren roller blade or ride bicycles ALL OVER THE PLACE and do it safely. It was so much fun to walk around and run into some of the family. Jeannie and I took Emily & Timothy into Ketchum one day to just window shop and ran into the "BIG" boys as they were having lunch - it was neat for them to share their lunch with us. Another day, Ann, Susanna, Jean, Emily & Timothy & I went there for lunch and we ran into the "BIG" girls having ice cream.
The most fun times for me were when we had pizza and hamburger dinners at different condos. The night that all the adults went to "Jesse's" in Elkhorn for dinner was just elegant and my dinner was one of the best I have ever had. I JUST LOVED EVERY MINUTE OF IT.

THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH RICK FOR ALL THE ARRANGEMENTS YOU MADE. And then you didn't get to enjoy it as long as the rest of us did. (Rick had to go to St. George on Friday so he didn't come to Sun Valley until Saturday. Mary Ann had Nutcracker practices on Friday so she came with him on Saturday.)

I am really sorry that I made all of you wait for me at Jean's home on Thursday morning. I could have been there at least an hour earlier - I chose to not get there sooner to give Jean time to get her children all packed without hurrying. I don't know when we will be getting together again but when we do, if you will give me a schedule I will send it out to everyone so we will each one know in advance what is expected of us. When I saw all of you waiting I could have cried and in my hurrying to get on the road I parked my car in the Weinert's garage and didn't shut one of the doors tightly enough. When we got back to the Weinerts last night my car wouldn't start - Rick had to jump start it with the cables. I felt so bad because he was in a hurry to get to the airport to go to Denver.

Rick had his car parked near the hangar where his airplane is so he showed me his airplane - it is a BEAUTY!!!

I was SO happy I didn't have to drive to Sun Valley. Ron put all my "STUFF" in his van and I drove with the Weinerts. I was worried that we would be too crowded coming back with both Rick and Mary Ann with us but there was plenty of room. Ron put Rick's golf clubs in his van to make more room. I know I was trouble and I will avoid it when I can.

John & Julianna followed us and I laughed and laughed because John had said he didn't like to caravan. Rick knew a lot of shortcuts because he has made that trip so often and it actually looked like he was trying to "ditch" John. I believe John had a hard time following but he finally made it. We all stopped for a coke about half way and we left before John & Julianna did but Rick said he was sure they would be able to find their way home!

Roy called shortly after I got home and said they had found Wicket's leash and would send it to the Woolleys. I have hoped I would get a phone call from Roy this afternoon - Patrice told me they would probably have a 5 hour lay-over in Salt Lake and if they did they would call and I would go get them and take them someplace where their children could play. Baby Jesse is a little doll and SO good but any baby is very hard to keep happy for that long. Jeannie commented so often about how much easier it is for them to travel and go on trips now that their children are older. I admire Roy & Patrice for all the traveling they do with their children - they have been to two weddings this year with lots of travel and expense involved and then to this family reunion. I was hoping I could babysit their children in Sun Valley so the two of them could go swimming or something but it didn't work out.

I shouldn't start another page but I must write about Ann's experience for my journal. Jessie always wears contact lens and she had left her case at the Weinert's condo the night before this happened. When she got ready for bed she put her contacts in a water glass with a tiny bit of solution on them. Ann got up the next morning and grabbed the glass and poured some coke in it and drank it. While it was in her mouth she felt something different and thinking it was ice, she bit it. She realized soon that it wasn't ice and in spitting it out she discovered she had bitten Jessie'' contact lens into pieces. She was able to spit the other one out whole but it was for the eye their Jessie doesn't really need a lens for. Maybe they will all think that was very funny in a few years!!!

The Woolleys left earlier than the rest of us did yesterday so they could stop in Jerome to visit with Ron's parents and sister Mimi. It was an absolutely gorgeous day and I know they had a good time. I appreciate Ron bringing all my stuff home to me last night.

That isn't all the news but I will close. I love each one of you so very much and as I told Roy last night, being with you like I have been the last few days gives me the courage to be alone. Thank you all for making it such a fun time for everyone. Ann got a touch of the 24 hour flu while we were there - she thought it was food poisoning but when Ricky and Jean got it we all decided it was the fun. I hope no one else gets it.




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